Temple Beth El Blog

Looking to volunteer? Need a b’nai mitzvah project? Here are ways to help people in our community.

Helping Refugees from Afghanistan

There are many volunteer opportunities coming up to help refugees. Open Doors for refugees lists a number of opportunities in its October newsletter, including furniture warehouse co-manager, donation pickup and move-in volunteer co-organizer, ESL co-leader, winter clothing drive organizer, and bike outfitters.

If you would like to help those currently staying at Ft. McCoy, Jewish Social Services of Madison recommends Team Rubicon, a veteran-run emergency-response nonprofit, which has Amazon wish lists set up for several of the processing centers, including Ft. McCoy. This helps them provide exactly what is needed for Afghan guests while they are there. For those arriving in Madison, your cash donations or gift cards to Woodman’s, TJ Maxx/Marshalls, or Burlington Coat Factory would help out a lot. Please donate cash or gift cards; JSS is not seeking donations of items. Donate online here or send/deliver gift cards to JSS at 6434 Enterprise Lane, Madison, Wisconsin 53719.

Porchlight Program Needs Travel-Sized Personal Supplies

The Porchlight Men’s Shelter program is in desperate need of travel-size bars of soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and lotion. These items are given out nightly to the men at the emergency shelter. Because no one traveled last year, the supply is almost out. Items can be mailed or delivered to 306 N. Brooks Street, Madison, WI 53715 or dropped off directly at the shelter at 200 First Street after 4:00 pm.

Serving Meals at the Catholic Multicultural Center

One of TBE’s many initiatives to feed those in need is done in partnership with the Catholic Multicultural Center. The CMC provides free meals every day to approximately 80 south side community members and people experiencing homelessness. Since 2019 TBE members have been assisting in this effort by providing volunteer services before the COVID-19 pandemic and by cooking thousands of meals during the pandemic. At least 32 Temple cooks have stepped forward and cooked more than 3,300 meals for hungry neighbors. We are so grateful for all that they have done!

Until the CMC is able to return to in-person service, TBE will continue to cook meals every other Wednesday for the CMC to hand out. Cooks prepare a hot dish for 20, using a provided recipe, and a TBE member collects the dishes and delivers them to the CMC. If you would like to participate in this effort, please join us by using this sign-up link! Please contact Sue Levy at slevy51@gmail.com for the recipes or if you have questions.

Donating Sleeping Bags, Tents, and Clothes for Those without Housing

Nurse Frances Wiedenhoeft served many years in the U.S. military and now works to support unhoused people in Madison, especially veterans. Temple Beth El received the following letter: “If you can reach into your hearts and your closets, you may be able to retrieve gently used sleeping bags, tents, warm flannel or wool shirts, sweaters, fleeces, and heavy pants. Warm men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing are all needed, especially in the larger sizes.

“If it would be possible for you to collect these items, we will come and pick them up. We take everything we collect to drop off sites at both the Madison VA for homeless veterans, and to The Beacon, Madison’s homeless day center. I know at this time of year people are inundated with appeals for monetary donations and I hope that this will be a way for people to contribute which is within their reach. Thank you in advance for considering my request and for all that you do for your spiritual community. You can reach me by calling or texting at 608-576-7416, or by email at faw231@aol.com.”

The Civic Engagement Action Team is working with the Wisconsin League of Women Voters to contact voters who have been purged from the voter rolls for failure to vote in the last four years. Based on our success last year with writing voting reminder postcards, we’re planning another postcard effort to reach out to these voters, telling them to check their registration status and re-register to vote before the next election.

On Sunday, December 19 at 2:00 pm, we will hold a postcard-writing party. Each person attending will address and sign 30 postcards to de-activated Wisconsin voters. We’ll also use the time to bring people up to date on what lies ahead for civic engagement activities in 2022.

The postcard party will be held in the Swarsensky Social Hall, distanced, in accordance with TBE's in-person guidelines. You also have the option to attend the meeting by Zoom or to address postcards at home on your own schedule. You can sign up here.

A donation of $18 is requested for each participant, but of course you are welcome to participate with or without a donation. Postcards, address labels, and stamps will be provided. If you helped us with postcards last time, you will find that these will go much quicker since we will be using pre-preprinted labels and text. If you have time to do 60, please do!

The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Religious Action Center is urging its member congregations to support the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The URJ views voting rights as a nonpartisan issue crucial to advancing racial justice, and both our racial justice and civic engagement action teams are actively working on it. During the week of November 8–11, 30 TBE members made three key phone calls to Senator Baldwin, Senator Johnson, and President Biden, urging their support for the bills and considering filibuster reform if necessary. TBE volunteers also took the lead in organizing the other Reform congregations in Wisconsin to join in making these calls.

Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action is a new national organization that brings a Jewish voice to this urgent public issue. Local circles are connected to a national network so that our actions can be more powerful together. Dayenu’s approach is to hold public leaders accountable through strategic public action of the scale that science and justice demand.

Representatives from Jewish Congregations for Social Justice (JCSJ) spoke at length with the leaders of Milwaukee’s Dayenu Circle and with the outreach coordinator of Dayenu National, and decided to partner with Dayenu as a Jewish focus for climate action in Madison. JCSJ is a collaboration of the social action committees of the three Madison synagogues: Temple Beth El, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, and Beth Israel Center.

Two groups are currently being formed to begin with: a smaller steering committee that will meet monthly and direct strategic activities for the whole community, in collaboration with Dayenu National, and an advisory panel of local individuals with particular expertise for consultation. The goal is to have representation from all three congregations and a diverse, multigenerational steering committee. If you would like to help or have suggestions for individuals who would be a good fit for either of these groups, please contact Sherie Sondel.

TBE’s Environment and Climate Change Action Team also welcomes new members. To join the team, contact Marta Karlov, chair, or Aleeza A. Hoffert.

On a warm, sunny Sunday morning in October, 31 Temple Beth El members took a stroll along the shores of Lake Wingra to learn how the land near Temple was used by the Ho-Chunk people in earlier times. The group included Rabbi Bonnie Margulis’s 8th grade class of students preparing to be next year’s madrichim (teaching assistants).

The tour was guided by Dr. Amy Rosebrough, assistant state archaeologist at the Wisconsin Historical Society. As we walked from Vilas Zoo to Temple along Edgewood Drive, Dr. Rosebrough interpreted features in the landscape and helped us visualize how the Ho-Chunk people lived there. Wisconsin was the center of a prehistoric mound-building culture that became the Ho-Chunk people. Wisconsin has the largest number of mounds in the country, a tangible reminder of the vibrant culture that preceded the arrival of European settlers.

Prior to contact, the Ho-Chunk people lived in groups of 50 to 150. Their dwellings were framed bent-pole-frame houses located over depressions, so that they could be partly below ground for warmth. There would be an extended entry area with storage pits and drying racks outside. Tents were set up in pairs, but the pairs were dispersed across a wide area. People were very mobile, coming to the lakes to fish and garden, and going to the uplands to hunt and harvest nuts in the fall. Dietary fat was essential for surviving the winter, and after hunting deer, people would render the fat in the bone marrow.

From our first stop at Vilas Beach, Dr. Rosebrough pointed out how the landscape had been altered over the years. To the east, there used to be a 70-foot high ridge running along Park St. It was quarried for gravel from 1900 to 1915 to meet the road-building demands of the growing city. Many archaeological sites and burial grounds were destroyed as the city grew.

Dr. Rosebrough cited early archaeologist Charles E. Brown as an early non-Native advocate for protecting the mounds, who realized that the forces of development were lined up against him. Instead of directly approaching the city fathers, he reached out to the city mothers, promoting the creation of city parks in places where there were sites of archaeological significance. Through this less-threatening approach, he was able to preserve a number of important sites.

Our second stop was near the warming hut on the Lake Wingra lagoon. Dr. Rosebrough described the area as a “ghost village,” a place where historically Ho-Chunk families camped, farmed, and harvested ducks, turtles, and deer. “Wingra” is a Ho-Chunk term meaning “place where the turtle rises” and also “duck.” Although the disruption caused by white explorers and settlers began many years earlier, Ho-Chunk families kept returning to the area as late as 1910 in an attempt to maintain their traditional lifestyles.

Dr. Rosebrough told us about the arrival of French and British explorers and colonists and the way that Indian tribes were enlisted as proxies for the European powers, leading to war and disease. At one point, Ho-Chunk oral history says that only 50 adult men were left, a near genocide. Then came the tragedy of Indian removal, when loss of the land through shady treaties was followed by forcible relocation. After the Civil War, the Ho-Chunk people were removed at gunpoint and shipped to camps in Iowa and later in Nebraska. While some Natives stayed in Nebraska, others walked back to Wisconsin multiple times. Interestingly, there was a loophole in the removal laws that allowed land owners to remain. Some Ho-Chunk were able to buy multiple 40-acre parcels near Black River, which is the center of the Ho-Chunk Nation today.

Our group walked down Edgewood Drive to the Mazzuchelli Center, where Dr. Rosebrough pointed out an intact mound site created between 750 and 1200 CE. At the time this mound was built, corn was being introduced as a crop from tribes to the south, and the bow and arrow was introduced for game. The population started to boom, but people also died from cavities caused by the high sugar in corn, and mounds were used as burial sites. Sometimes people would be buried in a reclining position, other times in a fetal position. When people died in winter, their bodies were scaffolded up into trees to stay safe from animals, and buried the following year.

Dr. Rosebrough said that it is common for humans to reuse burial sites. Not only did various Indian tribes use each other’s mounds to bury more remains, but white colonists also created cemeteries around mounds, for instance at Forest Hill Cemetery. However, many mounds also go unrecognized or are buried under vegetation, and then are plowed under when a road or building is built. Mounds today are protected by both state and federal law, giving the tribes greater ability to control archaeological finds. The Wisconsin Archeological Society is trying to improve the signage and protect the known mounds. Ms. Rosebrough quoted Deuteronomy 19:14, which says: “Do not remove your neighbor’s landmark established in times of old.”

Unlike Monona and Mendota, which are part of the Yahara drainage, Lake Wingra is spring-fed. One of its springs is considered sacred by the Ho-Chunk people, with a white clay bottom that serves as a path to the world below. When someone died, there would often be several days of speeches, games, gifts, and feasts, allowing people to feel happy and peaceful so the spirit of the dead person could move on. Spiritual leaders would talk to the dead and guide them on their journey to the underworld.

As we continued on to the Edgewood College campus, we came to a large bird mound in front of the Stream Theater. Some mounds hold many remains, while others hold only one or two high-status people (so identified because they had fewer broken bones and better nutrition than average). The Edgewood bird mound is likely the burial place of an important member of a bird clan.

As we walked back toward Temple Beth El, we learned that Monroe St. near Knickerbocker is another ghost site of campsites, built along trade routes that extended across the continent. There is another ring of mounds near the apartments to the east of Temple Beth El. Ms. Rosebrough passed around a spear point that was 12,000 years old, saying that it might have been used to hunt a mammoth or mastodon. She pointed out that the Ho-Chunk who live in Wisconsin today have deep roots. Their oral history includes the story of a great noise followed by the discovery of new lands in the Devil’s Lake area. Some believe this story refers to the catastrophic draining of Lake Wisconsin, in which case it might be a 14,000-year-old memory.

The 8th grade class later discussed things that they might do to follow up on what they learned. Ideas included donating money to put up signs around the mounds to let people know they are on sacred ground; raising awareness among their peers by using school assignments to make a presentation on Native history; and advocating with their schools to have more substantive activities throughout Native American Heritage Month.

The walkers agreed that the tour was highly informative and gave an important context to the land under Temple Beth El. Our thanks go to Dr. Rosebrough, and to Pam Robbins and David Friedman for making the arrangements.

Tamari, Extra-firm tofu, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, lightly toasted sesame oil
(gravy recipe separate)

Four or five packages of extra-firm tofu.
Crumble into a bowl.
Add 3-4 tablespoons of poultry seasoning (plus some salt and pepper).
Add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil (light, toasted)

Mix altogether. Line a rounded colander with cheesecloth and press tofu mix into the colander, filling it completely – and even a bit overfull. Fold cheesecloth over the top.   

Take a small plate which is a little bit smaller than the diameter of the colander opening, place on top.   Use a heavy weight (glass gallon jug filled with water or similar) and place over the plate.   Put colander onto a large plate or platter which can easily collect liquid which will drain.

Let sit, draining with heavy weight, for three to four hours.

Scoop out tofu mix in the center, leaving 1 to 1-1/2 inches border all around the colander. Fill the center with stuffing and press down to firmly pack.
(can use bread stuffing, rice stuffings, cornbread stuffing).
Add removed tofu mix onto the top, sealing the stuffing, replace the plate and the weight and press another hour.

Remove the plate and the weight. Invert a baking dish on the colander and turn over so tofurkey dome is in baking dish. Gently remove the cheese cloth. Mix ½ cup tamari and ½ cup lightly toasted sesame oil with 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning.   Brush mixture all over the top of the dome until light brown.

Cover with foil, put in oven preheated to 350 degrees and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, baste with oil/tamari mixture, cover with foil and cook an additional 30 minutes. Remove foil, baste again and cook a final 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let sit 10 minutes and then slice with a sharp knife, so slices are tofu around the edges and filled with stuffing.

Garnish with parsley, orange slices and serve with gravy (Recipe follows).

Vegan Mushroom Pecan Gravy

• 2 cups button mushrooms, very thinly sliced
• 2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, very thinly sliced
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• Pinch sea salt
• 2 tsp. tamari or soy sauce
• 1 cup plant milk (unsweetened, unflavored)
• 1 cup dashi stock or vegetarian broth 
• 1 tbsp. Corn starch or arrowroot powder
• 1 tbsp. Dry white wine or mirin
• Black pepper to taste
• ¼ cup toasted pecans.

(I usually triple this recipe. One cannot have too much gravy — ever)
 

1. Heat a splash or two of water in a saucepan over a medium heat. 
2. Add all the mushrooms, sea salt and tamari and shallots —  and sauté for7 minutes. 
3. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Whisk in the milk and stock. 
4. Dissolve the arrowroot/corn starch in a little cold water, add to the pan and stir constantly to avoid lumps. 
5. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until thickened, whisking often. Add more water if necessary, to reach the desired consistency. Stir in the mirin and black pepper to taste. 
6. May be blended into a cream gravy.
7. Add toasted pecans at the end.

In June 2021, Temple Beth El congregants counted our blessings and donated in honor of them to TBE Sisterhood’s fundraiser for Little John’s Kitchens, a local nonprofit focused on food sustainability, food access, and job skill training. Thanks to your generosity, TBE Sisterhood was able to donate $9,300 to Little John’s Kitchens. 

We recently received a heartfelt thank-you note from Little John’s:

Thank you all so much for your generous donation! We loved hearing about all the gratitude your membership has, and we are so thankful for your decision to translate that into support for our organization. The $9,300 you gathered for us will have an immeasurable impact upon our community, and allow us to keep providing feel good food for all our members—regardless of their means. We are incredibly grateful for our community members like you all. Thank you! —The Little John’s Team

After Little John’s founder Dave Heide spoke at a Sisterhood program this past spring, the Sisterhood board chose to support the organization because of its innovative approach that complements our congregation’s other food donation drives and hunger-related efforts throughout the year. TBE Sisterhood organized the fundraiser as part of a Women of Reform Judaism Midwest District initiative, “Feeding the Hungry,” designed to ease hunger in these times of great need.

Together you made a difference by feeding people in our community. Thank you once again for your generous donations! 

Did you know that the Nakoma neighborhood, which is adjacent to Temple Beth El's Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood, beginning in 1931 had clauses in their property deeds that forbade selling homes to people of "Ethiopian descent"? Many neighborhoods and communities across the country had such racist and discriminatory provisions—since invalidated by Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Watch and listen to this video, generously prepared by longtime Temple members and Nakoma residents Vic and Sue Levy, to learn more.

Our time together as a congregation over the High Holy Days is always a meaningful experience. This year was no exception, and it was made even more special by the completion of our remodeled sanctuary. New seating and refreshed surroundings, as well as enhanced audiovisual components and hearing-assistance technology, are improvements that benefit all of us, whether worshipping in person or from home. We are so grateful to all of our sponsors, whose generosity allowed us to create a space that is beautiful, inclusive, and welcoming. Thank you so very much!

Lead donors:

• Joanna Berke
• Howie and Pam Erlanger
• Amy and Marty Fields
• Bonnie Denmark Friedman
• Tim and Kathy Mazur
• Fran Weinstein
• TBE Sisterhood
• Goodman Foundation

Thank you to all our donors:

• Two grateful congregants
• Victor and Judith Levine
• Jeff Levy
• Debbie and Jack Spear
• Marjorie Tobias
• Suzanne and Mitch Wolf
• TBE Men’s Club

Last year we introduced the Temple Community Contribution program. Our membership renewal program reminds us that we are all partners in our support of Temple Beth El. Rather than recommending a percentage of household income, the Temple Community Contribution program invites you to consider what you value the most within the four foundations that make TBE so special: community, worship, learning, and social justice.

Membership renewal materials will be sent in November. As we prepare for that process, we know that transparent information about Temple expenses helps to guide TBE members as you determine your annual contributions.

Currently, 2021 membership contributions are forecasted to come in 5% higher than 2020 membership contributions. These infographics show just a few examples of costs that will increase by 5% or more.

Overall, our expenses are projected to increase by at least 5%. If all TBE members increased their membership contributions by 10%, more than $80,000 would be added to our budget, going a long way toward sustaining Jewish life at TBE.

We recognize that an increased contribution is not possible for everyone. We hope, though, that you will take the time this November to evaluate whether you can give a little more: from your heart, based on your values, and for the good of Temple Beth El. Your support sustains us. As always, thank you for your generosity.

On Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Jonathan Biatch spoke movingly about the urgency of the climate crisis and the need to evaluate our food choices. He urged us to turn our attention to global climate change as we slowly emerge from our confinements of the recent past.
 
In his sermon, Rabbi Biatch leaned on the 2019 book We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, by Jonathan Safran Foer, to deliver a powerful message: Our nature may be to avoid difficult choices, but the time is now to do just that. The rabbi recounted how U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter reacted when confronted by the realities of the Holocaust in 1943 by a member of the Polish underground. Justice Frankfurter simply said, “I am unable to believe what you told me.”
 
But we can no longer act like Justice Frankfurter; our tradition calls on us to act. Rabbi Biatch quotes Rabbi Shimon, who said, “Three things are equally important: earth, humanity, and rain” (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 13:3), and Rabbi Israel bar Hiyah, who elaborated, “We must attend to Rabbi Shimon. These three terms are each composed of three Hebrew letters—eretz, adam, and matar—and are, therefore, equivalent to one another. They teach that without the earth there is no rain, without the rain there is no earth, and without them both there is no humanity.”

Rabbi Biatch then talked about something that most of us do every day: eat animal products. He quoted the book by Safran Foer as saying, “The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that methane-producing livestock—that is, cattle, goats, and sheep—are a leading cause of climate change.” More specifically, the animal-derived protein we eat produces the following amount of CO2 per serving:

 

We encourage you to read the full sermon here or watch it below. 

Taking the next step on this important issue, the Environment and Climate Change Action Team (ECCAT) would like to invite you to read We Are the Weather and join us to discuss it on Tuesday night, November 16. We will be meeting jointly with the Sisterhood Book Club, the Men’s Book Club, and ECCAT members. We will reflect on what we found helpful and on whether what the author proposes can drive change in us and/or our communities. Please sign up here. 

We would also like to share a very personal and very Jewish 16-minute TEDx Talk on “Storytelling and Climate Change.” Judith Black is an American Jewish professional storyteller who talks about how she has learned to communicate about climate change and the actions large and small that people can take.

Finally, the ECCAT is just getting started. We meet monthly on the fourth Wednesday of most months by Zoom, and we welcome your energy and ideas! Contact Marta Karlov, chair, to discuss how it might be best for you to get involved.

The Immigrant Rights Action Team is pleased to announce plans to participate in the Dane Sanctuary Coalition’s Big Read event this fall. We will be reading the book Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, by Jacob Soboroff, a gripping look at the U.S. child-separation policy.

In June 2018, Americans became aware that the government was deliberately separating migrant parents and children at U.S. border facilities. Jacob Soboroff was among the first journalists to expose this reality after seeing firsthand the living conditions of the children in custody. His influential series of reports ignited public scrutiny that contributed to the president reversing his own policy and earned Soboroff the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Broadcast Journalism and, with his colleagues, the 2019 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism.

But beyond the headlines, the complete, multilayered story lay untold. How, exactly, did such a humanitarian tragedy happen on American soil? What was the human experience of those separated children and parents?

Soboroff spent two years reporting the many strands of this complex narrative, using inside government sources. He traces the dramatic odyssey of one separated family from Guatemala, where their lives were threatened by drug dealers, to seek asylum at the U.S. border, where they were separated—the son ending up in Texas, and the father thousands of miles away, in the Mojave Desert of central California. And he joins the heroes who emerged to challenge the policy and those who worked on the ground to reunite parents with children. Separated lays out the human toll and makes clear what is at stake as America struggles to reset its immigration policies.

Dates for the book group discussions will be announced soon. Now is the time to get your book and start reading. Orders of five or more books will qualify for a 50% discount, so if you’d like to order a copy through Temple Beth El, please contact Lynn Silverman about joining a group order. Copies are also available from local bookstores A Room of One’s Own and Mystery to Me and at the Madison Public Library. Dates for the discussions will be posted in the Weekly Happenings email and sent to the immigrant rights email list. Whether the discussions will be by Zoom or in person will be decided closer to the time.

This summer, with a generous $10,000 grant from the Jewish Federation of Madison’s Cheryl Rosen Weston Fund Community Grants, Temple Beth El’s Social Action Committee partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County (BGCDC) on a summer internship program for high school and college students who participate in BGCDC programs. The students were “matched” with Temple members at two private companies and four nonprofit organizations, where they worked approximately 20 hours each week for six weeks.

This project was designed to help address the gross racial disparities in Dane County and the entire state. Wisconsin ranks among the worst in the nation in terms of racial equality. From education to jobs and income to incarceration, these disparities are gaining increasing attention from activists and policy makers. The pandemic has exacerbated these disparities in family health, family employment, and household income. This has included increased disparities in youth education and a decrease in meaningful employment opportunities. 

Unlike the majority of youth at Temple Beth El, many of whom are white and from middle-class and upper-income families, the youth served by the BGCDC do not have the same access to summer internship and employment opportunities. Parents of low-income youth often do not have the “connections” to help their children network in the community to find summer jobs or meaningful opportunities that will expose them to a wide variety of employment situations, skills, and professionals. As a result, these youth face more barriers in completing their high school education, pursuing postsecondary education, and securing meaningful employment after graduation that will provide them with sufficient income to thrive. Unpaid internship experiences perpetuate inequality and exacerbate barriers of access and opportunities. We recognized the strong need for structured internships that pay a minimum of $15 per hour to provide low-income youth with real-world experience and opportunities to prepare them for future education and careers.

Like all of our committee’s work, this project was based on many significant Jewish values and teachings. Deuteronomy 6:7 directs us to “teach your children well,” and we believe that “your children” includes all children. Maimonides defines eight levels in giving tzedakah (charity), each one higher than the preceding one. Lower levels are those where donations are given grudgingly, less than one should, and/or only when asked. The highest forms are those that involve communal funds and are administered by responsible people. The very highest is exactly what this project did: help people before they become impoverished by offering to help them find employment or establish themselves (e.g., learn skills) so that they can become self-sufficient. See https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/eight-levels-of-charitable-giving. 

This project also recognized that the employers would learn from the fresh new perspectives and insights of the young students. This, too, is recognized in our tradition. Rabbi Hanina said: “I have learned much from my teachers and even more from my friends, but from my students I have learned more than from all of them.” And indeed, the reports from the six employers have made clear that they personally and their organizations’ missions benefited from the interns.

Let’s hear about it from some of the participants themselves:

Intern Desia Xiong was placed at Madison Youth Arts Center (MYArts) and was offered a part-time job there at the end of the internship. She wrote:

This summer internship at MYArts was incredible! I did a variety of things during my six weeks. I sat in many director meetings, helped brainstorm for the building's grand opening this fall, did some room set up for events, created many signs and documents for the building, created instruction manuals and managed the MYArts social media handles. I also was brave enough to give a tour or two of the MYArts building! Data entry was also a large part of the second half of my internship, learning how to use two scheduling programs and putting in reservations from one to another, as MYArts is still transitioning from one program to another. 
 
One of the most valuable things I learned while working at MYArts is the need for diversity in the professional world. Many of my previous jobs in the past have been in student support services for minorities at educational institutions, so I have not had or been exposed to many professional occupations that were dominantly Caucasian. It was invaluable for me to learn and understand how important and valuable my perspective and voice in any conversation can be. That being said, I also run a performance group of my own at Madison College and being a student leader of color to a small performing arts group was an incredible perspective to bring to the MYArts table. Jess and Courtney made sure to tell me that every day! I feel one of my largest contributions was giving the perspective of what a small independent user group would like from the MYArts space and community. This, and creating a variety of manuals, signs and instructions for the building were my biggest contributions.

Intern Leslie Hernandez, who worked at LIFT Dane (Legal Interventions for Transforming Dane), said:

I was able to learn and take part in researching about policies in different states, not only in Wisconsin. Throughout this internship I was able to create a LinkedIn page and connect with other staff. Also I was able to help create a storyboard for an informational video on their website. … I have been able to learn about new professional career paths and how to balance working and going to school at the same time. 

And the employers had only good things to say, too.

Casey Brown, who supervised intern Mario Cancasco at Frank Beverage Group, wrote: 

Mario was creative and provided us with an outside, young adult perspective that is very beneficial to our industry. I was incredibly impressed with how smart and ambitious Mario is. He was such a pleasure to work with, and he and I connected and worked together quite nicely. 

Michael Ross’s colleague who supervised Desia at Madison Youth Arts wrote: 

Thanks to Temple Beth El and the Jewish Federation for creating and supporting this great program, and letting us participate as a very young organization. We were especially lucky to have Desia as our summer intern, and were thrilled when she accepted the part-time job we offered her.

And Marsha Mansfield, Leslie’s supervisor at LIFT Dane, wrote:

The intern we hosted made valuable contributions to our work and it was great to have new voices and energy added to our work. Addressing racial disparities is core to LIFT's mission, so hosting a Boys & Girls Club intern was one way that we could show our support of their efforts while gaining the perspective and contributions of someone whose lived experiences differ from those of other LIFT partners. We also helped the intern understand how racial disparities show up in a variety of barriers (driver's license suspensions, criminal records, etc.) imposed on people of color by our society.

In addition to the six internships organized and supported under the grant, 17 TBE members graciously participated in a fun Zoom speed-networking event. Students throughout the BGCDC programs were invited to attend, and Temple members were put into “rooms” for the categories of health care, mental health and social work, nonprofit management, law, arts, and education. TBE members provided students with background on why they chose this career, how they prepared for it, their careers’ rewards and challenges, and advice on how to prepare for such a career. Students also had the opportunity to ask the professionals questions. In addition, we prepared a directory of 37 Temple professionals with background and contact information and invited the BGCDC students interested in virtual or live follow-up discussions to reach out.

Going forward, we plan to apply for another grant and expand our involvement in this incredibly valuable and successful program. We hope that this year’s six employers will sign on for summer of 2022 and that additional Temple Beth El members will explore hosting a summer intern as well. Temple member Howard Erlanger prepared an evaluation and report on the program. For more information or to receive a copy of the evaluation, please contact Betsy Abramson at betsyabramson@gmail.com or 608-332-7867.

Very special thanks to the Jewish Federation of Madison for the grant support and to our six Temple Beth El members and their host sites:

• Elizabeth Frank, Frank Beverage Group
• Amy, Marty, Molly, and Randy Fields, Books4School
• Marsha Mansfield, LIFT Dane
• Joe Loehnis, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
• Michael Ross, Madison Youth Arts Center
• Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice

Yasher koach! May we go from strength to strength!

Well, I – for one – am glad that those confessional prayers did not end with chadeish yameinu k’kedem, you know, that “renew our days as of old” stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the music. But if I am asked to think about returning to the “good old days” once more, I don’t know what I would do.

I tell you: If you were around during those “days of old”, you’d not want to return there. Yes: the days of creation that you read about seem very bucolic and serene, and a return to Eden has been our dream for two-and-a-half millennia. But just like other nations’ creation stories and their tales of the gods’ jealousies and deceits, the Israelite stories of God and the angels who compete for our God’s attention also have their accounts of trickery, disagreement, and violence.

Here is what I mean:

According to Midrash Rabbah[1], when God was pondering the question of whether to create a human being, the four Ministering Angels – God’s closest personal assistants, according to our lore – immediately took opposing sides on that question.

Some said, “Kol Hakavod, God, great idea, go to it”, while the naysayers argued, “Big mistake, God. Do not create humanity”. So, you see, there was hardly unanimity on the answer to the question.

Then, four ethical values, personified as other celestial beings, stepped forward to testify about their predictions about humanity’s future.

The value of Kindness said: “Yes, create humans, because they will, in time to come, perform many acts of kindness.”

The value of Peace said: “Don’t create humans, because their souls will be full of discord and strife.”

The value of Justice said: “Please create humans: They will engage in just and righteous actions.”

And the value of Truth said: “You better not create humans, God, because nothing but lies will come forth from them.”

God did not think ‘lies’ were a component of the human species that the Divine One had in mind to create. But the reality of Truth’s statement somehow got under God’s skin, so to speak. The Divine One picked up Truth by the scruff of its neck and threw it toward the earth.

The Ministering Angels pushed back.

“God: You know humans will lie. You know they’ll be deceitful. What’s the matter, can’t You stand the Truth? And, by the way, why did You treat Truth, Your most important earthly value, so shabbily?”

God immediately saw the error committed, repented, and elevated Truth from the Earth.[2] This is the reason – says the Midrash – that Psalm 85 has truth “sprouting forth” from the earth.

Despite the great amount of lying or evasions in our speech and intention, Truth is still a vital ethical standard to preserve.

As I wrote in this year’s High Holy Day program, I am moved by Psalm 85’s reunion of these four values, where it says, “Faithfulness and Truth have met; Justice and Peace have kissed. Truth will sprout forth from the earth, Justice will look down from heaven.” Each of these values needs our protective care and cultivation, and it is the job of every person, through our personal and communal acts of goodness. And we need to ensure especially that Truth regains its rightful place in the human world.

Look: We know that Truth and Fact have been – shall we say – “in debate” as of late; Truth’s pessimistic assessment of humanity’s need to lie is proven correct every day. So let us begin by examining this working definition of Truth, in order to have a common basis of understanding.

Truth is:

• The absence of falsehood … and it is more than that
• It is “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”
• It is speaking, living, and loving in completely authentic and transparent ways
• It is the willingness to acknowledge the consequences of our actions
• Truth can be confrontational – agonizingly so – and yet is, ultimately, best delivered directly and without filters
• More importantly, Truth is a value to be sought, acquired, cherished, preserved, and diligently employed
• And with proper intention, Truth never gets depleted; that is, the more one practices speaking Truth, the more truthfulness grows deeply into the soil of one’s character.

In the structure of Psalm 85, we see an intersectionality between Truth and Justice. Where the Psalm offers that “Truth will sprout forth from the earth; Justice will look down from heaven”, I interpret from this passage not merely a case of beautiful cosmic convergence, but also a statement of causality:

When Truth will sprout forth from the earth – that is, when we humans work to:

• prepare the soil for Truth,
• plant seeds of Truth,
• nourish Truth regularly,
• cultivate Truth through trimming it back occasionally and pulling out the weeds,
• harvest Truth,
• and venerate the Truth instead of trying to conceal it

– only then will Justice look down from heaven, and grant measures of Justice and Righteousness to the world.

Sadly, we, as a species, are not yet ready to practice this level of honesty, as we can see for ourselves that Truth is clearly under assault these days. What I find most distressing are the intentional manipulations of Truth we hear all too often, in order to achieve some personal, political, or factional end.

Consider, for example, the ongoing turmoil over the teaching of the history of the Black experience in America. There should be no debate about this matter; it should be abundantly clear and accepted by all that we must understand – far better than we have – the 400 years of the Black experience in North America.

And so, here is some Truth: It is likely that only a few of us have studied the subject of ‘Black history in America’ in any great detail. To those who did, kol hakavod, that is great. For those who studied it as part of a general social studies or history class, it may have been part of the curriculum, or it might have been the efforts of the exceptional, subversive, or iconoclastic teacher who injected this subject into class discussions.

What about future generations? It is our responsibility to prepare the soil of Truth for those who follow us in this world, which is why we must learn well, and then teach about the systemic inequities and injustices in our society. This can lead us to create a world where every human being can live a life of dignity and respect.

Our children need to be prepared to take on their share of this task when they enter the adult world. Yet, without knowing the True history of how our nation came to be, they cannot understand the underlying causes of the issues we face, and therefore, will be ill-equipped to meet the challenges they will confront as adults.

There are those who would not agree with these statements. The forces of White supremacy and racism confront school board members, and they also support state legislators, in pressuring them to reduce or bar the teaching of the Black American experience from their schools.

• They want to declare the teaching of historical racism and its impact on our society as divisive and racist.
• They also strive to prohibit anti-racist and diversity training among teaching and administrative staff. If we believe that teachers have the task – and the amazing power – to influence and guide our students, then they must be properly equipped to perform this part of their jobs, and given license to do so.

Such legislation has been proposed in at least 22 states, and has been passed in at least five[3]. Here in Wisconsin, proposed Senate Bill 411 would permit the state to punish school districts who wish to educate their students about these topics by withholding some of their state education funding. The proposed legislation would also allow parents to bring a civil suit against those districts for any alleged violations.

These proposals tear at the very fabric of Truth: they allow Truth to be concealed, discounted, and denied. They permit the prejudices of uninformed, biased, and selfish legislators to eclipse the professional judgments of educators whose job is to guide American children to their greatest potential. They prohibit Americans of all colors from joyfully and completely reaching out to offer mutual help and friendship.

Nothing could be more divisive than these proposals to suppress and contradict the Truth about our nation’s systemically racist past. We are, in our day, thankfully learning and acknowledging much about the behavior of rogue law enforcement officers, the violent activities of White supremacists (who, as we Jews know, don’t like us too much either), and – in general – about the systemic racism that has denied Black Americans equal access to the American Dream. The Truth is that we have much more to learn.

Rather than suppressing and prohibiting exposure to the Truth of our nation’s racist past, all Americans should study, ponder, debate, and reflect on this history. For when we do – when we bring the Truth of our nation’s past to light; when we understand not only the history but also the implications of more open viewpoints in the future – then the attribute of Justice will, indeed, peer over the edge of the heavens, look down upon us, and shower us with its life-sustaining waters. Righteousness will be present, and Peace and Kindness will follow.

I know that Yom Kippur is not necessarily the day to dream, a word here which could mean ‘permitting one’s imagination take one away from the world of reality’. Yom Kippur is a serious day of contemplation and reflection and real-world action. Yet I do wish to dwell for a few moments on the dream of Gloria Ladson-Billings, the first Black woman to become a tenured professor of education at the University of Wisconsin.

One of the areas of focus in her working and academic life was on the educational accomplishments – or the lack thereof – of Black children. She saw few succeeding, and dared to wonder why. For her, the Truth about the success of Black children was not in the difficult home environments they might come from. It was from the dearth of Black educators and educational role models. Black students were not exposed to Black educational leaders who could demonstrate how to guide, persuade, and enrich learning.

She began asking questions about teachers of students and their classrooms. She took a hard look at how children were taught. She examined how teachers view Black students and about how those attitudes affected their teaching. She asked herself, ‘What could be done to help teachers succeed to help their students?’

“I had two hunches,” she is quoted as saying. “One was that black students who found themselves in classrooms with skilled teachers could be academically, culturally, socially and civically successful. My second hunch was that African American teachers, whose numbers were dwindling, were key to black student success.”[4]

Perhaps she was being humble when calling her intuitions as “hunches”, but she pursued this dream with a vital and passionate energy, which has turned her hunches into a Truth, which has made a serious impact on the lives of students.

This is a small but important vignette. Small, because it will be some time until her teachings make a significant impact outside of the circles of academia. Though, there, too, in Madison, schools, she has had success already.[5]

Such is the influence of Truth. We see that

• Truth can enliven the dormant human passions for work, for advancement of knowledge, and for human improvement.
• Truth can release our inhibitions and allow us to develop honest and candid relationships with one another.
• Truth can also help us determine when to rebuke someone with the Truth, or when to gently offer encouragement to people who simply have made errors.

Each of us makes mistakes; each of us speaks unTruths that represent our thinking, and may not be tied to our genuine intent or our persona. Still, Maimonides reminds us to remember the value of Truth, lest we fall prey – he says – to “the vanities of the times”, and we “pursue years of self-importance and idleness”.[6]

According to our lore, Rabbi Judah Loew both used and abused Truth when he created the Golem of Prague.

That creature was formed to serve the goal of Truth, distinguishing the serious antisemites from the casual ones and carefully determining appropriate punishment for the Jew-haters of the times.

As the last step of the monster’s animation, Rabbi Loew was said to have inscribed the Hebrew word for Truth – “emet” – on the forehead of the Golem. And yet, when life entered his body, the Truth he found compelled him to plunder, murder, and take other revenge on the ignorant people of Prague.

To stop his creation from performing further deeds of violence, Rabbi Loew removed one letter, the alef, from the word emet on the monster’s forehead, turning emet, Truth, to met, or Death. At that moment, the Golem went into “sleep” mode.

Perhaps this tells us of the dangerously slim region between Truth and Death, an area of which we must be cautious. Yet for us to find that paradise we all desire, that place where our “days will be renewed as of old”, we must take the risk to find, articulate, and defend Truth from those who would otherwise destroy it.

The prophet Zecharia had a prescription for us. He recommended us to ‘speak the truth: one with another’; that we should ‘render Truth and Compromise within our gates.[7]’ May our desire for Truth and Justice allow us to find them it in our day, and in the years to come.

G’mar Tov. May you have an easy fast and a good year ahead.

The Shofar Calls Us to Serve

Ah, the sounds of the Shofar! 

Those clarion calls that direct us toward repentance and forgiveness! 

The discordant music that could remind us of the discordant moments in our lives, and that could then compel us to harmonize our lives with others. 

That persistent sound whose message could be reproof for misbehavior. 

And the signal whose message it is to make positive changes in the world and in ourselves. These, and more, we find in the voice of a simple ram’s horn described in the Torah. 

The shofar has played the tune of Jewish survival down through the centuries. And the lore of our people assigns one further message in the sound of the Shofar: that one shofar sounding to mark the arrival of the messianic age. 

Traditional Judaism understands two biblical prophecies which, when read together, prepare us for that future transformation of the world: 

The prophet Malachi proclaims that the prophet Elijah will return to earth, preceding the advent of the messianic age. As someone who performed miracles in his day and whose stories have engendered faith in days since, his messianic role will be to bring about familial reconciliation, an important step toward the world’s ultimate salvation.1 

Then the prophet Zecharia reminds us that every human being – in days to come – will help to re-make the world just as it was at the time of Eden. Each of us will have a role to play to repair the world. 

Zecharia also makes it clear that the sound of the shofar will precede it all: the arrival of Elijah, the universal work to transform the world, and the ultimate peacemaking that will be the defining feature of that world to come.2 

It’s important to clarify that liberal traditions, such as the Reform movement, believe neither in a supernatural being’s involvement in, nor a sequence of events that herald the arrival of, the messianic age. For us, each person will engage in the repair of the world, a process that will organically bring about a time of universal peace and acceptance. 

But we nonetheless can be inspired by the stories of Elijah, the one prophet who never died a natural death, and who has been spotted throughout our 2,000-year-old diaspora helping people in need. He sets the example, and leads us toward the world’s salvation. 

I have sometimes wondered, what with the millions of shofar sounds that our earthly congregations usually produce on these holidays, whether Elijah would ever get confused and think that they signal the beginning of the messianic era. And I thought about how Elijah would react each year, at this time, to those calls. 

[SH’VARIM and T’RUAH Shofar Calls] 

ELIJAH IN THE HOUSE: 

How many times have I heard that sound! How often it has come to my ears! Thank you for declaring this New Year. 

Despite your rabbi’s fears, I know the difference between the usual beautiful sounds of the Days of Awe and that special shofar blast of the future. I know that it isn’t the moment for the messianic age to arrive … not just yet. And to be honest, you humans still have a lot of work to do … but you are making progress. 

I am here today because something else has come to mind, and since I have a Jewish congregation listening this morning, I must give expression to those thoughts. 

I, Elijah, the son of Tishbi of Gil’ad, am approaching my twenty-nine hundred and fiftieth yahrtzeit, though there are those who have asserted that I never really died, that I ascended alive to the heavens in that fiery chariot³. But I am glad that my descendants are keeping … and preserving … and promoting their faith. It does an old man’s heart good to know that his offspring maintain their family’s traditions. 

I am moved to speak to you on this occasion by the wonderful sounds of the shofar that you have just offered. For me, they contain memories, emotions, and heavenly sensations. Oh, if only you could have heard the shofar sounds as I have heard them, lo, these many years: 

The shofar calls that reverberated at the time of our people’s exodus from Egypt … The thunder, lightning, and shofar sounds that emanated from Sinai at the giving of the Ten Commandments … The sound of the shofar as it joyfully proclaimed the coronation of Israelite kings and queen in Jerusalem. 

And the shofar sounds throughout the generations at times of tragedy, as cries of warning and sadness: 

• during the Crusades and their years of anti-Jewish violence and destruction 

• during centuries of the Inquisition, and other persecutions and disabilities 

• and during the Holocaust, as its fiery hunger consumed six million of you. 

Do not misunderstand me. The sounds of the shofar have pleased me. But they have sometimes been intermixed with painful sounds: nuclear explosions, terrorist actions, continuing cries of persecuted peoples: all signs of humanity’s inability to truly get along with one another. 

For example, let me see if I can catch an echo of that sound for you, so you can appreciate what I have heard in recent days, what summons me to speak to you, and what should cause each of you to pause and consider your predicament on earth: 

[January 6 Insurrection]

You may recognize these sounds: the actualities of rioting, of human hatred, deceit, and devastation. Your propensity for audacious ways of attacking one another saddens us in the celestial community. There was so much noise this year that we peered over the edge of the heavens, and considered setting aside our Prime Directive and intervening to save you. 

It was plain to us: in Washington, Minneapolis, in Kabul, Paris, the Xinjiang region of China, Palestine, Israel, even in Madison; and many others: a deluge of human detestation and destruction. 

And I also cannot help but note that, twenty years ago this coming Shabbat morning, there was a physical manifestation of this hatred that many of you remember: billowing plumes of ash and concrete dust, a storm of such magnitude and chaos that it rivaled one of your nuclear explosions. It enveloped New York, Washington, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 

We knew about the twisted and malevolent motivations of the perpetrators of terrorism. They were completely wrong, of course, and the Islamic sages and prophets with whom I share the heavenly house of study were distraught that a handful of their disciples had acted in such a way in the name of God. 

We asked, “Where was the shame? Where was their humility? Where was humanity on that day?” And we all wondered, “Where did any of us go wrong? Can’t we do a better job of things? Why does such evil intention and deed still thrive on the Earth?” 

We know well that intentions have not changed for some who hate full time. Destruction is on the mind of many, wanting to replicate the fires of persecution and aggression that are characteristic of some people in your world. You know well about the scourge of antisemitism, as well as every other persecuted group around. 

Something has got to give! 

Twenty years ago this week, we peered into that growing, consuming, conflagration of debris, and we saw something strange there. That malevolent cloud rolled down the streets of New York City, coating everything with a toxic, gray layer of dust and ash, coating the bodies and poisoning the lungs of those who inhaled it. 

In one very special sense, however, that gray cloud was holy, for it contained the essence of the humanity obliterated by it. Everyone who was touched by that cloud’s tendrils inhaled the souls and the spirits of the beautiful deceased. And for us, those souls will never lose their potential, and their sacrifice will be remembered, and elevated, and maintained in our memory. 

The people who wandered the streets, the ones covered with soot: the women and men; White, Black, Asian, Latinx, Middle Eastern; straight and gay, cisgendered and trans, younger and older; all those who were swallowed up by that cloud: with their patina of gray soot: the visage they presented sort of reminded us all of the beginnings of your world, many, many eons ago, when sentient beings began to emerge from the holy and fertile earth. 

Yes, I heard the Torah you offered a little while ago; I know you’re familiar with the Jewish Creation myth. Let me add a detail or two that are not in the book. 

At a very early moment in the history of your world, all creatures resembled one another. They were formless masses of organic matter. And only later, when God had the opportunity to form and teach and guide humanity; when God began to distinguish creatures by rearranging some DNA here and there; when God led humanity to study and grow; when the potential for establishing your “humanity” was greatest: 

Only then did the Creator instill in humanity variegations and differences in human character. And it was those differences between people which God called “very good” in the book of Genesis. It was – and is – those differences between people that you should be celebrating… 

… because the same thing could be said with those humans who emerged from the dust-cloud on September 11: they resembled the generation of pre-creation: gray, formless, oblivious masses, huddling in the doorways, fearing their new world, and hoping for salvation. We knew that each one was different from one another, yet each one bore the imprint of the Holy One. And each one is sacred, with sacred potential for goodness and integrity. 

Twenty years ago, when God saw those survivors with their grimy appearance, the Divine One remembered the human creatures from the first generations of Earth eons ago. God remembered the hope we all had for humanity. But realizing the terrorist action that brought about the devastation of that day, God was then heard to cry out, “I gave free will to humanity; I was hoping they would act to improve the world. Where did I – where did they – go wrong. Should we, once again, reconsider our pledge to restore Eden for them?” 

God was despondent. Creation’s blueprint did not anticipate selfishness, or brutishness, or a desire for dominance for power. Goodness knows you have known tyrants or would-be tyrants in your world. Some might even exist in your day. None of that was in God’s plan, and what we and God perceive today frightens us, and, frankly, makes your future quite dismal. 

But God then read the words of the late professor Stephen Jay Gould, who wrote about the presence of evil AND goodness within the human family: 

“Good and kind people outnumber all others by thousands to one. The tragedy of human history lies in the enormous potential for destruction in rare acts of evil, not in the high frequency of evil people … every spectacular incident of evil will be balanced by 10,000 acts of kindness, too often unnoted and invisible as the ‘ordinary’ efforts of a vast majority.  We have a duty, almost a holy responsibility, to record and honor the victorious weight of these innumerable little kindnesses, when an unprecedented act of evil so threatens to distort our perception of ordinary human behavior.”⁴ 

So, we must ask ourselves this question every day as we rise to face the challenges of life: 

How will our actions affect the world? 

Will we allow inertia and apathy to flourish, and permit centrifugal force to pull us away from a common striving … or will we pull people together and help one another bring forth goodness into the world? 

When we hear the sound of the shofar – the vibrant or muddled, the short or the long, the weak or the strong, the ram’s horn, or that of the ibex – when we hear those sounds, will they be simply the background noise of everyday life, or will they break through and call us clearly to serve one another? 

In the New Year just beginning, will we disregard those in trouble, those who have difficulties in communicating with each other, those in a different state of life from us … or will we seek to help reconcile one person to another regardless of the differences between them, regardless of the barriers that exist between people? 

When we consider our tasks for the new year, how will each of us renew our plans for bringing goodness to the world? How will each human being activate their potential for restoring the Garden of Eden to our world? 

These are our challenges, for the choices are up to each of us. If we only pause and think, we can imagine what the Holy One of Blessing would like us to do. 

I, Elijah, the son of Tishbi of Gil’ad, know that the potential for progress is alive and well here. Want to know how I know? Let me share with you one further sound that I have heard this year, a sound that brings joy to my heart, and a feeling of hope to me and my colleagues: 

[V'ahavta]

This the sound of your future. When your children continue to study, to learn, to chant, to celebrate their heritage, then I know their future is secure, and that you are moving toward the true fulfillment of their destiny. I, Elijah, have seen the future, and I believe you can do it. The point is, you need to believe you can do it. 

My, look at the time. I need to be on my way now. I’m very glad you summoned me with the shofar, even though it wasn’t yet time for messianic things to start. It was great to catch up and pour out our hearts to one another. 

Oh, and please remember: Come Passover in the Spring, dry wine, please. 

And until then, may you all have a sweet, prosperous, successful, healthy, and peaceful New Year. 

Footnotes:

[1] Malachi 3:24
[2] Zecharia 9:14
[3] II Kings 2:11
[4] Stephan Jay Gould, cited in “Rambam’s Ladder: A Meditation on Generosity and Why It Is Necessary to Give” by Julie Salomon, Workman Publishing Company, 2003.
 

Looking to volunteer? Need a b’nai mitzvah project? Here are ways to help people in our community.

Jewish Social Services Opportunities

JSS needs volunteers for no-contact delivery of groceries and other essentials, phone contact, and other tasks and projects. The need is particularly high for one or two volunteers to help with tech support. For further info, please contact Paul Borowsky at 608-442-4083.

JSS is launching its refugee mentorship program, Aljirani Madison, and is seeking volunteers! From the Swahili jirani and Arabic aljar—both meaning “neighbor”—Aljirani Madison is a six-month volunteering program that partners community volunteers with a local refugee individual or family to provide a warm welcome, companionship, and practical help. See here for a full description of the program. For further information, contact Sam Van Akkeren. Please note: partnerships will meet digitally for the foreseeable future.

Meals for Catholic Multicultural Center

The Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) meal program provides grab-and-go meals from the CMC parking lot. Our volunteers drop off food every other Wednesday to meet the growing need. We cook for 80+ people by sharing recipes and dividing up the work. If you are interested in preparing food at home for delivery to CMC, please use this signup link. Contact Sue Levy you have any questions.

Porchlight wish list 

The Porchlight Men’s Emergency Shelter has made the move from the Warner Park Recreation Center to First Street. Porchlight is always in need of cleaning and household supplies, hotel size toiletries, and groceries. Items can be dropped off at 306 N. Brooks Street, and Porchlight will deliver them to the shelter. See here for items needed, or contact Pam Robbins for more information.