Union Gospel Mission gets a Jewish Christmas gift

• 'Tikkun olam'

Edna Tasten receives a Christmas dinner from Danny Friedman as David Tasten watches. About 20 volunteers associated with Temple Israel helped serve Christmas dinner at Union Gospel Mission on Sunday. Several of the volunteers wore caps like Freidman?s, with the Hebrew phrase ?Tikkun olam? written on them. The phrase means ?repairing the world,? and has come to connote social action or community service. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

• Volunteers

Volunteers Toby Sillanpa (from the left), Mike Baddin, Suzanne Ransom and Jennifer Baddin dish up trays of food for servers to bring to diners at Union Gospel Mission Sunday afternoon. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

• In the kitchen

Volunteers Suzanne Ransom (from the left), Danny Friedman, Alana Friedman and Tom Griggs visit in the Union Gospel Mission on Sunday afternoon before serving dinner. (Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com)

About 20 volunteers from Temple Israel gathered at the Union Gospel Mission in Duluth on Sunday afternoon to serve Christmas dinner and carry on a tradition that?s been 30-plus years in the making. But one familiar face was missing this year.

Shirley Garber, a temple member who helped launch the volunteer initiative with her late husband, Jack, died in September at age 90. The couple operated a catering business that long held the contract at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. And while she had not been up to working at the event the past couple years, Garber still always attended, said Tom Griggs, who now organizes the dinner with his wife, Pam.

?I feel that she?s still up there watching down on us,? said Pam Griggs of Garber Sunday.

The Griggs were tapped by Garber about five or six years ago to oversee the event.

?She was a very smart woman. She knew you need to have a successor plan,? Tom Griggs said.

Gary Gordon, another volunteer from the temple, said those lending a hand Sunday were demonstrating their commitment to ?tikkun olam,? a Hebrew phrase that translates roughly into the idea of repairing the world through community service.

Judy Gordon joined her husband at the event, as she has for several years running. She said by having temple volunteers step

forward, many of the Union Gospel Mission?s staff and regular volunteers can take the day off.

?We see this as an opportunity to give back and allow Christians to spend Christmas with their families,? she said.

Despite the volunteer help, James Bogie showed up for work at the mission Sunday to make sure all ran smoothly. But he said staff was quite thankful for the holiday help.

?We?re here and open 365 days per year. It?s real nice for some of our staff to have a little break,? he said.

Dinner guests at the mission also said they were grateful for the spread, which included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, corn and pie. Several temple members came in Saturday to begin preparations for the meal.

So many volunteers offered their services Sunday that it was sometimes difficult to keep them occupied. Judy Gordon said volunteers who weren?t busy with other chores were encouraged to sit down and visit with guests, too.

?To be alone on Christmas can be a sad feeling,? she said.

Frank Effinger didn?t seem particularly perturbed about being on his own for the holidays, however.

?To me, Christmas ain?t anything but another day of the year,? he said, as he tucked into dinner at the Union Gospel Mission.

Still, Effinger expressed thanks for the food and companionship the dinner provided. ?Everyone needs some company,? he said.

Nori Pribble, another Union Gospel Mission regular, said that while many at Sunday?s dinner didn?t have relatives with whom to spend the holidays, they had each other.

?We?re all family here,? Pribble said. ?We care about one another.?

With Sunday falling on the sixth day of Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday overlaps with Christmas this year. But Gary Gordon said most Hanukkah festivities take place at night, not during the afternoon hours, so there was little sacrifice to make in temple members offering their services Christmas day.

Tags: volunteer groups,?local,?news,?religion,?downtown,?duluth

Source: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/218212/

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