The Media Line Turns Toward the New Year With Stories of Hope
As the year draws to a close, The Media Line is launching a new series, Stories of Hope, to make space for something often missing from the news cycle: moments of purpose, resilience, and human connection that persist even in difficult times. The series begins with a quiet, New York–set vignette by Jack Baxter, whose piece “The Mitzvah Magnet” opens the collection with warmth and restraint.
Baxter’s story unfolds on a sunny but cold Saturday afternoon, during a walk down Fifth Avenue that turns into an unexpected act of companionship. At a crosswalk, he meets Michael, a frail man with a cane, a podiatrist’s boot, and an easy smile. What starts as a few exchanged words turns into a slow, careful journey across the street—and then much farther.
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As the two inch along, resting often, Michael shares pieces of his life: a childhood in Far Rockaway, brothers who became rabbis in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, years spent teaching Jewish history, and research on the Holocaust published decades earlier. He also shares a present-day hardship: a missed meal delivery and a senior center closed for the weekend.
Rather than part ways, Baxter steps in. There’s a cab ride, a booth at a kosher dairy restaurant, a hot meal, and chocolate cake to go. Michael calls the gesture “a real mitzvah” done on Shabbat. Baxter replies with a phrase rooted in his own past, linking this moment to earlier encounters with kindness after trauma in Israel.
The Media Line’s Stories of Hope series does not deny pain or difficulty. Instead, it looks for meaning, courage, and connection where they quietly exist. “The Mitzvah Magnet,” by Jack Baxter, sets that tone—and invites readers to slow down and notice what is still possible. Read the full story.
