Click for our latest Social Action Opportunities
Our Congregation provides its members with many opportunities for social action. Our programs benefit women’s and teen shelters, foster children and homeless veterans, the homebound and the hungry. By reaching out to people in need, we not only help to repair the world, but also strengthen our Jewish identity and provide an important example of our values for our children.
The Social Action Committee also embraces and supports racial and social justice issues.
PROJECTS INCLUDE
- Mitzvah Days for a variety of causes
- Blood Drives
- Community Benefit Events
- Meals on Wheels Deliveries
- Habitat for Humanity Project in Milton, VT
- Sudan Rising Fundraising
- Nothing But Nets
In addition, volunteers are encouraged to help the Chaverim Committee with activities such as new baby arrivals, illness, mourning, arranging transportation etc.
Join the Social Action Committee for regular updates on Tikkun Activities. For more info, or to join the committee, email the Social Action chairperson or email the Temple Office.
Anti-Racism Book Group – January Book
Go Tell It On The Mountain – James Baldwin (1953)
Online discussion – January 11, 2021 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Registration required (see below)
“Go Tell It On The Mountain, first published in 1953, is Baldwin’s first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy’s discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin’s rendering of his protagonist’s spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves.” – Goodreads
Baldwin’s preacher stepfather, who was the only father he knew, died of tuberculosis in a mental hospital in 1943.
Sponsored by the Social Action Committee: This novel will be a change from the books we’ve been reading, opening an exploration of race and culture though literature.
WE WILL MEET FOR ONE SESSION ONLY.
Register above, or call the Temple office.
Social Action Opportunities – Fall/Winter 2020
DONATE A TURKEY PLUS
November is a great time for Temple Sinai members to make contributions to Feeding Chittenden (formerly the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf).
There are different ways that members and friends of our community can help:
- Bring frozen turkeys or non-perishable food items to 228 North Winooski Ave, Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 3 PM. Deliveries are taken at the rear of the building.
- Make a donation on-line. The Feed Chittenden Donation page connects you with a variety of ways you can donate money, including ways to support specific programs such as food drives, or where to send your check by mail.
Feed Chittenden prefers on-line monetary contributions to reduce person-to-person contact. If possible, let them know that your contribution is on behalf of Temple Sinai.
You can contact Feed Chittenden directly at 802-658-7939 to arrange for donations.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOUTH BURLINGTON FOOD SHELF
While not accepting turkeys for Thanksgiving, the South Burlington Food Shelf really needs monetary and food contributions.
The Food Shelf Donation page includes an online donation form as well as other options for payment.
Food donations may be delivered Thursday mornings from 9:30-11:30. To volunteer your services, contact Peter Carmolli or (802) 858-5267.
GIVE BLOOD ON DECEMBER 24
Help serve our community by donating blood for hospital patients in need. Join members and friends of Temple Sinai to give blood on December 24, 2020 from 9 AM to 2 PM in the Temple Sinai social hall. Your donation can help save up to three lives!
The Red Cross is strongly encouraging appointments during the pandemic. Many drives are not accepting walk-ins at all. To make an appointment online for this drive, visit our Red Cross signup page or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
The collection of blood donations is an essential service under COVID guidelines. The Red Cross takes very seriously its role in helping protect the public and the blood supply. Learn more here.
You can contact our blood drive coordinators, David Punia and Karen Cote, for further information or for help making your appointment.
JOIN US AT A SOCIAL ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING
We will meet via ZOOM on Thursday, November 19th AT 6:00PM. Beginning in December 2020, meetings will be scheduled for the third Thursday of the month. Watch the home page and Temple Calendar for details and ZOOM links for the meetings.
Questions or Concerns? Contact David Shiman, Chair of Social Action Committee
2020 High Holidays Food Drive
During the 5781 High Holy Days,
please help those who are hungry in our community.
Two Easy Ways to Give
Online
Make a direct donation to the South Burlington Food Shelf to help them purchase needed items at low cost. Consider becoming a Food Hero, and give monthly, to help families throughout the year. Dedicate your gift to Temple Sinai if you’d like us to be acknowledged.
In Person
Drop off a paper bag of items in the religious school vestibule
on the following dates ONLY
Tuesday 9/15/20 – 8am-2pm
Tuesday 9/22/20 – 3pm-5pm
Wednesday 9/30/20 – 12:30pm-2:30pm
Items that are needed
Canned Meats (Tuna, Chicken, Hash, Spam etc); Soup; Pasta Sauce; Canned Fruit; Canned Vegetables; Cereal (All Different Types); Ketchup and Other Sauces and Condiments; Cooking Oils; Mac and Cheese; Pasta (preferably in boxes as bags do not stack well but we will take bags of pasta); Coffee and Tea; Baked Beans (to a lesser extent other beans); Peanut Butter; Jellies and Jams; Rice; Paper Towels; Toilet Paper; Feminine Hygiene Products; Soaps and Shampoos
This is the fast I desire … sharing your food with the hungry… Isaiah 5832
Organized by the Temple Sinai Social Action/Tikkun Olam Commitree
tikkun-olam@templesinaivt.org
Black Jewish Unity Week
In celebration of the enduring ties between America’s Black and Jewish communities, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the National Urban League (NUL) are partnering to designate the week of September 7th as Black-Jewish Unity Week. Our histories in America differ profoundly, and yet we share a history of discrimination and violence. The two communities share many goals and values, and have a long history of working closely together. There is also a history of tensions and disagreements. Recently, anti-Semitism among some segments of the current African American activist movements have renewed tensions, even as our shared fight for justice, equality and access to opportunity require we work together as allies. This week is an opportunity to listen, learn, and remind ourselves of our shared work and our ongoing challenges.
Links to Media and Resources:
NUL page on #BlackJewishUnity Week AJC page on #BlackJewishUnity Week
- Jews and the Civil Rights Movement – A concise overview from the Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism.
National Urban League Podcast: For The Movement: Celebrating #BlackJewishUnity Week – In this episode, leaders of the Urban League and the American Jewish Committee explore the relationship between the two communities in honor of #BlackJewishUnity Week. Daniel Elbaum, the American Jewish Committee’s Chief Advocacy Officer, joins Clint Odom, NUL Senior Vice President of Policy & Advocacy and Toni Wiley, NUL Director of Advocacy.
American Jewish Committee Podcast: People of the Pod – Celebrating #BlackJewishUnity Week with the National Urban League – In this episode, leaders of the Urban League and the American Jewish Committee explore the relationship between the two communities in honor of #BlackJewishUnity Week, with Clint Odom, the National Urban League’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Washington Bureau.
New Attacks on the Anti-Defamation League
(Excerpted from Rabbi David Edleson’s weekly email to Temple Sinai members)
I was very upset to see an article in the Israeli press this week reporting that a coalition over 60 progressive organizations had signed on to a movement and petition to boycott the ADL. The letter begins:
Open Letter to progressives: The ADL is not an Ally
Lecture Series: Race and Responsibility
January 13, 2021 by Temple Sinai • Continuing Education, Tikkun Olam •
The Temple Sinai Social Action Committee presents a 5-part lecture series, beginning Tuesday January 19th. All lectures run from 7:00 to 8:30 pm on ZOOM.
A ZOOM link will be published on the home page and in the calendar prior to each event. Events will require a passcode for entry. Call the Temple Office (802-862-5125) for more information.
Schedule
Tuesday, January 19th – Alan Steinweis (Dept. of History, UVM) Roots of Racism and Anti-Semitism in Europe
Alan E. Steinweis is Professor of History and Raul Hilberg Distinguished Professor of Holocaust Studies at UVM. His books include Kristallnacht 1938 and Studying the Jew: Antisemitic Scholarship in Nazi Germany, the latter a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in the Holocaust category.
Tuesday, February 23rd – Sherwood Smith (Center for Cultural Pluralism, UVM) White and Whiteness: History and Meanings for Today
Sherwood Smith is Director of the Center for Cultural Pluralism at UVM. He is also a Co-Founder & Partner of CQ Strategies, LLC, a collective of 5 partners providing training and consulting services on cultural competency, implicit bias, and organizational change.
Monday, March 15th – Kesha Ram (Senator, State of Vermont) Acting for Social Justice in Vermont: Challenges and Possibilities
Kesha Ram is a Vermont State Senator serving Chittenden County. She is the first woman of color and youngest woman to ever serve in the Senate. She currently works to build social equity and inclusion in non-profit organizations, businesses, school districts, and municipalities.
Wednesday, April 14th – Mark Levine (Dept. of Health, State of Vt.) Health Equity: Challenges in our State
Mark Levine has served as Vermont’s Commissioner of Health since March, 2017. Formerly a Professor of Medicine at UVM, where he was known as an excellent teacher and program innovator, he now leads the medical response to Covid-19 for our state.
Wednesday, May 5th – Stephanie Seguino (Dept of Economics, UVM) The Challenge of Reparations: Implications for Vermonters?
Stephanie Seguino is Professor of Economics at UVM. She is a member of the Vermont State Police’s Fair and Impartial Policing Committee, Burlington’s Police Commission and the State’s Racial Equity Advisory Panel. She has studied racial disparities in Vermont policing since 2012.