by: Alex Haberman
This past month, TABC has participated in a plethora of chessed projects. Whether it was rebuilding houses in Detroit or New Jersey, cleaning up cemeteries in Staten Island, or visiting old age homes, TABC students have been actively involved in various projects. Students from ninth to twelfth grade have participated and had nothing but positive remarks about their volunteer work. Benjy Weil, a senior at TABC, said, “ Cleaning out the cemetery was so fulfilling because I knew that these individuals could never repay me.” Eitan Gerzberg, a sophomore, exclaimed “ I didn’t know that old people could be so much fun!” This year chessed trips within New Jersey were certainly a success. One trip outside the city, however, was equally profound: the chessed trip to Detroit.
Every year, TABC sends a group of students to high crime rate cities in desperate need of aid. This year eleven students, along with Rabbi Kahn and an NCSY advisor, were chosen to help rebuild homes in Detroit that had been destroyed by a devastating flood. These students, however, were not going to safe, middle class areas, but rather to the notorious 8-mile, one of the most crime ridden areas in all of Detroit, and site of the 2002 biopic on the early career of the popular rapper, Eminem. Even on the very first day there were individuals who were being held, at gunpoint, just down the block from where the TABC students were working. This incident, along with the downtrodden houses and eye-opening poverty moved all the students on the trip. Zvi Kaminestky, one of the seniors on the trip, commented “It really put things into perspective for me and taught me to appreciate what I have. I sometimes complain to my mom that I can’t get the newest iphone. These people complain about not having heat or food. The differences astounded me.”
While breaking down walls, cleaning up basements, and removing destroyed items, students encountered a variety of individuals. The first was a hoarder who had just recently lost her daughter and sister within a five-day period. Another was a grandfather who was taking care of his entire family himself. A third was a mother living alone with her mentally challenged son. All of these people had been begging for relief and finally found some when TABC arrived. Calev Minsky, a junior on the trip, said, “The looks on their faces made everything we were doing worth it. I could see as we worked, all of their stress, pain and anguish dissipating.” The entire trip was a major success. Out of the 250 homes that have been given relief through Nechama, the organization for which we volunteered, we successfully cleaned out and repaired 4 homes. In just two and a half days we were able to accomplish what it took other relief groups weeks to complete. Suffice to say the trip was a major success.
Overall, TABC has been at the forefront of chessed projects. People have very much enjoying them along with the barbecues that followed. This is not a temporary trend; it is one of the main pillars upon which TABC stands and prides itself.