Social Justice

Vision statement.   The mission of the Temple of Aaron Social Justice/Tikkun Olam Committee is to educate and engage Temple of Aaron members in community-based action to build a better world -- Tikkun Olam. Through service projects, advocacy and organizing, Temple of Aaron's Tikkun Olam/Social Justice Committee will ensure that social justice is an integral part of the synagogues' mission.

About the group's activities.   Education Programs • Deliver educational programs and information to groups in the Temple of Aaron on a variety of issues. • Arrange educational sessions for students and adult education programs on different topics. • Co-sponsor educational series with other organizations, including upcoming educational program with St. John Neuman Church (see special events – calendar). Service Work Project Home and Working with the Homeless • Work with churches to provide overflow shelter for homeless families. Habitat for Humanity Homebuilders - This year, due to the economic downturn and the absence of a local new Habitat for Humanity construction project, Interfaith Builders joined HFH's "Brush with Kindness Program" in the Twin Cities area. This program focuses on renovating and repairing dwellings owned by the elderly or disabled who can no longer keep up with repairs needed to maintain their homes, but who desperately want to stay independent. This summer’s Habitat for Humanity’s BRUSH WITH KINDNESS program was a great success. 10 Temple of Aaron members participated with 8 friends of TOA in scraping and painting 3 homes in the St. Paul area in July. Ronald McDonald House Brunchbuilders Temple of Aaron members support the Ronald McDonald House in its effort to provide a "home away from home" for families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. Since that time, more than 10 million families around the world have benefited from the comfort provided by a Ronald McDonald House. Temple of Aaron members provide a meal once a month to families who have children receiving health care at one of the local hospitals. Advocacy and Organizing Affordable Housing Work with different organizations to develop and site affordable housing to meet the needs of the homeless, families and others throughout the Metropolitan Area. Temple of Aaron Social Justice Committee works very closely with Jewish Community Action on a series of social and economic justice issues. Jewish Community Action (JCA) JCA brings together Jewish people from diverse traditions and perspectives to promote understanding and take action on social and economic justice issues in Minnesota. JCA organizes Jews to make our community the way it should be and to create a more just society in Minnesota. We work on affordable housing, economic development and immigrant rights. We work on changing policies and laws at the local, state and federal level. JCA also provides opportunities for youth to get involved in learning and taking action on social justice issues. Visit JCA's website at: www.jewishcommunityaction.org Hekhsher Tzedek The Hekhsher Tzedek Campaign is a new initiative to improve the working conditions, treatment of employees, environmental standards, and business practices in kosher food-producing businesses. Achieving Justice – Volunteers Needed: In order to achieve our goal, we will need to demonstrate that kosher consumers are hungry for kosher food that is produced in a just way. We’d love your help! Click here to Sign Up as a Supporter of Magen Tzedek Immigrant Rights The IRLT works to build leadership within the Jewish community and to work with allies in support of comprehensive immigration reform. We support fixing our broken immigration system by providing for family reunification, a path to U.S. citizenship for immigrants and their families now living and working in the United States, a fair and just immigration process for future immigrants and refugees, and by restoring due process and human rights protections. As Jews, our history and religion teach us that we must speak up when we see injustice, and as American Jews, we represent an immigrant people and we remember our own immigrant experience. How You Can Support Immigrant Rights For more information, contact JCA Immigrant Rights Organizer Lauren Bastien at (651)632-2184 or lauren@jewishcommunityaction.org. * Sign up to receive Immigrant Rights Action Alerts. * Join JCA at Marches, Rallies and Vigils for Immigrant Rights. * Attend Immigrant Rights Leadership Team Monthly Meetings. * Host an Immigration Forum at your Synagogue. * Give a D’var Torah on Immigrant Rights. * Set up a letter writing station at your congregation. * Contact your representatives and let them know you support fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level and immigrant rights legislation at the state level. Postville Postville Send a New Year's Message to New Plant Owners in Postville, Iowa Please take a few moments to make your voice heard. Here’s how: 1. Print the one-page card (1.5 MB download) 2. Make the paper into a greeting card: Fold the paper in half along the dotted line marked "first fold"; then fold again on the line marked "second fold." 3. Sign the card with your name, home city and state 4. Use tape to seal the card on both openings (at the side and the top). 5. Add postage and drop in the mail ASAP, but no later than Sukkot (early October). 6. Optional: Add your own brief message to the card. 7. Please send us a quick email letting us know that you have sent it, and be sure to encourage your family, friends, and congregants to do the same. It has been over a year since many of us went to Postville, Iowa, to demand better practices at the Agriprocessors kosher meat-packing plant and to call for humane, comprehensive immigration reform. Recently, a new company – SHF Industries – purchased Agriprocessors, now named Agri Star. We believe this is an opportunity for change! As the Jewish community prepares for the holiest days of the year – a time for reflection, renewal and fresh starts – we invite you to join us in expressing our hopes for improved conditions and better practices under the new owners' leadership. Please take a moment to send a New Year’s greeting to the new owners to let them know that our community cares not only about the quality and fitness of our food, but the conditions under which our food is produced. We care about the impact on the community, the work force, the animals and the environment. SHF Industries has purchased Agriprocessors, which is now named Agri Star. We are asking SHF Industries CEO Daniel Hirsch to meet with and develop a genuine and lasting working partnership with the newly created Postville Community Benefits Alliance (PCBA) to ensure that the problems of the past are not repeated. The PCBA – comprised of local congregations, social service agencies, community leaders and their allies (including Jewish Community Action and Jewish Council on Urban Affairs) – was recently formed to ensure that everyone benefits this time around: the workers, the community, the company and the consumers. The PCBA has made requests for a meeting, but Daniel Hirsch has not yet committed to the request. Help send the message that the first step in doing things differently is to develop a working relationship that will ensure the health and prosperity of the town, the workers and the company. Organizations across the country are partnering with us to make our voices heard. ------------------------------------------------------------------- "When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the Lord am your God." Leviticus 19:33-34 Foreclosure Thanks to our volunteers, we’ve identified and sent hand-addressed letters to over 1,000 Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park homeowners and tenants, and knocked on over 400 doors to connect people with free foreclosure and tenants’ rights counseling. We’ve joined with the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) as well as allies from the Hmong, Liberian, Latino and other communities. Together we’ve made more than 60 referrals of at-risk residents to counseling! Seeds of Justice Seeds of Justice Youth Fellowship Jewish Community Action’s Seeds of Justice / Gar’inay Tzedek -- the first-ever Tikkun Olam Youth Fellowship in the Twin Cities -- will launch in Fall 2009.