The World Beyond

TIKKUN OLAM

WHAT IS TIKKUN OLAM?

The simplest translation of tikkun olam is: to repair the world.

Other definitions:

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO EXPRESS TIKKUN OLAM? HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Volunteer to Assist Jewish Inmates Through their Journey

One of the greatest mitzvahs we can perform is to help others who have strayed from their path in life by providing them with the support and the knowledge that someone cares. With this in mind our Rabbi, Shalom Schachter was recently approach by Laila Clein Friedman, the Coordinator of Chaplaincy Services & Jewish Healing Program with a mitzvah opportunity for our community.

There are a number of Jewish inmates at the Lindsay Correctional Facility who value their connection with Judaism, but have limited opportunity for exposure. The Chaplaincy Services & Jewish Healing Program visits them periodically however due to a shortage of resources, these inmates do not receive a Jewish connection on a consistent basis.

The idea is to have a group of volunteers from the Peterborough Jewish community who could share visits on a rotating basis. This way we could support their need for a Jewish connection, without excessively burdening any single volunteer from our community. The following is some information from Laila that will help to paint a picture of the need, and how we as a community can help to fulfill this mitzvah:

"We would ideally like to have volunteers visit Central East Correctional in Lindsay on a weekly or biweekly basis. Visiting at CECC is only permitted on specific days and times. 9-11 am, 1-4 pm, and possibly a couple of hours in the evening. I would not expect a volunteer to spend more than 1-2 hours there at any point in time. The number of inmates there can vary from week to week. Last time I visited, there were 9 names on my list of Jewish inmates, and I was able to see 6 of them." "The inmates I meet at CECC over the last 5 years, are always so pleased to have a visitor, someone who wants nothing from them, and expects nothing from them. Just a friendly face who is there on behalf of the Jewish community to let them know that we, as a community, have not forgotten or abandoned them. That we are not judging them - we are there to give them chizuk and support them in their journey." "If there are questions relating to Jewish ritual supervision, the volunteer should speak to the head of chaplaincy - Rev. Wayne Moore, who will contact Rabbi Ronald Weiss, the Director of Chaplaincy for direction."

If we can find just 4 volunteers and as a community we were to send a visitor every 2 weeks, each volunteer would only need to be there once every 2 months. Those interested should contact Larry Gillman.

Contributing to an Interfaith effort to provide meals to the homeless and low income

...St John's Anglican church puts on a lunch for homeless and low income people every Saturday. It starts at 11:30 am and goes until everyone is fed. They have between 100 and 120 people attend this lunch each week. There are 2 ways that individuals in our community can support this initiative. These are:

  • Preparing Food - you can prepare a dish at your home and bring it to the church the day before or the day of the lunch. There is no particular request for vegetarian food, and as a matter of fact most of the people who attend prefer meat dishes;
  • Serving and Kitchen Helpl - you can help in the kitchen and to serve on the day. The food is served buffet style.
Those who can help please contact Larry Gillman or call 872-2990.

Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe

...AIDS and health care relief. Individuals and groups in Peterborough contribute to the African AIDS Support efforts to provide immediate and long term solutions. Ve'ahavta has been working in this capacity for many years.

Contributing to Haiti Relief

...to try and overcome this human tragedy. See below: Human Tragedy in Haiti to see how you can help.

Community Centre

...retrofitting the synagogue with the assistance of an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant so the synagogue is accessibile to everyone for community events.

Multifaith Participant

...participating fully in local multifaith events. Click link: Abraham Festival.

AIDS in Africa

...supporting the efforts of organizations such as Ve'ahavta and African AIDS Support of the Kawarthas(AASK) that seek to provide immediate and long term solutions.

Holocaust Education

...providing a regular forum for presentations and discussions for Holocaust awareness ( Holocaust Education Week ; UJA Federation of Greater Toronto )

...providing a forum RJCO (Regional Jewish Congregations of Ontario events.

...soon to be providing a small scale circulation of books from our library.

...providing Holocaust awareness building through our website. CLICK link here: Holocaust.

THE JEWISH AND ISRAELI WORLDIn Israel

We are determined to stay informed about issues that affect Jews and others around the world and especially in Israel. Look to this space for links to interesting web sites.

News:

Click the links below:

Action Alerts (CUPE) by the CJC. To find out what you can do click HERE.

The Jerusalem Post offers up-to-date news from Israel .

Ynet, the site that Israelis use to keep up with information.

The Canadian Jewish News offers information about the world and Canada .

Parshot Updates:

Kolel offers discussions for the weekly parshot

Pardes from Jerusalem allows you to download the weekly lecture on the parsha.

Arts and Culture:

Catch up on Israeli music at a site from New Brunswick. Can't be? Well this is from New Brunswick, New Jersey, home of Rutgers University. The Israel Hour has a music archive where you can catch up on past shows.

Podcasts of modern Israeli music and traditional Jewish music is available at Kol Cambridge. You can either download to an MP3 player or sample from your computer.

Canadian Jewish Congress is the umbrella agency for many branches of activity in Canada .

The Toronto Jewish Film Festival occurs in May every year. However the web site is worth monitoring because special films are shown during the year as well.

The Vancouver Holocaust Museum offers a virtual exhibit on Canada 's Immigration History. "Least desired were Asians, Blacks and Jews"

The Jewish Food Archives is not a flashy site but it contains many recipes for holidays and every day.