A lesson learned

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005 | 7:58 a.m.

Brightly colored wrapping paper covered the floor, and a giant Santa Claus gift bag stood in a corner Tuesday evening as children attending Midbar Kodesh Temple's religious school cheerfully wrapped Christmas presents.

The Conservative Jewish congregation collected nearly 80 gifts for Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer of Southern Nevada. The gifts will go to five children suffering from cancer, most of them Christian, according to parent organizer Rachel Kline, whose husband, Ron Kline, is a pediatric oncologist.

The community service activity was a double lesson in Jewish ethics -- the children learned about the importance of helping others and the importance of respecting other faiths, said Mira Slobody, educational director of the temple's pre-school and religious school.

In what is often coined a "season of giving," the annual project provides a unique opportunity to drive home the values the students study each week.

"You can teach and teach about Jewish values and mitzvahs (good deeds), but we try to do hands-on activities as much as we can," Slobody said.

The religious congregation is one of dozens across the Las Vegas Valley emphasizing community service this holiday season, as many churches and synagogues attempt to live out their faith by giving to others.

Valley Outreach Synagogue, for instance, sent Hanukkah presents to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and several Christian churches collected toys for needy children.

Victory Christian Center and Central Christian Church are both adopting hundreds of needy families for Christmas. Central is also hosting Christmas banquets this weekend for seriously ill children and adults, children who have lost loved ones and the homeless.

The emphasis at Midbar Kodesh was on doing a mitzvah, and in the end, it didn't matter if those receiving the gifts celebrated Hanukkah, Christmas or even Kwanzaa for that matter, Slobody said.

Other Jewish groups in the valley have similarly reached out to those in need during Christian holidays, such as Barbara Kenig's "E Bunny" group that has delivered Easter baskets to children at local homeless missions for years.

Jews believe in a concept known as tikkun olam, that it is the responsibility of every Jewish person to do their part to repair the world, "no matter how small it is," Slobody said.

"You know that old saying, if everyone does their part, the world would be a better place," Slobody said.

Each grade at the Hebrew school adopted a child cancer patient their same age, Kline said. The students each received a list of what that child liked and what she wanted for the holidays, and then the students were able to pick out a present themselves.

"I wanted the kids to know there are exact kids like them who are in trouble," Kline said.

With the high medical costs associated with cancer treatment and the stress treatment places on the families, many of the Candlelighter children might not have much of a Christmas without outside help.

"The parents have to decide whether they get surgery or presents, and we get them presents so they can have both," Kline's 10-year-old daughter, Ariel, said. Each child will receive about 15 to 20 gifts.

As they happily wrapped presents, the students said it didn't matter to them that they were helping other children enjoy a holiday they didn't celebrate.

Every kid deserves a holiday, especially when they are sick, several children said.

"It is kind of weird that we are helping people celebrate Christmas from a Jewish temple, but it's just their religion," Zoe Baron, 10, said.

Christina Littlefield may be reached at 259-8813 or at clittle@ lasvegassun.com.