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Social Action: Tikkun Olam

Making the World a Better Place

Congregation Shomrei Torah has a vibrant spirit of tikkun olam - repairing the world - in the local Sonoma County community and the broader world. There is much more work to be done in the area of human and social rights! We need your help! If you are interested in finding out more about the Social Action Committee, feel free to call us. The Committee meets the first Monday of every month at 7pm in the Kolbo Room.

Elisha's Pantry, located at 1717 Yulupa Avenue in Santa Rosa, distributes approximately 50 free bags of food every Thursday from 3:00PM-5:30PMwhich feed about 150 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.

For the past eleven years, Shomrei Torah volunteers have cooked and served a simple meal the first Thursday of each month at the Giffen House, a 12-bedroom transitional facility for previously homeless women and children in need of a place to stay, while learning everyday living skills. If you would like help, please call Flo Hoffenberg at 707-539-4013.

Congregation Shomrei Torah is planning Mitzvah Day on May 4, 2008. Contact Temple Administrator Fran Brumlik to get involved.

A tradition since 1993, volunteers at Shomrei Torah serve dinner at the National Guard Armory for the Santa Rosa Homeless Shelter during Christmas week so our Christian friends can be with their families during the holidays.

Each spring, Shomrei Torah hosts a Yom Hashoah (Day of Remembrance) commemoration featuring special guest speakers, Jewish survivors and other non-Jewish groups from the Holocaust, as well as embracing other genocides including the peoples of Rwanda, Darfur, Cambodia, Native America and Armenia. A Shomrei Torah tradition!

It has become a tradition that Shomrei Torah participates in the annual Sonoma County Gay & Lesbian Pride event every year. For years, we have had one of the largest contingents in the annual parade. Since the parade ended a few years ago, Shomrei Torah has continued to support the local effort by hosting a table at the Festival in Juillard Park in downtown Santa Rosa.

Read Larry Carlin's contribution to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Shomrei Torah's Social Action Committee has received a Rev. James E. Coffee Human Rights Award for the Committee's dedication and commitment to making Sonoma County a welcome home to a diverse population. Among the projects cited in the nomination for the award were: Elisha's Pantry, support of the annual Gay & Lesbian Pride event, Giffen House meals, Catholic Charities Family Support Center, Shabbat Services for the Development Center, Christmas Dinner for the Santa Rosa Homeless Shelter, the annual Yom Hashoah observance and recognition of all genocides, and the educational forum for the County Refuge Program for Immigrant Workers in Sonoma County.

V’charta B’chayim: Choose Life For Women in Darfur Jewish World Watch is committed to protecting refugee women and girls fleeing the genocide in Darfur by providing the Iridimi and Touloum refugee camps in Chad with solar cookers. Read about how only $30 supports a family with portable cooking and protects refugee women from rape and other violence.

For 15 years, Shomrei Torah has been preparing food and serving residents every Wednesday at Catholic Charities Family Support Center, a 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.