Your wedding is a perfect time to spread the love and happiness you feel with others. This is generally a time where you both feel so blessed and fortunate. So why not set the tone for your future life together by adding good deeds, charity and chessed to your wedding itself? Here are some specific ways to add chessed to your big day in Israel. We’d love to hear your ideas too!
1. Donate your wedding flowers through Israel Blooms
Just think – all of the beautiful flowers that made your wedding extra special can be re-purposed and used to brighten someone else’s day. Israel Blooms is a non-profit flower donation service that re-purposes flowers from weddings and donates them to hospitals, old age homes, and others whose day could use some brightening. Karen Levin and Carla Sprung, Olim from the US, started Israel Blooms after going to many events and smachot in Israel and noticing that the beautiful flowers brought to add so much to the event, were often discarded right after the simcha.
Get in touch with them here to learn how to donate the flowers from your wedding!
2. Donate leftover food to Leket Israel
Ever wonder what happens to all of the delicious food from a wedding? Well, usually it’s thrown right into the garbage. Leket Israel runs a program called Match Made in Heaven, which aims to combat this waste of food in favor of helping the needy of Israel. Through the program, couples can donate the surplus food from their wedding to those in need. After tireless work from Leket Israel, Knesset approved the Food Donation Act to encourage the rescue of extra food. This allows and even encourages caterers to donate leftover food from the event.
Leket takes care of the entire process and will come directly to your venue to collect the food from your wedding. Leket can also print cards for your tables at the wedding, letting guests know that their leftover food will be put to good use.
To learn how you can donate the extra food from your wedding to charity, check out Leket’s Match Made in Heaven program.
3. Host your engagement party or sheva brachot at Shalva
The Shalva National Center, “is dedicated to providing transformative care for individuals with disabilities, empowering their families and promoting social inclusion.” Shalva provides services for thousands of people of all ages with disabilities. Services include therapies, recreational activities, social activities, employment & independent living training, and support for families. Shalva’s new campus is the perfect place to host a sheva brachot or engagement party, while also supporting an amazing cause! Shalva’s event hall, which can hold up to 130 people, comes equipped with lighting, sound, catering, and a projector.
To reach out about hosting your event at Shalva, click here.
4. Donate your wedding dress to a gemach
There are gemachs all over Israel that accept donated wedding dresses and either lend them out for free to needy Kallot or sell/rent them to raise money for a good cause. After all of the time and effort that goes into creating your stunning wedding dress, what better way to pay it forward than to help other brides who may be less fortunate?
There are wedding dress gemachs all over Israel, but check out Ruach Nashit, Nishmat, and Yad LKalah for a few examples.
5. Buy sheva brachot cards, tfila l’chatan, tfila l’kallah or a wedding guide from the Bet Shemesh Gemach
The Givat Sharett Chesed Committee of Bet Shemesh, established in 1992, sells many wedding items, including a helpful and extensive Wedding Guide!
Here are some of the items for sale:
*The Wedding Guide- everything you need to know about making a wedding in Israel. The Guide is 64-pages, in English, and the 5th edition has just been published. Highly recommended! 95 NIS
*Sheva Brachot Cards- Beautifully illustrated and laminated cards for those reciting sheva brachot to read under the chuppah. Every card is large print. 40 NIS
*Tefillah for the chatan. 10 NIS
*Tefillah for the kallah. 15 NIS
*Tefillah for the couple. To hand out to guests to be said at the bedekin or chuppah. Sold in packets of one hundred. 60 NIS
*Tefillah for the mother of the chatan. 15 NIS
* Tefillah for the mother of the kallah. 15 NIS
Delivery throughout Israel. 20 NIS
All proceeds go towards projects helping the needy of Beit Shemesh. Each year The Chesed Committee assists close to 1000 individuals and families in need in Beit Shemesh. All of these items are available via The Givat Sharett Chesed Committee Simcha Gemach in memory of Faigel bat Tuvia Nisan.
To order, email simchagemach@gmail.com.
6. Add volunteering to your honeymoon
In almost every destination in the world there are ways to incorporate good deeds into your trip! Try looking up the local soup kitchen, or look online for lists of charities in the area where you’ll be for your honeymoon.
7. Buy wedding benchers from Smachot.co.il, where part of the proceeds go to Amutat Shekel
Smachot.co.il sells personalized and colorful benchers for every simcha, including weddings. Smachot has partnered with Amutat Shekel and donates part of its proceeds to the organization. Amutat Shekel is Israel’s leading organization for inclusion of people with disabilities in the community. Amutat Shekel offers services to thousands of individuals in the areas of vocational training, independent living, therapy, social activities and more. Enhance your wedding day and the prayers of your guests by donating part of the proceeds of your benchers to Amutat Shekel through Smachot!
Check out some of Smachot’s beautiful wedding benchers here.
8. Visit an old age home in your wedding gown on the morning of your wedding
Brighten the day of the elderly in your area by showing up at an old age facility in your wedding gown to hand out flowers, take pics or ask for marriage advice! Elderly people love to see young people thriving and happy and especially love to share in those moments.
Have other ideas of how to share your special day with those in need? Let us know in the comments below!