2007 - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

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HONORABLE MENTION TEMPLE BETH AHM 250-500 Aberdeen, NJ Submitted by Janet Kaplan 732-583-1700 At Temple Beth Ahm, a congregation of approximately 300 families, Social Action is neither a one-time event nor a program in which a small number of members participate. It is not something championed only by adults, but also by our youth. Except where prohibited by law (e.g., blood and bone marrow drives), our Religious School operates in tandem with adult congregants by getting involved with our social injustice and human crises programs to augment and humanize the work done by all. Throughout the year our Religious School principal incorporates tzedakah projects into the curriculum so that a “two-pronged attack” can be launched to defeat homelessness, hunger, disease, loneliness and environmental concerns. In the area of social injustice, Temple Beth Ahm spearheaded a two-year effort in cooperation with other local churches and synagogues using sweat equity to build two houses for homeless families as part of “Habitat for Humanity.” In addition to adult crews, religious school children helped pitch in by painting some of the final walls while our nursery school children saved money to buy an appropriate item for a child’s bedroom. In addition to the “Corners of Our Fields,” Temple Beth Ahm congregants and religious school children participate all year by contributing items to our local food bank, while Mazon is a recipient of our support as well. Efforts to combat the loneliness of senior citizens and soldiers fighting on foreign soil are addressed by adults baking goods, crocheting lap robes and delivering Passover items to Regency Park (our adopted nursing home) and by our religious school children visiting and singing songs to these residents, not to mention their sending get well cards and Purim baskets to soldiers in Iraq and Israel. Last, but certainly not least, everyone from our youngest to our eldest members holds a great concern about our environment. Sending money, supplies and writing letters to a number of congregations as a result of Hurricanes Wilma & Katrina has been an ongoing effort, while we are also seeing continued interest in promoting and purchasing energy efficient light bulbs in conjunction with the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) which was brought to our attention by our pulpit rabbi. HONORABLE MENTION BETH EL SYNAGOGUE 250-500 East Windsor, NJ Submitted by Diane Richman and 609-443-4454 Rochelle L. Stern The Social Action committee presently comprises over 35 people strong with many new committee members joining out of a desire to lead new programs. Our new initiative this past year was to add a more global focus to our continued local endeavors. We kicked off the Jewish New Year in October with a showing of the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which discusses global warming and the condition of our earth’s ecology. We followed it up with a guest speaker Tina Weishaus, who was one of a thousand handpicked Climate Project presenters created by Al Gore. Many participants were inspired by Ms. Weishaus’ talk with regard to things we could all do to help diminish our carbon footprints. One of our committee members organized and held a riveting presentation by Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, a pediatric physician, who is part of “Doctors Without Borders.” He serviced Chad, Africa, to where refugees from Darfur fled. He used his personal slides followed by a screening of Witnessing Darfur—Genocide Emergency. His graphic pictures of undernourished, emaciated refugees inspired many to support relief efforts such as writing letters to the editors of local newspapers and contacting US government representatives to help cease the genocide of Darfurians. In addition, one of our congregants called to duty in Iraq, struck a chord with our committee. We collected and sent requested toiletries and snacks to Lt. Steve Rosenberg and his troop in Iraq, helping to give them a sense of home. We have continued our Social Action efforts in the local area by holding a twice yearly successful Blood
Drive; a twice yearly cooking operation for Homefront, a homeless transitional community in Trenton; the continual support of the Jewish Children and Family Service’s Food Pantry; and our annual Mitzvah Day. A bright spot for our committee was our efforts in raising funds for the annual Crop Walk, an endeavor to fight against local and global hunger. Our Social Action Committee worked diligently to raise over $2500 in funds, which was recognized as the highest raised funds among the supporting area churches and congregations. Last year during Mitzvah Day, we participated in visiting an Alzheimer’s residential house, cleaning up a neglected Trenton Jewish cemetery, and cooked dinner for Homefront. Social Action awareness has become ubiquitous within Beth El. The Mitzvah Corp was formed in 2005, and comprises 10- to 12-year-old children. The Mitzvah Corp meets monthly and has participated in many local social action endeavors. In addition, the Religious School children are required to fulfill at least eight to ten hours of their time contributing to social action activities. Social Action has been ingrained in the Beth El consciousness with approximately 85% of our congregants (out of 450 families) having participated in at least one social action effort during the past three years. HONORABLE MENTION TEMPLE EMANUEL Over 900 Newton, MA Submitted by Sam Silverman & Abby Flam 617-558-8150 Three years ago, a number of members of Temple Emanuel’s Social Action committee joined together, dissatisfied with the reach of their social action projects and dreaming of efforts that could engage the entire Temple Emanuel. community rather than a small group and have a major impact on the root causes of injustice. Three years later, Temple Emanuel’s traditional social action projects have been complemented by a giant community organizing initiative, Hillel’s Call to Action. Hillel’s Call to Action has built a deep base at Temple Emanuel that invo1ves hundreds of congregants coming together to identify their common values and interests, take action on them, both as a united Temple community and as part of a broader coalition alongside other congregations. How far Temple Emanuel has come was never clearer than on December 3, 2006, when 420 congregants gathered together in a Temple assembly to commit to work for justice, to bring about significant improvements in Newton’s recycling policy, and to begin the work of bringing about systemic change which will improve systems of long-term care for seniors in Massachusetts. Earlier in the year, the Temple hosted 42 house meetings involving almost 450 congregants — in each house meeting, congregants told stories that illustrated their concerns for their families, friends, and other members of the community and how they wanted to act on their Jewish values both within the synagogue and in the wider world. Out of that massive communal conversation, leaders were able to discern common themes that could legitimately be said to represent the values and interests of a significant portion of the Temple community. Issues that were raised included: health care; youth and education; elder care; the environment; and engaging Jewish teens and young Jewish adults. As the house meetings progressed, a group of teenagers in the Temple began to meet and speak with their peers to identify their common values and interests both as members of the Temple and of broader society, and to begin to organize to impact on the world and to change their role in the synagogue itself. Leaders of this effort, with the encouragement of Senior Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz, decided to name this initiative Hillel’s Call to Action after Hillel’s famous three questions in Pirkei Avot. They would not be satisfied only focusing on their own needs and their life within the Temple itself. They would also not be satisfied doing for others — they would work alongside lower-income people and show them respect by working as partners on common concerns rather than treating them as needy people to be saved. And, they would not delay. HONORABLE MENTION JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF PARAMUS 250-500 Paramus, NJ Submitted by Sandra Alpern 201-262-7691 Although our one-day Mitzvah Day program has been successful for the past 10 years, only a small percentage of our
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THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF CONSERVATIV
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THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE OF CONSERVATIV
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Temple Beth El Allentown, PA Gold 2
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KADIMA USY North Suburban Synagogue
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The Emanuel Synagogue West Hartford
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etreat in the spring of 2008. This
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ather than Chinese-American, and of
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100-250 San Leandro, CA Submitted b
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mornings after Minyan. Teachers for
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Members rely on The Bulletin as the
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nourishment to feed the minds of it
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advertisements for the Jewish Theol
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HONORABLE MENTION COMMACK JEWISH CE
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While serving as a marketing device
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isolated Jewish community. We striv
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100-250 Jacksonville, FL 904-268-04
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3. Establishing an Endowment for Ed
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Friday Night Live, all the programs
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SILVER CONGREGATION B’NAI SHOLOM
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in program entitled, “A Walk Thro
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Learning is a journey and a process
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Our school provides learning and po
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continually stressing Jewish values
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Over 900 Roslyn Heights, NY Submitt
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Living Facility with which the syna
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provide experiential, educational,
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250-500 Schenectady, NY Submitted b
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The cookbook has garnered critical
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2007 - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

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