Young Voices: Bringing our MPs the Mitzvah Day message

by Ben Lewis 

While the House of Commons was busy in debate last week, some MPs managed to slip out to a meeting room in the building next door where they found RSY-Netzer and other youth movements with the Mitzvah Day 365 team.

At the event, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Faith and Society, we had the opportunity to show off all the great work we do as a youth movement on Mitzvah Day and year-round.

Screens within the room informed the politicians they were missing a speech from the home secretary, but our guests were more interested to hear how all our chaverim (members) are busy developing themselves and helping the community around them.

This year our bogrim (senior leaders) will be meeting up in Brighton over Mitzvah Day weekend and bringing the Mitzvah Day spirit to the town.

We’ll be baking and making food to distribute to local homeless people, visiting a nursing home to bring our movement’s beautiful music to residents and making bunting to help the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice to raise money and set a record.

Chaverim in London will also be taking part in the same activities and our shnat netzer (gap year) participants will be getting involved from their current home in the Galil.

The MPs who joined us at the event wrote cards to send to different charities and projects with which Mitzvah Day works, thanking them for all they do.

As a movement, we try to do something for them as well, not just on Mitzvah Day, but year-round as we look to enact our value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).

Maybe the MPs will be able to take what they saw back to their colleagues and we’ll see politicians doing a bit more to follow in the footsteps of our youth movement and Mitzvah Day.