Repair the World

Tune In Tonight: “All Together Now, A Celebration of Service” on NBC

Tune in tonight on NBC (8/7c) for “All Together Now: A Celebration of Service,” – a live broadcast of an event hosted by the Points of Light Institute. Here’s more info about the show from the NBC’s website:

The Points of Light Institute is hosting “All Together Now – A Celebration of Service” at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., to honor President George H. W. Bush for his visionary leadership in the American service movement. The event will bring together all four former presidents for the first time since the inauguration of President Obama. President William J. Clinton will serve as the event’s honorary co-chair. He will be joined by President and Mrs. George W. Bush and President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter.

The star-studded lineup will also bring together some of the biggest acts in country music, soul and rock in a unique program celebrating the powerful role voluntary service can play in overcoming the challenges our communities face in the 21st century. The evening will feature performances by Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Cee Lo Green, Reba McEntire, Sam Moore, Brad Paisley, Kid Rock, Darius Rucker and Carrie Underwood.

Founded in 1990, the Points of Light Institute inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action (via service and volunteering) that changes the world. Know a Point of Light in your neighborhood? Someone who goes above and beyond to volunteer, or changes the world in their own special way? Pay tribute to them on the Points of Light Tribute Page (and read all the other heartwarming tributes). Then tune in tonight for what is bound to be a stellar evening.

Monday Link Roundup

Happy Monday everyone. Hopefully you had a restful weekend, and to get your week started off right, here is our weekly round up of stories – some touching and sad, others hopeful, all inspiring – from the world of service on the web.

• Hollywood star and Jew by choice, Elizabeth Taylor (who passed away last week) was also a devoted humanitarian, supporter of the LGBT community, and an AIDS activist writes the Huffington Post. May her memory be a blessing.
• Geraldine A. Ferraro sadly also passed away this past week. The New York Times published a touching obituary for Ferraro, who, “ended the men’s club of national politics” by being the first woman to be nominated for Vice President.
• GOOD reports on the goings on of The Do Good Bus – a mobile volunteer unit (literally a bus) that takes volunteers and deposits them on secret volunteer missions around the community. Education and action all rolled (pun intended) together.
• The Huffington Post’s Tom Sheridan contributed a stirring op-ed on the importance of non-profits standing up for themselves as their federal support grows increasingly threatened.
• Calling all spring breakers: Climate Progress published a thoughtful how-to piece with ideas about green travel and vacationing without stressing the planet.

Supporting Workers’ Rights on the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

100 years ago today, a fire struck New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist Company building. The fire, which was likely caused by an accidental cigarette tossed into a waste bin, spread quickly – trapping hundreds of garment workers (mostly women) inside, and killing over 150 people.

The Forward (then called The Forverts) founder, Abraham Cahan, wrote a stark editorial two days after the fire which read: “The entire neighborhood is sitting shiva. Every heart is torn in mourning. The human heart is drowning in tears. What a catastrophe! What a dark misfortune!”

Weekly Torah: Parshat Shmini 5770

This post is part of a weekly series of Torah commentaries presented by the American Jewish World Service. It was contributed by Jimmy Taber.

At times, I find that my fellow social justice activists are tired. Tired from the barrage of need they face daily. Tired from the uphill battle against intractable social problems. Tired from the wearing down of their expectations that sustainable change is possible. Eventually, their emotional capacity for social justice work becomes exhausted. Sometimes it seems that the more they commit to fighting for social justice, the more vulnerable they are to being consumed by an overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

We find a striking parallel to this phenomenon in the story of Nadav and Avihu in Parshat Shmini. Immediately following the inauguration of Aaron and his sons, something strange and tragic occurs. In Leviticus 10:1-2 we read: “Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Lord alien fire, which God had not enjoined upon them. And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord.”

Spotlight on: JChoice

Following up yesterday’s post about the growing number of young people getting involved in service and philanthropy, here’s a Jewish organization that is leading the way on both fronts.

Meet JChoice – an online social networking community that “empowers young Jewish giving through the Jewish tradition of Tzedakah, while building Jewish community and strengthening Jewish culture.”

Founded in 2009, JChoice encourages teens to search through their database for a cause/issue that speaks to them and make a donation in support of it. The causes and non-profits that receive support are global in reach and cover a vast array of issues from the environment and special needs, to poverty, health, gender, and education rights. Here’s just a small sampling of causes JChoice teens help:

• Japan Emergency Relief – supporting the JDC’s larger fundraising efforts for Japan.
• Adopt a Bubbe – providing food, medicine, and utility payments for Jews living in the eastern Ukraine.
• Sandwiches for Every School Child – supporting nutritious meals for kids.

On the site, each cause includes a description of the issue, who it impacts, and how much money has been raised to-date. Even more interestingly, though, each cause is also tagged by which Jewish value (e.g. honoring our elders, building relationships between people, feeding the hungry) it’s connected to. That’s all part of founder David Rosenberg’s idea – to empower teen givers to express their voices by supporting the causes that matter to them, and to do so in an explicitly and celebratory Jewish context.

In less than two years, JChoice has already raised $45,670 for 111 causes – pretty impressive, eh? To find out more or donate to the cause of your choice, click here.

Encouraging Our Youngest Service Heroes

The New Yorker launched the 20 Under 40. The New York Jewish Week published the 36 under 36. But for some, those age requirements are simply far too old. eJewish Philanthropy recently ran a story announcing a contest that skews dramatically younger: The Jewish Associated League of Organizations with Programs for Youth (JALOPY)’s 10 under 10, which celebrates the best and brightest of the pre-tween set. According to the story:

“Executive Director Vilda-Chaya Tipshut [said], “We want to encourage independent-minded forward-thinking trail-blazing path-breaking paradigm-shifting game-changing maverick out-of-the box creative entrepreneurial innovative young bridge-builders who are revitalizing, empowering, and fostering one another.” “For instance…we’ve heard about a five-year-old who has come up with a model for kindergarten that is more responsive to its target demographic, with extra play time and more snacks. We need to incentivize that kind of innovation community-wide.”

Monday Link Roundup

Happy Monday – we hope you had a wonderful and joyous Purim! To help you get adjusted back to weekday, most-likely costume-less life, here are some inspiring stories of service from around the web.

• The Huffington Post shared a heart-warming story about an army veteran named Al Lee who decided to dedicate his Purple Heart to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. He said, “”I wanted her to have it because of her strong support of veterans and her ability to always recognize a military servicemember such as myself.”
• A Brooklyn senior center that provides community, care and food for Holocaust survivors is being threatened by budget cuts, reported the New York Jewish Week. Find out how you can volunteer to help Holocaust survivors here.
• The Forward’s Sisterhood blog reported on a a series organized by the Jewish Women’s Archive called “Top 10 Women in Jewish Labor History,” organized in commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire’s 100th anniversary. The Forward has also created a page dedicated to the memory of the fire and the legacy of service and social justice it sparked.
• GOOD shares the story of Robert Bailey, a teacher who saved 42 of his students from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan – it’s one of many inspiring stories of service and heroism emerging from the beleaguered country.
• The HandsOn Blog shares nine compelling reasons why families should volunteer together.

Weekly Torah: Parshat Tzav 5771

This post is part of a weekly series of Torah commentaries presented by the American Jewish World Service. It was contributed by Rachel Travis.

I have very distinct memories of standing in shul under my father’s tallit as a child, trying to peek through the weave of his woolen prayer shawl as the kohanim blessed the congregation. Later, these avuncular men schmoozed and ate herring with the rest of us, but in my mind, they retained an aura of holiness even in the social hall.

For millennia, the kohanim served as the spiritual pillars of the Jewish community, and large sections of Vayikra are dedicated to describing the kohanim’s service in the Tabernacle. Parshat Tzav, in particular, chronicles in precise detail the laws of various sacrifices, delineating step by step how the kohanim should conduct the holy service. The Ramban, a preeminent medieval rabbi and philosopher, teaches that the sacrifices and Temple service had a profound effect on the heavenly strata. They were crucial to the religious wellbeing of the Jewish people.

REALITY Israel Webinar, Thursday 3/17

We are pleased to invite you to participate in a Repair the World/RepairLabs webinar on Thursday, March 17, at 2:00 PM Eastern, where we will be presenting the results of a new study about the impact of the REALITY Israel Experience for Teach For America corps members.

For the past two years, the REALITY Israel Experience has been bringing select Teach For America participants on a 10-day trip to explore Israel from a service and education perspective and connect their secular service work, as teachers, to their personal values and motivations for repairing the world. Has it worked?

Among other promising findings, the REALITY impact study found the program has:

• Strengthened participants’ commitment to Teach For America’s mission;
• Strengthened participants’ commitment to social justice; and
• Strengthened the link between members’ Jewish identity and their passion for service.

During the webinar on Thursday, March 17, at 2:00 PM Eastern, we will explore the study in the context of a conversation about Jewish identity and the factors that drive a passion for service. Joining me on the call will be Adam Simon of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Michelle Culver from Teach For America. Both organizations were sponsors of the study, along with the Samberg Family Foundation and the Center for Leadership Initiatives.

I think you will find this discussion to be of interest and hope you will join us. To access the webinar please press ‘play’ on the video below.

Click over to our RepairLabs site to access all documents needed for the webinar.