Jewish Groups Devote Day to Good Works

The kids at the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley did not know quite what to expect when members of a B’nai B’rith chapter gave them a barbecue. Many of the kids, who are of Latino or African American heritage, had little knowledge of the Jewish faith.

They certainly didn’t expect them to speak Spanish.

“Actually, they were surprised a few of them spoke Spanish and that helped,” said Adam DeSantis, a program director for the Pacoima-based club. The barbecue, at El Cariso Regional Park in Sylmar, was sponsored by the B’nai B’rith chapter as part of the second annual Mitzvah Day, during which 25 Valley-area synagogues and organizations carried out charitable projects.

The 2-year-old Reunion chapter is made up of Jews who emigrated from Latin American countries and settled in the Valley. Their own children, brought to the event, quickly hit it off with the kids from Pacoima and began skateboarding together at the park, DeSantis said.

“There’s no difference between children,” said Ariel Kopelioff, the B’nai B’rith Reunion chapter vice president of community services. While Kopelioff’s 12-year-old son joined in some soccer and football, his wife helped with other children’s games.

Coincidentally, this chapter of the Boys & Girls Club was founded by another B’nai B’rith organization 30 years ago.

Other events on Sunday for Mitzvah Day--sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation Valley Alliance--included yardwork at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, feeding the homeless in Glendale and taking children from a battered women’s shelter in Glendale to the Los Angeles Zoo.

Organizers hope Sunday’s Mitzvah Day activities would spark a connection among community groups that would last throughout the year. “After today, I would personally like to work closer with them,” DeSantis said. “It’s obviously a success. These kids will be talking about this for weeks to come.”