Chesed: Caring Community
The Chesed (Loving-Kindness) Committee coordinates our congregation’s response to a member’s life cycle event such as a birth or adoption, illness, or death. We facilitate gestures of Chesed such as preparing or buying meals, grocery shopping, providing transportation for medical appointments, and visiting members who are ill.
If you have a chesed need or are interested in joining the Chesed Committee, please contact the Chesed Coordinators at
chesed@dorsheitzedek.org.
Committee chair: Gail Pressberg
Get Involved: Lotsa Helping Hands
To coordinate the community’s chesed needs, we are using the Lotsa Helping Hands website, and have created a "community" on the website named "CDT Chesed Caring Community (Updated)". Click here to join our community. Once a chesed coordinator approves your request, you will receive an email with instructions for signing in. Thank you for taking the time to be involved with chesed.
If you have already joined the CDT Chesed Caring Community, click here to sign in.
If you have any problems or questions, please contact chesed@dorsheitzedek.org.
Chesed Inspiration
These articles describe the feelings that sometimes get in the way of participating in Chesed, as a giver and as a receiver. We encourage you to read these articles as part of our ongoing effort to build connections for a caring community. We hope these articles will inspire you to participate in Chesed.
A Small Pot of Violets
“We’ve all felt it; that moment’s hesitation before we ring the bell. Here’s why you need to do it anyway, ” writes Dorshei Tzedek member Nancy Gertz. (LivFun, page 30, Autumn, 2015)
How Not to Say the Wrong Thing
One of the barriers to participating in Chesed is the feeling that we don’t know what to say or we fear that we might say the wrong thing. A couple of years ago we shared this article by Susan Silk and Barry Goldman (Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2013). “It works in all kinds of crises – medical, legal, even existential. It’s the ‘Ring Theory’ of kvetching. The first rule is comfort in, dump out.”
Accepting Meals from Strangers as Caregivers
Linda Matchan describes how a health crisis brings donations of food that teach humility and gratitude — and provides a lesson for those who want to help others. (Boston Globe, March 25, 2014). For those not subscribed to the Boston Globe you can see the article here.
When The Time Comes: Tips For How To Visit The Dying
“As my father-in-law lay in his deathbed after a brief illness, people wanted to say goodbye. In those last days, we learned some valuable lessons.” Rebecca Steinitz writes on the WBUR Cognoscenti blog (April, 2016).
How to Help a Friend Who’s Going Through Something Horrible, Alex Ronan
Recipes and Food
Chesed-Related Books
There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love, by Dr. Kelsey Crowe and Emily McDowell
Healing Conversations: What to Say When You Don't Know What to Say, by Nance Guilmartin
How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers, by Toni Bernhard (with a Forward by Sylvia Boorstein)
Talks on Dharmaseed: visit the Dharma Seed website at www.dharmaseed.com