The Social Action Committee is the focal point for the Temple's community relations activities. The Committee's objectives are to identify and help meet the many needs within our Temple Beth El family, assist charitable organizations and focus on relevant local, state, national and international issues of concern.

We are dedicated to the proposition that Social Action is effective only when it's in action, and we're accomplishing that through a broad spectrum of programs and projects, including the following :
Community Relations:

A.C.E.
An awards program recognizing Accomplishment, Citizenship and Effort displayed by underprivileged children at the Florence Fuller Child Development Center in East Boca Raton.

Boca Helping Hands
Working with various community organizations to operate a soup kitchen and food pantry in East Boca Raton.

Boca Raton Interfaith in Action (B.R.I.A.)
Joining with B.R.I.A.'s community-wide "congregation in action" to care for the homebound and family care-giver, providing physical, spiritual and educational support, regardless of age, race, sex, religion or ethnic background.

Community Volunteer Fair
Designed to make Mitzvah Day an ongoing community wide project, we match charitable organizations with potential volunteers under one roof, with the goal of encouraging members of the community to become involved with the charity of their choice on an ongoing basis.

Habitat for Humanity
When the college students who build Habitat houses on their spring break get hungry, we are there with lunches and goodies.

High Holy Days Food Drive (Project Isaiah)
Project Isaiah, a project of Mazon (a Jewish Response to Hunger), is an all-encompassing annual Temple membership effort, in conjunction with the Daily Bread Food Bank and Forster Kosher Food Pantry, to provide food for the needy.

JARC
Coordinating Shabbat dinners and other activities with developmentally challenged residents of the Jewish Association for Residential Care in Boca Raton.

Mitzvah Day
In the Temple's Tikkun Olam (healing the world) tradition, hundreds of members turn out to perform mitzvot...acts of kindness. Bringing food to the hungry. Clothing the needy. Picking-up, dropping-off, painting, washing ...doing something for others. Healing the world, one person at a time.

Support Groups
We remember, in our weekly Shared Care program with neighboring churches, the need for relief periods for caregivers of disabled seniors. We remember, too, the need for Bereavement Groups to provide emotional support to Temple members who have lost their spouses. So too, our Caring Congregant program reaches out to the homebound who welcome a visit and a kind word from Temple members.

Social Justice and Education:

ARZA/World Union for Progressive Judaism
We assist this organization in its relentless campaign for religious freedom for all Jews in Israel and around the world.


 

... continued

Grosberg Interfaith Weekend
Bringing Temple members together with clergy and parishioners of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church to initiate dialogues and a better understanding and knowledge of the two religions. This program is in conjunction with the American Jewish Committee.

North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ)
Assisting this vital organization in its efforts to educate and provide basic living support for Ethiopian Jews in their own country as well as Israel.

Sara Jo & Arthur Kobacker Institute
This annual campaign brings social justice topics to the attention of our congregation, often presented by nationally and internationally prominent scholars and personalities. Topics have included Muslims, Christians and Jews; Violence in the Schools; Advocacy; Black-Jewish relations; and Hate Crimes.

Shefa Fund
We encourage socially responsible investing in coordination with this national organization. Through our Committee's efforts, the Temple has invested a portion of its investable funds with a minority-owned community bank to assist lower income communities in south Florida. As Maimonides taught, "The greatest level of Tzedakah is to strengthen the hand of the poor by means of a gift or loan or by going into partnership with him so he can become self-sufficient."

Temple Trips
Annual Temple trips led by our Rabbis are an educational tool in our program to explore Israel and our Jewish heritage in other parts of the world.

How we do it:

Our programs are self-supporting, primarily funded by weekly Tzedakah collections from Temple congregants after Shabbat services. By encouraging Tzedakah donations, we remind each other of the Judaic tradition of Tikkun Olam to help the needy and those less fortunate among all races and religions. We believe an act of giving, however small, is a wonderful way to reflect on and be thankful for what we have.

Some of the organizations our Tzedakah collections have assisted include:

Florence Fuller Child Development Center, Aid to Victims of Domestic Assault (AVDA), Migrant Association of South Florida, Mae Volen Senior Center, Daily Bread Food Bank, Youth Activity Center, Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options (JAFCO), Farm workers Coordinating Council, Boca Helping Hands, Caring Kitchen, and many more.

Join us in taking action to benefit our community.

For information on Temple Beth El's Social Action Committee programs, contact the Rabbinic office.