Join our leadership and help shape Tikkun Olam at TBE. Lend your voice as we explore our capacity to repair our world. RSVP to Sandy at the link!

Yad Chessed

Yad Chessed, which means “hand of loving kindness,” helps Jewish families and individuals in need. Their mission is to provide emergency financial assistance while working to preserve the dignity of each individual client. The money they provide for basic needs – such as food, clothing, shelter and utilities – gives people in need security and allows them to get back on track. 

Community members are invited to bring grocery store gift cards to support Yad Chessed. Gift cards should be in standard amounts ($10, $25, $50, etc) and should be for the following grocery stores: Shaws, Market Basket, Stop and Shop, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods. Donate in our Tzedakah Box in the atrium!

Learn more about Yad Chessed and this important Purim mitzvah from TBE member Janet Goldenberg at the link!

Family Table

Family Table is Greater Boston's only Jewish food pantry. As a community, each month we are responsible for supplying 50 cans of salmon and 50 boxes of whole grain cereal for families in need. Please bring in a can of salmon or a box of cereal the next time you come to TBE! 

Also, we will be collecting Matzah toward the end of March during community dinners.

We welcome you to join Family Social Action Group for a family friendly event benefiting A Place to Turn. We will work together to decorate and assemble snack bags for children in need to take to school.  

Please RSVP (with the number of kids/adults attending) to Sarah Docktor at the link!

During the High Holy Days, Rabbi Sisenwine mentioned a new partnership with Jewish Family Service and MassBay to mentor first-generation college students. The purpose of the training is to equip you with the knowledge and skills to be a good in-class mentor for the MassBay students. You have the opportunity to provide much-needed growth and support to these college students. RSVP to Sandy at the link!

Come volunteer at New England's largest kosher food pantry, Family Table. During this volunteer opportunity, you will pack and deliver groceries for families in Greater Boston. To volunteer, please contact Jen Lawrence at the link ASAP.

Join our team to help prepare and pack delicious, medically tailored meals for individuals and families facing critical and chronic illness. Community Servings provides 675,000 meals annually to 2,000 clients with HIV/AIDS, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. This event is a CASA favorite! For more info or to RSVP, contact Amy Benjamin at the link.

Do you love to read? Would you like to share your love of reading with children in a one-to-one setting? Please consider joining our Literacy team for a rewarding volunteer experience reading with a child (or two) in grades K to 4 for one hour during the week. Our Temple Beth Elohim Literacy Team is beginning its 21st year of volunteering at the Potter Road School, our partner school in Framingham. You choose any day that fits your schedule. No prior teaching experience is required…just a desire to help a child improve their reading skills. Learn more by contacting Wendy Cultice at the link.

Join us as we explore Robin DiAngelo's groundbreaking work describing the dominant white's culture's role in maintaining racial bias in society - and how it can be changed.  The goal of this discussion is a step towards creating justice for a racial minority that has experienced unfair treatment since the founding of the United States of America. We will be led in the discussion by Dr. Kathy McDonough, an experienced guide with more than 15 years of experience supporting groups seeking to understand these systems, engage in critical self-reflection and work for justice. RSVP to Sheri Kassirer at the link.

After a successful Tu B'shevat Seder and film showing, our Green Team continues to make our building and community sustainable. Join the committee or join for one meeting to discuss their goals of making improvements in temple energy efficiency and educating the community. RSVP to Sheryl Goodridge at the link!

Join us as Andy Tarsy, Chair of Temple Israel's Racial Justice Committee shares the group's journey on the path to tikkun olam. Join us for what will surely be a very useful and lively discussion! 

TBE and Temple Israel are actively engaged in racial justice efforts dedicated to overturn years of discrimination against people of color in our communities.  

RSVP to Sheri Kassirer at the link.                     

Join TBE and Facing History and Ourselves as we contribute to building and strengthening our TBE community with the foundational values of inclusion, love and understanding. We continue with part 3 of a four-part series, as we connect to the stories of Jewish immigrants and refugees to gain a new perspective on the contemporary issues surrounding immigration today. You do not need to have attended the first session to attend this one! Learn more and RSVP at the link.

Join us for conversation and Shabbat dinner with Chaplain Clementina M. Chéry founder of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute founded in 1994 after the murder of her fifteen year old son Louis. Chaplin Chéry is both an inspiring leader and a gun violence prevention activist. Chéry is also an internationally recognized expert in the field of homicide response. She is an ordained Chaplain and a Lady of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest honor bestowed by Pope John Paul II on a lay Catholic.

Sign up for the dinner at the link!

The TBE Immigration Justice Initiative is organizing a fundraising concert with Noah Aronson and his band. Proceeds will benefit the Beyond Bond and Legal Defense Fund, which helps immigrants obtain their release from ICE detention and reunite with their families.

Join our Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) as DA Rollins will be interviewed by Rashaan Hall of the ACLU. There will then be a Q&A session with the audience. This is a great opportunity to hear from one of the new District Attorneys in MA after a very large "what a difference a DA makes" campaign. Her election represents a potentially radical change to how criminal prosecutions are conducted in Massachusetts and has far reaching implication to the criminal justice system and the community as a whole. RSVP to Sheri Kasirrer at the link

The MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence will present its Fourth Annual Peace MVP Awards to the amazing teen leaders who have led the charge on sensible gun law reform this year. Keynote speaker will be David Hogg, Parkland survivor and teen gun violence prevention activist. Learn more and register at the link!

The United States is facing a crisis of mass incarceration with more than 2.2 million people packed into its jails and prisons. Rikers: An American Jail is a riveting documentary from Bill Moyers that focuses on former detainees whose searing testimonials describe the deep-seated culture of systemic violence and corruption that has plagued the notorious NYC jail for decades. Featured in the documentary is Rev. Hector “Benny” Custodio who will join us for a panel discussion following the film.  

The film and panel will highlight the crisis of mass incarceration which disproportionately affects people of color, and is an opportunity for the us to practice Tikkun Olam.   

RSVP to Ediss Gandelman at the link.

Debbie Gotbetter celebrates the two year anniversary of the arrival of the Hayani and Aljelou families to Boston. Also, Mustafa (age 11), shares his own story about their journey.

Volunteer at Centre Street Food Pantry in Newton

Centre Street Food Pantry's mission is to provide families with consistent access to nutritious food in a dignified and sensitive environment. As many as 85 families shop each time they open! They are looking for volunteers to help during pantry hours: Tuesdays 12:00-1:30 pm and 3:00-8:00 pm, and the first Saturday of the month 11:00am-2:00pm. Shifts are available in 2 hour increments and you can come as often or as little as you want. For more information, contact Risa Shames at the link. Contact Risa Shames for more information

Be a Big Brother or Big Sister

Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, one of the nation’s oldest mentoring organizations, transforms lives through friendship. Be a mentor to children and adults with disabilities. Approximately 40 Little Brothers and Sisters, and a roughly equal number of adults with disabilities, are waiting on a right-fit match.  

Contact Tania Grey to be a big!

For 46 years the Wellesley A Better Chance (ABC) house has been generously donated by Wellesley College, but is not available after June 2021. Please help the program continue by supporting our capital campaign, A Home of Our Own. Click on the link to learn more about this very successful scholar program in Wellesley dedicated to preparing women of color from underserved communities for college and careers since 1972. Contact TBE Member Debora White ([email protected]) for more information. 

TBE Physicians - Retired, Semi-Retired, In Industry and In Practice: 

Use your clinical expertise and make a difference - join us for an easy, fun, flexible and rewarding opportunity! The MAVEN Project seeks primary and speciality care physicians to provide advice, mentorship, and education via telehealth technology to clinic providers working in underserved communities. Join TBE Member Lisa Bard Levine in this important opportunity! Click the link to learn more or volunteer.

This Mitzvah Moments monthly e-newsletter provides a monthly snapshot of upcoming Tikkun Olam events, with links to more information. The goal of the newsletter is to improve communication, lift awareness of Tikkun Olam events and provide opportunities for the TBE community to come together throughout the year to combine community, compassion and connection.

The ultimate goal of Tikkun Olam at TBE is to provide integrated “Mitzvah Moments” throughout the year which enable the whole temple community to participate in direct service opportunities, education about social justice, and/or collection drives—thereby linking our Jewish values to the act of doing/serving, compassionate giving, and affecting change—in ourselves and in the world around us.