Avoiding a heart of stone. Picture by Ryo Chijiiwa via CC
Shabbat Service is a weekly bit of Torah-inspired do-gooding, brought to you by Repair the World and our grantee-partner American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Read on to see how these ancient stories can apply today. Seem far fetched? Check it out:
The story: In this week’s parsha (Torah portion), Beshalach, Pharaoh and the ancient Egyptians have just suffered through 10 plagues starting with their rivers and other water sources turning to blood, and ending with the death of firstborn children. And yet, instead of allowing the Israelites to leave in peace, Pharoah’s heart hardens (yet again), and he and his army chase them towards the Red Sea. (Luckily, that plan didn’t work out so well.)
The takeaway: According to this week’s AJWS parsha interpreter, Sigal Samuel, “At first glance, Pharaoh’s refusal to acknowledge his people’s suffering may seem baffling to us… In truth, however, the Egyptian ruler’s behavior reflects an important fact about human psychology: namely, that constant exposure to a series of tragedies…can cause us to close our hearts toward the suffering of others.” In other words, in our daily lives we are constantly barraged with images of other people living through war, famine, and other types of pain. Unlike Pharaoh, we may feel general compassion for these people. And yet, it is all to easy to “harden our hearts” and push away bad news out of what feels like an act of preserving our own sanity.
The “to-do”: Of course, while shutting out sad news makes us feel better for a time, it does not help the situation, or take away our responsibilities to others. So how do we avoid becoming numb to tragedy? One way is to engage with service on a deeper level. Check out the work, for example, of WITNESS, an organization that uses video and other technology to share people’s stories in fresh and compelling ways. (Read more about WITNESS on Repair the World here.) Or, engage in service from the human-to-human level, which allows one to build deeper, lasting relationships with people in need. Not sure where to start? Here are a couple of organizations we love.
Read the full Torah commentary, on which this excerpt is based, over at AJWS’ website.
As CEO of Repair the World, Jon Rosenberg is in the business of empowering others to make service a defining part of Jewish life. But last Monday night, Jon had an opportunity to personally live out the organization’s mission.
He was one of several Repair the World staffers who stayed up late and into the morning hours to participate in the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) Count – a survey of New York City’s homeless population, which engages thousands of volunteers for a night of meaningful service. (Read more about the HOPE survey on Repair the World here.)
Jon took some time to talk about his experience with HOPE, the diverse people he met and volunteered with over the course of the evening, the impacts of race and class on city life, and how New York is truly the city that never sleeps.
Why did you choose to participate in HOPE count?
One of the things that Repair the World has focused on, and that I have personally focused on with my own service is engaging in service that meets a real need. The HOPE survey really struck me as an example of this type of authentic, effective service. I felt it met my personal litmus test as well as our organizational standards.
Break the chains of modern day slavery. Photo by Grant MacDonald via CC
Many of us think that slavery is a thing of the past – a serious social problem that disappeared 150 years ago at the end of the Civil War. But what if you knew that there are more slaves today than ever before, and that many of the purchases you make are directly related to modern day slavery?
Today is National Freedom Day – a day that honors the initiation of the 13th Constitutional Amendment, which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude in America. Without doubt, lots has changed for the better since then. And even more has changed since President Harry Truman instituted the first National Freedom Day in 1948. But in our global economy, where the sources of the goods we buy are not always clear, there is a lot of room for hidden exploitation. And the people who take the brunt of that exploitation – in Asia and the Middle East, South America, Africa and, yes, even the United States – too often become nameless, faceless statistics.
Enter, the Slavery Footprint – a website that lets consumers get a visual sense of how their consumption habits are connected to modern slavery. Anybody can take the survey and walk through their own purchases to find out which ones rely on slavery. Then, they can choose to take action – letting a company know that they object to slave practices, and using the related smartphone app that helps empower and guide them toward making slavery-free purchases. Learn more about how it all works at the video below:
The end of January has arrived, which means two things: 1. Super Bowl Sunday (yay!) and 2. the end of winter break (not so yay). Students across the country are buckling down and getting back in the groove of papers, quizzes and homework. Meanwhile, daydreams of winter breaks just-past still dance in their heads. Especially for students like University of Maryland senior, Rebecca Weintraub.
Weintraub, along with 15 other students, joined Maryland Hillel and Repair the World for a life-changing alternative break trip in Israel. The students volunteered with Repair the World grantee-partner Yahel (learn more about Yahel here), for a 10-day whirlwind of learning and serving with Israel’s Ethiopian community. Weintraub took a minute from her busy back-to-school schedule to tell Repair the World about planting gardens with Ethiopian-Israelis, trying injera and other new foods, and how the trip influenced her relationship with Israel.
What inspired you to go on the alternative break trip?
There were several different alternative break trips being offered through Hillel – like one to San Diego that focused on immigration, and another to Ghana with American Jewish World Service. But the one that caught my eye was one in Israel with Yahel. It seemed different than the typical Israel trip where you visit Masada and the Kotel – it delved into social justice issues and seemed like it could help both deepen and challenge my relationship with Israel.
Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Here, as always, is your weekly round up of inspiring service-related bits and stories from around the web.
The Forward published an article about student journalists helping to build bridges between Jewish and Palestinian teens in Israel.
Sustainablog shared a great infographic about recycling old pairs of glasses, and suggested ways of disposing of them responsibly. (We’ve all got a pair or two of old specs lying around – here’s what you can do with them!)
GOOD shared an interesting article about why the most literate cities are not necessarily the wealthiest ones.
HandsOn Blog offered some of the benefits of volunteering (as if helping others wasn’t reward enough!)
The Atlantic brought readers up to date with a story about environmental crusader Erin Brockovich’s latest project.
What are you reading? Tweet us @repairtheworld and let us know!
Shabbat Service is a weekly bit of Torah-inspired do-gooding, brought to you by Repair the World and our grantee-partner American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Read on to see how these ancient stories can apply today. Seem far fetched? Check it out:
The story: In this week’s parsha (Torah portion), Bo, we flash forward a couple of months to Passover by learning about Chag haMatzot a.k.a the Festival of Unleavened Bread. We also learn the difference between matzo – the thin, cracker-like “bread of oppression” vs. its seeming opposite, chametz, which you might call the “bread of freedom.” (Because only free people have the time to let bread rise, let alone bake it until it forms a nice chewy crust.)
The takeaway: All this talk about matzo and chametz in the parsha brings up questions about the meaning of freedom. When you get down to it, there are actually two types of freedom: There’s freedom “from” things – mostly bad stuff, like oppression and slavery. But there’s also freedom “to” things – like the freedom to make our own decisions, and the freedom to create new realities. By accepting our freedom, we meanwhile accept a type of responsibility to ourselves and to others. In other words, “our newfound freedom [obligates] us to bring about the same transformation for others in our world.” It obligates us to “be the change,” as Gandhi famously put it, and to help others find their own freedom.
The “to-do”: There are still three months until Passover’s week-long matzo-fest begins (whew!). In the meantime, why not get a jump start on embracing your freedom, by helping ensure it for others. Volunteer with or support human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, Youth for Human Rights, or Rabbis for Human Rights North America.
Read the full Torah commentary, on which this excerpt is based, over at AJWS’ website.
Homelessness in America has no single face. Amongst the approximately 3.5 million Americans who are homeless today, you find people of all backgrounds and nationalities, both urban and rural, male and female, young and old. According to a recent USA Today article, in 2010, 1.6 million children were living in shelters, on the street, or doubled up with family members. That’s one out of every 45 kids.
Unfortunately, with America in the middle of a recession, more and more families are at risk to lose their jobs and homes. But amidst the facts and figures, there is room for hope. Next Monday, January 30th, The NYC Department of Homeless Services will conduct its annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) Count. Here’s how it works: volunteers (18 and older, or 16 and older with an adult) spend a night canvassing parks, subways and other public spaces to help count the number of people living without a home in New York City. Volunteers conduct a brief survey with each individual and offer transportation to shelters for anyone seeking services. Meanwhile, the information they collect is used to create better services and opportunities for homeless New Yorkers.
Nearly 3,000 volunteers – including Repair the World’s own CEO Jon Rosenberg and Jewish Service Learning Manager, Anya Manning – will spend next Monday night on the streets, helping those in need. And they could use your help! Want to join in the count and make a difference? Register for HOPE count here.
Can’t make it or don’t live in NYC? Here’s another way you can help: check out Do Whatever It Takes, a national organization that works to end youth homelessness across the US and Canada. Participants create a personal campaign to help them spread the word to family and friends, while raising funds to support services for homeless youth. Pretty cool, right?
So whether you live in NYC or Des Moines, Iowa – now is the time to stand up to homelessness. Let us know how you’re getting involved by tweeting us @repairtheworld.
Breakfast yogurt. Gum wrapper. Takeout lunch. Glossy magazine. Shopping bag. Plastic water bottle. Each of these daily items may seem small and insignificant, but bundled together they add up to a whole lot of trash. Four pounds to be exact – the average amount that each person throws away (and that ends up clogging up landfills) every single day!
Thankfully, our friends over at DoSomething.org have teamed up with Nestlé Waters to, well, do something about America’s trash problem. Their goal: to spread the word about the importance of recycling and double the country’s recycling rates by 2018.
The initiative, called Don’t Be Trashy, invites participants to check out some recycling statistics, share them with friends via Facebook and Twitter, and select a sustainability project idea or two (everything from recycling 25 items to talking to a school principal about getting recycling bins) to begin making an on-the-ground difference. To sweeten the deal (as if a cleaner environment weren’t gift enough!) they’re giving away great prizes like free movie tickets and $500 college scholarships to lucky participants.
The Jewish tradition, believe it or not, is also on board with recycling and sustainability. The mitzvah of bal taschit (do not destroy) serves as a reminder of our ongoing responsibility to keep the natural world clean and healthy by avoiding waste. Wanna learn more? Check out the hilariously informative video on bal taschit below (featuring a cartoon version of Al Gore!). Then, help DoSomething.org spread the word about recycling – and trash your trash!
Let us know how you’re getting the word out about recycling – leave a comment below tweet us at @repairtheworld.
Happy Monday everyone! We hope you had a wonderful (maybe even snowy?) weekend. To get your week started off on the right foot, here’s Repair the World’s weekly roundup of inspiring service-related posts from around the web.
The Jew & The Carrot posted an essay about the importance of the upcoming Farm Bill and how (and why!) Jews should get involved with this important piece of legislation.
The Huffington Post published a story by famous techie Bill Gates, which features young people’s words and ideas about how to change the world. Have a world-changing idea of your own? Read on to find out how you can share it with Bill!
The Huffington Post, on the subject of young people changing the world, also published an article about Sandbox – a network of innovative leaders, all under 30, who are shaping the world for the better.
AJWS (one of Repair the World’s grantee-partners) recently released a must-watch video in support of their Where Do You Give? campaign. It might just make you think about tzedakah in a whole new way.
GOOD shared the story of the guerrilla gardener, a very cool guy in London who plants gardens in neglected corners across the city.
Teens for Jeans volunteers sorting through donations. Photo via DoSomething.org
Let’s face it: fashion is everywhere. Last week was the Golden Globes…which means that now, we’re all checking out the best and worst-dressed of them all. And sure, it’s totally fun to get some new winter gear–pick out some great new kicks, hot new trends, find a good sale, or make a bold fashion statement. But we also know that some people aren’t worrying about being chic or making a statement. Thousands of people hardly have enough to keep themselves clothed at all – especially during the colder winter months.
This season, instead of focusing on what’s new, what’s chic, and what “must-haves” to buy, why not focus on what we think the hottest trend is this year: giving back. Yes, Jewish texts remind us to “share bread with the hungry,” and “clothe the naked.” In other words, we should help provide comfort with those who are less fortunate. But it also just feels kind of good.
So why not start a new trend and get a get a jump on your spring cleaning? Take a look through your closet for those “gently used” items to donate, or launch a clothing drive at your school, synagogue or in your community. You will be all the rage.
A few great organizations that accept clothing donations, and use the proceeds to help those in need:
Teens for Jeans: ( FYI, we learned from DoSomething that one in three homeless people in the U.S. is under the age of 18). To help out, DoSomething.org has teamed up with Aéropostale to run their annual Teens for Jeans donation program . Start a donation program at your school to help others and potentially win some cool prizes.
Housing Works: This NYC-based organization takes donations of clothes, shoes, accessories and more and sells them at their 12 thrift shops across the city. The money raised helps to fund their work around HIV/AIDS advocacy and services.
Brown Elephant: The proceeds of donated items purchased in this Chicago-based network of thrift shops help fund under-insured or uninsured patients at a local health clinic.
Pretty amazing stuff.
We’re no experts, but we think sometimes the boldest statement you can make has absolutely nothing to do with what you’re wearing.
Know of another great clothing donation opportunity? Let us know about it below, or on twitter at @repairtheworld.
Repair the World works to inspire American Jews and their communities to give their time and effort to serve those in need. We aim to make service a defining part of American Jewish life.
