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Brit Olam Engaging Youth Sign Up and Donations

Click HERE to donate to Brit Olam "Youth Engagement"

Click HERE to sign up for RANDOLPH COMMUNITY CENTER (near Maymont).
Click HERE to sign up for BELLEMEADE COMMUNITY CENTER (southside).
Click HERE to sign up for RICHMOND HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (formerly George Wythe High School, southside)
Click HERE to sign up for THE GILL CENTER AT FAIRFIELD COURT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (east end)
Click HERE to email Jo Murphy to help deliver snacks.

Brit Olam Committee (Social Justice)

What Is Brit Olam?

Brit Olam is the Jewish people’s enduring covenant with the world.  Today, Beth Ahabah and our Reform Movement fulfill our covenant by confronting injustice at its root to cultivate a world in which all people experience wholeness, justice and compassion.  This committee was founded in 2020 in partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center as part of a nationwide URJ initiative called Brit Olam. 

Goals of the Beth Ahabah Brit Olam Social Justice Committee include:
•    Diligently identify and support efforts by Beth Ahabah to become a more inclusive community, grounded in meaningful relationships and connections among Congregational members.
•    Provide educational opportunities to Congregational members of all ages to increase awareness about and provide recommendation for ways to address issues of inequality and disparity in our society.
•    Strengthen our existing community partnerships and develop new relationships with local partners in a broad range of diverse communities.  Nurture these partnerships to build shared experiences and work together for positive change.
•    Advocate on issues of inequality and disparity in our community and broader society.

When Does Brit Olam Meet?

The Brit Olam Committee typically meets six times a year. Usually three meetings are on Zoom, and three are dinner meetings at the temple.  If you are interested in social action/social justice and would consider joining the Brit Olam Committee, please contact the chair of the committee, Jonathan Lewis (jlewis6664@gmail.com or 757-814-9116).

Brit Olam Programs and Initiatives:

The Brit Olam Social Justice Committee has been meeting since 2020 to create opportunities for our congregation to engage in the goals stated above. Results of these efforts have included:

♦    Fall Listening Tour (2021): A series of sessions, facilitated by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, for our congregants to engage in an open, non-judgmental dialogue about our congregation’s role in promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and fighting antisemitism and racism.

♦    Ahavat Ger Campaign (2022): A campaign of donors and volunteers from Beth Ahabah partnering with the Richmond office of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to assist with the resettlement of an Afghan family in Richmond. Click HERE to see more about the Ahavat Ger Campaign, or to donate in support of the Pardes family.)

♦    Pulpit Exchange (2023): A friendship-building initiative to build community and connection between our congregation and Third Street Bethel AME Church, this initiative included two pulpit exchanges: Pastor Boyd spoke at Beth Ahabah in October, and Rabbi Nagel spoke at Bethel AME in November.  Both services were well attended; dinner was served after services at Beth Ahabah, and lunch was served after services at Bethel AME Church.  Dining together after services gave our congregations the opportunity to get to know one another and to begin to cultivate friendships.  

♦    Interfaith Partners in Social Justice Work (2023-2024): Shortly after the pulpit exchange in 2023, representatives from the social action committees of Bethel AME and Second Presbyterian Church (in downtown Richmond) met with Brit Olam committee members to begin a discussion on how the committees might work together to promote social justice in the Richmond community.  This partnership is still new, but the three congregations have already laid plans to work together to encourage voter registration in underserved housing communities in Richmond City and to work to support legislation to restore voting rights to Virginians who lost those rights through incarceration.  In spring 2024, Brit Olam will seek volunteers to help with this registration work during the summer. 

♦    Reducing Gun Violence in Our Community (2023-2024): Another interest of the Brit Olam is seeking ways to reduce gun violence in Richmond.  After the fatal shooting in Monroe Park following the Huguenot High School graduation, Rabbi Nagel spoke from the pulpit and suggested that Brit Olam explore options to address the gun violence issue. We are in the preliminary stages of looking into ways we might become involved, including conversations with Community in Schools (CIS), and will continue to consider ways we can become further involved in deterring gun violence.


High Holy Days 2022/5783 Ahavat Ger Campaign

Help Us Reach our Goals to Assist the Pardes Family
with Resettlement and Transition to Independence 

 
$36,000 Double Chai Donation Goal
*  To Purchase 7-Passenger Vehicle
*  To Assist with Auto Expenses
*  To Support Resettlement/Transition

Scroll down to Donate.
 
18 Single Chai Volunteer Goal
*  To Provide Transportation
*  To Assist with Tutoring
*  To Offer Employment Guidance
 
Click HERE to Volunteer.
 
The core Jewish value of Ahavat Ger is embodied in Leviticus 19: 33-34:  
“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens;
you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” 
 
 
The Brit Olam Committee is partnering with the Richmond office
of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to assist with
the resettlement of this Afghan family in Richmond.
The IRC is a global humanitarian aid and relief non-government,
non-profit organization (see link below for more information on IRC).  
Click HERE for IRC Information.

To support the Pardes family, use this form to make a donation:

for recieving reciept
address
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Please enter the amount of your donation above. You will be directed to the payment page when you click the submit button. 

 

Sun, October 6 2024 4 Tishrei 5785