Getting Into The Habit

In the age of anthrax threats and sinister emails, this is one piece of mail that people will be delighted to open.

Embossed in white lettering on the front of a black envelope are the words, “Three things you can do to honor the victims.” Inside, a cardboard charity box with the words, “Defy darkness with light. Do kindness beyond reason,” and a letter that begins: “On September 11th 2001, our world was changed forever.”

Glued to the bottom of the letter is a shiny penny.

The kit is part of a worldwide tzedakah campaign sponsored by the Shluchim Office and implemented through Chabad Houses around the country. Not everyone can build a monument or write a song to honor the victims. But the three easy steps illustrated in this kit are a challenge to every individual to make even a small, but daily effort to reach out to others: find a worthy cause to support; give charity every day; get a friend to do the same.

“We thought this is a very effective way to encourage a positive habit of giving and sharing in the aftermath of 9/11,” explains Rabbi Gedalya Shemtov, director of the Shluchim Office. The Shluchim Office, which is dedicated largely to developing creative and educational programming materials for the benefit of Shluchim, anticipates that a quarter million people nationwide, will have received this kit before the first anniversary of 9/11. The Shluchim Office is a division of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of Lubavitch.