Social Justice

THERE SHALL BE NO NEEDY

Social Justice Vision for Shir Tikvah Congregation
"There shall be no needy among us." (Deut 15:4)

As a holy community, we at Shir Tikvah are called to pursue peace and justice, and to alleviate suffering and poverty.

This year, as we enter a new phase of our congregational journey, we renew and revitalize this commitment, as the Torah commands us. Our approach will be holistic, multifaceted, long-term and mindful. Our kavanah (intention) is to help repair the shatterendess in our larger community and the world, and to bring healing, justice, and hope to those in need.

As individuals and as a congregation, we commit to:

• Helping to create a community where there are no needy: where everyone has enough to eat, a livable and affordable home, effective and affordable health care, a quality education, and the opportunity to earn a decent living.
• Joining in substantial, honest, and open-hearted relationships with those who are working boldly and courageously to alleviate poverty.  Collaboration multiplies our power to create positive change.
• Wrapping ourselves in our Jewish foundation of justice work, as part of our spiritual practice and richness.
• Meeting the prophetic call to eradicate poverty and oppression.

At Kol Nidre on Yom Kippur, we will begin a Shir Tikvah There Shall Be No Needy scroll. In this scroll we will inscribe our past and present social justice contributions—and our future aspirations—of congregants of all ages. We invite each congregant to write or draw their story in the scroll. We will weave our stories together, deepen our sense of community, inspire collective action, and more fully live and create peace and justice.

Members of Shir Tikvah are very involved in social justice and political action. One of the congregation's goals is to integrate social justice issues into the life of the synagogue through sermons, discussion of Torah in the context of human rights, and in the religious school.

In the past three to four years, members of Shir Tikvah have raised awareness and funds to prevent further genocide in Darfur, helped an immigrant family get settled in Minneapolis during their first year, decreased energy consumption of member households and the synagogue building itself, and participated in foreclosure prevention activities in North Minneapolis. Many projects that began as initiatives of a single member have grown to be a permanent part of Shir Tikvah’s social justice efforts, such as cooking at Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and providing back to school backpacks for “Families Together”. We also have participated in many efforts organized by Jewish Community Action, such as worker’s rights at a meat packing plant in Iowa. We invite anyone who has an idea they want to pursue to contact the committee for assistance.

 Commit to Vote “NO”

There are opportunities to get involved in other on-going projects members of the committee are involved with such as the Genocide Intervention Network; providing backpacks and school supplies in August/September; meals at Christmas and Easter; worker and immigrations rights; and more.  If any of these projects interest you, or if you want to be added to the Social Justice Committee email notification list, contact:
Linda Alter 651-698-4994