A Light to the Nations and A Light to the Community

Each day, when I walk into my office, I am grateful to be here. The first thing I see is a stained glass window called “A Light Unto the Nations.” It represents Isaiah’s call to us to share the light of our faith with the world outside. While Reform Judaism, since its inception in America, has continually evolved, our movement’s commitment to social justice has remained unchanged. Similarly, at Temple Beth El, we have always kept alive the passion
and activist tradition of our ancient prophets, and we have shared that passion with those around us.

Last month’s Mitzvah Day continued along that path. The teaching that “one mitzvah leads to another” came true. Commingled with the four hundred congregants who came out to work on that day were the some of the families whom we helped to support following Hurricane Katrina. The families came to give back, to be partners with us in caring. They were with us as we threw a Mother’s Day picnic at Summit House. They were with us as we fixed homes for those on our Friendship Tray delivery route. They were with us at our lunch -- sharing the professional
cakes they baked themselves.

Beyond Mitzvah Day, we should take pride in the social action and social justice work our congregation does each and every day. We have more than twenty projects which work to heal the city in which we live: through donating clothing and delivering food, through teaching English to immigrants, and through speaking out against domestic violence.

Yet still, Temple Beth El can be more and do more. We do not have a budget nor the person power to support the hundreds of wonderful non-profit organizations who bring help to the needy, the sick, the impoverished, and the stranger in our midst. But we do have an abundance of congregants who do good work on their own, and we invite you to do your volunteer work not only in your name, but in the name of Temple Beth El.

If you sponsor a table at a non-profit fundraiser for a social service agency, think about doing it in our Temple’s name or gathering together a group of congregants to do the same. If you are working on a social action or social justice project in the community, think about whether it would be a fitting project to be included under the umbrella of our social action/social justice committee so that other Temple Beth El congregants can join in.

If you desire to do things in the name of Temple Beth El in the broader community, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Kelly Gaines, our Social Action/Social Justice Chair, or Sara Schreibman, our Executive Director, so that we can help you to achieve your goal.

May we continue to be a light unto the nations, bringing the warmth of Temple Beth El into the community outside.