Redbridge pupils support asylum seekers for Mitzvah Day

Pupils from two Jewish primary schools joined Mitzvah Day, a faith-based social action event, to help their local community.

Wohl Ilford Jewish Primary School (WIJPS) pupils supported an asylum seeker drop-in centre run by Woodford Forest United Synagogue.

The children also collected toys for Camp Simcha – a charity that supports seriously ill children – and made cards, pictures, drawings and bunting to bring cheer to residents at Jewish Care’s Vi and John Rubens House, which it says is the only Jewish care home in Redbridge.

Clore Tikva staff and pupils collected food and toiletries for Redbridge Foodbank for Mitzvah Day (Image: Yakir Zur)

Along with Barkingside's Clore Tikva School pupils, the children spent Friday (November 19) collecting and baking to help others.

At Clore Tikva, children collected items for the Redbridge Foodbank and Camp Simcha.

They then joined Lenna Rosenberg and Rukhsana Yaqoob from Muslim and Jewish women’s group Nisa-Nashim to bake cupcakes that were handed out at the Friday Night Cafe of Hope at Jubilee Church, Ilford, to feed the homeless.

Clore Tikva and Muslim and Jewish network Nisa-Nashim baked for the homeless in Ilford (Image: Yakir Zur)

Lenna said: “Rukhsana and I are passionate about Mitzvah Day and having the opportunity to work with these wonderful children to make food for the homeless is incredibly satisfying and purposeful.”

Reflecting on all her pupils had achieved on Mitzvah Day, Clore Tikva head Margot Buller said: “They are very aware of the world around them, and the needs of the world around them.

"Initiatives like Mitzvah Day shows how much we, and the children especially, want to help those who don’t have what we have. They have a drive and a passion to make our world a better place."

At East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue, community members made welcome cards for refugee children. Many families brought in clothes and other items needed.

Other members helped prepare an interfaith soup kitchen in Waltham Forest with Rabbi Richard Jacobi.

Rabbi Jacobi said: "Life is made more joyful when we offer mitzvot to each other."

Mitzvah Day founder Laura Marks said: “This year, coming back together felt essential. Whilst the pandemic has seen an outflowing of love and kindness, it has also revealed and exacerbated tensions, which working together for the common good defuses."

Barkingside's Aztec House staff and tenants collected Judaica for The Together Plan on Mitzvah Day (Image: Yakir Zur)

The community at East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue (ELELS) made welcome cards for local refugee children on Mitzvah Day (Image: Simon Rothstein)