Serve

TIKKUN OLAM OF ADATH ISRAEL

The Tikkun Olam committee is the community outreach arm of Adath Israel. Through sending home-cooked meals to ailing congregants, sponsoring Adath Israel's participation on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, and more, Tikkun Olam represents the social conscience and soul of our community. Our mission is to create an infrastructure within Adath Israel whose purpose is to ensure that the performance of “mitzvot” becomes a visible and permanent part of synagogue culture in order to benefit our membership, the greater community, and the education of our children, and to promote the value of Adath Israel membership.

Meal Trains 

The Tikkun Olam Community provides meals for members and their families undergoing trying circumstances. If you would like to be included on the list of meal providers or are in need of meals, please call the synagogue office at 610-934-1919 or email Aeryn Fenton at fentonab@aol.com.

The Mitzvah Food Project

Food collections continue to support the Mitzvah Food Project. Click here to learn how you can help.

Additional ways to participate in mitzvot include but are not limited to:

• Shiva Support
• Cooking Chain
• High Holiday Food Drive
• American Red Cross Blood Drive (held at Adath Israel 3-4 times per year)
• B'Nai Mitzvah Projects
• Visits to Homebound Elderly

What Is Tikkun Olam?

You are not required to complete the work, yet you are not allowed to desist from it.
- Pirkei Avot, 2:21

Tikkun Olam is the imperative to repair the world, so that it reflects the divine values of Justice (tzedek), Compassion (hesed), and Peace (shalom). Adath Israel’s Tikun Olam is dedicated to finding Jewish ways in which to improve the World. The concept of Tikkun Olam was created by Rabbi Isaac Luria in the city of Safed during the sixteenth century. Today, Tikkun Olam is identified with working for social justice, peace, freedom, equality, and the resotration of the environment.

Clearly, all three terms are connected with each other, and all are aspects of Tikkun Olam – repairing a broken world. Tikkun Olam is our Jewish mandate to do what we can to make the world a better place for all of God’s children. Tzedakah, of course, is charity – and it comes from the Hebrew word tzedek, which means justice. Thus, giving tzedakah is simply doing what is right and just. G’milut hasadim are deeds of loving-kindness – giving of our time, our energy, ourselves, to help others on a personal level. Cooking for the homeless, visiting the sick or the elderly, and paying a condolence call are all examples of g’milut hasadim. Social Action focuses on community work and engagement in activities that further Social Justice locally and globally. Social Action is striving to effect change in the laws of our country; protesting when wrongs are perceived; trying to make justice a reality for all. We hope that each and every one of you will engage in some aspect of Tikkun Olam, so that we can truly say we did our part to try to make God’s kingdom on earth a reality. Such deeds are truly wonderful family activities – it is time well spent, and teaches the values we want our children to live by throughout their lives.