Social Action Committee Programs

The goal of Social Action Committee (SAC) is to provide TBA congregants the opportunity to take part in Tikkun Olam (healing the world) and perform hands-on mitzvot and activities. We will have volunteer opportunities for adults, youngsters, families, and individuals.  Many of our programs are in partnership with other groups at TBA and I hope that you will find something of interest and get involved either directly through SAC or through another committee, constituency group, or religious school.  You do not need to join SAC to volunteer for activities. Our goal is to be a conduit for providing meaningful opportunities and experiences for Temple members and friends.

Tikkun Olam (healing the world) has long been a watchword of the Temple’s Social Action Committee. From the days in Newark to the present, through a myriad of hands-on mitzvot and activities the Social Action Committee has engaged members of all ages in acts of loving kindness and the pursuit of justice, assisting the poor and disadvantaged, dialoguing with other faiths, assuming stewardship of the environment and supporting Israel. The Social Action Committee’s Green Team led the congregation in pursuit of an environmental certification from the interfaith coalition, GreenFaith which encompasses building practices, education, worship and community outreach.

Here is a sampling of our upcoming activities. Please let me know if there is something for which you would like to volunteer and/or if you have ideas for new programs and events:

Hello TBA Members! Below you will find a variety of programs we are enthusiastically working on. We hope that you can participate by a myriad of ways like attending, or assisting, or volunteering or supporting. We are hoping to keep this section fresh with all of the latest happenings not only around TBA but within our community. Please share your thoughts with us. We want to hear from you!

Warmest regards, Janet O. Penn  & Ruth Ross, SAC Co-Chairs

Social Action Committee Programs

         Annual High Holiday Food Drive Outreach>

Virtual Shabbat Dinner in the Sukkah (joint event with Sisterhood)

Mitzvah Day (joint event with Sisterhood)
Photo Gallery>>

Turkey & All the Trimmings Food Drive

Women’s Interfaith Forum (joint event with Sisterhood)
Photo Gallery

2020 SHABBAT “DINNER” IN THE SUKKAH: COVID-19 EDITION
Friday, October 2, 2020, 7:45 PM, via Zoom
following Kabbalat Shabbat Services

Because of pandemic restrictions, we will be unable to share a meal, but the Social Action Committee has engaged a speaker to enlighten us on a pressing problem of environmental justice via Zoom.

 Maria Lopez-Nuñez
Deputy Director of Advocacy and Organizing at the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC)
ACHIEVING & MAINTAINING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOR NEWARK

The predominantly Black and Latinx Ironbound district of Newark, where Maria Lopez-Nuñez resides, is one of the most toxic neighborhoods in the country and is becoming gentrified at an unprecedented rate. In her role at the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), she holds power brokers and polluters accountable while fighting for environmental, housing, immigrant, and racial justice.

Attendance at this program is free.

SOCIAL ACTION COMMITTEE’S 2020 ANNUAL HIGH HOLIDAY VIRTUAL FOOD DRIVE

Traditionally, the annual High Holiday Food Drive kicks off Temple B’nai Abraham’s event year. In the past, grocery bags with lists of needed items were given out at the end of First Day Rosh Hashanah services, and congregants bring their filled bags to the Temple by Yom Kippur.  Unfortunately due to the pandemic we cannot accept food donations this year. Due to the current Pandemic, the Social Action Committee members have come up with an exciting plan for helping our neighbors.

This year, we will distribute Shop Rite Gift cards in $25, $50, $75 and $100 denominations, purchased and presented to Livingston Neighbors Helping Neighbors (CHOW) where they will help to distribute to local families suffering from food insecurity. We will also donate a portion of the gift cards to the Kosher Food Pantry and NESF in Newark.

→Donors can submit their contributions online, with their credit cards.
Donors may send checks to TBA, PO Box 46, Livingston, NJ  marked “HHD Food Drive.”

Here’s a breakdown of what the recipient(s) of these gift cards recipients could purchase:

$25 could potentially provide milk, bread, eggs, butter, bananas, and ground beef
OR
Milk, bread, eggs, butter, lettuce, cheese, chicken

$50 could potentially provide milk, bread, eggs, butter, bananas, ground beef, chicken, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, bananas, apples
OR
Milk, bread, eggs, butter, bananas, ground beef, chicken, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap

$100 could potentially provide milk, bread, eggs, butter, oil, ground beef, chicken, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, onion, bananas, apples, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, sliced cheese, roast beef and turkey cold cuts
OR
milk, bread, eggs, butter, oil, ground beef, ground turkey, chicken, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, cottage cheese, cream cheese, ricotta cheese, blintzes, challah

Thank you so very much, as always, for your generosity! L’Shana Tovah.

Donate Online→