Mending the World

Yesterday I bumped into a mention of the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam, which means “mending the world.” It’s a Jewish belief, with a lot of meanings and history, but the one I am most familiar with is the importance of doing good works to make the world better. I love the translation, and the idea.

And the world could certainly use a lot of mending today. Yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti has left uncountable numbers of dead and injured. Even aid groups who were already in the country are struggling with their own losses, of facilities and personnel. Rene Preval, Haiti’s president, was blunt: “Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed. There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them.”

I’m typing this on a laptop, sitting on my comfortable bed in a warm house. Downstairs my mom is cooking dinner for her family, and there’s a fire in the wood stove keeping us toasty. We have a roof and food and clean water, and we’re healthy and prosperous.

So here’s what I’m doing.

I am donating 50% of my profits from January sales of the October Leaves Fingerless Mitts. I’m incredibly lucky, because not only am I prosperous and safe tonight, but I have this little pattern out there in the world that people love and are willing to purchase with their own hard-earned money. So I am going to share that luck with people who desperately need it tonight. On January 31 I will tally up my sales for the month and I am going to send that money to Doctors Without Borders. I will let you all know what it works out to, of course, when I make that donation.

If you’ve already bought October Leaves and you want to chip in, this would be a great excuse to try out Rav’s new gift feature, by the bye.
And if you’d like to pitch in, faithful reader, but you’re not on Ravelry, (and why not, Ravelry is amazing) you can follow this link to purchase.

Why do I do this? I’m a knitter. I love being a knitter. Even before the Yarn Harlot birthed the idea of Knitters Without Borders, we’ve been giving our time and our money and our knitting to people who need it. I’m proud to stand up and take my turn in a very small way in this amazing community of givers.

And another reason? I’m a New Yorker. I know the feeling of watching the sky fall down, and the entire world holding out its hands for us to lean on. My turn to hold out my hands. It’s as simple as that. My turn to mend.

And, but this goes without being said, I love you guys. Stay safe.