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“Justice, justice you shall pursue”
— Deuteronomy 16:20
Our TRS Social Action Advocacy page is updated on an ongoing basis.
View the Social Action Advocacy Page
Are you a TRS members? Join our group to learn about volunteering opportunities and social action events. And all of TRS is invited to post volunteering and social justice opportunities. Join our group here.
In coordination with the clergy and in accordance with the policies of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Social Action Committee (SAC):
Social action has been an integral part of congregational life since the founding of Temple Rodef Shalom in 1962. Our activities have exemplified the Jewish values of community engagement, service, justice, and peace in the following ways:
By fostering these ideals, we contribute to the TRS s strategic commitment to deepening involvement in tikkun olam, both within and beyond the congregational community.
We design social action programs to realize the following goals:
To further our goals, we adopt a variety of strategies in our programming. For example:
We provide periodic large group hands-on activities in social service as well as small group regular commitments (our four monthly soup caravans). We also encourage individual and family hands-on volunteering in local agencies (e.g., Stop Hunger Now).
We hold educational forums on social issues to bring the latest facts and local experts to the congregation (e.g., a workshop on the impact of coal and mountaintop removal on the environment). We connect congregants to opportunities for action and encourage advocacy (e.g., public policy activities of the RAC, Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day training) in pursuit of our social justice goals.
We seek opportunities for interfaith dialogue and social action (through our membership in VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) and partnership with the McLean Islamic Center and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.
Finally we raise funds for making grants to local nonprofits serving the poor and needy in our area.
Our activities and programs fall into two categories – social justice and social service.
This team engages in advocacy activities for immigrant rights on the local, state and national level. Click here for ways you can help or contact Fran Bromberg, email.
TRS is an active member of Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement. VOICE is a nonpartisan coalition of almost 50 faith communities and civic organizations in Northern Virginia working together to build power in middle and low-income communities. Organized in Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William counties as well as the City of Alexandria, VOICE unites people across lines of race, class, religion, political party, and geography to take action on key issues in our community, including but not limited to affordable housing, access to health and dental care, and immigrant rights.
If you are interested in this work contact socialaction@templerodefshalom.org.
TRS congregants join the Jewish Community Relations Council in an annual bus trip to Richmond to lobby for matters important to our Jewish community. We meet with our State Senators and Delegates and share with them the Jewish community’s top concerns.
In honor of the late Rabbi Richard Sternberger and his dedication to and passion for social justice, TRS presents an annual award to an individual or organization in the community that has contributed to the cause of social justice. The Committee presents the award at the annual Social Action Shabbat. A few previous recipients include Lazarus At The Gate, Share, Yachad, Falls Church Housing Corporation, Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (ASPAN).
This annual service celebrates the role of social action in our lives and community. The Social Action Committee and Green Team welcome the activist in all of us and representatives of the recipient of the annual Rabbi Sternberger Social Justice Award to a vegetarian potluck dinner. The Shabbat service that follows honors the awardee and the temple’s ongoing social action contributions.
TRS will again participate in Every Voice, Every Vote: The Reform Movement’s 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign working with other non partisan civil rights groups to increase voter participation. Contact: Karen Menichelli, email.
More information coming soon.
Click here for information and resources about racial justice.
Join our group providing support an asylum-seeking family
Each year, on Yom Kippur, we collect food supplies to stock the shelves at the Share, Inc. McLean location, which serves low-income residents in our area. At this time of year the pantry’s shelves are almost bare, and Share relies heavily on the generosity of TRS congregants to provide the bulk of their food for the next three to four months.
SHN is an international hunger relief organization that coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world. The McLean Rotary Club, local schools and businesses, and various religious denominations join forces to package over 250,000 meals to send abroad. Because the activity typically occurs on our Shabbat, TRS’s contribution is to help on the day before, in getting equipment and supplies organized for the massive packaging effort the next day.
This day of service traditionally takes place on December 25, with some modification when it occurs on Shabbat. We typically prepare and deliver holiday meals and decorations for shelter residents, group homes, and senior citizens. We also make holiday cards, write letters to soldiers, and wrap gifts for needy people.
This is a new annual event, started in Israel, for Jewish communities all over the world to honor our traditions of doing good deeds. Participants gather at Gesher School for an afternoon of meaningful (and fun) volunteer activities — perfect for families as well as individuals! Look for details on the Good Deeds Day website.
In partnership with Yachad, a Jewish housing and community development agency, and Etz Hayim, the Arlington-Fairfax Jewish Congregation, we upgrade and repair one or two homes for needy families or individuals.
These groups of volunteers provide soup and sandwiches four times a month to residents of homeless shelters and low-income senior citizens in the Falls Church and Arlington areas. Volunteers provide meals for ASPAN (first Tuesdays), Soup Caravan 2 (first Wednesdays), Soup Caravan (second Wednesdays), and Max’s Place (third Thursdays).
Volunteers pick up baked goods remaining at the close of business at Panera Bread in Falls Church and deliver them to Ronald McDonald House by Fairfax Children’s Hospital.
Each month, we collect food and other items for area food pantries and shelters (and sometimes other groups if we receive a specific request) with our Mitzvah of the Month program. The receiving agency and the types of items are announced in the weekly e-newsletter and monthly Connection publication.