Tzedakah, Tzedakah, Tirdof, Tzedakah, Tzedakah you shall pursue Part I

Not withstanding my title which is a play on  "Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof - Justice, justice you shall pursue, that you may live, and inherit the land which the Lord your God gave you (Deuteronomy 16:18)." Sometimes at the end of a school year I do feel as if I am pursuing 1) Asking each class to decide on a specific Tzedakah 2) Getting these names and addresses to our bookkeeper  3) cutting checks and 4) publicizing the not just the miracle but what tzedakah we have supported this year.  Our teachers and students have made some wonderful choices. 

JNF Box from years past

I imagine that some of our parents and for sure our grandparents grew up with a Jewish National Fund Blue Box in their house.  It is a mitzvah, to give Tzedakah right before Shabbat, right before you light candles and sing Kiddush and do Motzi.  Now there are so many different Jewish charities and projects we can support it is hard to choose which one should get all the pennies, nickels, and dollars our students have contributed over the year.  Here is our list.  I recommend that you click on the link and find out more about all of these wonderful organizations.  

Kindergarten - 1st Grade will be donating a leaf on our Lakeside's Tree of Life.  If you want to donate a leaf for a simcha in your family feel free to contact Allison Gelman at Agelman@lakesidecongregation.org.  

3rd Grade:  The Ark
The ARK provides free social and medical services to help distressed members of our Chicagoland Jewish family return to self-reliance.  Lakeside does a food drive from Rosh Hashanah through Sukkot for the Ark.  

4th Grade:  Leket Israel National Food Bank

Leket Israel

Serving as the country's National Food Bank and largest food rescue network, Leket Israel works to alleviate the problem of nutritional insecurity amongst the growing numbers of Israel's poor. In 2013, with the help of over 50,000 volunteers, Leket Israel rescued and distributed 25 million lbs of produce and perishable goods, 1 million prepared meals, and 1.1 million (8,000/school day) volunteer prepared sandwiches to underprivileged children. Food, that would have otherwise gone to waste, was redistributed to hundreds of nonprofit partners caring for the needy. Leket Israel offers nutrition education, capacity building, and food safety projects to further assist our partners.

7th Grade:  Keshet

Keshet is the premier provider of educational, recreational, vocational and social programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities operating according to traditional Jewish values.  Our mission is to enhance independence and integration to optimize personal potential.  Many of our 7th grade students have participated in Keshet's Buddy Sports program which allows their students to participate in baseball, bowling and have a fun time.  

8th and 9th Grade, Pre-Confirmation  St. Baldrick's Foundation: Rabbi Ike Serotta's Donations page
At the end of October, Rabbis Phyllis Sommer and Rebecca Schorr had a crazy idea: what if thirty-six Reform rabbis would shave their heads to bring attention to the fact that only 4% of United States federal funding for cancer research is earmarked for all childhood cancers as well as raise $180,000 for this essential research. As of today they have raised $617,993.  

We have a few more Tzedakah recipients and I will write more in a new post!

#BlogExodus Day 2: Tell (me about being a part of a family)

OSRUI Segel, Faculty before the Shave

Blogging today will be easy in that I have much to tell about last night's event of 36 Rabbi's (there were actually over 50) Shaving for the Brave a St. Baldrick's event.  I came to support the whole community of Rabbi's about to shave their heads and in some cases their faces all in the name of raising funds for pediatric cancer research.  All in all by the end of the evening we had raised over half a million dollars and it is still not too late to donate.

We began the evening with t'filot to frame the task that was in front of us.  After a moving t'filah with over 500 Rabbi's in attendance, some with their families. They covered the stage in plastic; 8 barbers standing behind 8 chairs and the first group, including Rabbi Phyllis and Michael Sommer began to have their hair shaved off.

During the shaving which began late in the evening and lasted for over  2 hours was sometimes hard to watch, I know some of the participants were nervous and I think for a woman to shave her hair is such a brave thing to do.  For the men although they look very different  in a few weeks they will begin to look normal.  For the woman this process will take so much longer.

Some of the Women who shaved for the brave.  

I am so proud of being part of something bigger.   I met Phyllis at OSRUI when we were both on Faculty.  Being part of the OSRUI family is also being part of something bigger.  I have known Phyllis since she came to Chicago and have shared ups and downs with her and her whole family.  I know that I will be here and the OSRUI family will be there, the Rabbinic family, Am Shalom and too many more families to name.  It's good to be part of family.

Rabbis Michael and Phyllis Sommer