Earlier this week, I received a call from a rabbi in Phoenix. "How far are you from Laughlin?" he asked. Through an acquaintance in Los Angeles. he'd heard about an older woman living alone in Laughlin. Ill and homebound, she needed help.
I called Joanne* right away. She told me that she couldn't walk unassisted and she only had several cans of beans in her pantry.
Her father, she told me, was once a rabbi in the area but the community had long faded away and now she was left, childless and utterly alone. Her only relative was a sister in California and a niece on the East Coast.
I had to help her. I didn't really know anyone in Laughlin, but I'd seen a Jewish sounding name from there recently. Fred* didn't know me, but when I told him who needed help he recognized the name. "Her father married us years ago, and she was at the wedding!"
Yet, they each thought they were the only Jews in town.
Fred wasn't able to drive due to a recent surgery, so I sent Joanne a delivery of fresh fruit, bagels, smoked salmon, noodle soups and whatever else she'd be able to eat without much preparation, and a hot/cold pack to ease her pain.
It's a small world out there, and we're only a degree of separation away from someone who needs our help, or more aptly, a degree of connection away ...
Next week I will go visit Joanne and restock her pantry and bring her matzah for Passover. If you'd like to help her, or send a card, I'd be happy to facilitate!
Barry & Ina Spiegel wrote...
We are proud .It was a pleasure to meet you .