Posted on June 26, 2026 in Neshamah Mitzvah Project Stories
Our Spring Mitzvah Fair gave Neshamah families a kind of afternoon that is the essence of who we are: a community that Jewish values put into action, heart to heart.
We gathered at SOS Children’s Village in Coconut Creek, a foster care community that keeps siblings together so kids who have already lost so much don’t lose each other too.
A DJ filled the courtyard with music. A sports coach had kids running drills and shouting with the joy of a child who just got picked for the team.
At the craft tables, children decorated gratitude jars, strung friendship bracelets bead by bead, and decorated cookies with more enthusiasm than precision – and lots of messiness exactly as it should be.
I’m so proud and grateful to our community because most people don’t do this. Most people go out of their way, on a perfectly free Sunday afternoon to work hard and engage with kids they don’t know.
Why Do We Do It?
Because of this mitzvah: Kol Yisrael arevim zeh lazeh. All of us are responsible for one another. This is not a metaphor or a nice sentiment. It is an instruction. A mitzvah is a commandment, and it rest upons us anytime there is a child in need.
Our Teens Showed Up for the Right Reason
Many of our B’nai Mitzvah students and teens earned community service hours that day, and I’m glad for it. But that was never why they came. They showed up because that is what it means to be a Jew in our world today. We show up for others even when the world feels harsh.
Not Charity, Just Showing Up
The children at SOS aren’t projects. They want what every child wants: to be seen, to be delighted in, to have a day where the grown-ups in the room are paying attention to them and only them.
I watched our families that day, and our kids weren’t performing kindness, they were just being kids alongside other kids.
Mitzvot rarely look like a grand gesture.
More often it looks like music, a soccer ball, some snacks, being shared by kids who didn’t know each other an hour before, but now play together easily.
To every family who came out, and to the staff and house parents at SOS Children’s Village who do this work every single day: thank you for trusting us in your community’s life.
We’ll be back.
With love and blessings,
Rabbi Amy
About Rabbi Rader
Rabbi Amy Rader is the Founder and Executive Director of the Neshamah Institute in Boca Raton, a vibrant Jewish community offering meaningful Jewish education for kids, Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation, High Holiday services, and inspiring Jewish events. Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Rader brings over 25 years of experience helping families connect deeply with Judaism in modern, authentic ways.