Tikkun Olam

For more information on any of our social action programs, please contact tikkunolam@bonaishalom.org.

HELPING COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN NEED

We coordinate for CBS (with some exceptions since COVID-19) food, toiletries, clothing, and monetary collections with local organization to benefit those in need in our greater community including:

• Community Food Share.  Kol Nidre Food Drive

• Crop Walk. Walk with our community to raise funds for Community Food Share and other agencies such as MAZON.

• Interfaith AIDS Coalition, Boulder County AIDS Project (BCAP) - Pre-Pesach Collection. 

• Bridge House, Community Table. 

• Emergency Shelter Housing Needs. In the past, we have provided emergency overnight shelter and provided food for those in emergency housing. While we are not currently or prospectively providing emergency housing, we will likely continue to collect donations of essential items for homeless individuals during the course of the year.

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  GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION

The Working Group on Gun Violence Prevention (GVP) was formed at CBS to develop our own response to this issue that so deeply affects us as Jews and Americans.  Our goals are advocacy and education/dialogue.

(updated May 2022)
For our GVP  response to the latest school shooting in Uvalde, Texas just 10 days after the racist mass shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, read here.

A Simple Action to Help Reduce Gun Violence in Colorado

Make your voice heard about gun violence prevention in Colorado by joining Bonai Shalom’s Rapid Response Network (RRN). You can participate without having to attend a single meeting!
Here’s how the RRN works: When a gun-related bill is introduced into the Colorado Legislature and a legislative committee hearing date is announced, you’ll be emailed a summary of the bill, talking points, and contact information for committee members. The Legislature’s 4-month session begins in the second week of January and ends in the second week of May. The RRN is busiest during the Legislature’s session, but it may also be activated when there is relevant Federal legislation or local ordinances.
Your contact information will be used solely by Bonai Shalom’s Gun Violence Prevention Group (a sub-committee of Tikkun Olam) and will not be shared with any other groups or individuals. To sign up for the Rapid Response Network or if you have questions, please contact tikkunolam@bonaishalom.org

We support the actions and activities of the following organizations in their work to prevent gun violence:
 

COLORADO GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ORGANIZATIONS

Blue Rising 
Colorado Faith Communities United to End Gun Violence (Bonai Shalom is one of 58 members)
Colorado Ceasefire
Colorado Office of Gun Violence Prevention 
Giffords Gun Owners for Gun Safety Colorado chapter
League of Women Voters of Colorado

NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ORGANIZATIONS

Brady Campaign
Everytown for Gun Safety
Giffords
March for Our Lives 
Moms Demand Action (Boulder County chapters)
Newtown Action Alliance
Students Demand Action
Team ENOUGH
White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

Rabbinic Statements on Gun Violence

The Rabbinical Assembly
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

ENVIRONMENT

Adopt-a-Road Clean-up.   Once in the fall and once in the spring, CBS is responsible for collecting trash along a one-mile stretch of South Boulder Road east of Cherryvale Road.  This is a great time to spend time with friends while helping the community.

Tuv Ha’Aretz, Boulder’s Jewish CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  CBS, the BJCC, and other Boulder Jewish congregations partner with Red Wagon Farm as a subset of Red Wagon’s larger CSA. CSAs enable the community to support local, sustainable agriculture.  Individuals pre-purchase a share of a farmer’s produce for an entire season. The CSA guarantees the farmer a secure income and gives members access to local, organic produce at competitive prices, while helping to preserve farmland and build community. Tuv Ha'Aretz is also a platform for innovative educational and community-building programs that explore the intersection of food and Jewish traditions.  For more information, contact boulderjewishcsa@gmail.com.

RESPONSE TO RACISM AND ANTISEMITISM

The Response to Racism formed in the fall of 2020. 

We partner with Congregation Har HaShem in Kulanu, ADL’s Congregational Engagement Program, Synagogues in Action Against Antisemitism.

We sponsor special Shabbat services during Black History Month and we’ve sponsored, co-sponsored (with the NAACP and other faith communities) book discussions relating to racism.

We created a display of banned books at Bonai Shalom. We support unlimited access to works of fiction and non-fiction that teach historical and contemporary events and build an appreciation of diverse communities.

IMMIGRATION

Sudanese Scholarship Fund. With funds collected for our Sudanese Refugee Project, CBS has established a Sudanese Scholarship Fund.  This Fund is an investment on the part of the CBS community in the future of three young Sudanese refugee women our congregation helped resettle to Boulder in 2006. The Fund is available for scholarships to help these women to complete their educational and career goals.  The Fund may also provide for extraordinary medical expenses not otherwise covered by insurance.

Sanctuary. We support Ingrid Encalada Latorre who is living in sanctuary at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder through

• Volunteering

• Gift cards

Motus Theater. On September 10, 2020, the Social Action and First Friday Committees collaborated with Motus Theater to present Women of Resolution: We Were Strangers as part of Motus Theater’s Shoebox Stories project. In this program, Bonai Shalom community members share the stories of four undocumented immigrant women and demonstrate the moral courage of their journeys seeking sanctuary to avoid deportation and separation from their families. You can watch the program HERE.

SOCIAL ACTION VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

(or your own suggestion!)

• Contact socialaction@bonaishalom.org for any information.

• Participate as a Social Action Committee member – we typically meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 2:30 pm

• Volunteer for the semi-annual road clean-up (Fall and/or Spring)

• Website Development for Social Action Committee: Help keep our webpage information current.

• Current Events Coordinator: Help keep us informed about current events of interest to our CBS community and maintain a list of links to include on the website.

• Participate in Crop Walk

• Serve on the Tuv Ha'Aretz Core Committee