The nation is slowly recovering from the shock
and suffering of terror. We volunteered our time
to rescue and recover bodies. We gave
encouragement and thanks to the rescuers. We
honored the victims and their families. We
donated our money generously to the cause.
But something was missing -- all across the
country, Americans were asking "what more can we
do?" The answer was suggested by the President,
in his State of the Union Address, when he urged
the American people to perform acts of kindness.
Kindness has been my personal response to terror.
My wife, Shoshana, was murdered by a suicide
bomber. She was one of over 100 victims that
were killed or injured at 2:00 P.M. on August 9,
2001 at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem.
In the past few months, I started an organization
in my wife's memory, called Partners In Kindness.
The organization's aim is to encourage people
around the world to do an act of kindness each
day. Our first project is called A Daily Dose of
Kindness. Each day people report acts of kindness
to me and I report anonymously to the list what
people have done.
These stories give you ideas and the urge to act
yourself. It is pretty contagious. In just two
months, we had 300 participants in four
countries. Seven years later we had 1.5 million participants through
hundreds of print and online publications worldwide.
It is tempting to believe that people cannot make
themselves better. Either you are lucky enough to
be born to a family where kindness is valued or
you are not. The reality is that everyone can
learn how to increase their kindness skills.
Kindness is like music, art, sports or any other
discipline -- it can only be mastered with
practice, training, and lots and lots of
encouragement. That is what
PartnersInKindness.org is trying to promote.
Partners In Kindness has six goals:
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