SOCIAL ACTION AND RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
STUDENTS AS LEADERS AND CHANGE-MAKERS
From the earliest grades, our Religious School sets the foundation for our students to have the knowledge and drive to be active participants in social action and social justice throughout their lives. We build children’s social responsibility by teaching the concepts of TIKKUN OLAM (repairing the world), TZEDAKA (justice) and MITZVAH (commandment).
According to our tradition, “Tzedakah is equally important as all the other mitzvot put together,” (Baba Batra 9a). Throughout the school year, our students collect Tzedakah. At the end of the year, classes collectively choose where to donate the money they have amassed. Past donations include supporting Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service, or purchasing animals through Heifer International, an organization that gifts animals to communities in need. Our K-3rd-grade students create Tzedakah boxes to take home so that they can uphold the value of tzedakah even when not at Temple Isaiah.
Please browse our Social Action Newsletter focusing on the Religious school.
You will find information and pictures of:
• Our youngest students creating canvases to donate to Upward Bound House
• 4th Grade serving meals at Turning Point and Samoshel homeless shelters
• 5th Grade furnishing apartments through Upward Bound House
• The Ner Shel Tzedakah (candle of Righteousness) Project, when the Religious School dedicated the sixth night of Hanukkah to social action with many hands-on services
• Mitzvah Projects by our Bar/Bat Mitzvah students
• 7th and 8th Grade participating in Art & Activism in which they pick an organization and create public service videos, using art as a tool for change.
• 9th Grade Philanthropy Club which analyzes different non-profits, ultimately donating a generous $3,500 to the organization of their choosing.
• 11th and 12th Grade learning about Civil Rights on the Southern Journey’s Trip in Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham
SEVENTH GRADE SOCIAL JUSTICE FIELD TRIPS
DATE: SUNDAYS (OCTOBER 7, DECEMBER 16, MARCH 24, AND MAY 19)
The goal of the seventh-grade program is to break away from the typical classroom lecture style of teaching. The seventh-grade students will be active participants in learning while connecting more deeply with each other. This year we are offering something new and exciting for our seventh graders. We have four amazing educational field trips led by Tzedek America (tzedekamerica.org) a local non-profit organization. Our students will get an excellent hands-on experience in Social Justice which is an integral part of our program.
October 7, 2018: Food Justice Tour
Our students will have the opportunity to learn about food deserts and food injustices in Los Angeles through the experience, of growing, eating and making food.
December 16, 2018: Thrift Shopping with a Purpose
Our students will learn about Social Enterprises and Non–Profits by shopping at thrift shops and meeting the people who work at the non-profit’s headquarters.
March 24, 2019: Supporting People with Special Needs
Our students will visit various non-profits and social enterprises that work with children and adults with varying special needs. Ending the day by working alongside special needs adults while helping them sell their products on Venice Beach.
May 19, 2019: Immigration and Refugees, A Deeper Look
Our students will eat at a restaurant owned by refugees and hear the owner’s story, meet DACA recipients and meet organizations doing work to help the immigrants and refugees in our country, have an encounter with an ICE agent.
Cost: $45 a person per trip or $160 if you register for all four (this includes; transportation, snacks on the bus, and supplies/entrance for any activities)
Time: Leaving Temple Isaiah at 9:30 am (sharp) and returning around 2:30 p.m.
Each trip has limited space for 30 students so that registration will be on a first come, first serve basis. You will need to register for each trip no later than one week before the field trip. Please do not let the cost of the trips be a reason your child does not attend, if you have any need for scholarship, please contact the education team in the religious school office.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.
FAMILY PHILANTHROPY CLUB
The Family Philanthropy Club (FPC) was born out of the desire to help Temple Isaiah families engage in deep, meaningful and sustainable partnerships with non-profit organizations concerned with a variety of issues facing Los Angeles, including, but not limited to, hunger, homelessness, child and teen welfare and sustainability. The ultimate goal of the FPC is to establish deep connections between communities that are close geographically but are worlds apart economically, socially and religiously, to open our children’s hearts and minds to issues and struggles beyond their backyard, and to provide a forum for Temple Isaiah families to do this work together.
The FPC will have a number volunteer events check out their page for more information. We hope to see you at an FPC event soon!