“Do you want to be a banana?”
“We’re looking for pirate costumes.”
“Where are the ‘Where is Waldo?’ costumes?”
“There’s ketchup and mustard, kids,”
“Mommy, look, a unicorn!”
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These comments would certainly sound unusual in the aisles of a department store, but they were apropos at the pre-opening of the Keren Reva Costume Gemach on Sunday, February 10.
“Mishnichnas Adar marbim besimcha – When Adar comes in, increase happiness.” For six years, this has been the mission of Tzilah Raczkowski and her dedicated volunteers. “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to bring simcha to the community,” said Raczkowski, who started the costume gemach in memory of her mother-in- law Reva Raczkowski (Sorah Rivka bas Yehuda Areyh Leib), “who got much nachas and pleasure out of children.”
And on the first-ever Costume Gemach Pre-Opening Day, Tzilah and the members of her “village” helped parents and children choose from a selection of over 1,000 Purim costumes. Last year, the gemach opened for the first time on a Sunday afternoon. In the excitement to get their first look at the costumes, over 100 families came through over the course of two hours. It was full of simcha but also full of people. This, Tzilah says, inspired the “brainstorm” of holding a special pre-opening this year.
Reservations for this event were taken on a new website designed by volunteer Leah Chazzan, with a link for time-slots from 1 to 6:30 p.m. Admission was a $25 donation to Chai Lifeline Mid-Atlantic in addition to the normal gemach rental fee and JCN deposit. The pre-opening sold out fast and raised over $800 for Chai Lifeline Mid-Atlantic. And the effort has been noticed. Rachel Amster struggled with the crowds last year but says, “This year, it’s very well set up. Every few steps, someone directs us.”
Those people directing the gemach patrons are part of the team of volunteers Tzilah has gathered to bring this chesed to life. Her most important volunteers, although they prefer to deflect any credit, are her family members. “She really has a great group of people around her,” said Zvi Raczkowski, who supports his wife and assists with all sorts of technical details. Their daughter Sorah Rivka, a fourth grader in Bais Yaakov, is also Tzilah’s partner in just about every aspect of the gemach.
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The costume gemach is housed in the home of Rabbi Daniel and Yocheved Rose. Three years ago, when the Roses moved from a Pickwick apartment to their new home, they were amazed at the spaciousness of their basement and wanted to use this area for a chesed. After hosting a wheelchair gemach for a little while, Yocheved had a new idea.
She was a dedicated patron of Tzilah’s costume gemach but noted that its previous location was too small to accommodate the hundreds of people who visited it. It occurred to her that her basement might provide the perfect setting. Tzilah couldn’t have been happier.
This is the second year that the costume gemach has been in the house, and the Raczkowskis have almost become part of the family. “For three months a year, they move into our house,” says Yocheved. “They know what I make for breakfast and supper every day!”
Rabbi Rose, who is the Assistant Rabbi at Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion, says that the gemach provides their children with months of mitzvos and free entertainment at the same time. “Hashem gave us a beautiful home, and we wanted to fill it with Torah and chesed,” he said, “Having such a happy chesed is an added bonus.”
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Work on the gemach begins in December, according to Yocheved, and Tzilah puts in “hundreds of hours” to set it up each year. But Tzilah gives credit back to the Roses, along with her village of volunteers from the community, many of whom are middle school students.
Sara Lea Wetstein and her daughter Miriam, a high school student at Bnos Yisrael, are part of this great group. The mother/daughter team set up an online database to keep track of costumes borrowed and returned. So instead of papers to fill out, information is entered on on red tablets the volunteers carry from room to room. This technology makes the gemach more efficient.
At the pre-opening, registration took place upstairs, where Shoshie Glazer accepted the donations and gave out paper wristbands. “I do this because it’s a meaningful chesed,” said Shoshie, “and it definitely adds to the simcha of Purim.”
Downstairs, the sense of simcha increased. Costumes were everywhere! Ttwo volunteers from Bais Yaakov’s eighth grade checked for wristbands. Later, they accepted payment for the costumes.
The first room held dress-up for infants and toddlers. Its array of tiny colorful costumes on hangers could raise anyone’s simcha level. “Wait until you see the Big Room,’” said Leah Abramson who, with Gila Biegacz, was helping parents of the youngest set.
Next door was the Kalla and Queen Room. Some of the gowns were hand-me-downs donated by the JCN/Gevuras Yarden Children’s Gemach. In this room, girls found ruffles, lace, and crowns to light up their faces on Purim.
The Big Room houses most of the costumes. Before the pre-opening, boys from the Baltimore Chesed League climbed up to the Roses’ attic and brought down 57 bins and 26 huge bags full of costumes. After Purim, one of the Baltimore Chesed League teams will return the boxes and bags to the attic for storage.
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Here are some of the comments overheard from parents and children during the pre-opening:
“I never thought I would have a costume like this,” said a young girl from Cheder Chabad, dressed as the Statue of Liberty. “It’s sparkly and nice!” But she was tripping over it, so Shainy, a fifth-grader from Bais Yaakov, offered to hem it for her.
This is Shainy’s second year volunteering. Last year, she was assigned to the Kallah and Queen Room. This year she chose that room on her own. ”It’s fun to help people get their costumes,” she said.
Devorah, a seventh-grader at Bnos Yisrael, said, “I’m very excited about being able to find a costume.” Tehilla, her sister, a third-grader at Bnos, smiled in agreement.
Shimi, a third-grader from TA, was dressed up as Donald Duck. He said he chose this costume because his family is dressing up as Disney characters.
Tzvi, a fifth-grader at TA, wore a black-and-white polka-dotted clown costume with a wide hoop at the bottom. “A clown is cool,” he said. “And the circus is fun.”
One middle school student chose to be a farmer with his sisters and brothers dressing as fruits and vegetables. His sister Sora, a sixth-grader at Bais Yaakov, was beaming as a banana. “The kids are very happy,” said their mother, a loyal customer at the gemach for several years. “Mrs. Raczkowski was great in helping us put it together. We’re excited to have a gemach like this in Baltimore.” With her family’s costumes chosen, she’s now thinking about shalach manos related to the farm theme. “Maybe we’ll do apples and honey,” she said.
Another parent, Mrs. Tarshish, shared, “I let my kids choose whatever they like. I just want them to be happy. Tzilah is doing a magnificent job, giving of herself in an incredible way.”
Judy Landman, a preschool teacher at TA, said, “The gemach takes the stress out of going to Party City and spending a lot of money.” She added that she knows Tzilah from high school, where she helped backstage with lighting for Bais Yaakov shows. Mrs. Landman notes that the gemach has so many choices for children. “To encourage their imaginations is a tremendous thing,” she said, “especially in Adar.”
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As for Tzilah, she was where she likes to be – backstage, behind the scenes – and putting her supporting cast of volunteers in the spotlight. “I’m just sorry that all the names of our many volunteers couldn’t be listed,” she said. “We appreciate all of our volunteers and their efforts.” Here are some of them:
Chana Masha, a sixth-grader at Bais Yaakov, who worked last year as well, helps locate costumes. She came back because “I really enjoyed it.”
Yona, a seventh-grader at TA, said that he volunteers to do chesed. “I like to help people find what they need.”
Dina Sora, an eighth-grader at Bais Yaakov, acts as a cashier in the Big Room. She started four years ago when her teacher asked for volunteers.
Bais Yaakov eighth-grader, Nechama, has also volunteered for four years. “I love the excitement and simcha of the kids when they get the right costume,” she said.
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That excitement was just getting started at the pre-opening of the Keren Reva Costume Gemach in Adar I. Now the public is invited to join in the fun of finding costumes for Purim. No registration is required.
Starting on February 24, the gemach will be open on Sundays from 3-5 p.m., Tuesday evenings from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m., and motzei Shabbos from 8:15 to 9:15 p.m. (On March 16, it plans to open from 9:15 to 10:15 p.m.). The cost of each costume is $4.00 with a deposit of $5.00 made out to the Jewish Caring Network. The deposit is voided when the costume comes back on time. Many choose to leave their deposit as a donation. Last year, the gemach raised over $2,000 for the Jewish Caring Network.
For more information, call 443-858-3615, go to www.KerenReva.com, or email kerenreva@gmail.com, where you can also view a March 2015 Where What When article that tells how the gemach got started.
The author thanks Tzilah Raczkowski and Rabbi Daniel Rose for their contributions to this article.
