Sha’are Shalom is a congregation which focuses on Social Justice, repairing the world through its activities in the community and its string membership involvement in projects such as the Baby-Sitting done on Christmas for our Christian neighbors. The activities of Sha’are Shalom are a great example of how a congregation can be part of a larger community, and in the process totally identify with the beliefs and practices of the Union of Reform Judaism.
Rabbi David Saperstein, the Director of the Reli-gious Action Center of Reform Judaism, in Washington, DC has written:
“…serious Jewish study inevitably leads to the soup kitchen; that serious prayer, among other vital things, is a way of preparing to do battle with injustice, that social justice without being grounded in text, without a sense of God’s presence, is ephemeral and unsustainable. The heart of the argument is that there is no such thing as ‘Social Action Judaism,’ that the thread of social justice is so authentically and intricately woven into the many-colored fabric we call Judaism that if you seek to pull that thread out, the entire fabric unravels, that the Judaism that results is distorted, is neutered, is rendered aimless.”
Historically a couple of things come to mind. We read in Talmud B’rachot that while the Kohanim had privileges in their Terumah, or special foods they were entitled to eat from those brought to the ancient Temple, nevertheless, they were required to watch as the poor gathered, and the Kohanim were not permitted to eat until the poor had sat down and begun to take the first morsels of food. In order the words feed the poor and make sure they are not hungry as a primary religious instruction.
A second example is that of leaving the corner if the field for the poor, the stranger, window and orphan. The Torah says that this is to be done is such a way that the poor do not need permission to enter these areas, and the implication is that they say thank you to God and not the owner of the field, as God is the ultimate provider and creator of the food which no man or corporation should take credit for creating.
A third example is that every Jewish community had a Free Loan Society, and Hevrah Kadisha, which assisted in making sure that everyone in need had a dignified burial. Communities did everything from organizing to provide houses of worship, to establishing schools, to building places for the elderly to be cared for as in the Smith Communities in Rockville or the Hebrew Home of Riverdale, NY, to assisting Brides in having a beautiful wedding if they could not afford a wedding.
Tzedakah literally means Justice – giving a person Justice, means making sure that they have what they need in order to live.
Why exactly is Social Justice so tied up in Judaism today? Are we fulfilling our mission as Jews without participating in Social Justice? Have you heard of the phrase Tikkun Olam?
At the end of Jewish wedding ceremonies and Interfaith Jewish wedding ceremonies it is custom for a groom (or both partners) to step on a wrapped glass as everyone shouts ‘Mazal Tov!’ This custom originates from the Talmud and earlier. Some say it was to frighten bad spirits away, that is in pre-Talmudic lore. From the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, known as ‘Zecher L’Hurban’ the rabbis declared that at our moments of greatest joy we should temper the joy and remember the destruction of the Temple.
What does that mean to most people today? Is it lost on them? The broken glass has come to symbolize all that is broken in the world and that the newlywed couple and all of us should be about Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, or as in this case, repairing the glass which has been broken symbolizing the brokenness.
I make a point of telling couples getting married, as well as B’nei Mitzvah students, families at naming ceremonies, and even people in mourning that the repairing of the world is what we are truly about. That is doing God’s work!
An example of this, this past week a blind man on a Subway station in NYC and fell to the tracks, while his trusted dog jumped in after him to protect him. Everyone tried to get the incoming train to stop but it was too late. The man and dog lay as flat as they could, and surviving this, they were taken to a nearby hospital which allowed the dog to stay with his owner. The man did not have enough money to keep the dog in the man’s current injured condition, and the news the story generated raised enough money for a fund to take care of the dog which would now remain with the man.
In my work here are a list of Tzedakah projects people have contributed to just in the past couple of years:
-Whitman Walker Health, medicine
-The Avalon Theater, commitment to the arts
-Miriam’s Kitchen which serves the homeless in DC
-The Family Tree, Maryland’s leading Child Abuse prevention organization
-Donate Life America – which supports people in ned of organ transplants
-The Redskins Charitable Foundation which supports children in DC, Maryland, and Virginia
-SOME, So Other’s Might Eat, which provides food, clothing, medical and mental health services, and job training throughout the DC metropolitan area.
-The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
-The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
-Wounded Warriors
-Fisher House
-Toys for Tots
-Perpetual Memorials: Celebrations through spon-sorship of an Oneg or Kiddush; Endowing a Guest Speaker Program; Dedicating an Ark; Dedicating a Torah Mantle and Ark Curtain; Dedicating Shabbat Prayer Books; Dedicating Holyday Prayer Books; Endowing Education Scholarships; Endowing Jewish Camp Scholarships
-DC Central Kitchen
-Homeward Trails Animal Rescue
-The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
-The Nature Conservancy
-American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
-The World Wildlife Fund
-The United Jewish Federation
-JCRC
-The Jewish National Fund
-Hadassah
-The American Chestnut Land Trust
-The Chesapeake Bay Foundation
-B’nei B’rith ADL
-American Jewish Committee
-ClearWaterAfrica.org
-Calvert Memorial Hospital, Dr. Sheldon Golberg Medical Arts Facility
These are just some of the Tzedakah projects and organizations available for us to participate in, to think about.
Other areas of social action include:
Building better ties and understanding with Israel through an Israel Solidarity Committee. Ohr Kodesh congregation does this by having an Israel Committee which advocated business with Israel including ordering flowers grown in Israel for all holidays, Israeli wines, and religious items made in Israel including Kippot and Tallitot.
We are supporting the Vigil for Alan Gross and members have participated in demonstrating for his release from a Cuban prison. We should be demonstrating at the Russian Embassy against their governments homophobic legislation which is being ignored as the world prepares for an Olympics set in Russia.
With regard to Interfaith, we could consider beginning our own Daughters and Sons of Abraham to promote understanding and communication even if we do not agree on all matters. In order to make a stronger community we need to work together, and sometimes we learn from the great work done by churches in their community work.
We have a committee to make and distribute Shelach Manot to those who are homebound or/and as a gesture of friendship. This is done at Purim time and it indicated how we remember those who cannot attend services or in our congregation a sign of appreciation while supporting the congregation. Last year a number of members made contributions to Sha’are SHalom in my honor for Purim, and I found that gesture very moving and wanted everyone to know that if all the recipients feel the way I did bout this, then a great deal of good is being accomplished.
We should grow in our efforts to build social action for Justice in our society and then we will be fulfilling the mission of social action: Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof! Justice, Justice shall you pursue.
Caring for others is a Jewish principle. Natan Sharansky, who was in prison for a number of years for ‘speaking out’ in the former Soviet Union, said that he did not know what it meant to be Jewish. However, when he learned that people who were total strangers were demonstrating for his release in NY, Washington, and London, it began to sink into his mind that being Jewish meant caring for the other even when you did not know them. At that point he became interested in studying Judaism and today he is head of the Jewish Agency in Israel.
Social Action includes seeking Racial Justice through the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance and programs; seeking accessible synagogues and fostering inclusion in participation. Listening to the call for help from others.
This is our work and my hope that we as a congregation can build our connection and involvement in Tikkun Olam, so that we can fulfill the instruction of the prophet Micah: What Does God Require of You? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.