TI Volunteer Pantry Coordinators Dee Unger and Israel Michaeli stock Lucy & Joe's Food Pantry shelves
Temple Israel of Natick Social Action provides the congregation and the community at large the opportunity to engage in "Tikkun Olam" (repairing the world through deeds of righteousness and loving kindness). Our mission is to create open dialogue with the congregation and the public about social action, address social injustices, improve human welfare and take action for social change.
As Temple Israel Social Action plans future volunteer opportunities, it is crucial to receive ideas from the congregation. Kindly complete this very brief questionnaire, which will take just a moment of your time. Thank you for your time and help.
Described below are some of the social action projects in which the Temple Israel community participates on a regular basis.
"They shall not hunger." Isaiah 49:10
Temple Israel partners with local agencies to address the issue of poverty and hunger in the MetroWest. Congregants of all ages participate in food drives, deliver canned goods and supplies and serve meals though community-based food pantries. Prior to the Kol Nidre service on Yom Kippur, congregants bring bags of food for distribution to local food pantries.
Temple Israel of Natick Social Action is stocking the Kosher-Only section of Lucy and Joe's Food Pantry at Jewish Family Service of Metrowest. This pantry will be devoted entirely to the nutritional needs of frail elders. Please imagine that the typical elder served will be over 80 years old with a variety of nutritional and medical needs. We must be very specific and particular about what we stock. Please leave these items in the "Lucy and Joe's Food Pantry" bin across from the coat closet in the Temple Lobby. Please see the list below.
Some ways to help us succeed..
Initially, Temple Israel plans to stock the following name brand products with Kosher certification or brands such as Manischewitz, Osem, Telma, etc.:
1These are new items that are especially needed.
TI Volunteer Pantry Coordinators Dee Unger and Israel Michaeli stock Lucy & Joe's Food Pantry shelves
Natick Service Council Food Pantry is an emergency food pantry in Natick that services individuals and families struggling to provide food for themselves or their family.
Temple Israel's Sisterhood Social Action Committee prepares and serves meals at Open Door, which is located at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Natick. Open Door provides Natick's only free weekly community supper to approximately 50 - 60 needy residents on selected Thursday evenings. Many times, these people choose between medication and food. A free meal is of tremendous value to them. Natick's Open Door also provides a social environment for people who would otherwise be lonely with no place to go. Temple Israel's Sisterhood shops for the food and engages all members of our synagogue community to volunteer. All ages of our community are involved in preparing, serving and cleaning up. Students in the Gesher and bar/bat mitzvah class also help serve and clean up.
Temple Israel Sisterhood Volunteers at Open Door BBQ
Jewish Family & Children's Service Family Table, Greater Boston's Jewish Food Pantry, was established in 1993 as a communal response to Jewish families with children that cannot afford life's basic necessities. The Family Table Food Pantry is the only kosher food panty in eastern Massachusetts and presently serves over 150 families in 40+ communities. Temple Israel of Natick has been participating in the program since its inception, sorting, packaging and delivering packages to recipients. Our present commitment is to provide Family Table with rolls of toilet tissue because this item cannot be purchased with food stamps.
Temple Israel volunteers deliver for Family Table
A Place to Turn is an emergency food pantry, which provides emergency food and clothing to individuals and families in the MetroWest area. The Temple Israel community – from nursery school children to adults – provides volunteer assistance.
For resources on Judaism and hunger, visit the website of Mazon.
Temple Israel of Natick Volunteers Sorting Cans at A Place to Turn
Temple Israel ArkBuilders Present custom-made table to A Place to Turn
On Monday, December 25th, Temple Israel of Natick will join hundreds of Jewish Volunteers to staff shelters, feeding programs, hospitals and nursing homes. This year, as in years past, Christian volunteers and staff will be able to celebrate Christmas with family and friend because of Project Ezra -- now in its 20th successful year -- and an outreach volunteer program of the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts. To participate, contact the Temple Office at either 508-650-3521 or office@tiofnatick.org.
The Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah class is organizing a team for the Project Bread - Walk for Hunger on May 4th. We will start training in January. If you have any questions, please contact the Temple office.
"The earth is the Lord’s and all that it holds." Psalm 24:1
It is our Jewish responsibility to protect the environment. To calculate your own carbon emissions, we have included a Carbon Calculator for your convenience.
In the spirit of Sh’mirat Ha-teva (preserving Nature), Temple Israel of Natick is actively engaged in recycling. Boxes for recycling paper are located in the main office and in the religious school office, and a bin can be found in the back of the kitchen for recycling cans and plastics. An industrial-sized bin for corrugated boxes has been installed in the outdoor trash area.
Plastic bottles and cans are brought to a redemption center, with all monies collected donated to the Temple as tzedakah. By recycling one bottle at a time, our Temple Israel community is helping to conserve our environmental resources.
For resources on Judaism and the environment, visit the website of The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life.
This Hanukkah, Temple Israel of Natick will join in a national campaign, sponsored by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) to address the global crisis.
This modern day commemoration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, will include helping in the purchase and install energy efficient, cost effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs during the week of Hanukkah, 2006. The campaign also aims to engage the Jewish community in energy legislation, greening synagogues, and to help our youth get involved in activities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by offsetting one's own energy usage.
Our message is as easy as changing a light bulb: If you could conserve energy and help stop global warming in one simple step, wouldn't you? CFLs use 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. This means less production of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and toxic waste. If every U.S. household replaced one bulb with a CFL, it would have the same impact as removing one million cars from the road.
We need you and each member of our community to be one of the many Jews to take this one easy action --to install an energy efficient, cost effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Temple Israel partners with the Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy, a program of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, and Hemenway School in Framingham, to provide the school with volunteers to tutor kindergarten to third grade students. Through our literacy program, team members reach out to the broader community and bring our tradition of teaching, learning, and commitment to tikun olam to the community. Tutors are trained and supported by the GBJCL and commit to a minimum of one hour per week during the school year. You can review the training calendar and register for training at the JCRC website.
Members of TI's Literacy Team being honored by Dr. Carolyn Burke, Principal of Hemenway School in Framingham
From left to right, Ellen Harris, Dr. Burke, Marilyn Gildersleeve, Paul Cantor, Ruth Levy, Shirley Woods, and Marcia Rowe
Temple Israel addresses the issue of healthcare in a variety of ways. The synagogue conducts an annual Blood Drive in conjunction with MetroWest Medical Center, Natick campus. We also provide informational lectures, such as a Medicare Part D Open Enrollment program presented by SHINE (Serving Health Information Needs of Elders).
Temple Israel of Natick Social Action actively engages in interfaith dialogue with other communities of faith in the MetroWest area. Programs include joint text study, worship and community service projects.
Communities in New Orleans and Mississippi continue to need help recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There remain numerous opportunities for volunteers. To learn more how you can help rebuild these areas, visit the following Websites.
The people of Darfur need us! Despite widespread acknowledgement, this genocide is happening in full view of the world. We must act! Go to www.savedarfurma.org.
Join Temple Israel of Natick and Jews from around the world in celebrating social action and Jewish unity during the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. This year, Jewish Social Action month corresponds to October 13 - November 10, 2007.
Cheshvan in the Jewish tradition is often known as MarCheshvan, a month of bitterness because of its lack of holidays. Two years ago, a global network of young Jewish leaders (KolDor), together with SocialAction.com and the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel, launched the concept of celebrating Cheshvan as a month of unity and positive action -- to take the bitterness out of Cheshvan and transform it into a month of Jewish Social Action. See www.cheshvan.org or www.socialaction.com.
This is the second consecutive year in which Temple Israel has participated in this global initiative with a series of programs and hands-on social action work. Last year, we kicked off our social action initiative, "Make Tzedek Happen", with a program led by Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Rabbi in Residence, Jewish FundS for Justice. We studied Jewish social action texts and also heard from Fran Godine, a founder of the Ohel Tzedek (Tent of Justice) Initiative at Temple Israel of Boston. Our Social Action Environmental Group was a direct result of this program.
Here is how you can get involved during Jewish Social Action Month.