Jennifer Ribiat
with Mitzvah
Crib items
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Stacy Gittleman
Special to the Jewish News
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16
November 21 • 2013
reschoolers quickly outgrow
those cute dresses and cordu-
roy overalls, so it is common
to find parents of preschoolers swap-
ping bags of clothes with one another
outside their little one's classrooms.
When Jennifer Gordon Ribiat's
children attended preschool at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills,
she participated in such exchanges,
which gave her an idea for paying this
favor forward.
Ribiat's desire to give inspired her to
establish the "Mitzvah Crib" in 2001.
Since then, she has been nurturing this
project long after her youngest child
headed off to kindergarten.
Ribiat, 43, who lives in West
Bloomfield, is married to Steven and
mother of Avery, Eli and Blake. She has
coordinated this ongoing clothing drive
for children ages birth to size 18 for
more than 12 years.
Adat Shalom members place their
donations in the Mitzvah Crib, located
in the Beth Achim religious school
wing. When the crib reaches a critical
mass, Ribiat sorts through the dona-
tions and drives them to Oak Park
where they are distributed to Orthodox
families in need.
"I go through every bag myself and
nothing that is stained or worn is
donated," Ribiat said. "I like the people
who are receiving these clothes to feel
dignity when their children wear what
they receive:'
Now that winter is approaching,
Ribiat says she is looking for donations
of warm outerwear clothing. She also
will drive to people's homes to pick up
small pieces of furniture and kosher
food donations to bring to the Oak
Park Jewish community.
Ribiat strives to teach this need to
help others to her children.
"Tzedakah is an important Jewish
value I teach my children," she said.
"They are not doing [tzedakah] just
because they are being told, but they
themselves have seen the enjoyment
they give to others when they know
how much their donations of time and
possessions are appreciated:"
Her daughter, Avery, 14, volunteered
for two years leading up to her bat
mitzvah with Guardian Angel Animal
Rescue. Her children often accompany
her on her deliveries to Oak Park or to
deliver food baskets in Detroit through
the City Mission Church. Her son Eli,
11, gets great satisfaction working with
children with special needs through
Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield.
She not only has inspired her own
children to practice tzedakah, but
also the children in her synagogue,
Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield.
A few years ago, Ribiat established
a second Mitzvah Crib at Beth Ahm.
One Shabbat morning, Rachel Kahan,
then 12, noticed the crib outside the
sanctuary and asked Ribiat about it.
After a brief conversation, Kahan
decided she would establish another
Mitzvah Crib at Hillel Day School in
Farmington Hills in the years leading
up to her 2009 bat mitzvah. Kahan
now is 16 and a junior at Frankel
Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield.
"We have so much extra stuff that we
don't need," Kahan said. "They would
be put to better use by those who can't
afford to buy it for themselves7
Kahan hopes to establish a Mitzvah
Crib at the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield. If it comes into
being, it will be just one more step
in Ribiat's paying-it-forward way of
giving.
If you can donate winter clothing,
contact Ribiat at (248) 757-2819 or
sribiat277mi@comcast.net. ❑
Contact Stacy Gittleman at www.
stacylynngittleman.com to nominate
someone for Mentsh of the Month, which
runs every third week of the month.