COMMUNITY
WITH A
Vim
This remarkable group
developed 'RIEL"-a simple
yet highly effective, means of
helping a neighbor fn trouble
by Theodore Irwin
Several months ago a young salesman was noti
fied that his home would be taken over be
cause he had failed to keep up his mortgage
payments.
Will Jackson (his real identity must obviously
be masked) was desperate. His commissions had
been sharply cut, he had a wife and three small
children and his relatives couldn't help him.
Like a drowning man clutching for a life pre
server, Jackson turned to a unique organization
in Larchmont, N. Y., called RIEL (Religion in
- Everyday Life) . A member of this group heard
his story and arranged for a three-months' exten
sion of the mortgage payments. Four days later,
RIEL obtained a new job for Jackson. Today,
he's back on his feet, virtually out of debt, his
morale high.
"RIEL is like a big brother," cpmmented a
Larchmont official. "Or you might call it the con
science of the community."
Essentially it's a nonsectarian venture in giv
ing friendship, advice and sometimes financial aid
to neighbors overwhelmed by hard luck, tragedy
or common predicaments.. Business and profes
sional men in town run it, working closely with a
clergyman.
"To us," they say, "religion is not a one-day
affair. We try to practice it all week long."
When someone is troubled, his religious leader
is often the first to hear about it and can offer
spiritual and moral support. But too often, prob
lems arise beyond his capacity. That's where RIEL
comes in, as an extension of the religious leader's
two hands.
Working quietly, members of RIEL take time
out from their own affairs to discuss cases, re
ceive assignments and meet those who need a
helping hand. Starting last February with a nu
cleus of three businessmen, the group now has at
least a dozen other laymen pitching in.
Larchmont, like all communities, has people
who at times are faced with seemingly insoluble
personal problems. Many dread losing their self
esteem by applying to social agencies. RIEL has
been amazed to find how often the average per
son, when under pressure or lacking experience,
is blind to obvious solutions to his dilemma.
While the group has its own bank account from
voluntary contributions, it draws more often on
the town's bank of human resources. Surprisingly
few cases are settled with money. Time, energy,
understanding, kindness and expert counsel
these usually do the job.
Baffled, bewildered or despairing, people come
to RIEL with their troubles. Its activities have
ranged from straightening out an insurance tangle
to adjusting the affairs of a man ill with cancer,
helping a distraught widow discover a new mean
ing in life, even finding a dog for a disturbed boy.
Many situations are urgent. Recently, the head
of a family was arrested for passing bad checks.
RIEL stepped in, investigated the man's character,
posted a bond, negotiated a settlement and saved
him from a jail term.
"In my 11 years on the bench," said Police Jus
tice Henry T. Hornidge, "I have never seen any
thing like this."
RIEL "bails out" neighbors in other ways, too.
One merchant was going on the rocks when RIEL
asked a merchandising expert in the same business
to analyze the enterprise. "The quality of your
products isn't suitable for this area," he advised
the shopkeeper. "Besides, you're using the wrong
selling methods." By modifying his approach, the
merchant salvaged his business.
The marriage of one couple was threatened be
cause the house they were building was costing
more than they had anticipated. RIEL recruited a
builder to steer them out of the mess.
Anonymity is assured every applicant for help.
"The one sin is to shame someone in trouble," says
a RIEL advisor. The group is so secretive it makes
the FBI seem talkative!
The "conscience of the community" idea origi
nated at the Larchmont Temple, where dy
namic, boyish-looking Rabbi Leonard Schofer had
long felt frustrated by many appeals he couldn't
handle as merely a spiritual leader. One evening,
at a discussion of a building fund, a trustee asked,
"What should a house of worship do, once its own
material purposes are fulfilled?" Among all the
proposals, the "community conscience" project
won out and Rabbi Schofer suggested it be called
Religion in Everyday Life.
One of the early leaders of the work was David
B. Solove, a real-estate man. Previously trying to
broaden his interests, he had spent Wednesday
afternoons in art galleries, but failed to find this
stimulating. Then he had asked the rabbi for a
Wednesday community job. There was plenty for
Solove to do problems that a layman could best
handle. RIEL was a natural outgrowth.
"I get tremendous satisfaction out of working in
RIEL," Solove says. "After a game of golf, I can't
look at the score. But after helping people, I can
look at the results all year."
Harold Krensky, vice president of a New York
department store, was drawn into RIEL work after
he had lost his son in a car accident. "The tragedy,"
he said, "made me take a fresh look at my life
and the problems of others." The greatest need of
troubled people, RIEL has learned, is to feel that
they're not alone that someone cares.
Other awakened communities in the region have
been bombarding the group with requests for how-to-do-it
details. "We hope the idea will snowball,"
says Solove. "Virtually any church or synagogue
can use a form of RIEL."
As the president of the Larchmont congregation,
Sidney Philip, puts it: "We have built the Temple.
Now we will have the Temple build us!"
! H"-?!1" W.!1
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WeeJcJy
August 30, 1959
LEONARD $. DAVIDOW I'midrnt and Publisher
WALTER C. DREYFUS Vice-President
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1959, FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE, INC., 153 N. Michigan Ay... Chicago 1, III. All tight. reserved