Community Service & Social Action: Resources and Ideas
Bakesh Shalom V'rodfeyhu - Seek Peace and Pursue It
Direct Service
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Donations
Organize and Donate
Raising Money
The Environment
Advocacy
Resources
Maimonides
Maimonides also known as the Rambam, was a Sephardic philosopher, astronomer, physician and influential Torah scholar. He was born between the years 1135-1138 in Spain.
Maimonide's ladder of giving from the highest level to the lowest level of giving:
1. Giving money, your time or whatever else it takes to enable an individual to be self-reliant.
2. Giving when neither the donor nor the recipient is aware of the others' identity.
3. Giving when you know the individual benefiting, but the recipient does not know your identity.
4. Giving when you do not know the individual benefiting, but the recipient knows your identity
5. Giving before being asked.
6. Giving cheerfully and adequately but only after being asked.
7. Giving cheerfully but giving too little.
8. Giving begrudgingly and making the recipient feel embarrassed.
"How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment to start to improve the world.”
~ Anne Frank
Direct Service
- Be a friendly visitor to someone wanting company
- Visit the elderly or sick
- Bring your pet to a nursing home or assisted living facility
- Tutor a student
- Stock a food pantry
- Read to young children or people who have difficulty seeing
- Play an instrument at hospice or assisted living facilities
- Volunteer at an animal shelter, soup kitchen, farm
- Share your computer skills with those less knowledgeable
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Donations
- Give a percentage of your bar/bat mitzvah gift money to a charity
- Give flowers from your party to a hospital or shelter
- Ask guests to bring an item for donation to the homeless
- Bring leftover food to a shelter
Organize and Donate
- Organize a food, book or used clothing drive
- Collect old cell phones to be reconfigured for domestic violence victims
- Collect used dvd's, video games and cd's for the children's wing of a hospital
- Raise money for an organization that's meaningful to you
Raising Money
- Babysitting, washing cars, dog walking, yard work, computer assistance, tutoring, bake/food sale, yard sale, soliciting funds for miles walked or biked, have a concert.
- Find an organization to match funds.
- Use Instagram, Facebook or other social media sites to advertise your project.
The Environment
- Create a list of environmental tips to distribute locally
- Plant a tree in Israel
- Raise awareness about reducing, reusing and recycling
- Pick up litter
- Learn about Teva and Hazon, two Jewish environmental groups
Advocacy
- Stand up for what you believe in
- Email a member of Congress
- Join an advocacy group
- Circulate a petition
- Meet with a community mentor to plan an action
- Causes - modern day slavery, illiteracy, hunger, poverty, homelessness
Resources
- myjewishlearning.org - How to Choose a Mitzvah Project
- juf.org - Making Mitzvot part of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah
- rabbiirvinggreenberg.com Personal Service, A Central Jewish Norm for our Time
Maimonides
Maimonides also known as the Rambam, was a Sephardic philosopher, astronomer, physician and influential Torah scholar. He was born between the years 1135-1138 in Spain.
Maimonide's ladder of giving from the highest level to the lowest level of giving:
1. Giving money, your time or whatever else it takes to enable an individual to be self-reliant.
2. Giving when neither the donor nor the recipient is aware of the others' identity.
3. Giving when you know the individual benefiting, but the recipient does not know your identity.
4. Giving when you do not know the individual benefiting, but the recipient knows your identity
5. Giving before being asked.
6. Giving cheerfully and adequately but only after being asked.
7. Giving cheerfully but giving too little.
8. Giving begrudgingly and making the recipient feel embarrassed.
"How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment to start to improve the world.”
~ Anne Frank
