Leeds Jewish Housing Association held a Mitzvah Day event in conjunction with Moortown Baptist Church. With the theme for this year’s Mitzvah Day being ‘Stronger Together’, the event was an opportunity for members of the Jewish community to come together with people from other faiths with the joint aim of building friendships and focusing on shared values of charity and social action. Moortown Baptist Church hold a weekly Beacon café on Monday mornings, where anyone can pop in for a hot drink and a biscuit or piece of cake and enjoy a warm welcome. The Church also run a food bank called The Lord’s Pantry, with items distributed as part of the café.
The Mitzvah Day event attracted visitors from across the area, including The Iqra Centre in the Lingfields and the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board, who donated Israeli-style food courtesy of Leeds Kosher Kitchen.
Simon Phillips, Community Engagement Officer for Leeds Jewish Housing Association said: “Mitzvah Day is an opportunity to promote the Jewish idea of charity and acts of kindness. Although every day is a Mitzvah Day, coming together with our neighbours at the church allowed us to promote the importance of making the world a better and happier place for everyone. I’m also keen to create a North Leeds Interfaith Network, and this could prove the springboard for future initiatives in the area”.
Organisations in the Leeds Jewish community also marked Mitzvah Day with various ‘Every day is a Mitzvah’ social media graphics.
Left to right – Claudie Ineson (Volunteer Manager, Leeds Jewish Welfare Board); Victoria Sandler (Acting PR & Marketing Manager, Leeds Jewish Welfare Board); Stuart Diamond (Chief Executive, Mitzvah Day); Simon Phillips (Community Engagement Officer, LJHA)
Shelley Dring, Minister, Moortown Baptist Church
