On Thursday, Jan. 4, Epstein Hillel School held its first Mitzvah Day in memory of Arthur J. Epstein, z”l, the namesake of the school. During his life, Arthur made it a priority to help people and to encourage others to help as well. During the day’s opening assembly, Head of School Amy Gold spoke to the students. “Arthur often said, ‘People don’t know how good they will feel when they give.’ I want you to know that feeling. I also want you to truly know who Arthur was and why our school is named after him. I want us to honor his memory by doing good deeds in our community, just as he would have done.”
So, on what would have been Arthur’s 87th birthday, all EHS students and faculty members participated in tikkun olam (repairing the world) through service projects supporting the work of nonprofit partners around the North Shore and Boston. Each grade was visited by a representative from a partner organization who shared their organization’s mission and the challenges facing the people they serve. Several of these partners were personally connected to Arthur Epstein, including Salem Hospital’s Epstein Center for Behavioral Health, to which Arthur Epstein gave a $5 million gift in 2017 in memory of his late wife, Eunice.
Roxanne Ruppel, president and COO of Salem Hospital, visited Epstein Hillel School during Mitzvah Day in order to see these service projects in action. The seventh and eighth grade students created patterned puzzles for the patients at the Behavioral Health Center. The puzzles will provide a calming activity for the patients, a way to unplug, particularly in the evenings before going to sleep. Speaking to the students, Ruppel said, “I wanted to take the time to come here and say thank you for giving your time and your energy and your effort to this great, creative work that is going to help our patients. We’re going to bring it into the Epstein Behavioral Health Center, and it’s going to provide comfort to our patients.”
The other service projects included making fleece blankets for babies in the NICU and sun-catchers for the pediatric patients at Mass General Hospital for Children; putting together warm winter bundles for families in need through Jewish Family & Children’s Service; creating wall murals for the pediatric patients at the Epstein Center for Behavioral Health; potting succulent plants for elderly residents at Chelsea Jewish Lifecare; and creating snack bags for Beverly Bootstraps for individuals facing food insecurity.
When asked about this special day, second grade student Daniel Simons said, “I felt extraordinary planting succulents for Chelsea Jewish Lifecare. My heart felt good.”
Sixth grade student Bella Bacon added, “It was uplifting to hear about what the different organizations do for their communities. It felt good to help others.”
At the closing assembly for the day, students met special guests Jonathan Epstein and Lauren Rubin, two of Arthur Epstein’s three children. Jonathan, who visited the school in person, thanked the students and shared some personal stories about his father. He emphasized how important EHS was to his father. Lauren spoke to students over Zoom from her home in Florida. “Your projects were so inspiring and exactly what he would’ve hoped from the younger generation coming up, learning about generosity and caring for the community and caring for others,” she said.
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