Tikkun Olam

Making the World a Better Place

Elisha's Pantry

Located at 1717 Yulupa Avenue in Santa Rosa, distributes approximately 70 free bags of food every Thursday from 3:00PM-5:30PMwhich feed about 210 men, women and children.
We need your help at the Pantry on Thursdays or at the Redwood Empire Food Bank on Wednesdays
Please drop off your bags of food, fresh fruits and vegetables at the Pantry door on Thursdays, anytime before 4:00pm or at the Christ Church United Methodist office.
Please call Stephen Harper for more information at 707-527-0196.

Congregation Shomrei Torah and Beth Ami are teaming up to help keep our friends in the community warm this winter. During September, we’ll be collecting gently used warm coats, hats, blankets, sweaters, and sleeping bags to distribute to clients of Elisha’s Pantry from November through early December.

Clean out your closets and drop off any items in the collection bins at either CST or Beth Ami during September. All coat sizes will be accepted but youth sizes, particularly young teens, are especially appreciated. Extra large sizes and rain gear make great donations! Members can help distribute items at the Pantry on Thursday afternoons, 3:00–5:30 PM during November and December. Contact Lisa Greenstein at 539-7633, or Sue Smith

Giffen House

Would you be willing to spend an hour and a half preparing an easy meal? Giffen House is a transitional home for formerly homeless/abused women and their children, where they learn skills to become independent and able to move on with their lives. Shomrei Torah volunteers make life a little easier for them and perform a mitzvah at the same time by cooking a simple meal once a month that will be ready for the women when they are done with their Thursday counseling meeting. Food is provided. This is a great opportunity to participate with your teen children or ask a friend! Please call Flo Hoffenberg at 539-4013.
Many thanks to Sarah Hart, who prepared a hamburger dinner for the women and children at Giffen House on October 8th.

Catholic Charities Family Support Center

For 15 years, Shomrei Torah has been preparing food and serving residents every Wednesday at this multi-service shelter in downtown Santa Rosa for more than 100 families with children.

Shabbat Services are led by Shomrei Torah volunteers twice a month at the Development Center for Jewish and non-Jewish clients with developmental disabilities.

Social Action Projects

Take a look at some of these new Social Action Committee (SAC) projects and the members who are sponsoring them. At any given time, there are many social action or human rights efforts going on. If you are interested, stop by one of our monthly meetings. The Social Action committee meets the first Monday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Kolbo Room. Co-Chairs Stephen Harper - 527-0196 and Larry Carlin - 569-8879 .

Warm Clothing Drive - Sue Smith
December Posada Toy Drive - Heidi Doughty
Committee for Immigrant Rights - County of Family Unity Petitions
Signatures Sought from CST Residents of County Supervisor Valerie Brown's District One
Family Support Center - Franny Posner
Jan - LGBT SAC Forum - Susan Daniel
Feb. 18 - Jew-Black Dialogues - Bruce Berkowitz
Black History Month
Muslim-Jewish Relations - Rhonda Findling
Apr. 18 - Walk to End Genocide
Co-Sponsored with Gabe Ferrick
May 1 International Workers Rights March
June LGBT Pride Event
August - Rabbi Michael Robinson Memorial Lecture

“Walking in Someone’s Shoes”—SAC Fish Bowl Explores Human Rights

Larry Carlin

In the past few months, the Social Action Committee (SAC) has discovered a new process to bring focus to some of the projects they are working on. That process, the “Fish Bowl”, was served up by SAC member Rhonda Findling, a Santa Rosa Junior College instructor in diversity. The “Fish Bowl” is simply a way to look at a particular issue “through the eyes” of people directly involved. That group sits in a circle and discusses what it feels like to be “part of the group” while a group of other people surrounds “the fish bowl” and listens in to the conversation. There is typically a debrief afterward about what people thought.

The first Fish Bowl focused on five Shomrei Torah Congregants who are Lesbians and the mother of a gay man. They described what it feels like to be members of a minority in the work place, as couples in a relationship, as parents, and in their day-to-day lives. They shared some of the cruel encounters and language from other people. It gave the onlookers a chance to see what it was like to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” Most observers found the experience very profound and moving.

One of the Social Action Committee goals is to educate people about gay rights. The Fish Bowl appears to provide a very profound, meaningful experience. SAC Co-Chairs Stephen Harper and Larry Carlin feel it has a more immediate and direct emotional connection than reading articles, books, or having the message delivered through a speaker. “They simply ‘got it!’”

Recently, the SAC took a variation of that Fish Bowl to Shomrei Torah’s Board of Directors. Feedback has been very positive. One of the major SAC projects in the past six months was establishing a dialogue with a group of Muslims. After a couple of meetings and a brunch, the SAC invited their new Muslim friends to use the Fish Bowl concept to share what it is like to be a Muslim in Northern California. “It gave many of us who witnessed that meeting a greater understanding of how much pain many of these people endure in their daily lives,” said Harper.

There will probably be more Fish Bowls as the Social Action Committee moves forward. Another major SAC project is Immigration and the work they are doing with the Committee for Immigrant Rights, a mostly Latino organization, around a plan to stop car impounding and helping find a way to halt ICE raids and racial profiling.

The Social Action Committee meets the first Monday of every month at 7:00 PM in the Kolbo Room of Shomrei Torah. For more information, contact Stephen Harper | 527-0196 or Larry Carlin | 569-8879 .

 

The Living Room

The Living Room is the only daytime drop-in program in Sonoma County that specifically serves homeless and at-risk women and their children. It also provides clients with a place to be during the day when shelters are closed. It is a critical first stop for women who are on the verge of becoming homeless. They are asking for our help with a new advocacy program that asks our CST women members to step forward to advocate for women and their children who are using the facilities of the Living Room.

The Living Room requires that volunteers for this program attend a 6 week training program (2 hours per week). After graduation from the training, volunteers are requested to attend meetings with the women they are helping for 2 hours each week for 6 months. Of course, the volunteers can continue to work with their clients for as long as they wish.

For more information, contact Linda Swan at (707) 321-0589.

Shomrei Torah Helps out at Camp Newman

This summer as campers began arriving, the H1N1 virus was making its rounds at Camp Newman, so the Mirpa’ah (the Infirmary) was soon overflowing with quarantined campers. As the situation became known, many of Shomrei Torah’s members came to help out. On June 21st, the staff was so overwhelmed with swine flu patients that it was difficult for the nurses to perform their normal camp duties. Shomrei Torah volunteers stayed at camp through June and regularly throughout the summer to help take care of the ill campers. Camp Newman has expressed their deep appreciation to the caring members of Shomrei Torah for the Tikkun Olam, which has been so graciously offered. If you are interested in being a part of future cooperation between Camp Newman and Shomrei Torah, please contact Sherry Fink at sfink330@aol.com or cell 707-696-9990.