Social Action
Co-Chairs of
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“Justice, justice you shall pursue”
— Deuteronomy 16:20
Take action with TRS!
Our TRS Social Action Advocacy page is updated on an ongoing basis.
View the Social Action Advocacy Page
Join the TRS online meetup group
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.
Our Mission
In coordination with the clergy and in accordance with the policies of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Social Action Committee (SAC):
- Furthers the Jewish ideals of social justice, and
- Serves as the arm of the congregation in helping those in our community who need food, shelter, and support
Our Values in Action
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:
- Community engagement connects us to one another more meaningfully and spurs us to action to aid neighbors and strangers locally and globally.
- G’milut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) focusing on hunger and homelessness engages us with people needing food and shelter and agencies addressing those needs.
- Tikkun olam compels us to address root causes of poverty and other social ills and seek policy solutions.
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.
Our Goals
We design social action programs to realize the following goals:
- Expand participation of TRS members in social action and strengthen a culture of social action within the congregation
- Increase and sustain the visibility and understanding of the issues we focus on
- Maximize our impact in the surrounding community
- Expand our volunteer and leader base
Our Strategies
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 Social Action Program
Our activities and programs fall into two categories – social justice and social service.
I. Social justice: education, organizing, and advocacy for policy changes promoted by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and our state and local interfaith partners, on a variety of racial, economic and social justice issues including affordable housing, sustainable environment, immigration reform, gun violence prevention and criminal system reform.
Immigration Advocacy and Support Working Group
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.
VOICE
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.
Environmental Advocacy & Green Practices
If you are interested in this work contact socialaction@templerodefshalom.org.
Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day
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.
Rabbi Richard Sternberger Social Justice Award
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).
Social Action Shabbat
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.
Civic Engagement Working Group
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.
Gun Violence Prevention Working Group
More information coming soon.
Criminal System Reform Working Group
Click here for information and resources about racial justice.
II. Social service: addressing hunger, homelessness and support for local asylum-seeking immigrant families
Immigration Advocacy and Support Working Group
Join our group providing support an asylum-seeking family
Yom Kippur Food Drive
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.
Stop Hunger Now
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.
Winter Mitzvah 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.
Good Deeds Day
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.
Sukkot in Spring
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.
Monthly Soup Caravans
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).
Weekly Panera Pick-Up
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.
Mitzvah Box Collections
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.
How to Get Involved
- Check weekly e-letter and monthly Connection for volunteer opportunities
- Look for events and activities on our Social Action Advocacy page.
- Sign up for events by visiting the Event Registration on each page in the Quick Links area
- Contact co-chairs to learn more about how to get involved in social action at TRS
- Email our Social Action committee chairs with any questions or suggestions
- Donate to the Social Action Fund or Ohel Yaacov/Tent of Jacob Housing Fund (Congregants make voluntary donations to these funds, which are administered by the committee and allow it to provide support to social service agencies and social action projects. The Ohel Yaacov/Tent of Jacob Housing Fund is specifically targeted to affordable housing and benefits local organizations serving the homeless and other vulnerable populations.)