Tikkun Olam & Social Justice

Tikkun Olam

Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World) is an important value of the Temple Beth Torah community. Tikkun Olam is comprised of three Jewish values that can lead to “repairing the world”: chesed, tzedakah and tzedek.

• Chesed is showing loving kindness towards other people (could be an individual act) through donations, making food for others when sick, or collecting toys at Hanukkah.
• Tzedakah is charitable giving to those in need. Our students make weekly tzedakah donations and determine what charity to give this to each May. Our congregation participates in several tzedakah projects each year supporting needy families in our area. Click HERE to view the Volunteer Opportunities available at Jewish Family Services in Framingham.  
• Tzedek (justice) means trying to make a better world by changing the systems and structures that cause inequality. Please read our Social Justice Committee section on this page to understand our commitment to sand engagement with social justice action projects.

Temple Beth Torah congregants take part in various projects throughout the year.  During 2021-22, while our synagogue was closed, we gathered boots for Jewish Family Services for recent immigrant tots and children. We also did a book and toy drive to provide welcome bags for Afghan refugees being cared for through Jewish Family Services.  We raised funds for the synagogue and Yad Chessed through a cross-committee Purim Mishlaoch Manot project.  Our goal as a committee is to open up opportunities to others in the congregation as they feel able to participate in these mitzvahs.  Thus, we build relationships within TBT as well as with partner organizations in the community.

We want each member to do what is meaningful for them! We look forward to your contributions in the community!  The Tikkun Olam Committee is always looking for new ideas and new members. For more information please contact Chris Brumbach, Chair, Tikkun Olam Committee.

Social Justice Committee

During the pandemic years (2020-2022), a group of TBT members met regularly, studied social justice within conservative congregations and organized a series of “house meetings” with members of TBT.  Through this process, we found that many members of our congregation were also concerned about basic inequities in our community and state as well as those areas of concern that had touched them personally (gun violence, school gun incidents, antisemitism, racial and income injustice, immigration and refugee resettlement difficulties and other topics.   Feel free to read the “STORY” here.

The Social Justice Committee of Temple Beth Torah will be addressing immigration and refugee resettlement as our area of focus. Most important to the Committee’s work is that we find an opportunity to do social justice work that will change laws, institutions and/or policy.

As part of our work these past two years, we also proposed a PUBLIC STANCE POLICY to the Board of Directors and this was approved in April 2022.   HERE is what a Public Stance is.

Finally, we designed a FORM for our TBT members to use to apply to take a public stance.  This application will be reviewed by a 5-member group of the Board of Directors and a decision will be made within 14 days.  Please read all the documents carefully so that you understand the process.  Last minute applications (requiring a decision in less than 14 days) will not be considered.

Temple Beth Torah is committed to Tzedek and repairing the world; making it more equitable for those in our community and for those who are impacted by injustices found in our social systems.