Service 
Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 20:15:24 PM EDT
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Unless you have your head stuck in the ground, or more likely, don't really follow Jewish institutional life, then you may have caught on that this coming week the Jewish Federations of North America (that's Hebrew for United Way) are having their big annual 'come hither,' the General Assembly, in New Orleans. Now normally I'm not the 1st person you'd see at the GA, but 1) it's in my beloved NOLA, a town we at JFSJ have been deeply committed to over the past 5 years since Katrina as regular readers know, and 2) this time, on Monday Nov. 8th, JFNA will be engaging in a "historic" day of community service, which we are proud to aid and abet along with our partners in the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. As reported recently by the JTA: ...organizers have structured the conference around a day of community service in New Orleans, marking the first time a GA has included a mass volunteer project.The project represents something of uncharted territory for the federations in that they are working with several non-federation organizations, including Repair the World, Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps, American Jewish World Service and Jewish Funds for Justice, to provide service opportunities for up to 1,500 GA attendees.
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Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 11:21:45 AM EST
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Teach for America is, apparently, turning away 9 out of 10 applicants because enthusiasm for the program far, far exceeds capacity. Nicholas Kristof's solution is to take this youthful zeal for service and create a Teach for the World program. Sure, countless countries would benefit from more teachers. But so would students here at home. Why not, instead, channel this groundswell of enthusiasm for civic service to communities in need, here at home? With the recession -- not to mention state budget cuts -- crippling communities from New Orleans to Detroit, the US could really use the help here in our own backyard.
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Fri Feb 05, 2010 at 15:08:42 PM EST
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"In the beginning of this trip, I was unaware about the hurricane and how strong of an effect it had on New Orleans. I knew this trip would be an eye opener but now as I sit on my sixth day here, my eyes do not shut."
Excerpt from a blog post by Julena Ariel Cone, a student at San Francisco State Julena is one of the 113 young people that we engaged in service learning in the month of January. Traveling to New Orleans from New York City, San Francisco, Delaware and Binghamton, they renovated houses, built a wheelchair ramp, created community gardens, and renovated a church. Trading their energy and sweat for a deeper understanding of the slow progress of transformation, these young people gained valuable insight into the role our community can play in affecting change. Many of these trips were held over the Martin Luther King Jr., holiday. And, with so much written about Dr. King last month, I couldn't help but ask myself: is this what he envisioned?
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Wed Aug 19, 2009 at 14:42:52 PM EDT
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( - promoted by Rabbi Jill Jacobs)
Jewish Funds for Justice is happy to announce that Ariana Tobias, an undergraduate at Hunter College, has won the 2009 Service Learning raffle! Ariana was randomly selected to receive a $100 Amazon gift card for completing a survey about her experience participating in a Jewish Funds for Justice service learning program this spring. JFSJ Jewish service learning combines hands-on service with study and reflection about current social, political, and economic issues, and about the connections among service, justice, and Jewish identity and tradition. With the conclusion of each service trip, we ask participants to evaluate their experiences so we can continue to improve our programming. All participants who complete this survey are entered into a drawing for a gift certificate. This year, Ariana is our lucky winner. Ariana was a participant on the Bronx Service Learning trip in June, where she helped Habitat for Humanity build a LEED-certified (environmentally friendly) apartment for a first time home-owner, and learned about community organizing in the South Bronx. When asked about the impact that the trip had on her Jewish identity, Ariana explained, "I enjoyed exploring the many reasons behind Jewish values in social justice. It helped put into words some of the feelings I had about why it was important to me to actively work towards social justice." Thank you to Ariana and the other 400 participants in JFSJ's 2009-2010 service learning programs for helping to make America a more just and compassionate place.
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Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 15:27:39 PM EST
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( - promoted by Mik Moore)
This call to Take Action is no longer active. I am starting an exciting and timely volunteer opportunity that I would like to share and recommend— On Monday, as part of the Martin Luther King Day of Service, I will be training as a tax volunteer for the Campaign for Families—a partnership that provides free high-quality tax preparation and financial services for Philadelphia’s low wage earning families and households. In the last 6 tax seasons the Campaign has trained thousands of volunteers who have prepared 68,500 tax returns, providing low wage families with $106 million in federal and state refunds and saving them $17 million in tax preparation and other fees.
The Campaign focuses on ensuring that eligible consumers receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—a refundable tax credit available to low wage working families. In the 2009 tax season, the refundable credit will be worth up to $4,824 and available to families making less than $42,000 per year. EITC is one of our nations’ most effective anti-poverty initiatives and gives families the opportunity to pay off debt and save toward their financial and personal goals. And the Campaign for Working Families is not alone—it is part of IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance or VITA Program.
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Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 09:59:44 AM EDT
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A different perspective on New Orleans rebuilding efforts from a Binghamton University student, who writes, Whenever I tell people I went to New Orleans for spring break, they ask if I witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina before they even ask if I had a good time. Or they immediately assume that my choice of city meant I was part of a community service project, which makes me feel awkward when I reiterate I only went to get drunk and eat good food. Do you have to be a do-gooder to go to New Orleans? I like to think I did my part to revitalize the economy with the amount of money I spent on daiquiris.
It's pretty clear that this student felt attacked for her choice of a vacation destination, which is too bad - there's no reason at all that she shouldn't drink daiquiris in New Orleans (so long as she gets a taxi ride home afterwards). But there are some clear problems with her line of reasoning also. I'd love for other students who have been to New Orleans (for service or otherwise) to weigh in, if they're out there.
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Fri Apr 04, 2008 at 11:59:40 AM EDT
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I recently returned from a trip to the Gulf with a group of funders; this podcast includes my impressions from that trip and some insight into the work Jewish Funds for Justice has been doing in the region. To see some photos from the trip, visit our Flickr page. Click to visit the podcast page here at jspot, which includes my first two efforts.
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Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 16:20:54 PM EDT
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I spent the past week volunteering in New Orleans with a group of 31 undergraduates. Since the trip was a collaboration between a campus Hillel and an organization for students of color, half the participants were Jews and half students of color.
Jewish participants ranged from affiliated liberal Jews to extremely Orthodox Jews to extremely secular Jews. The students of color included Korean Americans, Indian Americans, Latinas and African Americans, and even within the "African American" group we had Haitian Americans, Midwesterners and children of African immigrants.
The group's diversity was wonderful to behold but created some tricky curriculum issues. What did the Jews have in common with each other? It's debatable, but generally speaking, a lot. What did the students of color have in common? Not being white.
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Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 10:53:33 AM EDT
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If you are a Jewish teen or know a Jewish teen, consider sharing this with them:
BBYO and Jewish Funds for Justice have teamed up to create a dynamic two-week summer experience focused on community service, advocacy training, Jewish values and college prep. Operation Shema provides Jewish teens (9th-12th grade) with a direct, hands-on volunteer service immersion that offers substantial community service hours, while addressing some of the key issues and underserved populations in urban Baltimore (including at-risk youth, the elderly, and the environment). Participants develop a commitment to social justice through skills sessions that teach the tools of basic community organizing and advocacy, using the direct service experiences as a case study for personal change and transformation.
Participants are housed at Towson University from June 29 thru July 13, 2008. The location offers a real taste of an activist campus life and a chance to hear from student and university leaders about gaining admission to a top college and making smart college choices. The program also takes advantage of social, cultural and recreational resources in Baltimore. Teens come away with close friendships and empowered to make a difference in the world.
Interested teens (or their parents) should contact Rachael Frydman, (414) 326-2808 for more information or register directly on the BBYO website.
I'm curious to hear from current and former BBYO members about their experiences in the movement, particular as it relates to engagement in social justice work. I was in Young Judaea growing up (affiliated with Hadassah), which I always thought of as mostly but not exclusively liberal - probably influenced by the infusion of Reconstructionists who were, at the time, without their own youth movement. Yet we did not engage in much, if any, community service or advocacy training. So are times really changing? Was my experience typical? Is BBYO exceptional?
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Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 18:13:36 PM EST
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Parashat Vayak'hel (Exodus 35:1-38:20)
An unexpected problem arises as the Israelites take up an impressive and inspiring collection of precious materials for the tasks of building their sanctuary in the desert. They just keep bringing too much. The overwhelmed artisans plead with Moses to declare a moratorium on the people's contributions.
This is a startling development, because the people are doing their best to build a holy sanctuary (mikdash). Yet, according to the Torah, "their efforts had been more than enough for all the tasks to be done" (35:7). How could we ever do too much in the effort to create holiness in our midst? The challenge of our broken world calls out for an infinite, insatiable response.
In fact, Moses anticipates this problem at the beginning of the parashah, when he calls the people together (both men and women, according to the medieval commentator Ramban). Moses delivers a stern reminder about Shabbat: "On six days work (melakhah) may be done, and on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to YHWH; whoever does any melakhah on it shall be put to death" (35:2).
What is this melakhah? The commentators agree that it refers to the construction of the mikdash, the instructions for which follow immediately. And indeed, when the people offer too much, their efforts and the tasks at hand are referred to repeatedly by the same word, melakhah (36:4-7).
But what sort of behavior could constitute too much melakhah, too much effort in the creation of holy space?
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