June 5, 2007 > Beliefs in action Beliefs in action By Steve Warga It's hard to imagine Ronald McDonald's smile ever growing bigger, but it just might after he learns of the money raised by the seventh grade Sunday School class at Temple Beth Torah in Fremont. In the space of about five months, nine students raised well over $4,000 for the Ronald McDonald House affiliated with Stanford University Medical Center. For the students, the project was an expression of the Jewish tradition of "tzedakah," which means, "righteous behavior." In Jewish thought and tradition, material support for those in need is tzedakah, and it implies a sense of obligation beyond charity. Teacher Anat Harrel told the kids about Ronald McDonald Houses which provides living space and support for families of seriously ill children; her former neighbor, Honey Meir-Levy, is the executive director of the Stanford facility. The students were impressed with this charitable operation and dug in with all hands and feet, raising money through car washes, bake sales, and sales of bright red and yellow wristbands, colors of McDonald's mascot. On Sunday, May 20, Meir-Levy gratefully accepted the hefty sum from Harrel and her students: Zoe Davis (not in the photograph), Hannah Kramer, Avery Kruger, Andrea Resnick, Jacob Rosenberg, Sasha Schats, Brian Silverman, Hannah Strauss, and Joel Wientraub.