A Day of Caring Fetes Cultural Ties

To commemorate Mitzvah ‘97, a day of good deeds, volunteers from a Latin American Jewish community-service group served dinner to about 150 poor children Sunday at the Guadalupe Community Center.

The dinner, hosted by B’nai B’rith Chapter Reunion, was one of 100 community-service projects performed by 3,000 volunteers from 37 synagogues and organizations in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Antelope, Conejo and Simi valleys as part of the day of caring sponsored by the Jewish Federation/ Valley Alliance of West Hills.

The regional outreach effort included projects to benefit children and their families, the infirm, disabled, homeless and poor as well as public schools and the environment, organizers said.

At the Guadalupe Center, the daylong gathering was not only a day of fun for underprivileged children, but an opportunity for B’nai B’rith members to become acquainted with the mostly Latino Catholics served by the social-service agency run by Catholic Charities.

The B’nai B’rith chapter is a reunion of 55 families living in the San Fernando Valley whose relatives fled religious persecution in Europe and settled in Latin America, said Ariel Kopelioff, chapter executive vice president.

“By coming here today, we are trying to show that everyone is equal and that there is no difference because of religion or economic power,” added Kopelioff, whose grandparents immigrated from Russia to Argentina in the early 1900s.

The Jewish and Catholic participants celebrated their common cultural ties by watching an Argentine folk dance performance, listening to traditional Jewish music and sharing a meal of American hamburgers.

The spirit of goodwill also was apparent among those who benefited from the B’nai B’rith chapter’s offering.

“Our coming together is a show of unity and diversity,” said Anastasia Rose, an administrator at Guadalupe. “It goes beyond religious doctrine and dogma. It’s people caring about people. We feel very blessed to have them as our angels.”