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"It is the services we perform, and not those we attend, which define us." -Leonard "Leibel" Fein
With the Jewish New Year upon us, the social action committee is working hard to provide the congregation with a variety of ways in which members can act on the Jewish imperative of tikkun olam, the repair of the world. Before or during the High Holy Days, please take a few minutes to fill out the social action committee annual activities form. We are hoping to get EVERY MEMBER of Adat Shalom to commit to doing at least one activity with our committee this year (and of course we don't discriminate by age!). Below you'll find highlighted a few of the projects we'd like to draw your attention to during the coming month. Please check this column regularly-and the listserv, bulletin board, etc.-for updates on the work of our committee. L'Shana Tova…
At the request of the Sudan Task Force of the Social Action Committee, the Board of Trustees of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation recently adopted a resolution which "urges all members of the congregation to join with many other(s) … in taking immediate actions designed to encourage international pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the genocidal activities now being perpetrated by armed Arab militias (Janjaweed) in the Darfur region of Sudan." The text of the full resolution may be seen elsewhere in this issue of the scroll and on the Adat Shalom website. In the weeks and months to come the members of the task force will be working hard to keep the congregation apprised of new developments both on the ground in Darfur AND in terms of advocacy and relief activities around the world. We are very pleased to announce that the board also voted in favor of allowing the social action committee to spearhead a Jewish community-wide benefit for the victims in Darfur on Saturday night, December 4th (Please SAVE THE DATE: the event will take place at the 6th and I synagogue in downtown D.C.). Please keep an eye on the listserv, the social action pages of the Adat Shalom website, and the bulletin board for further information and advocacy opportunities related to this terrible situation. If you'd like to join the Sudan task force and help out with either the ongoing advocacy work or the event in December, please contact the social action committee at socialaction@adatshalom.net or #301/767-3333 x.641.
As some of you may know, the Jewish community tries to ensure that all families have the special foods to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and, later in the year, Passover. This year, the Rosh Hashanah Project will take place on Sunday, Sept. 12 between 9:30 and 10 AM. Participants may pick up their packages and the names and addresses of the recipients and directions to their homes from Adat Shalom or from Ohr Kodesh, which is located at Freyman Drive and East-West Highway, in Chevy Chase. If you have questions or are interested in participating in this activity, please contact Debbie Ehrenstein. Please specify whether you prefer to pick up at Adat Shalom or Ohr Kodesh.
At its last meeting, the Committee adopted resolutions to create two task forces: 1) to look at issues of public policy advocacy within the congregation, including revisiting the relevant sections of the current Tikkun Olam Guidelines and congregation Bylaws; and 2) to explore ways in which the congregation could make social action a more integral part of its culture. Initial meetings for each are being planned for shortly after the High Holidays. If you'd like to join either task force please contact the committee as per #1 above.
Are you looking for a rewarding community service opportunity? Is your weekday schedule flexible? Do you enjoy working with young children? If so, please consider joining the Adat Shalom Lunch Bunch. We are a group of Adat Shalom volunteers who spend one hour a week reading with first and second graders at Montgomery Knolls Elementary School in Silver Spring. We began this effort last January as a pilot program for the Jewish Community Council's Greater Washington Jewish Coalition for Literacy. The school is easily accessible (just off University Boulevard, minutes off the Beltway), the obligation minimal (one hour a week, from 12-1 or 12:30-1:30) and the rewards great. If you are interested in joining us or you would like more information, please contact Jaime Banks. . We anticipate kicking off the program with a training session in early October.
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