Monthly Newsletter: August 2023 |
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Welcome to our Values in Action (VIA Isaiah) newsletter: Your quick guide to improving our community and the world at Temple Isaiah. For the newsletter archive, click here.
VIA ISAIAH IS…a collection of groups within Temple Isaiah who offer opportunities to temple members to serve those in need and to make our community more just through education, advocacy and direct service. Our efforts are grounded in the Jewish values of tikkun olam, repairing the world. Everyone is welcome and needed in this effort.
Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”- Henry David Thoreau
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For now, VIA is replacing its traditional “VIA Committee Meetings” with events and we have a great one coming up! Please come to the Social Justice Shabbat on August 25th at 7:30 pm and honor your fellow activists and be honored for your commitment and involvement in social justice.
Also, the Temple Isaiah block party August 19th will showcase upcoming VIA activities. Look for Temple emails for details. We hope to see you there and reconnect with our VIA family!
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Hope Solutions backpack drive Thank you to those who participated in this year's Hope Solutions backpack drive delivering over 500 backpacks filled with the necessary tools for a successful 2023-2024 school year.
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ICARE Volunteer Opportunity September 3, 1 pm – 3 pm at White Pony Express, 3380 Vincent Road #107 Pleasant Hill. Sort food at White Pony Express and get to know your interfaith neighbors. This interfaith service project offered through ICARE is a great, simple project. Just show up! White Pony is highly reputable and is seeking to eliminate hunger and poverty by delivering the abundance of food to people in need in our county. Click here and find the September 3 date for details and to sign up. Questions? Contact Anita Weil anita.weil@gmail.com or Zina Rosen Simon zinalrs@gmail.com
Refugee Assistance….Urgent need for Welcome Teams to help JFCS settle newly arrived Afghan refugee families. As a member of a Welcome Team, help refugees find work, enroll their children in school, become familiar with their surroundings, etc. Contact Lisa Hirsch at lhirsch17@gmail.com if you are interested in joining a Team, new Teams forming or have any questions. JFCS can also use our help with the following:
2. ESL Tutors - This can be in person or via Zoom
3. Grocery Shopping for newcomers - buy groceries at your own expense and deliver them to clients
4. Adult Bikes - JFCS needs adult bikes in any condition.
5. Gift Cards - Target, Visa, Amazon and Safeway are preferred but they are grateful for anything. You can send them to the JFCS office at 2151 Salvio Street, Suite 350, Concord CA 94520 attn: Volunteer Services
California Religious Action Center (RAC-CA) brings together the Reform Jewish congregations and communities of California to organize powerfully across lines of race, class, and faith. SAVE THE DATE August 15 for possible Lobby Day in Sacramento. Follow AB 421 and SB 233 if you’re legislatively interested in issues. Join Climate Tzedek: Building our Power to Achieve Just, Science Based Solutions to the Climate Crisis https://rac.org/climate-justice.
Winter Nights’ 2023 team is looking for more members. We’d like 2-3 new members to help organize and plan for Winter Nights the last two weeks of December. If you and your friends want to participate in direct service to the unhoused community and can offer your time for a week or two at the end of the year, we need you! Winter Nights is a tradition for Temple Isaiah and we are serving the larger community of Contra Costa by hosting this rotating shelter for two weeks. Let me or Rabbi Lawrence know if you are interested. Joani deVries joandevries2@gmail.com
Jewish Coalition for Literacy needs tutors! JCL has been serving Bay Area children and families for over 20 years! Interested in becoming a K-5 reading tutor? Don’t miss JCL’s NEW TUTOR online Orientation and Q&A session, August 23. www.jclread.org. Phyllis Edwards (925)200-5239
Join the Multi-faith ACTION Coalition to tackle the root causes of poverty. People from all faith backgrounds meet to identify issues, research potential solutions, and advocate by meeting with elected local and state officials, attending legislative visits, supporting bills, and writing letters. Contact Doug Leich, leichd@gmail.com to be connected with the task forces you wish to join. https://www.multifaithactioncoalition.org/newsletter/2022
Angel Network is a Temple Isaiah Caring Community of volunteers dedicated to offering comfort and support to members and their families in times of need. When a need arises, please call the Temple office at (925) 283-8575. For more details, visit https://temple-isaiah.org/values-in-action/angel-network/
Join ARZA! The Association of Reform Zionists of America is the Israel arm of our Reform Movement. Temple Isaiah is an ARZA congregation. ARZA dues are just $50 per year and our support is critical right now. You can opt in to join ARZA and pay your ARZA dues when you renew your Temple annual commitment!
Get Involved in Bay Area Environmental Actions. Receive useful information regarding local Bay Area actions and events dedicated to fighting the climate crisis. https://350contracosta.org
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Book Group, League of Women Voters of Piedmont Book Group Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers by Brooke Allen, Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 5pm, online via Zoom (register for the link). In her lively refutation of modern claims about America's religious origins, Brooke Allen looks back at the late eighteenth century and shows decisively that the United States was founded not on Christian principles at all but on Enlightenment ideas. Click here to learn more and register: https://lwvpiedmont.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=601389&item_id=1998418
“Standing Up to Hate Crimes in California” League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley event held May 18 is on the YouTube Channel https://youtu.be/L8su4nVEdsI
Read This: The Color of Love by Marra B. Gad A Story of a Mixed-Race Jewish Girl
Listen: Listen to this Podcast: About Racism through the Lens of Someone who Lived It. Being “Irrepressible” with Little Rock Nine Member Minnijean Brown-Trickey “I went because they didn’t want me there,” says Minnijean Brown-Trickey, our guest this week. It’s been more than 60 years since she made history. At 16-years-old, she and eight other black students found an angry mob and the national guard blocking their entry to Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-is-this-happening-the-chris-hayes-podcast/id1382983397?i=1000599502410
Temple Isaiah’s Mental Health & Wellness Webpage has Spotlight articles that seek to educate and bring awareness to a variety of topics covering mental illness, addiction, spiritual well being, and more. To access these articles, please visit https://temple-isaiah.org/community/mental-health-and-wellness/ and scroll down to
“Spotlights.” Questions? Contact dimakieve@gmail.com
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A Social Action Shabbat on August 25. It’s all about YOU. Please come so our community can honor you (and you can honor your friends and fellow activists!) for your actions and commitment to being someone who cares about social justice and who is doing something about it.
An Inspiring Climate Activist Movie on August 10. 350 Contra Costa will be hosting a free screening of the 2022 Patagonia documentary, The Scale of Hope, on August 10 at, 7:00 pm, at the Orinda Theatre followed by a live Q&A with the inspiring climate activist featured in the film, Molly Kawahata.
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Mental Health Support for Adults: Second Sundays from 3-5pm online. Whether you are struggling with Covid, going through a difficult period or have ongoing mental health issues, join us for our free monthly drop-in support group. We provide an opportunity to share and support one another as part of a nonjudgmental, caring community.
Mental Health Support for Family Members: Fourth Mondays from 7-8:30pm online. Are you a parent, sibling, or child of an adult with mental health issues? This free drop-in support group provides information as well as the opportunity to share and support each other as you learn to help your loved one. Facilitated by licensed clinical social worker, Rosemarie Frydman, NAMI certified trainer Karen Cohen.
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Tikkun Olam is NOW
To contribute information to this monthly VIA newsletter, please contact co-editors
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