kiva lending team

hi all,

i have made a lending team on kiva.org for team chessed.

for those of you who don't know what kiva.org is, you should.

first of all, because it is the coolest thing in the whole wide world.
second of all, because it's an incredible opportunity to make a substantial impact in lives of others.

basically, you can lend any amount of money (from $25) you want to a variety of causes, and the idea is that they will repay you once their business gets off the ground.

anyway, there is very little risk in doing this--the idea is that you get paid back. and meanwhile, instead of sitting in a bank, your money makes a huge impact in someone's life, as well as empowers them to help themselves.

the rambam says that the highest level of tzedaka is to help someone be mefarnes him/herself. kiva gives a safe and easy way to do this.

i urge you to join kiva.org and make a loan. and definitely join team chessed's team.

oakwood cemetery--today and into the future

we went with a group of eleven uchicago students and six (?) 12-14 year olds from hebrew school to clean up oakwood cemetery today. we got some really great work done, but we also realized how easy it is to go there and keep doing work there pretty much anytime. the cemetery is beautiful and absolutely rich with so many different threads of history. it is a pleasant walk from campus in the springtime, and i would highly encourage people to put together groups and continue going at other times. if anyone would like more info on what doing this would entail (it's pretty simple--it's intuitive once you get there) or how to get there or anything else, PLEASE do not hesitate to email me. and check out the pics on facebook. it's worth taking the walk over there just to see it alone.

thanks to everyone who came today. i hope you all drank lots of water when you got back.