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AJ Acts
AJ–ADL Signature Synagogue Program — An Alliance to Stand Against Antisemitism
We are pleased to announce that Congregation Adath Jeshurun has joined a special alliance with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to play an active role in helping address anti-Jewish hatred on a local and regional level. This initiative, which begins immediately, is called the Signature Synagogue Program and will be administered by AJ's Social Action Committee under the leadership of Michele Rifkin and Neil Wernick.
The ADL Signature Synagogue Program is an important way to engage our community and initiate a congregation-wide commitment to raising awareness of and speaking out against antisemitism and hate. This program creates a unifying initiative for community education and engagement. As a participant in the Signature Synagogue Program AJ will have special direct access to ADL's programs, resources, and learning opportunities. We are hoping that you will become actively involved with this important program. To learn more about opportunities to engage with the program, please follow or join AJ ACTS on Facebook. Let’s fight antisemitism as a Community for if not now, when?
Signs of Solidarity
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Adath Jeshurun's social action committee, AJ Acts, has launched Signs of Solidarity to express our rejection of the injustices that are systemic throughout our country and which have been brought to the fore by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Please sponsor the placement of a lawn sign along the Old York Road corridor, or purchase a sign (or signs) for yourself, your neighbors, and/or friends by clicking here. Thank you for supporting Signs of Solidarity. Any profits will be donated to Project Home. You can see a video of the signs along Old York Road here! We now have magnets for your car that read "Love your neighbor as yourself"! They are $5 each, or 3 for $10. Buy them for your family, friends, and neighbors. You can order one or more magnets here! Read Rav Shai's June, 2020 letters about the campaign: To the Congregation and To the Old York Road Corridor Clergy |
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In these challenging times, many of us know the imperative and have the urge to find a way to help others. AJ Acts, AJ's Social Action Committee, has compiled a list that includes both some hyper-local worthy causes, as well as more global initiatives that could use your support in one way or another.
Initiatives Focused on Hunger Insecurity and Support for Frontline Workers in AJ’s Area:
We checked in with The Mitzvah Food Pantry at Beth Sholom. Stuart Warsetsky, who volunteers to oversee the operation there, let us know that their immediate needs are for money and back-up volunteers who can cover for some of regulars who may be more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. They are specifically looking for volunteers under 60 — ideally a family unit who has been isolating together so they can effectively work together in close quarters. For more information and to volunteer, contact warsetsky@gmail.com. You can donate via credit card through Beth Sholom’s web site, and be sure to indicate in your note that it is for the Mitzvah Food Pantry.
Laura Frank shared these resources. Laura does a lot of work around hunger insecurity in both her professional and volunteer life, and is a font of information on where we can put our energies. Here are some of the organizations that are helping pay local restaurants to provide meals to health care workers:
University of Pennsylvania Healthcare System Initiatives
- If you are interested in supporting University of Pennsylvania Healthcare workers on the front lines during the COVID-19 crisis, you may make a donation to their Employee Assistance Fund.
- Through the University of Pennsylvania Healthcare System, we can support neighbors in need who have been impacted socially and economically by COVID-19:
- Some of the other ways to support Penn Medicine and its teams during this crisis are outlined here.
Initiatives That Are More Global
Marjorie Shribman and Judy Izes listened to a Webinar in which HIAS, Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger discussed the impact of the pandemic on the people they serve, and they then shared how we can help. Here is a link to the event that happened already, but on the right side of the web page are pertinent blog posts.
Some other worthy initiatives are listed on Repair the World’s website.
