Social Action Committee

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

SAC Calendar 2018/2019

• Annual High Holiday Food Drive Outreach
• Shabbat Dinner in the Sukkah (joint event with The Sisterhood) Dinner and Program with Sarah Newell, GreenFaith. Topic: “Environmental Justice”
• Turkey & All the Trimmings Food Drive Wednesday, November 14 (pick-up days Monday, November 19 and Tuesday, November 20)
• Mitzvah Day Sunday, November 18
• 25^th Annual Women’s Interfaith Forum Wednesday, January 23, 2019 (Snow Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019)

A lovely thank you from CHOW via their Facebook page… CHOW thank you on Facebook (PDF)

High Holiday Food Drive a Great Success at Temple B’nai Abraham!

Social Action Committee members sort the food so generously donated by our congregational family. The collected items were donated to local social agencies including Livingston CHOW

WOMEN’S INTERFAITH FORUM 2019

Donna Ellenbogen, Sisterhood Co-President; Janet Penn & Ruth Ross, SAC Co-Chairs; Marsha Atkind, Executive Director & CEO of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey; Prema Roddam, attorney with the New York office of Chugh, LLP; Cecilia Marzabadi, Ph.D, Professor Chemistry, Seton Hall University and Deborah Prinz TBA member & moderator.

A Thank You From Msterio…

Nozomi Terao, founder of Msterio—the organization we partnered with for the doll decorating project during Mitzvah Day—recently reported what happened to the many dolls temple congregants and their children decorated on Sunday, November 18. She wrote, “We were able to bring all the dolls you helped us decorate to the sick and injured children at the International Peace Village Friedensdorf, Oberhausen, Germany, last week. Although it was a quite heartbreaking visit, my husband and I were so glad we went. All the children we met were absolutely wonderful.”

Dinner in the Sukkah & Program with Sarah Newell, GreenFaith;  Janet Penn, SAC Co-Chair;
Rev. Ronald Tuff, GreenFaith and Ruth Ross, SAC Co-Chair

A lovely thank you from Grace Church for Turkey & All the Trimmings Donations