A Father’s Search for Jewish Family Service

By RABBI BARBARA PENZNER

Steve August couldn’t find a Jewish group that he and his thirteen-year-old son could join to go build houses for poor people. So he created one himself. Steve googled and searched and found the Interfaith Consortium in Cumberland, Maryland, a thirty-five year old organization that serves the poor of Western Maryland and northern West Virginia. It’s a long way from Boston, but Steve enticed 20 enthusiastic, idealistic and adventuresome Jews from the Boston area and 3 from New York to spend a week in Cumberland working on houses. Though most of us had never met before, eleven adults and twelve teens, from eleven to twenty years old, joined together as a team.

In five days, we rebuilt a rotting back porch deck and painted the back of one house, laid the tile floor in another, and built a floor, removed a water heater and a set of pocket doors in a third. We delivered shipments of food from food banks to three different sites in the area, including one entire morning in a small town where we unpacked cartons into several hundred individual baskets for a month’s worth of free groceries.

We also came to love the beautiful town of Cumberland and the surrounding mountainous area. We spent one evening at the Garrett County Fair, whose highlight was the Demolition Derby. We went bowling, had a sing-along, swam in a lake at the State Park, ate ice cream, and played Frisbee. We toured Cumberland’s downtown area, heart of a major commercial center at the end of the nineteenth century. The Episcopal Church was on the hill overlooking the station on the Underground Railroad. Beneath the church, you can still walk through the tunnel that led the escaping slaves out of the river and off to freedom.

While we were the first Jewish group to work for the Interfaith Consortium, we were hardly the first Jews to come to town. We visited Be’er Chayim, an active synagogue built in 1863. This congregation of about 80 households is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in all of Maryland. It is the last remnant of Cumberland’s three Jewish houses of worship.

Cumberland is no longer a commercial center. The last deep coal mine closed less than a decade ago. From a population of 60,000 the town has shrunk to 20,000. The homes we were working on are bought or donated, fixed up, and rented out by the Consortium. The people who live in these houses don’t have the wherewithal to buy a home. They simply need a place to live, and these rentals are the most affordable housing in town.

Our work in Cumberland taught us all a bit of humility. Beginning with our group, made up of parents and teens, we all shared the work. Sometimes there were too many of us for one job. We were eager to work, and frustrated when we couldn’t. But we each learned to step aside, take turns, and focus on the goal, rather than our own needs.

Our group was supported by two inmates from the federal penitentiary, two strong males who were doing their community service prior to being paroled. These two young men were more experienced than most of us, yet they appreciated our help. They were patient, respectful, and skillful. I came to believe that they stood to benefit the most from working on this project—even more than the people who will live in these houses.

When we delivered the monthly shipment from the food bank, we met individuals who are recipients of the food and volunteer as part of the Self-Help in Partnership (SHIP) program. This was our only direct contact with people we were helping, but our relationship was one based on cooperation, not charity. Together we cut open the cartons, distributed the packages and crushed empty boxes. They thanked us in the end—not for our generosity, not for bringing them food, but simply for helping the work go faster.

At our closing picnic on Friday afternoon, we were reminded of Rabbi Tarfon’s teaching: You are not obliged to complete the task, neither are you free to neglect it. (Pirke Avot 2:21). We did not build a house. We weren’t able to paint the entire porch or finish all the flooring. Our satisfaction did not come from having completed a task. We didn’t change the world. We were dirty, and sore and a bit sleep-deprived. But we did come together, worked as a team, practiced patience, and in our small way, made a difference. And our children were there with us, watching us, and taking a hand at the power tools. Something about it worked, because we all plan to come back again next year, perhaps having improved our own skills, to start all over again.

If you are interested in participating in this Jewish Tikkun project, or if you know of other interfaith building projects, please contact Steve August at fudgeaugust@hotmail.com.