When seven students arrived at Hillel around noon on Sunday, they received a goodie bag filled with T tokens, trash bags, markers, and paper. Next they were instructed to complete as many acts of kindness as possible before they returned to Hillel at 2:30 p.m.
Building on the basic philosophy that those in Hillel should serve others, the random acts of kindness volunteer activity was held for the first time on Sunday. The event was spurred by a project introduced this year called Tzedek Hillel, a social justice and action initiative to encourage community service and involvement.
The students opted to walk to the T station in Davis, rather than taking the shuttle, and came across workers repainting a mural near Warren and Leonard streets. They decided to go over and speak with the workers to say that they appreciated what they were doing and write them thank you notes.
Next, the students slipped a thank you note under the glass to the operator at the T token booth. They placed coins in vending machines along the way, so people would be pleasantly surprised to find their soda or candy already paid for.
The students purposely dropped "lucky" pennies on the ground heads-up, because some people are superstitious about stumbling upon a penny face-down. In Harvard Square, they dropped money and notes of encouragement that read "Good job" or "You're doing great," to the numerous street performers.
Upon encountering a homeless woman asleep on a bench, they left a neatly placed stack of coins nearby for her to discover when she awoke. In a parking lot, they left notes on people's cars, such as "Have a good day" or "Hope your day was fun." The students spent time chatting with police officers and telling them that they appreciate all their work. The students added to their kind gestures by picking up trash throughout the entire trip. They simply spent a lot of time being friendly by smiling and talking with people.
People reacted to the kindness displayed by the students in various ways.
"Some people may have thought we were crazy, but everyone smiled," said co-organizer Mimi Feldman, a junior. "We didn't get to see other people's reactions," such as with the recipients of the vending machine kindness and the street performers not knowing who left the note, "but that was interesting because part of doing an act of kindness is not expecting something in return."
"It seemed like the beginning of a process because these are things that you are capable of doing all the time. Now everyday you can start being more conscious of your environment and those around you," she said.
"It was a very rewarding experience to help others anonymously," freshman Michelle Krengel said.
This event was planned in conjunction with Koach, a college outreach program for conservative Judaism run by the United Synagogue Group of Conservative Judaism. Rabbi Winick, a Shabbat scholar and the head of Koach, gave a lecture after Friday's Shabbat services and led a discussion on the importance of social action from the Jewish perspective. Winick emphasized the need to get out into the community and put ideas into action, which produced further impetus for the activity held on Sunday.
Upcoming Hillel Social Action Committee events include preparing and delivering sandwiches to homeless shelters this month, making and delivering dinner to homebound AIDS patients in November, and hosting a Hanukkah party in December for a Jewish group of mentally disabled people from the Boston area.
Although only seven people participated in Sunday's program, the small number made it easy for the participants to travel in a group together. The students were "very enthusiastic and excited; they really got into it," Feldman said. Senior Neil Tow and sophomore Jonathan Dworkin also organized the event.
Dworkin said the purpose of the day was "to take the time to do things you normally wouldn't do. It really makes a difference for a lot of people and I didn't realize that until Sunday."
Feldman agreed. "[Maybe it] didn't change anyone's life, but it did make a difference."
