The Essence Of Kindness,
The Epitome Of Goodness
H elen Gilbert has dedicated her life to teaching Hebrew to adults
and children.
The May family works with autistic children, abused women
and volunteers with Special Olympics.
Helene Gottfried finds jobs for disabled young men and
women.
A friend described one of this year's Mitzvah Heroes as "the essence of kindness,
the epitome of goodness." It's a fair way to speak of all of our winners.
For the past seven years, The Jewish News has honored those in our commu-
nity for whom doing kind deeds is a part of everyday life. Nominations come from
friends, neighbors and acquaintances and invariably include words like "selfless"
and "humble" and "dedicated."
The nominations are the first step of a lengthy process. The final decision is then
rendered by a panel comprising Jewish News staff, rabbis and former mitzvah he-
roes.
This year's panel included Rabbi Elliot Pachter of B'nai Moshe, Rabbi Harold
Loss of Temple Israel, Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg of Bais Chabad of West Bloom-
field, businessman and former Mitzvah Hero Ron Elkus, and Jewish News As-
sociate Publisher Arthur Horwitz, Editor Phil Jacobs and Associate Editor Elizabeth
Applebaum.
Among the leading Jewish poets of the 19th century was Isaac Leib Peretz, a
native of Poland who wrote both in Yiddish and Hebrew. Always a champion of
the oppressed and poor, Peretz said that "one individual has the power to face
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thousands and to stand up to peoples and generations."
Indeed, we can see with this year's Mitzvah Heroes — as well as those in the
past — that one individual can "face thousands," that one individual has in his
power the ability to change the world for the better.
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