Category: Tikkun Olam

2023-2024 Temple Emanuel Tikkun Olam Activities

TE members performing 'reverse tashlich' on the beach
TE members performing ‘reverse tashlich’ on the beach
Reverse Tashlich
Serving meals at Beth-El shelter
Chanukah baskets
JCARR
Food Drive
JCARR

Your Tikkun Olam Committee encourages your active support and participation in the following activities.  Please read The Shofar and the weekly Shofar Blasts for more information concerning all of these projects. 

Interfaith Service Day Sunday, August 6th

Join with a group of TE volunteers and those from other congregations for an interfaith day of service. This is a perfect Tikkun Olam activity for family participation.

Jean Silk, Coordinator

2nd Annual Reverse Tashlich  (A Rosh Hashanah tradition) – Sunday, September 10th

Partner with ‘Repair the Sea’ and ‘Save the Sound’ to remove litter from our local beaches. This is a perfect Tikkun Olam activity for family participation.

Karen Fenichel and Adam Spiewak, Coordinators

30th Annual High Holy Days Food Drive

September 15th – October 6th   (Through the Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, & Sukkot holidays)

Donate non-perishable food to be distributed to the food pantries of both the Jewish Family Service (JFS) and the Town of Orange. Monetary donations can also be sent directly to these two food pantries. 

Will Sherman, Coordinator

Annual Thanksgiving Frozen Turkey and Pie Collection

October 22nd – November 12th   (pre-Thanksgiving)

Donate frozen turkeys and pies to be distributed to the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK).

Jeff Levinson, Coordinator

Annual Diaper Drive (Dates to be determined)

Donate diapers to be distributed to the Conn. Diaper Bank to assist needy families with their baby needs. Monetary donations can also be sent directly to this agency.

Michelle Bailey, Rochelle Kanell, and Rise Siegel, Coordinators

Annual Purim Pasta Collection March 24th

The Religious School children bring in and use boxes of pasta as groggers during the Purim service and they are then donated to the Beth-El Homeless Shelter & Soup Kitchen in Milford.

Nancy Weber, Coordinator

Columbus House Fundraiser February 15th – March 17th

As a Mishloach Manot tzedakah activity for Purim, we will hold a fundraiser for the Columbus House Homeless Shelter. 

This activity might be combined with Abraham’s Tent (Please see next item.)

Annual Abraham’s Tent Project (Date to be determined)

Prepare/serve dinner and socialize with a small group of selected homeless men at a partner church in Hamden coordinated by the Columbus House Homeless Shelter. Additionally, there’s a possible opportunity for a few TE members to then sleep over. This is a great hands-on activity. During Covid, when we couldn’t meet in person, this Tikkun Olam activity was converted to a monetary collection to support Columbus House.

Barb Levine-Ritterman and Lee Stolzman, Coordinators

Annual Beth-El Shelter Collection May  

Donate towels, bed sheets, underwear, and socks for the Beth-El Homeless Shelter in Milford

Nancy Weber, Coordinator

In addition to the above Tikkun Olam Project, members of Temple Emanuel are actively involved in a variety of additional activities and we urge your active support and participation.

Religious School Tikkun Olam Projects (Olga Markus and the Religious School staff, students, and parents)

Chanukah Baskets – November 19th – December 10th

Toys, books, games, clothing, and personal hygiene/care objects to be donated to JFS, r’Kids Family Center, Fair Haven Community Health Center, and Fellowship Place

Purim Mitzvah Project (Date to be determined)

“Blessing Bags” with hand-written notes and personal hygiene/care objects to be donated to the homeless programs of Columbus House and Fellowship Place

Jewish Community Alliance for Refugee Resettlement (JCARR)

A partnership of six local synagogues and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, JCARR has thus far helped welcome and relocate eight refugee families from around the world. Your ongoing support and assistance is greatly appreciated. 

Jean Silk, Coordinator

Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT)

Keeping within our Jewish values of “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” CONECT is an organization devoted to social and economic justice, gun violence and health insurance issues, police reform, and immigration rights.

Alana Rosenberg, Coordinator

Beth-El Shelter and Soup Kitchen (in Milford)

Volunteers from TE prepare and serve dinner on the first Tuesday of each month. This is a great hands-on activity. 

Nancy Weber and Rachel Suchoff, Coordinators

2nd Annual TE Reverse Tashlich Brings Modern Environmental Awareness to Traditional Practice – Sunday, Sept 10 at 1:30 PM

TE members performing 'reverse tashlich' on the beach
TE members performing ‘reverse tashlich’ on the beach

Join other TE members as we remove ‘sins’ from the ocean by cleaning up Woodmont Beach as part of TE’s second Reverse Tashlich. The event, part of a worldwide event, takes place on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 1:30 p.m. at Woodmont Beach.

“For hundreds of years, Jews have symbolically thrown their sins into the water on Rosh Hashana,” says Karen Fenichel, co-chair. “We’re going to remove some of mankind’s sins by cleaning up the beach as part of Reverse Tashlich.”

Individuals, families and friends are invited to join the effort, which nationally is part of the Sixth Annual Reverse Tashlich. While we are working on Woodmont Beach, Jews around the world will be cleaning up waterways and beaches near their homes. The effort is the largest Jewish aquatic restoration community in the world. The Reverse Tashlich is sponsored internationally by Repair the Sea. Locally, Save the Sound is assisting with our effort.

“Doing Reverse Tashlich around Rosh Hashana allows us to connect spiritual and ethical values with environmental stewardship,” said Adam Spiewak, co-chair. “When you realize how much trash there is on the beach, it really makes you think about what we’re doing to the world and what we can do about it.”

To learn more about Reverse Tashlich please check out the Reverse Tashlich website here. To register to participate please follow this link.

A FAMILY’S JOURNEY

Every family seeking refuge in the United States has a story to tell. Yuri, Olga, Emma, and Masha reunited two weeks ago when Yuri drove to the Canadian border to bring his wife and two daughters to Connecticut. It was a long drive to their new apartment that JCARR helped procure. We appreciate them sharing their story and are grateful for Rabbi Farbman translating the conversation.

Yuri says it all began on February 24, 2022. When a bomb exploded at the military base approximately 500 yards away, they knew they could not safely remain in their home. Difficult and sad as it was, it was time to leave Ukraine. Initially, they thought they would return, but that seemed less likely as the war continued. Their path led to Spain, Canada, and then the U.S. Eventually, they realized that they wanted this move to be permanent.

Connecticut was attractive for several reasons. Yuri has a half-brother who immigrated here twenty years ago and lives in Brooklyn. Their oldest daughter is living in New York, where she is developing her profession as a makeup artist. Yuri and Olga want a safe environment for Emma and Masha “…to develop in the life we do not know.” Like most parents, they want safety and opportunities for their children. Yuri says, “People still dream of the U.S. as the land of freedom and opportunity.” The decision to move to Connecticut was finalized when a friend of Yuri’s brother helped him find a job here. Olga said, “We couldn’t imagine what it would be like. On this journey, we learned that things would not work the way you expect them to. So we decided not to have expectations but to treat it as an adventure. We did not expect the kind of loving care we have been overwhelmed with. “ With that, several of us reached for Kleenexes.

            Olga and Yuri worked together in the tourism industry, organizing children’s programs, fancy balls, tours of Ukraine, and screen-free programs for kids, to name just a few. Their work fostered an attitude of “get up and go, explore, adjust to new realities, and have a sense of adventure.” This work requires attention to detail and patience when dealing with bureaucracy, traits that have served them well on this journey. Emma worked with children and teens for several years. While in Spain, Emma and her father organized a camp for the Ukrainian refugee children. Every day they organized activities, giving the youth a focus for their time and the parents much-needed breathing space. When Rabbi Farbman and his son Sam were in Spain, they were impressed by Emma’s capabilities. Emma says, “I love working with children and teens and want to explore different options for doing that as I continue my education.”

            Rabbi Farbman notes, “When you don’t know what to do when a disaster falls on your head, think about helping others.” This is a family that knows how to do precisely that. As they adjust to living in a new environment, their attitudes and skills serve them well. Yuri says, “We dealt with bureaucracy in Spain and Canada, but nothing is as complex as the U.S.” And yet, they started the process for themselves – using YouTube videos as a guide. Jean Silk of JCARR notes, “We’ve never had a family file the various applications for social services independently.”

            As part of settling in, the family is eager to explore the area’s cultural offerings. They look forward to visiting museums, festivals and attending cultural events. Emma is grateful for the community she experienced while attending Kabbalat Shabbat in Spain and looks forward to learning more.

            She seems to sum up the family’s gratitude when she says, ‘I could never have imagined how many people we’d meet who would go out of their way to help us.”

TE Tikkun Olam program: The Beth-El Center soup kitchen in Milford

As part of TE’s social action program, Nancy Weber and Max Case have (in the past) organized a group of TE members to serve dinner one night each month at The Beth-El Center soup kitchen in Milford.

While this program has been temporarily suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Beth-El Center is still on our minds. The need for food assistance is more evident now, with greater numbers of food-insecure individuals, families and veterans.

Hopefully in Spring of 2021, we will get the all-clear, and we can resume our monthly dinner service. Until then, you can help by donating directly to The Beth-El Center by visiting their website:

http://www.bethelmilford.org/

The Beth-El Center is located at 90 New Haven Avenue, Milford, CT

(203) 878-0747. 

Thank you to all TE members who have been so generous in the past. Looking forward to performing this wonderful mitzvah again very soon!!

TE AND JCARR – THE JEWISH COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT

In 2015, Temple Emanuel joined with four other area synagogues and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven to form the Jewish Community Alliance for Refugee Resettlement (JCARR).

Welcoming refugees is intrinsically connected to our Jewish tradition. The Torah instructs us 36 times to care for the stranger — far more than it commands us to observe the Sabbath or any other law. For those involved in JCARR, the core Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, “repair the world,” compels us to take responsibility, to address social injustice, and to care for the other.

In partnership with Temple Emanuel in JCARR are Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel (Conservative), Congregation B’nai Jacob (Conservative), Congregation Mishkan Israel (Reform), and Congregation Or Shalom (Conservative). Our work is a unique opportunity for Jews from different congregations and denominations to unite around a common goal: to help new refugee and immigrant families resettle in our community. 

Family 2 – from Syria

JCARR will sponsor families from any country and any religion. JCARR has now resettled five families: one from the Democratic Republic of Congo, two from Syria, one from Iraq, and an asylum-seeking family from Angola. JCARR serves as a co-sponsor through IRIS, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services of New Haven. Our efforts have been recognized as a model both of community co-sponsorship and of collaboration among synagogues. 

Family 3 – from Syria

JCARR has scores of volunteers who work with task forces to find affordable housing, furnish and supply the home, and collect clothing.  JCARR volunteers meet the new families, offer them a warm welcome, and provide a warm, culturally appropriate meal in their new home upon their arrival. We help them enroll in English classes, organize tutors, register children for school, learn to use public transportation, navigate the American health-care system, and find jobs. Volunteers have taught them to drive and helped them get drivers licenses, for some of the women, for the first time in their lives! In some cases, JCARR obtained a donated car for new families.

Family 4 – from Iraq

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected JCARR families significantly.  Parents’ work hours have diminished and so has their income. Children are attending school online and unable to participate in extra-curricular activities. JCARR families may be suffering trauma anew, and JCARR is working to respond to their exceptional needs during this crisis. The situation has called for us to dig deep and become our best selves, and do more than we thought possible. JCARR models how a community can turn concern into action. JCARR demonstrates how people can form partnerships, and turn sad stories into success stories.

Family 5 – from Angola

The COVID pandemic shines a spotlight on those who are too easily left behind, and makes refugee resettlement efforts around the world even more imperative. Helping refugees in our community gives us a feeling of HOPE and a meaningful way to participate in Repair of the World.  

To make an online donation, go to: https://jewishnewhaven.org/refugee-resettlement/give  Or, send checks payable to The Jewish Federation, with JCARR in the memo line, to The Jewish Federation, Attention Amy Holtz, 360 Amity Road, Woodbridge 06525. We greatly appreciate your generous donations!

Jean Silk, a member of Temple Emanuel, serves as Coordinator of JCARR. For information, contact her at jsilk@jewishnewhaven.org

JCARR awarded a Kraus Immigration Justice Mini-Grant

The Jewish Community Alliance for Refugee Resettlement (JCARR) was thrilled to be awarded a Kraus Immigration Justice Mini-Grant of $5,000 to support vulnerable children during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Kraus grant is an initiative of the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center, which was formed in 1961 “to educate, inspire, and mobilize the Reform Jewish Movement to advocate for social justice”.  The Kraus grants this year are being given “to support and to encourage our congregations’ essential work with immigrant children and young people during the pandemic.”

Founded in 2015, JCARR is a coalition of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, Congregation B’nai Jacob, Congregation Mishkan Israel, Congregation Or Shalom, Temple Emanuel, and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven to further immigration work the congregations had separately engaged in since the 1980s.  Temple Emanuel submitted the grant application on JCARR’s behalf.

JCARR has successfully resettled four refugee families from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and Iraq, co-sponsoring them with Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), the main refugee agency in Connecticut. We are also assisting IRIS with support for one asylum-seeking family from Angola.  Three of JCARR’s families have young children, ten in all.  All these families have been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, especially in terms of their ability to keep up with the demands of distance learning for their children and their ability to pay for basic household needs.

Our Kraus mini grant will address these needs.  Specifically, we will: (1) upgrade internet speed in each household so that the children can better participate in remote learning;(2) create a “lending library” of print and electronic educational materials that are age-appropriate and proficiency-appropriate for children who are English learners; (3) provide training to the parents and ongoing tutoring for the children to make use of these materials, some of which will be gifted permanently to the families; (4) use a small portion of the funds to cover emergency expenses to allow families to continue to create a stable home environment for their children during the pandemic.

As a condition of the award, Temple Emanuel and Congregation Mishkan Israel, both Reform synagogues, have signed the Reform Movement’s Brit Olam, a “covenant to create a world in which all people experience wholeness, justice, and compassion.”  As signers, these synagogues commit to participate in peer-to-peer learning, sharing their successes and challenges, and holding themselves accountable to the larger Brit Olam community across North America. 

JCARR’s vision for refugee resettlement is rooted in our Jewish traditions of welcoming the strangers among us and of tikkun olam.  We are an all-volunteer organization. Our work is funded solely by contributions from fund-raising activities, grants, and individual donors. 

JCARR has committed to matching funds for the grant.  If you would like to make a donation to support this or JCARR’s ongoing work with immigrant and refugee families, you can send checks, payable to The Jewish Federation with JCARR in the memo line, to The Jewish Federation, 360 Amity Road, Woodbridge, 06525; Attention:  Amy Holtz.

CONECT @ TE

Co-Chairs, Alana Rosenberg and Jean Silk

Temple Emanuel is a member of CONECT, Congregations Organized for a Greater Connecticut. CONECT is a collective of churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and civic organizations from New Haven and Fairfield Counties – representing more than 20,000 people from different races, faith backgrounds, and living in both cities and suburbs – that have joined together to take action on social and economic justice issues of common concern. Our efforts form the foundation of a powerful collective voice that demands change on the social, economic, and political issues affecting our families and our communities. CONECT has made an impact on issues as varied as gun violence, health insurance rates, police reform, immigrant rights, and more. CONECT’s website is  http://www.weconect.org/

Temple Emanuel members of mixed ages, interests, skills, experience and political preferences are involved with CONECT.  The projects we’re currently involved with include:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM TEAM 

Police Accountability: CONECT played a key role in getting the police accountability bill passed in the Summer 2020 short session of the Connecticut legislature. Next steps include educating the public about the bill and further action needed, in partnership with other CONECT congregations and authors of the legislation.   

Clean Slate: Believing that “A criminal record should not be a life sentence,” CONECT has a team working actively on CLEAN SLATE, a proposed bill that provides access to jobs, housing and education through criminal record expungement.  Contact Jean Silk to get involved.

Prison Reform: A subcommittee of the team will be setting in-prison advocacy reform goals in the coming months. Examples of issues may include abolishing solitary confinement and ensuring safety from COVID 19 in prison. Contact Alana Rosenberg to get involved. 

GET OUT THE VOTE COMMITTEE

Our goal is to encourage TE members to vote in the November election, either in person or by mail. Contact Linda Drazen or Betsy Ratner to get involved.

GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION TEAM

The DO NOT STAND IDLY BY (DNSIB) campaign is using law enforcement purchasing power to press the gun industry on gun distribution and gun safety technology. There have been some discussions about gun violence in New Haven, and some are interested in distributing gun safety technology in the streets.  Contact Rise Siegel to learn more.

HOUSING

CONECT is working with Open Communities Alliance to build community understanding and support for changes in zoning to allow for affordable housing. Initial action has been based in Woodbridge. CONECT may expand this work to include other towns and partners. Contact Alana Rosenberg to get involved.

OTHER CONECT PROJECTS include addressing health care (fighting for mental health parity and lower insurance rates) and immigrant rights (defending the safety of all Connecticut residents by keeping ICE out of courthouses).

CONECT is a vehicle for taking action, in partnership with other TE congregants and other congregations, on issues that you feel passionately about. TE Members comment that getting involved with CONECT makes them want to get more involved in TE.  To learn more or to join CONECT at TE, contact Alana Rosenberg.

Tikkun Olam Projects 2019-20

Tentative Projects for the 2019-2020 (5780) Calendar Year

September/October 2019    

26th Annual High Holy Day Food Collection – Will Sherman, Coordinator

Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur & Sukkot

Food to be picked up by JFS and the Town of Orange between 10/23 & 10/25

November/December 2019  

  •  Thanksgiving Turkey Collection – Peter Stolzman, Coordinator
  •  New Haven’s Lighthouse Point Park “Fantasy of Lights” – in conjunction with Easter Seals – Goodwill Industries (Monday, Dec. 9, 2019) – Adam Spiewak, Coordinator
  •   Religious School Chanukah Baskets (Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019).  Baskets will be donated to: JFS, ‘r Kids Family Center, Fair Haven Community Health Center, & Fellowship Place. Sara Shanbrom will coordinate with assistance from Rebecca Olshansky and Lily Katsovich. 
Annual Chanukah basket program

January/February 2020

  • Religious School MLK Day Project.  Sunday, January 12, 2020.  “Welcome Kits” to be donated to Fellowship Place and Columbus House.  Janet Adams, Coordinator
  •  Abraham’s Tent.  Week of February 24, 2020.  Lee Stolzman & Barbara Levine-Ritterman, Coordinators
  •  Diaper Drive Collection – Marisa Kogan, Coordinator

March/April 2020

  •  Continuation of the  Diaper Drive Collection — Marisa Kogan, Coordinator
  • Purim Pasta Collection – Nancy Weber, Coordinator.  March 8-10, 2020.  All collected pasta to be donated to the Beth El Shelter in Milford.
  •  Federation Mitzvah Day (Sunday, March 15, 2020): “Rise Against Hunger” project hosted at Temple Emanuel.  Melissa Perkal &  Adam Spiewak, Coordinators
  •  Kosher-for-Passover Food Collection.  Food to be distributed to JFS prior to the start of Passover (which is April 8, 2020).  Will Sherman, Coordinator

May/June 2020

  •  Red Cross Blood Drive at T.E.  Adam Spiewak, Coordinator  (Need date)
  •  Collection of specific items for Milford’s Beth El Shelter.  Nancy Weber, Coordinator