The Social Action Committee of Congregation Beth Emeth would like to thank you for your support of our activities! Helping Find Volunteers is as Good a Mitzvah as Being a Volunteer! If You Can't Volunteer, Ask a Friend or Family Member if He or She is Available
Spring Forward WITH I F S A C (Inter-Faith Social Action Committee)- A great family event that will have a big impact in our community! Please join with our friends from Christ Church, and Mt. Lebanon Methodist Church as we gather to work on this Spring’s social action project. We will be creating 200 re-usable, eco-friendly bags containing non-perishable, pre-packaged healthy foods, and personal hygiene products to be distributed by West End Neighborhood House and Northeast Treatment Center as part of their "LifeLines" program. This program supports Foster Care youth who have turned 18 years old, and are no longer under the supervision of the Family Court. These new young adults must leave their foster care homes and find their own housing. Sunday, May 15, 2011, 4:30 – 6:30 PM at Congregation Beth Emeth. See our Social Action page for more details.
Disaster Relief
Earthquake in Japan
In response to the tragic devastation of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the URJ has partnered with a number of North American Jewish organizations to form the Jewish Coalition for Japan Relief.
This Coalition is serving as a coordinating body for its member agencies and sharing information about needs on the ground. Funds collected by the Coalition will be dedicated towards relief and recovery efforts in the affected region. Learn more or donate now.
Parage to Fight Hunger
The second annual Parade to Fight Hunger will kick off this year's Wilmington Grand Prix, a professional bike race in downtown Wilmington. Community groups, businesses, schools, faith-based organizations and individuals who are interested in marching in this year's parade are asked to contact Chris Bell, Parade Organizer, at (302) 893-5636 orcontact@wilmgrandprix.com. The day also features a street fair with entertainment for the entire family. New to the weekend of events is the first-ever Governor's Cup Race on Sunday, May 22. Recreational cyclists will have the opportunity to ride with cycling pros and the Governor for a 16-mile ride. For more information about the Grand Prix, please visitwww.wilmgrandprix.com.
Our opportunity to support Foster Care Youth in Transition
Spring Forward WITH I F S A C*
(*Inter-Faith Social Action Committee)
Our opportunity to support Foster Care Youth in Transition
A great family event that will have a big impact in our community! Please join with our friends from Christ Church, and Mt. Lebanon Methodist Church as we gather to work on this Spring’s social action project. We will be creating 200 re-usable, eco-friendly bags containing non-perishable, pre-packaged healthy foods, and personal hygiene products to be distributed by West End Neighborhood House and Northeast Treatment Center as part of their "LifeLines" program. This program supports Foster Care youth who have turned 18 years old, and are no longer under the supervision of the Family Court. These new young adults must leave their foster care homes and find their own housing.
Sunday, May 15, 2011, 4:30 – 6:30 PM
Congregation Beth Emeth
For the bags the following items are needed:
PLEASE NO GLASS CONTAINERS
Breakfast cereals Fruit/Granola bars Prepackaged fruit
Tuna Fish Pasta & Sauce Prepackaged (dry) Macaroni & Cheese
Jell-O or Pudding Mix Toothpaste Toothbrushes Bar Soaps Deodorant
Bring your non-perishable donations to the collection box in the lobby of the Synagogue beginning 4/1 through 5/14. You may also bring them to the synagogue on the day of the event.
Help the May Flowers Bloom
You can also help these young adults turn their “April rain” into “May flowers” with a monetary donation. Please send cash or a check (made payable to Congregation Beth Emeth; write “May Flowers” on the memo line) and mail to or leave at the Temple Office clearly marked for this purpose. The money collected will be added to the “Life Line” fund for these transitional individuals.
After the assembly of the bags we will share in a potluck supper:
Please bring enough to share: main dish, salad, side dish, or dessert. Please call the Temple Office, 764-2393, by May 12th to let us know you will be there. Out of respect for our dietary guidelines, dishes should not contain shellfish, pork products, or combine dairy products with meat.
This event is once again a part of the Jewish Federation of Delaware's Mitzvah Day Project.
We have been asked that you please register with them during the month of April at www.shalomdelaware.org if you plan to attend. Look for the “Make food and toiletry packages for needy families in the “Lifelines” Program (IFSAC Project at Beth Emeth, 4:30-6:30 PM)” entry at the Federation website.
The worst fire in Israel’s history is raging across Haifa and the Carmel Forest. More than 40 lives have already been lost, and many more are in danger as Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services battle the blaze. We grieve with the families who have lost love ones. We grieve for the loss of trees, so important in our tradition that we refer even to the Torah as the Tree of Life. You can help. ARZA and the URJ, with our partners, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, will help rebuild human lives through the IMPJ Humanitarian Fund. Contributing to our Carmel Fire-Israel Emergency Fund* is one more way for you to participate in building Israel, the land that we love.
You can also join the StandWithUs campaign for Gilad Shalit:
Please send a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross; Amnesty International; and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to urge them to demand the release of Gilad Shalit and, at the very least, demand that Hamas allow Gilad Shalit to receive proper medical attention and contact from his family in Israel. For a sample letter, please click here. Help us reach our goal of 5,000 letters to the ICRC, the UN and Amnesty International.
Change your Facebook profile picture and status. Click here for some picture ideas.
Talk about bringing home Gilad Shalit in your communities, synagogues, churches, etc. Click here to watch the video of Gilad Shalit's message from Hamas's captivity.
Environment
There is no better way to celebrate the creation of the world during Rosh HaShanah than to recommit ourselves to preserving it. As we contemplate our actions, both good and bad, during the past year, we also turn our thoughts to the world around us, and our role as the stewards of Creation.
COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, serves as a vital source of environmental education, action, and advocacy. Learn what you can do to help the environment and/or get involved with one of COEJL's affiliate organizations. Sign up to receive updates about COEJL's education, action, and advocacy campaigns or visit their online program bank.
Greening
We cannot conquer any of the great challenges we face today – from health care to the energy crisis – without thinking seriously about what we eat and how it affects us and our environment. And Sukkot creates the time and space to step back and ask these questions. This year, let’s begin to take the steps to ensure many successful – and sustainable – harvest seasons and celebrations to come.
To learn more about the steps the Reform Movement is taking toward sustainability and how you can get involved, visit our new GreeningRJ online resource where you'll find everything from Jewish texts and teaching on the environment to room-by-room greening guides for your home and congregation.
Hunger
We read in Mishnah Torah that if a stranger comes and says, "I am hungry. Please give me food," we are not allowed to check first to see if he is honest or not; we must immediately give him food (Laws of Contributions to the Poor, 6:6). The Rambam and those before him understood the importance of feeding the hungry.
Hunger is something that we still face today on a massive scale, both in North Americaand throughout the world. There are an estimated one billion people in the world who suffer from hunger and malnutrition; who do not choose to deny their bodies proper nutrition (www.thehungersite.com). As of 2006, there are over 36 million Americans, including over 13 million children, who suffer from hunger or are food insecure (www.mazon.org). These are the minions we should be thinking about as our stomachs growl during our High Holiday worship.
Justice
Some acts are sins against society; crimes for which society imposes penalties and exacts punishment. As a society, we must determine how to balance the attributes of justice and mercy, offering both punishment and forgiveness, acknowledging the need to protect a vulnerable population from criminals as well as the hope that rehabilitation and a return to society may be possible. As we seek forgiveness for our own failures, we also must consider granting forgiveness to those who sin against us, either as individuals or as members of the greater society.
Get Involved! Jewish Prisoner Service Internationalexists to change and save Jewish lives through the process of t'shuvah. Make a difference by becoming a penpal, donating dormant Judaica, becoming a mentor or by financially contributing to their efforts.
The "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," (H.R. 3) would permanently bar any federal money from being spent on abortions needed by women who rely on Medicaid, Medicare, the Indian Health Service or military doctors. And H.R. 3 would expand the ban so that women would likely not be allowed to use their own money to pay for this procedure when needed; businesses that paid for employee health plans that cover abortion would be denied tax credits; and medical deduction for payments to health plans that include abortions would be prohibited. It is due to the fundamental Jewish belief in the sanctity of life that abortion is viewed as both a moral and correct decision under some circumstances.
Urge your Members of Congress to oppose H.R. 3 and instead protect women's reproductive rights and health. You can send an e-mail or call your Members of Congress; the Capital Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121. For more information, please contact Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Deborah Swerdlow at 202.387.2800.
Over 32,000 Americans die each year as a result of gun violence. The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2006, outlawed 19 types of high-capacity ammunition weapons and their copycats, including Uzis and AK-47s. H.R. 308 is a bill that will once again make high capacity ammunition clips illegal. Isaiah exhorts the people of the earth to "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." (Isaiah 2:4) Any opportunity to make weapons less lethal is our obligation as Jews.
Urge your Members of Congress to cosponsor and support H.R. 308 banning high-capacity ammunition. You can send an e-mail or call your Members of Congress; the Capital Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121. For more information, please contact Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Amelia Viney at 202.387.2800.
In response to the tragic devastation of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the URJ has partnered with 
