Social Action/Chesed

Our Activities

We support local, county, state, national and international initiatives like Mitzvah Day and the National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath, in addition to our interfaith initiatives. 

Social Action

• Blood Drives: Twice a year, in the spring and fall, we hold a blood drive. We are proud that for over thirty years we have been a reliable contributor to the vital Bergen County blood supply.
• Feeding the Homeless: We sponsor and participate in the Bergen County Family Promise Walk-in Dinner program. It is the only shelter in Bergen County that feeds the homeless no questions asked.  Volunteers prepare food and serve on-site at the shelter in Hackensack up to four times a year including Christmas Day. Children must be at least 16 years old to participate.
• Kol Nidre/Yom Kippur  Food and Clothing Drive: Every year we collect nonperishable food items for Social Services of Ridgewood and clothes for Community Outreach of Paterson.
• Ecology: We participate in and initiate various environmental projects including an annual Passaic River Clean Up in cooperation with the Fair Lawn Jewish Center.
• National Gun Violence Prevention: We have joined places of worship across the nation; the Newtown Foundation; and Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence, a coalition of more than 50 national denominations and faith-based organizations; to remember those who have lost their lives to gunfire, pray for those whose lives have been forever changed because of the loss of a loved one, and educate one another on proven strategies to reduce gun violence.  Past speakers have included  Gubir Grewal, former New Jersey Attorney General; Loretta Weinberg, formerly of the New Jersey State Senate; Tracy Zur, County Commissioner; and Steve Fulop, mayor of Jersey City.
• Special Projects: Past special projects included a bone marrow registry campaign, a synagogue-wide program supporting a youth village in Rwanda, an Earth Day environmental education program, and an evening celebrating the contributions of immigrants to our synagogue and the wider community.

Chesed

Can you spare a few hours a year Chesed Community Service?

To save one life is to save the entire world, instructs the Talmud. That’s what Chesed is all about; helping save or sustain each other in ways large and small. Just commit a small amount of your time to heed the call when someone in our community is in trouble or can simply use a helping hand. Ways you can help include:

• running an errand for someone who is sick and stuck at home
• providing a ride to a doctor’s appointment for an elderly Temple member no longer able to drive
• cooking or delivering a meal when a family is sitting shiva or dealing with illness
• visiting someone in the hospital who can use some cheering up
• giving someone a ride to Shabbat services

If you have a flexible schedule and a little extra time; the Chesed Committee needs you.

Contact Us

Call the Temple office at 201-444-9320 if you’d like to participate on the Tikkun Olam Committee or get involved with our annual activities of feeding the homeless and the blood drive.