Tikkun Olam - Community Service and Outreach |
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| For more information about our Community Service and Outreach activities, please email Stephanie Ross , vice president of social action. |
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2003
Volunteer Recognition Awards: Our second annual Volunteer Recognition
Awards, held May 19, 2003, honors members of our congregation who make all
our important activities happen. Visit our photo page to see this year's
honorees. At right, congregation members give longtime member and
enthusiastic volunteer leader Pearl Braunstein a standing ovation.
2002 Awards: See 2002 photos here. 
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Social Action Committee
Conducts Cleanup and Planting at Holocaust Memorial: Volunteers from the
Social Action Committee cleaned up and planted new shrubbery at the Camden
County Holocaust Memorial on Sunday, April 27. Here is a photo
album of their efforts. At left are Rabbi David and Ken Korach, Temple
Emanuel President, who both participated in the cleanup.
2002 cleanup project, Sunday, May 5, 2002 (Windows Media Video). |
| Temple Emanuel Raises Funds to Buy an Armored School Bus for Israel Emergency Appeal 2003: Temple Emanuel's participation in the Israel Emergency Campaign 2003 raised money to purchase an armored school bus to protect Israeli school children from terrorist attacks. The school bus costs approximately US $157,000. |
Bonnie Sharps, second from left, shows off the new Temple Emanuel School Bus t-shirts to visitors at the Purim Carnival, March 27, 2003. All the money raised from the t-shirts will go toward the purchase of the armored school bus for Israel. (Lubetkin photo) |
| November 21, 2002 Mitzvah Mall: South Jersey Community joined Temple Emanuel to support Israeli shop owners and artisans by buying Israeli products and crafts at the Mitzvah Mall in our social hall. (Windows Media Video) |
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October 20, 2002 Mitzvah Walk at Cooper River Park, sponsored by Temple Emanuel's Social Action Committee. (Windows Media Video) |
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Liheyot Committee |
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The newly formed Liheyot Committee is taking the first steps towards making Temple Emanuel a place where all people - no matter the special need or ability - have access to Judaism. |
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At the March meeting, the committee heard from Rabbi Richard Address, who oversees Lehiyot for the UAHC. He spoke of the wide range of special needs, both physical and emotional, and how a synagogue can and should provide the place where access is both physical and spiritual. |
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If you have an interest in becoming a part of this significant and exciting process, or know of a need that should be addressed, please let us hear from you. This is just the start of what we are hoping will be a rewarding journey as Temple Emanuel moves towards becoming a Liheyot congregation.
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Canteen |
Volunteer your time to bring joy to some very special people |
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By Denise Weinberg |
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We’ll let you in on a little secret. A Mitzvah project has been taking place at Temple Emanuel four times a year for the past 12 years and you probably didn’t even know about it. |
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This community service program, called CANTEEN, offers 50 to 100 local mentally impaired teenagers and adults an opportunity to enjoy an evening of partying right in our social hall. |
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CANTEEN is sponsored by local couple Gayle and Bob Horn, and is supported by Temple Emanuel. Many members of our congregation have been assisting as CANTEEN chaperones -- Ruth Gubernick, Max Pastelnick and Frank Hess, just to name a few. Some parent/teen teams have made volunteering at CANTEEN a family Mitzvah project. Maybe you have a little time to give. The next CANTEEN is Wednesday, May 19, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and everyone is welcome. |
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And another Temple secret... |
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Joey of our maintenance staff came up with a great idea. He started saving the party handouts left behind by Bar/Bat Mitzvah guests and recycled them to the CANTEEN "kids." This is his own personal Mitzvah project, but one that has touched us. A very special thank you to Joey.
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Mazon |
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Among the greatest and most rewarding of Jewish traditions is to mark the days of our celebrations, large and small, by sharing our abundance with family and friends. These days give so much meaning to our lives that they stay with us forever. |
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Woven into our tradition of celebration is the practice of inviting the poor to the table. That tradition was part of the larger Jewish concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world. It is emphasized by prophets like Isaiah, who urges us to feed the hungry. Today times have changed. We no longer literally invite the poor to our tables. But we can continue the tradition of sharing our abundance with the poor and hungry by symbolically inviting them to the table through MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. |
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We Jews take pride in being rachmanim b'nai rachmanin (compassionate children of compassionate parents and grandparents). As a Mazon Congregation Partner we encourage our members to continue the tradition of compassion by sharing with MAZON at the time of your celebration. You can give meaning to our prophets' words and add even greater meaning to your joyous occasions. |
