I was just reading The Curious Jew's (http://www.curiousjew.blogspot.com) blog, and I was very impressed by what she wrote. This should inspire us all. A Chag Kosher V'Sameach to all, and I'll quote it here:

Chicago's Matzah Crisis: One Person's Response
This is a story.This is a story about the incredible sweetness of my friend.Yesterday, my father sent me an email saying:
Chana,Any chance you can bring hand made shmura matza with you on Thursday. Chicago is completely sold out of it, and we haven't yet bought. Seems the Chicago Matza Factory decided not to bake matza this year.- DaddySo what's going on?For some reason, at this point in time unknown, Chicago's Shmura Matza Factory decided not to bake matzah this year.I mean, this is my matzah. This is the matzah. This is the matza that all of us Chicagoans eat.What are we going to do without it?I frantically send out an email to various and sundry friends:
All right, folks, help me out here.Where in New York can I find handmade shmura matza? I just need to buy a box or so. And I need to buy this BEFORE I leave on Thursday, so basically today or tomorrow. Preferably today.anybody?thanks,ChanaI receive lots of responses about locations and suggestions and maybe I should go into Brooklyn, but the fact is that I have class, I have no time, and there will be no shmura-matza hunting from my end.That is, until my friend proposes a solution.This is my incredible friend. This friend is responsible for lots of sources on lots of my blogposts; this is my friend who hunts down aggadot for me and somehow knows sources off the top of his head, my friend who is brilliant at Hebrew and dikduk, who is impassioned by music, basically, one of the smartest, brightest, kindest people I know. And acting in his kind, bright, concerned way, he decides that it is imperative that we have shmura matzah for the seder.So he tells me his plan, which is basically this:1. He, stationed in Washington Heights, will wander around Washington Heights/ Brooklyn/ someplace and find me some matzah2. He will buy said matzah3. He will take a forty-five minute shuttle (or subway) to Midtown4. He will give me said matzah at a time that is convenient for me (that is, the one break I have during the day)5. He will then return to Washington HeightsSo of course I determined that this plan was ridiculous, though in the end, frantic, I acquiesced, somehow thinking that I wouldn't actually let him go through with it. I even called to tell him not to come as I realized how much effort this would involve.But he came. He came, and he was just here, and he brought me matzah, so my problem is solved.How incredibly sweet, wonderful and amazing is this person? Forty-five minutes each way for no other reason than to make sure my family can fulfill the mitzvah in the way we are accustomed to fulfilling it this Pesach.Utterly, utterly amazing.Oh! And I forgot! After he gives me the matzah, he warns me that I should check to make sure the matzos are whole, and if they're not I should tell him...implying that he'll go and get me another box with whole matzos.How incredible!(Incidentally, Jewel Osco in Skokie just got in a recent shipment of shmura matzah, and apparently Hungarian will be getting some, too. But there are loads of people in Chicago who still don't have any, so if you have connections/ any way to get them matzah, I'm sure that would be much appreciated.)

By: Shmuel | Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 3/28/2007 05:40:00 PM | |

My Honda

We had just moved to Smalltown, and there's no bus system here. My car was terrible; buying it was a big lesson in the school of hard knocks. Within a month of moving it was relegated to the junkyard. Beloved is a trucker, and the only way Sweetie (daughter) and I could go anywhere when he was gone was to call on a few friends at our new church, who were very generous.

A woman in my Bible study group was preparing to sell her mother's Honda, and Hondas have a great reputation. But we only had about $500 to spend, and my friend wasn't saying at first how much she wanted for it. (I checked later, and the blue book said it was worth $1800.) When the time came for her to sell it, she and her husband decided to give it to me! This woman had known me for 2 months. They had the cracked windshield replaced, and when I went to pick it up, she had just finished washing it and the gas tank was full. She even gave me the gas card she got as an incentive from the glass company. This car had been in the family since it was new, so I also got all the maintenance records.

It had 218,000 miles at the time, and I put on 15,000 miles over a year and a half. It always started, no matter how cold, and was such a great little car. But the heat stopped working, and a week later the fuel pump broke, and on advice from several car people, we decided it was time to stop paying for repairs. We used the tax refund to replace it.

And of course, I gave the Honda away to somebody else who could fix it cheap.

By: Kiwi the Geek | Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 3/27/2007 02:47:00 PM | |

At shul

On shabbos I went to go hear a shiur in the late afternoon. There were more people than usual because of the shabbaton that the shul was having. After the shiur and mincha, it was time for shalosh seudos. Usually they have enough chairs in the hall, but since there was a lot more people there, they had to bring in a bunch of chairs from the shul to the hall. Before we went, the rabbi said that instead of bringing one for ourselves, what we should do is we should each bring one for someone else. And that's what we did.

By: smb | Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 3/18/2007 02:43:00 AM | |

Insane Kindness

I am flying out insanely early tomorrow morning to attend a weddding. I was planning on waking up at 4 AM, quickly throwing on clothes and driving to the airport, which is about 35-45 minutes away. I was asking some co-workers which route they thought would be the best for me to take to the airport. One of my co-workers was asking me what time I had to leave, where I lived, etc., etc. Then he offered to come pick me up and drive me to the airport that early! He has to travel from Queens to NJ to pick me up and then back to the airport. I vehemently protested, but he wouldn't hear of me having to park my car at the airport. I told him 100 times to call me if he can't do it - haven't heard from him yet. What an amazingly, ridiculously, insanely kind thing to do!

By: Shoshana | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 3/13/2007 08:50:00 PM | |