Third shipment update

Dealing with Adath Israel is turning out to be a lot more complicated than I had expected. The books still haven't been mailed, because apparently everything hinges on my $91.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, with my other volunteering, work, getting more books, and an illness, so it took me a whole 16 days to put my cheque in the mail. I've certainly been that late sending off cheques before, and I've never had anyone refuse to deal with me based on that, but then we are talking about dentists and other well-known founts of generosity. I should have known that a charitable endeavour cannot afford to show any lenience.

I guess I had innocently assumed that Adath Israel would not crumple to the ground if they waited a couple of weeks for $91, but that's because I haven't been dealing with the organized Jewish community lately.

It would have been great to be able to involve the organized Jewish community in my project, and to reduce my mailing costs, but it is just not worth it. My sanity, which supports my ability to live a generous life of tikkun olam, is worth a whole lot more than that.

I am picking up the books from Adath Israel on Sunday, and am shipping them to the Negev by Canada Post. It will probably cost almost twice as much (and for me, these amounts can actually make a difference between paying the rent on time or not). However, I have learned a valuable lesson about dealing with the organized Jewish community in this city, and who can put a price on that?

Update:
I want to belong to a community. I believe this is a natural human impulse, and it would make it easier for me to do the good things I want to do -- like, say, sending more books to more needy schools in Israel. I was so thrilled to find Ve'ahavta, a place where I can provide practical help to those who need it, without supporting causes I find appalling. But the rest of the organized Jewish community is so insular, so unwelcoming, so judgemental, that it's difficult for me -- a Jew; a supporter of Israel; someone knowledgeable about Judaism, Israel, Zionism, etc. -- to look at them in a positive light. If I wasn't Jewish or knowledgeable about the issues, how would I see the Jews? Not very positively, based on my most recent experiences.

Upperdate:
This post was linked from this week's Haveil Havalim at Soccer Dad's. I am very curious to see if anyone has anything to say on the subject. I cannot be the only person experiencing these frustrations.