The Social Action Committee of Temple B'nai Torah sponsors mitzvah projects dedicated to the Judaic ideal of "Tikkun Olam" (healing the world). This year, we are focusing in particular on four initiatives: Hunger, the Crisis in Darfur, Israel, and the TBT Virtual Job Fair. We have partnered with Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger(www.mazon.org), and participate in their High Holiday and Pesach fundraising drives. We are a "congregation of conscience" with the Save Darfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org) and plan to raise money through a basketball tournament in the Spring. We are also a sister congregation of Kehilat Birkat Shalom at Kibbutz Gezer in Israel (www.kbyonline.org/birkatshalom/index.html). Locally, the committee sponsors food collections, blood drives and marrow registries (in conjunction with the Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation), visits with local group homes and senior centers, and prepares meals for those less fortunate at the Interfaith Nutrition Network (http://www.the-inn.org/). We meet monthly to plan these, and other projects. We are always looking for new ideas and additional members, so come on down!
Click here to SEE OUR SOCIAL ACTION LINKS Click here for VIRTUAL JOB FAIR INFO
Support TBT's Partnership with MAZON, A Jewish Response to Hunger MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger®, the only national Jewish organization whose sole focus is hunger relief, helps to provide nourishment and promote self-sufficiency for hundreds of thousands of people at risk of hunger in America, in Israel and around the world.
Did you know that right now an estimated 259,000 Long Islanders (including 93,000 children) are hungry? That is an unacceptable statistic! As a partner congregation with MAZON, A Jewish Response to Hunger, Temple B'nai Torah is committed to doing its part in this year's Passover campaign, "The Fifth Question." The goal of the campaign is to raise money for MAZON’s work in our community and beyond, and for us to collect food for local charities. Critical to the success of this effort is promoting an understanding that donations of both food (to a local charity) and money (to MAZON) are crucial to finding a long-term solution to the hunger crisis. Be sure to do your part. Bring some non-perishable food items to any Shabbat service (or anytime you visit the Temple) and make a financial donation to MAZON. Suggested contribution - the cash you would spend to feed Elijah when he stops by your Seder table.
And hunger doesn't end during the rest of the year. Continue helping out some more. Bring one or two (or more) nonperishable food items to each and every Shabbat Service you attend for collection in Temple B'nai Torah's Food Collection Bin. What a wonderful teaching moment for each family to reinforce the value of tikkun olam (repair of the world) while integrating the mitzvot of feeding the hungry and Shabbat worship!
Watch the Weekly Temple E-Mail Blast for details about our Passover Food Drive and information about making cash donations to MAZON's "The Fifth Question" Project.
The Social Action Committee urges you to visit the website www.irac.org to sign the “Rabbi Miri Gold petition.” Rabbi Gold is the spiritual advisor of Temple B’nai Torah’s sister congregation Birkat Shalom in Kibbutz Gezer, Israel. The petition is a request to the State of Israel to specifically recognize Rabbi Gold and, more generally, other Israeli Reform rabbis and treat them on a basis equal with that of their Orthodox counterparts. As Reform Jews living in the Diaspora, it is both our right and obligation to voice our opinion with the Israeli government on this basic issue; additionally, signing this petition is a show of solidarity with Birkat Shalom and its congregants as we build a Temple to Temple relationship with them.
The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (similar to the U.S.-based Union for Reform Judaism) and the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) would ultimately like to see 10,000 signatures; Rabbi Gold herself would like 100,000! Please visit the site today – www.irac.org. Also, to learn more about Kehilat Birkat Shalom, visit their website at http://www.kbyonline.org/birkatshalom. Thank you.
Temple B'nai Torah is a Proud Partner with..........
www.mazon.org
www.savedarfur.org
The Save Darfur Coalition
