Repair the World

Tuesday Link Roundup

The northeast heat wave from last week has subsided (a bit), but the blogosphere is still burning with service and social-change related stories. Here are some highlights:

CHECK IT OUT

• (Lifeworks) Jim Kielsmeir who founded the National Youth Leadership Council, talks about the growing importance of service-learning in schools.
• (HuffPo) Read this article on the impact of service during difficult times.
• (HuffPo) “No Impact Man,” Colin Beavan, talks about our collective responsibility to prevent oil spills.
• (JDC) 6 months after the earthquake, JDC continues their work to help build hope in Haiti.

GET INVOLVED

• (Field Museum) You’ve heard of a carbon footprint – now the Field Museum in Chicago has created a water calculator to help you figure out your “water footprint” and how you can conserve this precious resource.
• (Masa) Masa Israel alumni are invited to apply for the first ever Masa Israel Leadership Summit – Sunday, July 18, 2010.
• (Case Foundation) Nominate a young changemaker (age 12-24) for the Staples Youth Entrepreneurship competition.
• (Religious Action Center) Find out more about how you can make an impact in cleaning up (or supporting the cleanup of) the Gulf oil spill.

Pursue’s New Blog Shines a Spotlight on Service

Justice justice, thou shalt pursue (Deut 16:20) – or at least, that’s how the folks at Pursue see things. Founded in 2006 as a partnership between two powerhouse Jewish service/social justice organizations, AJWS and AVODAH, the newly named Pursue has evolved into an online and on-the-ground initiative for young (20s-30s) Jewish change-makers.

Their programming – everything from founding a social justice book club and the popular Inside the Activist’s Studio series, to co-sponsoring innovative events like Love, Hate & the Jewish State – works to invigorate a new generation of Jewish leaders engaged in creating a more just world.

Pursue’s new blog, PursueAction is the online home for the conversations around Jewish life and social change. Over the next several months, Repair the World will feature a series of “Pursue profiles,” interviews with active Pursue participants who are doing world-repairing work. To get things started, here’s an interview with Nathaniel Berman, an inspiring young professional and committed volunteer.

Tell us what you’re doing right now.

I’m an attorney working at the U.S. Department of Labor. I’m also a Jeremiah Fellow, one of a cohort of 16 socially conscious Jewish individuals in the D.C. area who are in a nine-month course developing organizing skills, storytelling skills, and learning about affordable housing and immigration issues.

Weekly Torah: Matot-Masei 5770

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

Parshat Masei opens as the wanderings of the Israelites are coming to an end. The land east of the Jordan has been conquered and divided, and God is commanding Moshe regarding the procedures to be followed upon entering Israel. Included in these commandments is a verse that dictates that when the Jews enter Canaan, they should banish the Canaanites and destroy their holy relics and holy sites—raze them all, utterly and completely, or face God’s wrath for failing to do so: “You shall destroy all their figure objects; you shall destroy all their molten images, and you shall demolish all their altar-places.”

Reading this verse might well make us shudder, as the overt and deliberate destruction of sites holy to any faith is repellant to many modern readers. Israel’s 1967 Protection of Holy Places law and the international outcry over the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan, Afghanistan, highlight this sentiment. Moreover, we have a strong tradition in the U.S. of respecting and enabling the religious and cultural practices of others.

Volunteer to Cool Down the Heat Wave

The heat wave currently sweeping the East Coast has made national headlines, and for good reason. With temperatures reaching into the high 90s and low 100s and projected to stay there for several days, residents all along the eastern sea board are suffering. The hot temperatures are particularly hard on older and very young people, as well as low-income residents who cannot afford air conditioning in their homes.

Of course, it is important to take care of yourself in the heat – avoid prolonged exposure outside and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. But while the heat and humidity can make doing anything feel like an extra chore, you can make a big impact by volunteering to help others cool down. Here are some ideas:

DIY: Take Your Service Experience With You

Service work can be truly life changing – both for the community being served, and also for the person volunteering their time. And when that service is of the “immersive” variety (a seven-day experience or longer), the likelihood that the experience will profoundly shape the volunteer is all the greater.

One of the biggest challenges faced by immersive service participants is how to hold onto everything they learned after the program ends. But no matter how profound the experience was: whether they strengthened their commitment to service, discovered a new appreciation of Jewish tradition, or developed leadership skills, it is entirely possible to bring that new found inspiration back every day life. Here’s how:

July 4th Link Roundup

Yesterday, many Americans celebrated Independence Day by watching the fireworks, eating massive numbers of hot dogs (upwards of 150 million of them), spending time with family and friends, and sporting stylish combinations of red, white and blue. But as a wise person on Facebook once said, independence day should really be called “interdependence day” – a day where we celebrate our relationships with and responsibility to others as well as our freedom. In honor of the holiday, here are some inspiring service-related bits from around the blogosphere.

CHECK IT OUT

• (NJ.com) Volunteerism as the ultimate form of patriotism? Absolutely.
• (Sustainablog) 29 ways to “declare independence from ‘normal’” and help change the world.
• (NY Jewish Week) Read about mizrachi Jews’ struggle for equal rights in Israel.
• (JTA) A combined Israeli-Palestinian soccer team plays on the sidelines of the World Cup in the Football for Hope Festival.
• (NY Jewish Week) Young Jewish leaders push for a seat at the non-profit boardroom table.

GET INVOLVED

• (Jcarrot) Like fresh vegetables, building Jewish community, and small organic farms? Start (or join) a Hazon CSA in your community.
• (ROI) Keep tabs on all of the happenings at this year’s ROI Summit, a conference for young Jewish leaders who are “empowering innovation, and creating a more vibrant Jewish community all over the world.” Check out the participant profiles, the summit schedule, the live blog – and more!

Weekly Torah: Parshat Pinchas 5770

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

In the space of eight verses in Parshat Pinchas, God and Moses arrange a succession plan for Israel’s faithful shepherd. The passage, together with an accumulation of rabbinical commentary thereon, provides a window into what kind of person the Torah sees as fit to lead the Jewish people.

According to the Midrash, Moses hopes that God will appoint his son as his successor, arguing that it’s only logical for the position to be inherited within his family. God replies that Moses’s son is not worthy, whereas Joshua, Moses’s student and tireless assistant in the service of God and the people, certainly is. This response emphasizes that leadership of the Jewish community should not be hereditary; rather it must be based on demonstrated merit.

Report from the Field: A HIAS Volunteer in Kenya

Amy Schwartz, PR/Communications fellow at the HIAS Refugee Trust of Kenya (HRTK), is blogging from Kenya this summer for HIAServe and Repair the World. Amy will be a fellow at HRTK until the end of August, and will continue to update us from the field.

Chapter 1: Karibu To Kenya

Arrival into Nairobi: 13:30 on Monday, the 31st of May to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

See in the distance: Steven, a driver at the HIAS Refugee Trust of Kenya, holding my name up boldly and smiling. “Karibu!”, he says.

What is Karibu do you ask?

Swahili for ‘Welcome.’

Okay makes sense; he was waiting for me to arrive for my fellowship with HRTK and wishes me Karibu! But what I found out instantly was Karibu doesn’t just mean the standard. ‘Welcome’ that you might see on signs, storefronts, and border crossings.

Karibu also means ‘you are welcome here’. You are welcome here in Kenya. Karibu! A greeting not only to say hello, but that I was wanted here in Kenya. For a moment, I was almost confused! And it wasn’t jet lag.

Repair the World in the Washington Post

Yesterday, Repair the World launched its national search engine for Jewish volunteer and community service. If you have ever wanted to plug in to a service trip or volunteer opportunity, but did not know where to start, this search engine is for you. Whether you live in Iowa and are into immigrant rights, or from the South Bronx and passionate about healthcare, this is your one-stop shopping resource for all things Jewish and service.

Clearly, we think this is kind of a big deal – and apparently, the Washington Post does too! Below, check out the great article by Eboo Patel on the Post’s The Faith Divide blog.

Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies joins the search engine!

After the exciting launch of our search engine for Jewish volunteer and service opportunities yesterday morning, we’re thrilled to announce a new partner.

The Association of Jewish Family & Children’s Agencies represents over 130 Jewish social service agencies throughout North America, and is a critical link in providing vital services to both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

“Our member organizations are on the front lines of service all over the country, and Repair the World’s new search engine will help them mobilize volunteers more effectively than ever,” said Lee Sherman, president of the AJFCA.

The search engine helps connect individuals looking for ways to get involved in their communities with organizations looking for volunteers and program participants.