This past Tisha B’Av afternoon, Solu volunteers were baking cakes – cakes! On a fast day!

They baked these cakes not for themselves, but for non-Jewish residents of the South Side, who were gathering for a free neighborhood cookout with MASK: Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killing.

Along with the steaming, delicious cakes, Solu members prepared veggie boxes, burgers, and snacks; kids decorated the food boxes with stickers. Several volunteers then delivered the food to a street corner in Englewood suffering from gun violence.

And they brought water balloons, which were a huge hit!

Why bake cakes on a fast day?

Why drive for an hour to deliver those cakes in miserable 93-degree heat?

To answer, we have to open the book of Yishayahu.

Our Mission

Solu’s mission statement is very simple.

It was crafted 2700 years ago, when the prophet Yishayahu railed against frumkeit without menschlichkeit. Hashem, he said, despised Jews for fasting without caring, for observing ritual halachot while ignoring ethical ones, like care for the poor:

“Do you call that a fast,

A day when G-d is favorable?…

הֲל֣וֹא זֶה֮ צ֣וֹם אֶבְחָרֵ֒הוּ֒ פַּתֵּ֙חַ֙ חַרְצֻבּ֣וֹת רֶ֔שַׁע

הַתֵּ֖ר אֲגֻדּ֣וֹת מוֹטָ֑ה וְשַׁלַּ֤ח רְצוּצִים֙ חָפְשִׁ֔ים וְכָל־מוֹטָ֖ה תְּנַתֵּֽקוּ׃

“No, this is the fast I desire:

To unlock chains of wickedness,

untie the cords of injustice,

let the oppressed go free,

and break off every yoke.

הֲל֨וֹא פָרֹ֤ס לָרָעֵב֙ לַחְמֶ֔ךָ וַעֲנִיִּ֥ים מְרוּדִ֖ים תָּ֣בִיא בָ֑יִת

כִּֽי־תִרְאֶ֤ה עָרֹם֙ וְכִסִּית֔וֹ וּמִבְּשָׂרְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תִתְעַלָּֽם׃

It is to share your bread with the hungry,

And to take the wretched poor into your home;

When you see the naked, to clothe them;

And not to ignore your own flesh.”

(Isaiah 58:5-7)

This summer, Solu volunteers fanned out across our city as agents of lovingkindness, answering Yishayahu’s call for observant Jews that make chesed a way of life — even on fast days.

We lived that chesed at a lily farm on the grounds of the Cook County Jail; in a gathering of youth with disabilities at a local JCC; in the apartment of a refugee family fleeing war; and yes, on a street corner riven by gun violence in Englewood.

We scoured acres of parkland for trash in West Rogers Park, learning about local trees along the way with the help of Dr. Rachel Novick.

We set up a Syrian refugee family’s apartment with HIAS, providing everything needed to stock an apartment – from pillows to pitas, toiletries, a TV, and a dining room table (picture below).

We learned the Torah of “loving your neighbor” with Mrs. Emma Katz, Director of NILI, the Women’s Initiative of YU Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago.

And we worked side by side with Yachad participants on an Ahahvat Chinam day – making breakfast for the homeless and gifts for local seniors, which we delivered with song and good cheer at the Park Plaza.

Scenes from Yachad-Solu “Ahavat Chinam Day”: Volunteers packed lunches for the homeless and delivered paper flower bouquets to Park Plaza seniors.

We live in challenging times. Poverty, hunger, and violence remain stubborn fixtures of our region. Acts of anti-Semitism are on the rise. And social division is rampant.

We at Solu believe the best “SOLU-tion” to all of these problems is action – specifically, doing chesed projects that take us out into the world, to break down stereotypes, bring us face-to-face with our neighbors, and help improve the life of our city. 

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