February 05, 2012   12 Sh'vat 5772
Temple Beth Am, Seattle, WA
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Lobby Days 2012  

Interfaith Advocacy Day
Tuesday, February 14, 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Join faith communities across Washington State for the 2012 Interfaith Advocacy Day, "Uniting Hearts and Minds: Raising Revenue for the Common Good" in Olympia, WA. Everyone is welcome to participate in this interfaith gathering, attend workshops, and advocate in Olympia.

Rabbi Jonathan Singer will lead a delegation from Temple Beth Am. To register, visit www.fanwa.org or call (206) 625-9790. The cost is $25 (includes lunch). Contact Temple Beth Am members, Tom Buchanan or Dina Burstein if you wish to carpool. Carpooling from Beth Am Departs at 7 AM.

Marriage Equality Day
Thursday, February 16, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Jewish organizations, synagogues, and rabbis have joined a broad-based coalition to secure civil marriage equality for same sex couples. Join Rabbi Jonathan Singer and other Temple Beth Am members in an effort to support marriage equality in Olympia.

The day will begin at 10:00 am with a study of Jewish texts, a discussion of legislative efforts to date, a brief worship opportunity, and lunch at Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia. Immediately following this program, we will join the rally on the Capitol steps at 12:00 pm. From 1:00 - 3:00 pm, individuals and groups will lobby their legislators for support and ultimately passage of the bill.

To register, email your name, address, and telephone number to jewsformarriageequality@gmail.com or use our online registration form.

Calling all TEENS! Ride the bus together to Olympia. Fill out this quick registration form to save your spot on the bus. Email Dorothy Kahn with any questions.

Tikkun Olam Committee at Beth Am  

The Mission of Temple Beth Am’s Tikkun Olam Committee is to realize Temple Beth Am’s core value of Tikkun Olam by promoting, coordinating, and encouraging vibrant, broad-based social action.

These efforts include:
· Raising consciousness among congregation members concerning social and political issues;
· Offering congregation members a menu of projects and programs for their action and support,
  including activities developed at Temple Beth Am and others originated in the broader community;
· Building bridges between different movements of Judaism and between Judaism and different faiths
  in order to work toward social justice and a greater understanding of the pluralism within our community.
· Working toward the incorporation of tikkun olam values and activities as a religious expression by the
  Temple Beth Am community.

5772- Year Long Social Action Theme: Homelessness
The Tikkun Olam Committee, which was created in 2010 to support TBA’s core value of tikkun olam by promoting, coordinating, and encouraging vibrant, broad-based social action—is kicking off its work with the announcement of a year long social action theme: homelessness.

“We decided to establish homelessness as our first year-long theme because there are already so many great, established programs at TBA that address this area,” said Randy Simon, Chair of the Tikkun Olam Committee. “By educating people about how they can get involved in the wide variety of programs and activities at TBA, we’re hoping we can introduce social action to people in the congregation who may never have considered participating before.”

“In addition to encouraging people to take part in the established TBA programs, we will be working with the theme of homelessness throughout the year—with special educational forums, special religious school programming and more,” said Rabbi Beth Singer. “Our hope is by making homelessness this year’s theme, even more families can be helped off of Seattle’s streets and back to living in dignity.”

The first direct service project organized by the Tikkun Olam Committee took place on August 16-22 when TBA joined a consortium of houses of worship organized by Mary’s Place to host 14 homeless women and their children overnight at TBA. TBA members overwhelmingly met the call for volunteers. We look forward to hosting guests from Mary’s Place for three more weeks during the next year.

This year’s special focus on homelessness does not mean it is the only area of social action focus and engagement at Temple Beth Am. The Tikkun Olam Committee serves as the central coordinating body for all social action at Temple Beth Am, helping congregants engage in social action, and realizing their passion for repairing the world in a number of different ways.

To learn more about the Tikkun Olam Committee and Temple Beth Am’s social action activities and programs, including opportunities to engage in advocacy, direct service, and learning.

A Place for Everyone to Engage in Tikkun Olam
There is a place for every Temple Beth Am member to engage in Tikkun olam, and realize their commitment and passion for repairing the world whether at Temple Beth Am or in collaboration with other organizations.

In addition, we collaborate with other organizations and groups within Temple Beth Am to address homelessness through Homeless to Renter (H2R) and various hands-on meal programs including Youth Care Orion Center, University District Teen Feed Program, Angeline's Center for Homeless Women, as well as advocacy with the Puget Sound Jewish Coalition on Homelessness, immigration reform and the New Sanctuary Movement, advocacy and education working in community coalition to end the crisis in Darfur, Sudan and more. We are also organizing Temple Beth Am as a Just Congregation.

Learn more about Mitzvah Opportunities.

For a list of committees and contacts, click here.

For a list of upcoming events, click here.

Tikkun Olam Committee members

We invite you to join us. Contact Randy Simon at rsimon28@comcast.net to find out more.

Tzedek, Tzedek, tirdof – justice, justice you shall pursue.

New Tikkun Olam Blog  

Introducing the Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am Blog, www.TBATikkunOlam.org

One of the goals of the Tikkun Olam Committee is to become TBA’s central clearinghouse for social action information. There are so many of you in our congregation doing so much amazing work that sometimes it’s hard to keep up with what everyone else is doing. As a result, we often miss out on synergies that could make our work even more effective.

The TBA Tikkun Olam Blog is a forum to highlight and discuss social action within our community and educate about important issues. If you’re not already plugged into a social action effort, the information here will help you find the best fit. If you are involved in social action, you can discover others who are doing work that dovetails with your own. Whether you have a specific interest area and want to know what others in our congregation are doing, or whether you are looking for a meaningful activity to fill a free afternoon, we hope you’ll find it here.

If you're interested in writing for the blog, please contact Shelly Cohen at shellyfcohen@gmail.com or Jessica Trupin at jtrupin@comcast.net.

Temple Beth Am Family Shelter Program Opportunities  



Temple Beth Am to Provide Homeless Women and Children Overnight Shelter
Women and their children will be our guests for seven nights each quarter throughout the year. Future dates to be announced.

About Mary’s Place:
Mary's Place is a day shelter for homeless women and children in Seattle that partners with faith-based institutions to provide overnight shelter, dinner and breakfast to 14 homeless women and children. Our partnership is part of Temple Beth Am’s commitment to tikkun olam and ending homelessness.

To learn more, pleae Contact:
Sheila Kasprzyk - plsh2@comcast.net or 206-522-3355
Tamara Bailey - tamara@weinbail.com or 206-724-2302

Just Congregations  

Just Congregations puts into practice an initiative of the Union for Reform Judaism to hold organized “listening sessions” with members, to determine what issues we find most challenging. This information shapes the social justice work we do at Temple Beth Am and in the wider community, and helps us connect with each other.

 

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