Social
Justice and Action Committee Needs Your Help!
We are
determining the specific issues of social justice that are of
the highest priority to our community and need your input.
We have prepared a survey and ask for you to participate.
Thank you for your help
as we work to define the direction TBE should take in this very
important area.
Click to participate in the Social Justice
Survey
We are Making a Symbolic and (Organizational)
Change...As we enter the New Year, we are
making a symbolic (and organizational) change in our efforts to
fulfill our mission to repair the world.
We are combining our commitment to social justice
with our rich experience in social action. Under the belief that a
vision of Social Justice should direct and drive our agenda of
Social Action, we are bringing together these two committees into a
single integrated effort, the Social Justice and Action Committee.
We intend to continue and build upon the broad foundation of
impactful activities and programs that the committee developed under
the leadership of Kelly Gaines and Herm Ziegler. We are expanding
the scope of what the committee brings to the congregation and
community by
(1) fostering a discussion of how we as Jews think about Justice,
(2) assessing what positions could we as a congregation – not just
as individuals – advocate, and
(3) building consensus and mobilizing resources around a short list
that we as a congregation want to champion in the community.
To insure that our initial efforts reflect the consensus of a
congregation prepared to take a leadership role in addressing the
challenges of injustice, we need
(1) to capture the beliefs, interests and passions of the
congregation,
(2) to gauge the human and financial resources that congregants are
willing to bring to various issues, and
(3) to produce a prioritized agenda of where TBE wants to make its
mark.
We need to do some basic research among our
congregation, talking to one another openly and honestly about what
issues we care (passionately) about, where we think TBE should
focus, what we are personally willing to contribute, etc.
The Committee’s intent is to plan and execute a systematic audit of
the congregation, soliciting points of view on these issues through
focus groups, one-on-one interviews, mailed and e-mailed surveys,
and any other ways we can think of to capture your thoughts. We will
work with our SPICE group to insure that we reach out to our senior
community. We will work with LIBERTY
to insure that the youth of our congregation has its voice heard,
and similarly with other constituencies in the congregation.
We hope to identify those areas of common, over-arching commitment
to which all groups in the congregation would want to contribute.
These areas will define our core action agenda, where our principles
of justice give rise to our just acts. We also hope to uncover
justice agendas that have a more limited base, and by identifying
them, may allow teams to form around them.
The process will take time and expertise … and as little expense as
possible. The H.E.L.P. (Help Empower Local People) organization has
had considerable success in Charlotte in congregation-based audits,
and we intend to lean heavily on their competence in this area.
Further, if there are members of the congregation with backgrounds
in market research (questionnaire construction, interviewing, data
analysis, etc.) or an interest in participating in any capacity in
this audit, analysis and agenda-building process, please let us
know.
Please contact our Chair, Mark Levine, either by
e-mail
mark-levine@carolina.rr.com or by phone (704.335.8832).
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SOMETHING AS SIMPLE
AS DONATING AN OLD CELL PHONE CAN SAVE A LIFE.
 Our Temple, in conjunction with the North Carolina Women’s
Commission, is collecting cell phones for victims – or potential
victims - of domestic violence. Old, used and unwanted cell phones
will be reprogrammed to call 911 and used in the event of an
emergency. Simply bring them by the TBE Office or drop them at the
reception desk at the Jewish Community Center or Jewish Family
Services. For more information contact Marsha Stickler at
704-365-2293 or e-mail at
stickler_marsha@yahoo.com.
Please join us at any of our committee meetings, held on the fourth
Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm at TBE. Any questions, comments, or
suggestions, please contact Mark Levine, either by e-mail
mark-levine@carolina.rr.com or by phone (704.335.8832). |