It's October 1st, which marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. It's a big issue to me, in small part because of two scares I had this past year, and largely because some important people to me have been impacted by breast cancer, either personally or second-hand.Think Pink: But don't stop with a lapel ribbon.

In a brochure given to me recently by Sharsheret, an organization supporting young Jewish women affected by breast cancer, I read:

"Alterations in two genes inditified as BRCA1 and BRCA2 make carriers more susceptible to developing breast and ovarian cancers....Among individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, research scientists have found that approximately 1 in 40 carry an altered BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene compared to 1 in 345 in the general population. Among people with alternations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, three particular alternations have been found t be most common in the Ashkenzi Jewish population-- two in the BRCA1 gene and one int eh BRCA2 gene. While there is still debate as to whether breast or ovarian cancer rates are higher in Jewish women as compared to the general population, the proportion of breast or ovarian cancer that is heredity is higher in Jewish women of Ashkenazi descent."

Contact Sharsheret for a copy of one of their many information packets including Breast Cancer Genetics and the Jewish Woman, Facing Breast Cancer as a Jewish Woman, Facing Breast Cancer as an Orthodox Jewish Woman and The Jewish Family Facing Breast Cancer. Also, you might want to consider getting a breast self-exam shower card, a handy waterproof self-exam reminder that looks like the Do Not Disturb signs you hang on hotel doors.

Other organizations to keep on your radar and to help support are Hadassah's Healthy Women, Healthy Lives Program, Bikur Cholim's Women's Healthcare Project, in addition to organizations serving everyone such as Living Beyond Breast Cancer, National Breast Cancer Coalition, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Y-Me, Young Survival Coalition, Facing Our Risk and The Breast Care Site. Of course, breast cancer isn't just a women's issue, either, with men's resources like this page from the American Cancer Society and BreastCancer.org's men's section.

Of course, you can get active and raise some serious money in support of breast cancer, too. Events like Avon's Breast Cancer 3-Day (which I did a few years ago and can vouch for how well-organized it was and how meaningful it was to go 60 miles in three days and would do it again in a heartbeat), Race for the Cure events (which I've also done-- there are events in almost every city so check the website and see if there is one near you), Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (which I am doing this year) and and for the perhaps less-active, there is Wacoal's Fit For the Cure, where getting fitted for and buying a brassiere does a world of good and Brides Against Breast Cancer's 3-day bridal tzotch-fest raises funds. Or go test-drive a BMW, if that's your bag.

And, in addition to supporting these organizations or doing these events, you can make some of your purchases stretch your donation dollars with finds like this mezuzah case and these mezuzah cases. Here is a list of cosmetics that are tricked out in pink for October to benefit breast cancer research, all sorts of goodies at The Breast Cancer Site to wear and use, fabulous kitchen accessories and small appliances at KitchenAid's Cook For The Cure and even this pink Clean for the Cure vac. Things you probably need to buy anyway, right? Right.

Okay, okay, and because baseball is heating up this week, I have to share this t-shirt. Okay, wait, this one, too.

The Universal Torah Registry? Had I thought about this? Not really. I know I've held a Torah that was smuggled out of Germany in the 1940s. I know I've touched a Torah that was rescued from a burning building. I know each Torah has a story and we tell their stories in our congregations and families and that's that. But, this is Torah tracking on an entirely different level.

Oakley Sunglasses? Fake Prada bag? Torah?: Is your congregation's Torah registered?When I first heard about Universal Torah Registry, I thought Who the fuck steals a Torah? But, yeah, people are shady and after digging around a little, it turns out there is actually a Torah black market. Can you imagine how that deal would go? Shonda and a half. Can you imagine buying a Torah on eBay? How would you trust the story the seller gave you? Anyway. It took two years of research involving rabbis and crime specialists to figure out how to halachically catalog a scroll.

So, to catalog a Torah scroll, you get a registration kit for your congregation that includes a form to record various characteristics (Uh... in Hebrew? Rolled up? I'm an ass, I know, I know.), and a specifically coded template. Using a tiny needle, "a special code of micro-perforations is applied to strategic places in the scroll." Then, your congregation gets a certificate of registry.

So, if you do find your Torah missing, you call them up and it can, theoretically, be tracked down if someone tries to resell it and the potential buyer checks it out with the registry beforehand. What about your congregation's scrolls? Are they registered? Maybe a fabulous project to bring to your social action chair. Or, plan a fundraiser to cover the registration fee. Or, be like the NYC police officer who paid the registry fee for his shul himself when he heard about the organization.

You know how empty the refrigerator is when you come back from a long vacation and you haven’t gone grocery shopping yet? Looking at my empty fridge always makes me feel guilty about not doing more in the fight against hunger. Hunger is one of those basic problems that I find incredibly overwhelming, but that I also feel really compelled to do something about. So every year I try to give some time and money to a few great Jewish charities that fight hunger.
Empty Fridge: empty tummy
Meir Panim is an amazing and huge charity in Israel dedicated to providing vital food and social services to the needy via 30 relief centers. A few years ago I was part of a volunteering mission in Israel and we did some awesome work at a free restaurant run by Meir Panim. They run a tight ship, and provide for hundreds every day. Definitely worth a contribution if you have some cash, or a few hours of volunteering if you have some free time the next time you’re in Israel.
Hunger: we're obligated to do something

In the States, we have Mazon, which does everything from raising money and distributing food directly, to running advocacy programs that help bring attention and resources to the problem. And because I’m from Chicago I know of two amazing programs in Chicago that do great work fighting hunger and that always need volunteers to do some hard work (read: a good way to help out even if you’re strapped for cash). There’s the Uptown Café, which provides kosher hot meals in a restaurant-style setting to Jews and non-Jews alike. You can donate money, or volunteer to be a waiter/waitress. And there’s Maot Chitim, a program that gives boxes of kosher food to underprivileged Jewish families before Pesach and Rosh HaShana. They always need help packing and delivering boxes.

I just found this great piece at Ritual Well, but also today, I've been thinking of my general inclination to match my tzedakah with my action. That is, for example, human rights organizations on Pesach (slavery and freedom being the common themes there), water and wetland preservation efforts on Shemini Atzeret, and so on and so forth.

Best-Directed Tzedakah: Just do it, but make sure you're not giving to a shady organization, eh?

But, the thing I find to be endlessly frustrating... er, okay, one of many things I find to be endlessly frustrating is that in our time of having almost any information only a click away, there is so much information out in the world, and there are so many wonderful organizations seeming to be doing lots of good in the world, that is it hard to tell what is what, and even more difficult, at times, to figure out exactly what your money does where.

Enter, Just-Tzedakah, an organization, much like Charity Navigator, only with Jewciness in mind, giving information about various charities and links to each, and even the ability to donate and earmark right there. You can even link up your next simcha and have tzedakah all arranged. Oh snap!

It's still sometimes hard to tell which organizations best represent your values, but hopefully, this eases the way a bit and puts us a step closer. Because let us not forget, though we often mis-translate tzedakah as "charity", which includes actions like giving to the poor, suggests a sense of generosity, and delves into power structures a bit-- something the wealthy (or at least better-able) do for the needy (and thereby less-able), the word tzedakah is derived from the root meaning righteousness, justice and fairness. Giving isn't a magnanimous gesture, but an obligation to share in the responsibility of tikkun olam-- to do your part in caring for others and for repairing the world bit by bit.

Project Chicken Soup: More than just soup. December first was World AIDS Day, and the entire month of December is HIV/AIDS Awareness Month. That being the case, I thought it might be nice to aim our tzedekah accordingly. Enter Project Chicken Soup, an organization serving the greater Los Angeles area with a simple yet wonderful goal. Project Chicken Soup, a part of Los Angeles Jewish AIDS Services, gets healthy kosher meals to people living with HIV/AIDS in LA County, and recently received The Congressional Hunger Center's 2007 Victory Against Hunger Award for their hard work. And, they, like most organizations, need support. 

You can PayPal them to donate, rock the lapel pin, order the cookbook, or, far better, you can read the volunteer page, show up on any of these dates and help them cook and deliver meals. Also, if you know someone looking for a B'nai Mitzvah project, Project Chicken Soup can help you with that, too.

Trees everywhere: need to be hugged.I really love Tu B'Shevat. All the things I want and appreciate in a holiday, it has. In years past, I've both attended and held gorgeous, meaningful sederim for the day and unfortunately have to report that I'm not going quite as all-out this year as I did last year. But, that's okay. (PS- Read Helen Jupiter's lovely post about Tu B'Shevat for inspiration.)

Of course, I'm still going to give tzedekah. In addition to the usual JNF Plant-a-Tree program that I often use, as most of us probably have (I do appreciate the environmental work JNF does, among other things) I've unearthed (no pun intended) a few other opportunities for you to love trees if you're thinking of adding another tree, in addition to perhaps an Israeli tree, to your tzedekah this week.

Continue reading...

We talk a lot about tzedakah, naturally, and usually give links of places where you can donate. But, of course, we shouldn't overlook the many other, and just as important, ways to give that aren't necessarily just a matter of writing a check. Sometimes, giving can mean rolling up your sleeves and helping, being present, lending a hand, collecting and donating items, or just living simpler, more conscious lives.

Riders!: On your mark, get set... Enter Hazon (Hebrew for "vision"), an organization started in 1999 with this vision:

"Our vision is to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community-- as a step towards a healthier and more sustainable world for all. Our vision is of a renewed Jewish community: one that is rooted in Jewish tradition, engaged with the world around us, radically inclusive, passionate and creative... and that recognizes that there are shivim panim l'torah - seventy ways to understand the Torah... and ultimately to live Hazon's theme-quote: Torah is a commentary on the world and the world is a commentary on the Torah..."

How are they living this wonderful, but very ambitious ideal? Through programs such as different food/health programs to educate members of our community to make smarter, healthier food choices and to consider the benefits of local and organic food as well as bike rides to raise money for various project-causes such as Cycling for Peace and environmental bike rides in various cities. You sigh up, do a little fundraising and voila. Challenging yourself, improving your fitness, educating yourself and helping to heal the world with these events, some even with a zero-carbon footprint. Check out their "People of The Bike" the Jewish environmental bike ride in NY, the Arava/Hazon bike ride in Israel, and the many other ways on their website for you to do something very positive on two wheels.

Digging deeper into their website, you'll also notice their volunteer page, listing specific types of volunteers they could use a hand from. But, like any nonprofit, they can use our dollars, too.

 

 

 

Remember in the eighties when it was really trendy in the Jewish community to be deeply invested in the fate of Soviet Jews? There were all those rallies about letting them out, plus that awesome song, “We are leaving mother Russia” with the best chorus of all time: “When they come for us, we’ll be gone.” Take that, Communists!
They Do Good Work: trust me
But then communism fell and we all decided to be obsessed with Israel and intermarriage and people pretty much stopped talking about Jews in Russia because it seemed like we brought them all here. But we didn’t, actually, and the ones still in Russia are pretty cash strapped and have very limited resources. Pretty much the only people still doing work there is Chabad, which is all well and good, but I, for one, am not comfortable with Chabad being the only kind of Jewish experience available to an enormous community, which is why I love the Yad L’Yad program. Yad L'Yad is a partnership program, which pairs synagogues and Jewish schools in the United States with Jewish communities throughout the Former Soviet Union. Participating synagogues and schools on both sides of the world benifit from the caring and personal Jewish relationships that grow through these partnerships. Here’s a blurb from their website:

U.S. partners provide humanitarian, cultural, spritual, educational, and financial support. What they get in return is impossible to measure. It includes gaining perspective a chance to perform mitzvot (commandments), to enrich their own lives through a sense of unity and to document and advocate against antisemitic incidents throughout the FSU on a personal level.

For those in the former Soviet Union these partneships give much needed food, medicine and a chance to reclaim Jewish heritage and identity. Yad L'Yad provides food and medicine to the Jewish elderly, and supports Jewish education, religious life, and Jewish communal development. As an additional way for monitoring and advocacy efforts in regions far from UCSJ's existing human rights bureaus in Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, the Baltics, and Central Asia, these partnerships provide something else. They provide a chance to have a friend who can and will help. They provide a chance to speak and a chance to be heard. Through Yad L'Yad many are given a voice.

It sounds corny and everything, but I know a couple of minyanim (including my own) that have taken on a Yad L’Yad partnership and had a really awesome experience. Check out this website to see how it worked out for my parents’ minyan.

Anyway, I encourage you or whatever group you’re a part of to get involved with Yad L’Yad, but if you don’t want to or can’t set up your own partnership, you can still donate to them. There’s a list of items on their website that you can contribute if you happen to have any lying around or have access to, or you can just give them some cash, which is always needed.

I once, no lie, heard someone say, "What do you mean he hit her? They're Jewish! That doesn't happen in Jewish families!" As much as we might like to believe our community is exempt from all sorts of issues, including domestic violence, sadly, we are not.

You heard the lady!: When push comes to shove, it's no longer love. Now, scram, woman beaters.So, I'd like to introduce you to Jewish Women International, an organization that has developed many different programs such as the Mother's Day Flower Project (delivering words of support and encouragement to women's shelters in the US and Israel-- more on the program here), the "be safe, be strong, be healthy" program called When Push Comes To Shove, It's No Longer Love that helps young girls and women better understand dynamics of healthy and unhealthy relationships and to build skills to respond to domestic violence, and a toolkit that includes the documentary When The Vow Breaks, conferences, and my personal favorites: Strong Girls, Healthy Relationships, a program designed to engage girls in guided discussion and practices to examine their sense of self-esteem in the context of relationships they choose, as well as a section of the program designed for older girls who are already dating an may be already developing unhealthy relationship patterns or know someone who has and LifeSavings, a young women's financial literacy program operating with the understanding that a woman's financial independence is often linked with her

Their website is filled with ways to get involved, too, from petitions to sign, a secure and easy form to give a onetime donation or to set up a recurring monthly donation, a shop with pretty cool t-shirts that both help raise awareness and fund the organization, a teen leadership toolkit, and a guide to find related advocacy initiatives.

(I'm an oft-multi-tasking dumb-ass, and failed to save this post, written prior to Shabbes, properly, so we'll operate in the better-late-than-ever/glad-I-decided-to-work-on-Sunday mindset, yes? Great. In any case, I beg your pardon.)

In November, I remember reading about a Jewish cemetery near Baltimore getting vandalized and thinking, "What if surviving relatives can't afford to restore the headstones?" and only paragraphs later reading a spokesperson's statement:

For gravestones that cannot be traced to a family, Mr. Cohn said the congregation will likely absorb the cost of repair, which he said will be about $125 per stone. He said the cemetery – which likely dates back to the mid-19th century, according to the congregation—is not insured for vandalism, and perpetual care only covers the upkeep of the grounds.

“Morally and ethically, it’s our responsibility. But legally, it’s not. Families will have to pay for it, and we feel very, very bad about this,” said Mr. Cohn, who noted that the congregation plans to install high-intensity lighting at the cemetery. “It will cost us, it will cost the families, and we’ll absorb what we can. But it’s limited. Where are the funds? It’s not like, bingo, we have the funds.”

If you want to fuck with me: then fuck with me. Not dead people.On Jan 1st, a Jewish cemetery back east in New Brunswick, NJ was vandalized, and I quickly found mention of a restoration fund in an article reporting the arrest of the teenagers responsible for the damage.

About a week ago, here in Chicago where I live, someone, or a group of someones probably, broke onto the grounds of Westlawn Jewish cemetery and vandalized gravestones with swastikas, line-slashed Magen David symbols, threats, slogans... the usual hate graffiti schtick.

Anyway, the price tag on getting things back in order is estimated to be between $100,000 and $150,000 and thought there are some unclear bits of information floating around here, it seems that the financial responsibility is falling upon surviving families. I haven't heard anything official from the JUF, as far as funds being used to offset their expenses, but I'm sure it's either forthcoming, or I've just yet to track it down. In any case, the cost is going to be considerable, every bit will surely count, and my feeling is that because hate against some of us is hate against all of us, and so responsibility also falls equally.

I'm sure earmarked donations would be welcome here:

Westlawn Cemetery and Mausoleum (Vicki Pulido, General Manager), 7801 W. Montrose Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60706
(773) 625-8600

This day in 1974 marks the death of Oskar Schindler, who was honored with a tree planting in 1967 at the Yad Vashem memorial as a Righteous Among The Nations, an honor bestowed by Israel to non-Jews who worked to save Jewish lives during the Shoah at great personal risk. At last count, about a year ago, nearly 20,000 people have been given such an honor. Schindler was the only former Nazi party member to ever receive such a recognition at Yad Vashem. Um, duh.

Yad Vashem: Some righteous trees for some righteous folks.

Yad Vashem is an extremely worthwhile organization to support with significant genealogical research and memorial work being done, especially their searchable database. Really, if you have not ever, do take a moment and click through and search your surname, and other surnames in your family. Stunning. Chilling.

Yad Vashem, in addition to collecting donated personal artifacts and written and video testimony, has been working to develop The Lexicon of the Righteous Among The Nations, an encyclopedia to eventually include biographical stories of all persons deignated Righteous as well as Yad Vashem magazine. Also, Yad Vashem offers the International Institute for Holocaust Research, which often has an open call for papers to be presented at various conferences within the facility, and information on ongoing research projects.

So, until you find yourself in Israel next to pay a visit to Yad Vashem for yourself (if you have not already), stay in touch and check their on-line exhibitions page often for updates. And lastly, be sure to stop by the American and Canadian chapters of the Yad Vashem Society (or just about any country you happen to be living) to stay up-to-date on events and projects.

A Very Abridged List of Further Exploration: Yad Vashem: Moshe Safdie: The Architecture of Memory, The Children We Remember: Photographs from the Archives of Yad Vashem by Chana Byers Abells, Where Light and Shadows Meet: A Memoir by Schindler, Rosenberg & Koch, I Will Plant You A Lilac Tree: A Memior of a Schindler's List Survivor by Laura Hillman, and A Voice In The Chorus: Memories of a Teenager Saved By Schindler by Abraham Zuckerman.

This Chanukah: Hook a soldier up.Connections Israel started nearly a decade ago to aid Jewish communities and schools worldwide in their support for Israel. Mostly, they focus on implementing educational programs to help support IDF soldiers with gift baskets and a sort of pen pal link-up. Mostly. But not entirely, by any means.

This Chanukah, for as little as $10, or as much as $120, you can help. Ten bucks gives a IDF soldier a gift basket, $36 donates a gift basket to either a Sderot family or a family victimized by terror and $120 sponsors an educational program for thirty students. Or, you can donate any amount and earmark if for any of Connections Israel's specific causes.

While you're hooking up our friends in the IDF, hit Pizza IDF, a website that allows you to donate anything from sufganyiot, pizza or burgers and sodas or hearty soups to soldiers from as little as three bucks! Or, check Dash Cham, an Israeli candymaker who will deliver treats to soldiers for ten bucks. Easy ways to bring a little light.

 

Girls Write Now: Show a little love, eh?According to the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), low literacy ability leads to low grades and low achievement levels—which can and usually does then ultimately lead to a high drop-out rate. In the same report, it is noted that of high school seniors, way less than half read at a level required to comprehend a school textbook. The focus of curriculum being on standard testing in the US at the moment allows students little time to explore artistic and literary pursuits, and so writing programs are just not available to students. In a 2000 SCANS Report, research showed students with access to music, theater and creative writing all performed better than students without.

So, recently, when I learned about a truly wonderful organization that is doing some really incredible work in this area, I knew I'd found an organization I wanted to support. Meet Girls Write Now, an organization that "provides a safe and supportive environment where girls can expand their natural writing talents, develop independent creative voices, and build confidence in making healthy choices in school, career and life." Sounds great, right? Wait, wait, it gets even better!

Girls Write Now "provides at-risk New York City high school girls with emerging writing talent an opportunity to be custom-matched with a professional woman writer who serves as her personal mentor and writing coach, meeting with her weekly for the duration of an entire school year, and for up to four years. GWN also enrolls each student in a vibrant writing community — all mentees and mentors gather monthly for genre-based group writing workshops conducted at our offices within Teachers & Writers Collaborative in midtown Manhattan. The year is punctuated by three annual readings, college and career prep seminars, field trips to cultural events, and endless opportunities for scholarships and publication. The magic of the program is reflected in a solid nine-year track record, a 75-percent member retention rate, a 100-percent college acceptance rate, an annual anthology of original writing, and the seven-genre portfolios each student emerges equipped with each season. Founded in 1998, GWN was the first organization to ever present this combination of powerful services, and it continues to be the only program of its kind in the eastern United States."

Helping Others: To Do Their Best Girls Write Now has, in addition to mentoring sessions, writing workshops, a reading series, a Life Adventure series of writing and performance workshops, support for students parsing through the rigors of college admissions, events and activities, and scholarships and contests, but they created Girls Write Forever, a program that helps give supporters so many options to ensure the good work of Girls Write Now can continue into the future. (Now, if I can just figure out where they sell those great t-shirts!)

To support this organization with a donation or an in-kind donation please click here. To volunteer, here, and for litty girls in New York City, click here. And, if you find yourself in New York on January 18th, and you do roll on Shabbes, by all means, get yourself to the Winter Pair Reading and see your ten bucks doing a lot of good.

I've mentioned a time or two here before that I like to match my tzedakah (weekly and otherwise) with what's on my radar-- environmental foundations on Tu BShevat, human rights organizations on Pesach and so on and so forth. But, to theme your tzedakah when there isn't a holiday to focus on can, at times, be daunting, as there are simply so many wonderful organizations to select from.

Themed Tzedakah: Where is that one part about that guy doing that stuff that one time?

So, I like to turn to the weekly parsha for ideas. This week, there's a lot going on, so I thought I'd do a super-fast brainstorm of it for you. This week, we read of waaaay post-menopausal Sarah laughing with the suggestion that she's to give birth shortly. Maybe a little money to a Jewish infertility organization might be in order? In the third aliyah, we read about the citizens of Sodom trying to attack Lot's guests, which might suggest a well-placed donation to The Awareness Center's work to address sexual assault in our Jewish communities, or NY's Takanot Project. In the fifth aliyah, we see Hagar and Ishmael wandering the desert, banished and running out of water, which might suggest a nice tzedakah bit to help provide clean drinking water to people without access. In the sixth aliyah, Abraham plants an orchard and builds an inn, which could be a hint to give to organizations like Slow Food.

Tzedakah inspiration is all around us, and what better way to add another level of meaning to our giving than by connecting our actions with actions that stand out for us each week. With the wide-range of themes and issues covered in the Torah, and with our perspectives changing year-to-year, tying our tzedakah to the week's focus may not be a bad way to cover a lot of different areas of giving.

AMIT: Helping to support some of Israel's most vulnerable children.Founded in 1925, AMIT works with many young Israelis that find themselves vulnerable educationally, psychologically, financially and/or socially, helping and supporting them "within a framework of academic excellence, religious values and Zionist ideals." AMIT works to nurture children from diverse backgrounds-- observant and secular, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, Israeli-born and immigrant, many of which have fallen victim to various forms of physical and psychological trauma.

So, to do their work, AMIT needs support, and there are several ways to support them. Of course you can donate, but there are a few different ways to donate. There's the Mother-In-Israel program to help fill-in the gaps and meet vary basic needs of schoolchildren such as bus fare and school supplies. Your donation can be earmarked for various programs like the Library Fund, the Harvey Goodstein Sports Complex at AMIT Kfar Batya, the Food for Thought program, similar to the mother-In-Israel program, helps ensure schoolchildren have access to food and school supplies. The Gift of Learning Initiative sponsors an entire day of learning at an AMIT school. Book family or B/nai Mitzvah travel through AMIT for a more meaningful trip to Israel. In connection with US Bank, AMIT is a listed charity when using the HAS Advantage card, with a percentage of your spending benefiting Israeli charities of your choice. Also, AMIT is the sole provider of "modern religious education in the Sderot and both of the city's high schools, the religious and the secular, are AMIT schools" and so fund can also be directed at their Campaign for Sderot. Finally, there's also an AMIT Boutique with cards and books for sale that benefit the organization.

But, I think my very favorite program through AMIT is the B'nai Mitzvah Twinning program-- in preparation for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, AMIT pairs your child/niece/nephew with an underprivileged child in Israel, who is also preparing for his/her B'nai Mitzvah, for very a special tzedakah opportunity.

Time Banking: Hands-on tzedakah, yo.It wasn't until a friend of mine went to work for this organization that I really got a feel for what it was all about. Behold: Time Bank, and organization that focuses it's efforts on investing time in communities. It's website describes the organization like this:

"At its most basic level, Time banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It's a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections."

Read about a Jerusalem chapter here. That's the bag, see. You find your local chapter, sign up, and list both the things you can do to help and the things you could use some help with. That's it. Time Banking is an alternative currency system, utilizing the exchange of labor and assistance in lieu of money. Time Banking is a way to give so much, and potentially deeply connect with members of your community, which, if you ask me, does tikkun olam in an entirely different way than simply throwing a check in the mail.

A Street In Bethlehem: and the wallI’ve met Rabbi Melissa Weintraub a few times, most notably last year at Limmud NY, and she’s just completely amazing on so many levels. One of the awesome things about her is that she was one of the founders of Encounter Programs when she was living in Israel. Here’s Encounter’s mission statement:

Encounter is an educational organization dedicated to providing Jewish diaspora leaders from across the religious and political spectrum with exposure to Palestinian life.

Motivated by the relentless Jewish pursuit of hokhma (wisdom) and binah (understanding), Encounter programs bring participants on journeys to engage with Palestinians face-to-face and witness realities first hand.

Within a supportive, uniquely caring, and pluralistic framework, Encounter invites participants to ask questions and grapple with fresh perspectives, in order to create human connections across lines of enmity, and expand personal and political understanding.

Israel education is a hugely important factor in any Jewish community and Jewish life, but I don’t feel like I’ve ever gotten an adequate exposure to Palestinian life, and I think it’s incredibly important for Jewish leaders to talk from a place of experience when they talk about the conflict, and that means visiting Palestinian homes and engaging with Palestinians. So I hope I’ll be on an Encounter program soon.

I have a number of friends who have been on Encounter trips and they’ve all come back feeling confused by enlightened. And maybe I’m too much of an optimist, but that sounds like exactly the appropriate reaction to the situation as a whole.

Support Encounter Programs here; learn more about going on a trip yourself here.