items of interest

with contributions from Oryana Kaufman, Kim Hyun-chul, Phuong Ly, Dean Salter

"When Someone Does Something Hateful to you, the usual reaction is to hate back. But Shmuel Greenbaum, who lost his wife, Shoshana, in a horrifying terror attack is, surprisingly, doing everything he can to make others feel better. Shoshana was one of more than 100 victims killed or injured in the bombing at the Sbarro restaurant in central Jerusalem in August 2001. The couple, who had only been married 15 months, was visiting Israel from New York. Shoshana was expecting their first child when she was killed. In the face of such tragic loss, Greenbaum's response has been, to say the least, unexpected. 'Kindness has been my personal response to terror,' he remarks with a mild smile. And not only his own personal response; he has also established a project to encourage others to respond to the ills of the world by performing acts of kindness as well.

"In the days following his wife's death, Greenbaum refused to allow himself to get angry. Pondering the question of how to deal with the results of terror, he came to the conclusion that honoring the victims and their families, volunteering, and donating money wasn't enough. What was missing, he concluded, was something that had been suggested by President Bush in his State of the Union address, when he urged people to perform acts of kindness. That prompted Greenbaum, a computer engineer, to establish an organization in his wife's memory called Partners in Kindness, in order to encourage people around the world to an act of kindness each day. It has been furthered by his website—PartnersInKindness.org—which now has more than 2,000 subscribers in six continents. People report acts of kindness, and Greenbaum reports them anonymously, to encourage others to do the same.... He firmly believes that doing acts of kindness, like participating in music, art, sports, or any other discipline, can be learned with practice, training and lots of encouragement, and he posts real-life stories on his website to inspire others."

Oryana Kaufman
The Jerusalem Post
"A kind of response"
June 13, 2003

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