Repair the World

Get Ready for World Blood Donor Day – June 14

June 14th is World Blood Donor Day – a day dedicated to spreading the word about the important act of donating blood all year round.

According to the American Red Cross, “every minute of every day, someone needs blood” – an average of 1 out of every 7 hospital patients. Currently only 3 out of every 100 people in America give blood, which means the country’s needs are not yet being met. Jewish tradition considers pikuach nefesh (saving a life) to be one of the most important things anyone can do, and donating blood is an active way to help others in need.

Relaunch of On1Foot Brings Service and Social Justice Texts to the Masses

Have you ever wished there was a place to find an array service and social justice-related Jewish texts, all in one place? It would make those last-minute Passover seder speeches, those d’vrei Torah (sermons) at synagogue, those college papers, and those text study sessions so much easier and more meaningful to prepare!

For the last two years, the website On1Foot has done exactly that, housing text sheets and suggested texts on topics ranging from Civil and Human Rights and Education to Gender and Sexuality, the Environment, and Labor Rights. And today, as they near their second anniversary, On1Foot is relaunching to be bigger, better and more collaborative than ever before.

Repair Interview: Ami Dar of Idealist.org

Like many young people, I found my first non-profit job out of college on Idealist.org – an organization that “connects people, organizations, and resources” online to help build a better world. On the morning of my first day I distinctly remember having a realization of my 21st-century privilege. “How on earth did people do this without the internet?” I wondered.

Idealist.org founder, Ami Dar, had that very same question. On a backpacking trip in Chile in the mid 1980s, Dar first had the idea of creating a global network to help interested people plug their energy into the organizations and initiatives that needed them. Several years later he was introduced to the internet and its remarkable ability to connect people – and Idealist has not looked back since. Dar took the time to speak with Repair the World about his own inspiration for social justice work, what Idealist might have been like if the internet never came along, and why now is the perfect time to follow your dreams and change the world.

Monday Link Roundup

Happy Monday and Memorial Day! In honor of those who have served and continue to serve our country – both in uniform and in everyday life – here is a special round up of service-inspired stories from around the web.

• The Forward published a touching story by Marla Brown Fogelman who for the past three years has volunteered with the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, interviewing Jewish World War II vets and recording their remarkable stories.
• The Case Foundation offers suggestions for how to truly support and honor veterans and military families this Memorial Day.
• GOOD takes a different approach to honoring the people who admire us with their call for submissions from readers to submit photos of the people they most admire in life. Check out some of the sweet and inspiring submissions here.
• JTA published a story about Rachel Isaacs who made history on May 19 by being the first openy gay rabbi to be ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary.
• eJewish Philanthropy published a story about the PJ Library, an initiative funded by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that delivers free Jewish books to Jewish families across the country and Canada to promote literacy and Jewish education.
• The Huffington Post published an update about the tornado cleanup efforts in Joplin, Missouri and how AmeriCorps is making a difference.

Weekly Torah: Parshat Bamidbar 5771

This post is part of a weekly series of Torah commentaries presented by the American Jewish World Service. It was contributed by guest writer, Dvar Tzedek alumnus Rabbi Elliot Kukla.

Whenever I am on an airplane, the in-flight entertainment makes me cry. Even if what is playing is the most outrageously juvenile comedy or a lengthy infomercial, I find my eyes strangely misty. I used to think I was the only one, but when I began talking about this with my friends I found out that many people feel similarly vulnerable in the air. There is something about that sense of having already left home, but having not yet arrived at our destination, that strips us of our usual composure.

Parshat Bamidbar—which literally means “in the desert”—is all about this challenging time and space in between departure and arrival. It concerns the lengthy period of wandering in the desert after the Israelites left slavery but had not yet arrived in the land of milk and honey. Every year, we read this parshah in the middle of counting the omer, a ritual that marks the 49 days between Passover (Exodus from Egypt), and Shavuot (receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai). This moment of Jewish time is all about having left our point of origin, but not yet having arrived at our destination. We are neither here nor there.

On Tap: The National Faith, Justice and Civic Learning Conference

Looking for a dose of inspiration this summer? Head to Chicago on June 16-17 for the National Faith, Justice and Civic Learning Conference held at DePaul University.

Co-sponsored by the Interfaith Youth Corps, DePaul University’s Division of Student Affairs, the conference aims to advance “the understanding that our teaching, learning, scholarship, and service are enriched when we integrate the often fragmented dimensions of our institutions and greater society.”

The goals of this two day conference include: disseminating research findings on the intersection of faith, justice, social responsibility and civic/service-learning, sharing faith perspectives and practices on these topics, focusing on justice and faith, discussing service-learning’s impact on faith and vocation and secular and faith-based educational institutions, fostering an interfaith dialogue and cooperation in higher education around these topics.

Among the distinguished speakers are Rabbi Jill Jacobs (the Rabbi-in-Residence for Repair the World grantee-partner Jewish Funds for Justice) and Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz (Founder and President of Repair the World grantee-partner Uri L’Tzedek).

Find out more and register here.

Lending a Hand to Missouri’s Tornado Victims

On Sunday, a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri leaving at least 122 people dead and some 1,500 people missing. According to an article in the Wausau Daily Herald, it was the deadliest single tornado in America in the last 60 years. Meanwhile the storm also left many family’s homes devastated or in great disrepair.

Sadly, Sunday’s tornado is just the latest in a string of recent natural disasters causing havoc in the country and across the world. As each disaster strikes, the chances of our personally knowing someone who was impacted grows. Regardless of whether we have a personal connection to the victims, however, we have the opportunity to help out and provide solace of those in need.

Below are a number of charities and organizations who are helping the victims in Missouri – please consider making a donation to support their efforts.

Repair Interview: Aaron Firestein of BucketFeet

In 2007 when he was a senior in college, Aaron Firestein started drawing on canvas shoes and sharing the designs with his friends on Facebook. That creative impulse eventually morphed into a full-fledged business with a social conscious. Together with his business partner Raaja Nemani, Firestein runs Bucketfeet – a Chicago-based shoe company that donates part of the profits from sales to partner organizations doing creative work to help children around the world. (Find out more here.)

Launched in February of this year, BucketFeet is new, but already making a big impact. Firestein took some time to talk with Repair the World about the importance of transparency in business, where his drive to do good stems from, and how sometimes, the “right” next step finds you when you’re least expecting it.

What They Said: Inspiring Commencement Speeches

This past week and weekend, many high schools and colleges held their commencement ceremonies – and many more are coming up this week. Of course one of the biggest highlights of graduation (aside from the rush of accomplishment!) is hearing the commencement speaker wax poetic about life, success and the future.

Thanks to the internet these speeches, which were once heard only by the graduates and their family and friends, are now often available – as videos or in full text – to the world. This year, perhaps not surprisingly, service, volunteering, justice, compassion and changing the world were hot topics . Here are some of our favorites:

Monday Link Roundup

Happy Monday – looking back at last week’s roundup I see that I wrote about the soggy spring weather. Not much has changed. Fortunately, this week’s roundup of service-related links is even more chock full of inspiring stories than normal. Take that, rain.

• eJewish Philanthropy posted an excellent story by Rabbi Brent Spodek and Adam Gaynor about the true pleasure (and obligations) of meaningful service.
• The Jewish Week published a reflection by Alisa Rubin Kurshan about the recent Siach conference, which brought together Jewish leaders and social activists from North America, Europe and Israel to talk about tikkun olam, the environment and the power of collaboration.
• The Huffington Post published an essay by Marian Wright Edelman (President of the Children’s Defense Fund) about fighting against proposed cuts to childcare in New York City (and the measure’s national impact).
• Idealist.org posted links to three resources to help people working in public service pay off their student debt. Very useful, indeed.
• Service Nation posted about the new Truck Farm (as in a farm planted on the back of a truck) being launched by DC Central Kitchen in our nation’s capitol.