Social Action

Hollywood CARES, our project in Haiti, is a partnership that began in 2006 between Temple Beth El and First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. To visit the Hollywood CARES website and learn more, click on the link at the top of the page.

Our Environmental Action committee has seen most of the light bulbs at the Temple changed to the most efficient compact flourescents, including the ones on the giant menorah that sits on the front lawn at Chanukah. We have also planted trees around the perimeter of the Temple grounds and worked with the Religious School 5th and 6th graders to plant a vegetable garden.

Mitzvah Day
At this annual event, we collect clothing and shoes, and canned and boxed foods to donate to shelters and food pantries. We make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a local lunch program and sponsor a blood drive. On our next Mitzvah Day, scheduled for April 10, 2011, we will add new projects to work on in and around the Temple.

Mitzvah Day 2010 at Temple Beth El was a huge success. Our Congregation contributed 452 lbs. of food to FEEDING AMERICA (formerly The Daily Bread Food Bank), which provided 238 meals.

Congratulations Temple Beth El and thank you to all who participated!

Bikkur Cholim
Our mission to gently reach out to everyone in our Temple Beth El community, in need of support and caring during a time of need, is off to a great start. We have called and visited the sick, delivered home cooked meals, and visited with the homebound, either by phone or in person. I am so proud of our congregation as all I have to do is send out an email or make a phone call and the response has been positive.

Please let the office know if someone in our community is ill, or in need, or if you are interested in joining our committee. It is a very simply run group that communicates via telephone or email. So, if you work, all you need to do is make a phone call, or if you can, visit someone on a weekend. It doesn’t take much to brighten someone’s day but it sure does a lot of good.

I would like to thank those who have helped so far. If I have forgotten to mention your name, please forgive me and notify the office so I can include your name in the next bulletin.
Thank you to the following people that have been so kind: Goldie Hill, Ellen Wacher, Joanne Bornstein, Sandra Edelboim, Beth Sutton, Micki Mallinson, Barbara Samuels, Eva Abramcyzk, Elaine Rudner, Susan Puretz, Michele Shore, Joanne Gelfand, Marcia Rapp, Steffi Keffer, and Melinda Ruben.

B’Shalom,
Jodi Most

Volunteers Needed

Posted August 18, 2010

This forwarded message is from the volunteer coordinator at Cooperative Feeding in Ft. Lauderdale. It is their second appeal for help in this position. If you are interested in this volunteer opportunity, please contact them directly.

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Polzer <chris@feedingbroward.org>
To: Chris <chris@feedingbroward.org>
Sent: Tue, Aug 17, 2010 5:09 pm
Subject: Administrative Volunteers Needed

Once again, I am appealling for help in our second floor reception area, at least through to the end of September. We are in need of smiling people to answer the phone, greet customers, and monitor the shower process, PARTICULARLY FROM 9 am to about 12 noon.

Please reply to this email as soon as possible, or call Lisa at CFP @954-792-2328.

Thank you! Thank You!

Chris

Bulletin Articles

DO SOMETHING, CHANGE HISTORY, MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Another New Year is beginning, with lots of work to do! We’ll start off on Sunday, August 8th, at our newly named open house event, with a blood drive and bracelets to sell for Israel. We’ll have information to share – about our orphanage in Haiti; our drives for food, school supplies, and clothing, etc., for local agencies and programs; our Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Makers Sundays; our “We Care” Committee; Bikkur Cholim; Mitzvah Day; and more. Our projects continue all year, so everyone has lots of opportunities to do good and to feel good!

Our most recent trip to Haiti was very special, with members of URJ congregations from across the country joining us to work, to pray, and to learn. The following words were written by TBE member, Jackie Eshet.

"I have been a member of Temple Beth El for years and although I’m not a particularly involved member, I do attend the High Holiday services and any service my daughter’s religious class is leading. It’s not a lot, but I pay my dues and show up when I should, or at least when I think I should. When the earthquake in Haiti happened I responded immediately. I knew the Temple sponsored an orphanage there, so I wrote my checks and raided my closet for donations. I did my part and my conscience was clear. However, even after the news coverage of Haiti had faded away, I kept wondering about how the country was managing.

Six months passed, the summer was upon us, and my children would be gone for four weeks. A vacation was definitely on my mind. Where should I go? The mountains, a spa, or a beautiful beach vacation? They all sounded good. Then I received an unexpected email from the Temple and after receiving that email, my plans suddenly changed. It turned out that I would not be planning any of the vacations I had had in mind; I would instead be joining the Temple and Hollywood CARES on their Mitzvah Work Mission to Haiti. I recruited my boyfriend and my sister. We booked our tickets (bought travel insurance just in case we lost our nerve), sent emails out to friends and family for donations, packed our fifty-pound bags, and headed for Haiti with a group of 21 people (aside from the Rabbi and trip organizer, Sharon Tanenhaus, I was one of only two Temple member on the trip).

I cannot even begin to describe to you how incredible an experience this trip to Haiti was. As a congregation, we should be incredibly proud of our Temple’s association with such a beautiful cause. Pastor John, who is the man that runs the orphanage, has such an amazing vision for his orphans, for the youths he mentors, and for the people of Haiti, that his dedication alone deserves our continued funding. The children are well taken care of, sweet, soft spoken, and simply delicious. I can’t wait to go back! Aside from the sadness of the obvious poverty, the extreme heat, and lack of running water, the Haitian people could certainly teach us all a thing or two about what it truly means to persevere. Be thankful for the simple things, and the next time you’re thinking about that vacation somewhere exotic, try stepping out of your comfort zone and joining the Temple on a Mitzvah Mission to Haiti. You’ll be glad you did!"
August-September-October 2010