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TIKKUN OLAM encompasses Tzedakah (charity), Tzedek (justice), and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of loving kindness). Justice is one of two values (peace  is the other) that we are commanded to “pursue,” not just perform. We are also acutely aware of our obligation to protect all of God’s creation in the natural world.  We can never do enough, but we can do our best.  Shirat HaNefesh has a Tikkun Olam Committee that meets monthly to review priorities, start new initiatives, and get informed about what's happening in our county, country, and planet.

L’takein olam b’malchut Shaddai. To repair the world so that it manifests the Divine.
Aleinu prayer


Save Our Birds: Plant Native Plants

Food for Montgomery

More than 114,000 people in Montgomery County – 41,000 of whom are children –are struggling to put food on the table because of the pandemic. That’s a staggering 1 in 10 of our neighbors who wonders where their next meal will come from.  

Food for Montgomery is a coordinated response strategy working to meet the need today and strengthen our hunger-relief system for tomorrow.  This public-private campaign is addressing the growing need for food across our community, helping our small businesses and farms, and building a stronger food system to see us through this crisis. 


You can make a difference today:

Give.  With one gift, you can easily support the major hunger-relief partners that are addressing the spike in food insecurity across our county.  Click here to give online

Volunteer.  Consider volunteering outdoors in person for your neighbors in need of food.  Two of the hubs supporting Food for Montgomery County have provided available opportunities with dates and times listed below.  Contact the volunteer coordinators or use their sign up link to schedule your volunteer activity.   

Hughes United Methodist Church
10700 Georgia Ave, Wheaton, MD 20902
Contact: Rev. Diana Wingeier-Rayo, Lead Pastor, djuliawingeier50@gmail.com

Interfaith Works
751 Twinbrook Pkwy, Rockville MD 20851
Contact: Mike Grant, Volunteer Coordinator, mgrant@iworksmc.org.   
Sign up link:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040f4faaa923a64-interfaith3
 
 
Shirat HaNefesh means "Song of the Soul" -- and we'd like to expand the joy of song in our lives by enhancing the local bird population. Scientists estimate that bird populations in North America have dropped 30% in the last 50 years; one cause is the "food deserts" of our urban and suburban communities.  But we can help save birds and their song!  How?  By planting native plants.    

There are options for every type of home. Perhaps you could plant a winterberry bush in a corner of your front yard, or a put container of little bluestem wildflowers in a pot on your balcony.  There are plants to be planted at all times of year, even in the winter.  Learn more from the Audubon Society about how native plants sustain bird life, and how to select specific plants and shrubs suitable for our Chesapeake Bay Watershed area. 

Support Racial Justice Efforts

Racial justice is an ongoing concern at Shirat HaNefesh.  We are educating ourselves, working with other congregations, and reaching out to members of the larger community on racial justice efforts close to home.  Here are some of our past activities:  

 

• July 25, 2020:  Pastor Segun Adebayo and Dr. Marsha Coleman Adebayo of the Macedonian Baptist Church in Bethesda speak about their efforts to prevent the obliteration of the Moses Cemetery where African Americans were buried in the 19th century. 

• January 2, 2021:  Rev. Alexa Fraser from the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project(MoCoLMP) talks with us about the history and legacy of lynching and racial terrorism in Montgomery County, Maryland, and how we can get involved in their work.  

• January 16, 2021:  Dr. Marc Dollinger, professor at San Francisco State University and author of Black Power, Jewish Politics, walks us through primary sources in American history to get to the heart of American Jewish support, complicity, and benefit from institutional racism.  Dr. Dollinger asks us to look honestly and unflinchingly at our past, present, and future.  

• Selichot Services, 2020:  After reading Prof. Ibram X. Kendi's book, How to Be an Anti-Racist, over the summer, we came together for a Selichot program and discussion.  

Photo:  The Interfaith Freedom Seder in 2018, an extraordinary multifaith and multi-racial gathering focused on racial justice and the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., fifty years after his assassination. Co-sponsored by almost a dozen organizations, including Shirat HaNefesh, and led by Rabbi Gilah Langner, the Seder featured five musical groups and inspirational speeches by Rev. C. Anthony Hunt, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Imam Fahmi Zubir, and Rabbi Arthur Waskow, creator of the original Freedom Seder 49 years ago.  

Climate Crisis: "A Glass of Sherry, a Letter to Congress, & You!"

Want to do your part to help fight climate change?  The Jewish Earth Alliance organizes congregations around the country to write letters once a month to their legislators on climate-related legislation in Congress. We kicked off a Shirat HaNefesh effort on Tu B'Shvat 2021 with our member Rabbi Devora Lynn, co-founder of JEA.  We are looking forward to launching bi-monthly letter-writing evenings with a sister congregation to help make a difference in 2021-22.  Stay tuned for upcoming evenings and a chance to make a difference by encouraging our elected Maryland officials to support climate change legislation in Congress.     

Photo:  SHN launched a Ruach/Wind Campaign in 2018; a quarter of our members switched their home electricity provider to wind energy. 

Mitzvah Days

Shirat HaNefesh members take the opportunity of holidays and other special times during the year to engage in mitzvah projects.  They include:

High Holiday Manna Food Drive

 Please help increase access to nutritious food for those experiencing hunger and food insecurity in our area. Donate to our High Holiday Food Drive on our donation page by checking HHD-Manna

MLK Volunteer Day at A Wider Circle

This is open for the whole family;  ALL ages are welcome!   During our visits we spend an hour preparing snacks for clients of A Wider Circle, followed by a tour of the facility, and then take the opportunity to sort donations.  This volunteer opportunity has been very popular over the years!  In 2018, we joined our host church, North Chevy Chase Christian Church, in a joint effort at A Wider Circle.

Good Deeds Day

On this day in April, Shirat HaNefesh volunteers join the wider Jewish community in taking on mitzvah tasks, such as cleaning up streams or making sandwiches for the homeless.

Getting Informed

Our members appreciate the chance to get educated about social justice issues, to explore them in depth, and to understand them from a Jewish vantage point.  Speakers in recent years have included:  

  • Labor Issues with Robyn Robbins, Director of Occupational Safety and Health for UCFW
  • Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins on the Maryland Legislative Session in 2019
  • Pastors from Macedonian Baptist Church
  • Veterans’ Issues with Rick Weidman, co-founder of Vietnam Veterans of America
  • Muslim-Jewish Relations with Dan Spiro, founder of Jewish-Islamic Dialogue Society, and guests from Muslim communities
  • Fossil Fuel Divestment in Montgomery County with Marc Elrich, then-MoCo Council Member
  • Time Banking and CoProduction with Edgar Cahn, founder of TimeBanking
  • Anti-Semitism Update with Alan Ronkin, Regional Director of AJC: Global Jewish Advocacy
  • Affordable Housing in Montgomery County
  • Study Sessions on Racial Injustice: "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander, "The Color of Law" by Richard Rothstein, "Black Power, Jewish Politics" by Marc Dollinger, and "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi.

Join the Shirat HaNefesh Tikkun Olam Committee. Meetings are held monthly via Zoom.  Help us push for social justice by:

  • volunteering in the community
  • planning social action projects for adults and youth
  • advocating for legislation consistent with Jewish values

If you do not have time, please know your ideas and suggestion are always welcome. Email the chair of the committee, Lisa Jo Finstrom, via info@shirathanefesh.org. Our Future = YOUR Ideas!

Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784