Summary of KAVOD’s
Financial Activities
Allocations,
2005: $64,444.00
Total
allocations to date ('93-'05):
$509,196.53
Expenses to date:
$75.48
Making
the world a better place by protecting and uplifting human
dignity is both easy and difficult. It takes the ability
to think big and the ability to think small. It requires
long-term, strategic thinking as well as the capacity to
respond immediately to a cry for help.
• It's as easy as buying a new pair of shoes or a warm coat for a kid
in need (see #20 below).
• It's as difficult as trying to change the state of long-term care in
America (#4).
• It's as big as stopping genocide in Darfur (#6).
• It's as small as a new ping-pong table for at-risk youth (#25).
• It's as long-term as shaping and changing an entire culture (#10, #18).
• It's as immediate as responding instantly to the cries for help from
the survivors of Hurricane Katrina (#6).
Our
task is monumental, and we go about it every day in ways
large and small, strategic and immediate. Thank you for
being a part of the work we do.
Mazel
Tov! cuy kzn
This
year (2006) marks KAVOD's Bar Mitzvah. Over the course of the
last thirteen years, it is has been our incredible honor
and good fortune to distribute on behalf of our supporters
more than $500,000. We have been inspired by dozens of mitzvah
heroes. We are humbled by the tasks to which we have dedicated
our work: protecting human dignity; operating our collective
as efficiently and effectively as possible, according to
the values of our tradition; and inspiring others to do
the same through our Fellowship program.
In
the pages that follow, you’ll learn how we distributed every
dime you entrusted to us. We once again did it all with
no overhead.
It
should go without saying that if you wish to honor us on
the occasion of our Bar Mitzvah, no fountain pens or Game
Boys—just donations to KAVOD, please.
The
KAVOD Fellowship Program
We
launched the KAVOD Fellowship Program four years
ago. Our goals are ambitious: in partnership with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), we are training the next
generation of rabbis, cantors, and Jewish educators to raise
and distribute tzedakah wisely and effectively. We are expanding the
KAVOD community and planting seeds that will yield
a bountiful tzedakah harvest in the years to come. In 2005 our
KAVOD Fellows distributed almost $17,000 to seventeen
different organizations. We are extremely proud of their
work and excited about growing this program going forward.
For more on the Fellowship program, see page 3.
Some
Words of Thanks
We
are grateful to everyone who makes our work possible.
We offer a special thanks to Mike Abramson, our pro bono
accountant and lawyer, Miles Nelson, who provides us with
envelopes on his dime, and Rosie Zweiback, who deposits
and tracks all KAVOD donations. Thanks to Rabbi Jay Moses
for guiding us in our allocations process. Most of all, we thank Judy Zweiback, our volunteer administrator.
Judy donates hundreds of hours a year to KAVOD.
She writes every acknowledgement, designs, produces, and
distributes our beautiful KAVOD tribute cards, and
handles all of the day-to-day administration. She
continues to be the backbone of our collective.
We
thank outgoing KAVOD board members, Rabbi Dennis
Eisner, Rabbi Jonathan Klein, Rabbi Zoe Klein, and Rabbi Felicia Sol. We are grateful for their
many contributions and comforted to know that they will
continue to be part of our collective.
We
welcome new board members, Alysa
Hantgan, Rabbi Michael Mellen, Rabbi Sydney Mintz, Rabbi
Sarah Reines, and Dan Siegel.
Their wisdom and guidance will help us immeasurably.
Please
tell your friends about KAVOD, and feel free to make copies of this annual report for distribution.
Visit us online at KAVOD.org to learn more.
Think of us when you want to make a donation in honor or
memory of a loved one or friend. If you would like
to make a bequest to KAVOD as part of your estate
plan, please let us know. Tax-deductible donations (tax
ID # 47-0789888) can be made any time, to:
KAVOD
8914 Farnam Court
Omaha,
NE 68114-4076
To
our supporters, we say yishar ko'ch'chem, ofjuf rahh, all the more strength to you! We hope you will enjoy
reading about the projects and programs that your gifts
have supported. Many will be familiar, as we generally
have continued our commitments to groups we have supported
in the past. Additionally, there are wonderful programs
(indicated with an asterisk) to which KAVOD contributed
for the first time this year.
Statement
of Purpose: KAVOD
is a non-profit tzedakah collective. We create new programs and
fund existing programs that help Jews and non-Jews living
in the United States, Israel, and around the world to live in dignity and honor.
As a tzedakah collective,
we try to personalize our giving by visiting all of our
beneficiaries and encouraging our donors to do the same.
We strive to operate as close to 0% overhead as possible
and to support programs that similarly demand efficiency.
TZEDAKAH
PROJECTS
1.
Beit Frankforter: Jerusalem Center for the Aged...........................$2,500
Inspired
by the model of Myriam Mendilow,
k"z, the people of Beit Frankforter are committed to preserving the essential KAVOD
of their community of elders in Jerusalem. Sima
Zini and her staff have created
a community center that uplifts and honors seniors who enjoy
regular care not only from dentists and ophthalmologists,
but also from hairdressers, reflexologists,
manicurists, and yoga instructors. Our funds this year
helped support the “Sandwich for Every Child” program. Every
day the elders of Beit Frankforter prepare approximately
500 sandwiches for local school children whose families
are experiencing economic hardships.
Beit Frankforter –
ATTN: Sima Zini
80 Derech Beit
Lechem, POB 10074, Jerusalem, 91100
011-9722-671-4848
frankfor@netvision.net.il
2.
The Blue Card........................$700
For
over seventy years, the Blue Card has distributed funds
to Jewish Holocaust survivors who live in poverty. The Blue
Card was established in 1934 to help Jews who were suffering
economically because of Nazi oppression. Blue cards were
distributed to American Jews who donated funds to support
their brothers and sisters in Europe. With each donation,
these American Jews received a small stamp of commemoration
which they could place in their “Blue Card” to track their
giving. Our gift was used to provide monthly rent subsidies
for survivors in need.
The
Blue Card
ATTN: Sandra Wiesel171 Madison Avenue, #1405, NY, NY 10016
212-239-2251; www.bluecardfund.org
3.
Congregation Sulam Ya’akov
.........................$750
Congregation
Sulam Ya’akov was founded in 1996,
the first and only progressive congregation in Zichron
Yaakov, a pioneer town settled in the 1880s during the first
wave of aliyah. The congregation is building a wonderful, vibrant
community of committed progressive Jews. Such communities,
despite receiving no governmental support, provide an essential
Jewish framework for social action, inclusiveness, and celebration,
serving thousands of modern Israelis whose needs have long
been unmet.
Kehilat
Sulam Ya’akov
–
ATTN:
Brad Fisher
POB 10011, Zichron Ya’akov, Israel, 30900
011-9724-629-3113
www.sulam-yaacov.org.il
4.
Eden Alternative...............$1,000
The
Eden Alternative seeks to eliminate the three plagues of
the long-term care institution—loneliness, helplessness,
and boredom. They know that companion animals, the
opportunity to care for other living things, and the variety
and spontaneity that come from an enlivened environment
can succeed where pills and therapies fail.
Dr.
Bill Thomas teaches that the Eden Alternative “is a new
way of thinking about long-term care that has the potential
of remaking facilities all over the country. However,
before that can happen, we need to teach others about what
the Eden Alternative is and how they can use it to transform
the facilities in which they work.” Thanks to Dr. Bill’s
vision, the principles of the Eden Alternative have taken
hold at more than 300 homes nationwide. Our support this
year helped to develop resources that will make it easier
for existing long-term care organizations to “Edenize.”
The Eden Alternative
ATTN:
Dr. William Thomas
742 Turnpike Rd., Sherburne, NY, 13460
607-674-5232;
www.edenalt.com
5.
Elijah’s Promise..................$1,000
Rev.
Lisanne Finston
runs this model community soup kitchen that not only serves
meals, but also provides nourishment for life. Elijah’s
Promise in New Brunswick, New Jersey fulfills the highest
level of tzedakah, enabling
people to become self-sufficient and to need tzedakah
no longer. Guests at Elijah’s Promise are offered nutritious
meals, health screening, counseling and referrals, job training,
and more. Most exciting for us is “Promise Jobs,” the culinary
school they opened several years ago which teaches the art
of food preparation to some of the soup kitchen guests.
Graduates of the program have been placed in restaurant
jobs throughout New Jersey, including positions in some
of the state’s finest restaurants. Our donation helped
purchase new knives for the culinary training program. Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick hires Elijah’s Promise
to cook all of its kosher Shabbat dinners. Why not work
to develop a similar program in your community?
Elijah’s Promise
ATTN:
Rev. Lisanne Finston
18 Neilson St., New Brunswick, NJ, 08901
732-545-9002
www.elijahspromise.org
6.
Emergency Relief:
Sudan......................................$1,500
Katrina
Relief.........................$3,000
As
the need arises, KAVOD provides direct emergency
assistance to communities and individuals in need. Through
our support for the outstanding efforts of the American
Jewish World Service (ajws.org), we provided emergency relief
for those targeted for genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Our friends at the Shefa
Fund (shefafund.org) helped us provide support to victims
of Hurricane Katrina. Through a matching grant of the Greater
Miami Federation , we were able to stretch an additional
Katrina Relief allocation even further.
7.
Free Loan Societies:
Hebrew
Free Loan Society of
New York City...............$1,500
Hebrew
Free Loan Association of
San Francisco..............$1,500
Israel Free Loan Association...$5,000
Jews
have been supporting one-another through interest-free loans
for thousands of years. Free loan societies were and continue
to be particularly helpful to recent immigrants. Many of
these newcomers, desperately in need of support, have difficulty
qualifying for a bank loan. Free loan societies offer a
helping hand to those in need. As loans are repaid, the
money is “recycled” to help others rent an apartment or
start a small business. KAVOD is a big fan of this
model and supports free loan associations in NYC, San Francisco
and Israel. Recipients are often startled to discover that the
loans are interest free. Whether it’s for college tuition,
expenses related to the adoption of a child, or emergency
assistance for a family that has suffered through a fire
or debilitating illness, free-loan societies are there to
lend hope and dignity to those in need.
Hebrew
Free Loan Association of San Francisco, ATTN: Edward Cushman,
131 Steuart Street, Suite 425, San Francisco, CA, 94105; 415-546-9902;
hflasf.org;
Hebrew Free Loan Society
ATTN:
Shana Novick
675 Third Avenue, Suite 1905, NY, NY 10017
212-687-0188
www.hfls.org
Hebrew Free Loan Association of San Francisco
ATTN:
Edward Cushman
131
Steuart Street, Suite 425, San
Francisco, CA, 94105
415-546-9902
www.hflasf.org
Israel
Free Loan Association
ATTN:
Prof. Eliezer Jaffe
64 Azza Street, 92384 Jerusalem, Israel
011-9722-563-0248
www.freeloan.org.il
8.
INTRA – Mitzvah Horses......$3,500
Anita
and Giora Shkedi continue to do their
breathtaking work with INTRA (Israel National Therapeutic
Riding Association), utilizing the tools of therapeutic
horseback riding to achieve astonishing breakthroughs where
other forms of physical therapy fail. Anita and Giora open up new worlds to people with a wide array of emotional
and/or physical difficulties (including wounded soldiers
and victims of terror). If you never have seen therapeutic
horseback riding in person, by all means find a center near
you (or, even better, arrange a trip to Israel to meet Anita, one of the world’s acknowledged experts
on the subject). The results are sublime, inspirational,
and nothing short of miraculous. Our donation subsidized
riding sessions for children suffering from cerebral palsy.
INTRA-Mitzvah Horses
ATTN:
Anita & Giora Shkedi
Hadassah Neurim, Hadassah Village,
40298, Israel
011-9729-866-6305
agshkedi@bezeqint.net
www.intra.org.il
9.
IRAC...............................$3,000
Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the public
and legal advocacy arm of the Israel Movement for Progressive
Judaism, recently received the following note from one of
the people for whom IRAC advocates: “Only your intervention
allowed my wife to receive Israeli citizenship. Before you
came onto the scene, we struggled for two years by ourselves
and were on the brink of despair. Thank you.”
IRAC
is committed to promoting equality, social justice, and
religious tolerance in Israel. Through its numerous court battles and advocacy efforts,
IRAC has helped new immigrants cut through bureaucratic
red tape, enabled liberal Jews to celebrate their faith
more freely, and demanded just treatment for foreign workers
in Israel. Visit their website to learn more about their incredible
work.
IRAC
ATTN:
Anat Hoffman
POB 31936, Jerusalem, ISRAEL 91319
011-9722-625-6261
www.irac.org
10.
Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center....................................$2,000
The
Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center in Memory of Linda Feldman
helps survivors of sexual abuse. The JRCC also runs educational
programs for Israeli high school students to raise awareness
about abuse and harassment. About one third of the callers
to the Rape Crisis Center hotline are under
18 years of age. So many of these young survivors are afraid
to seek much needed medical and emotional help, and it is
truly a blessing for them to have a safe place to find solace
and counsel. Our donation was used to provide a 16-session
supervised support group for 11 teenaged survivors of rape
and incest. The JRCC remains the only organization offering
this kind of support in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem
Rape Crisis Center
ATTN:
Jane Jacobs
P.O.B.
2549, Jerusalem, Israel, 91024
011-9722-623-2451
jrcc@netvision.net.il
11. Jewish Life in the Former Soviet Union: WUPJ...............$1,000
After
70 years of oppression, Jews in the Former Soviet Union
can once again celebrate their Judaism. The World Union
for Progressive Judaism works hard to ensure that there
are liberal options for these Jews. One of the best ways
to make this happen is by training young people to become
Jewish educators, communal leaders, and rabbis. At the Machon
Institute in Moscow, a new generation of community leaders
is being trained to serve throughout the Former Soviet Union.
Our sponsorship will help a student pay for tuition, books
and supplies, transportation, and room and board in Moscow
while attending the Machon.
These students are engaged in tikkun
olam of the highest order: they are bringing whole communities
back to a life of Torah.
World Union for Progressive Judaism
ATTN:
Rabbi Uri Regev
13 King David Street, Jerusalem, Israel 94101
011-9722-620-3447
www.wupj.org
12.
KESHER ("Connection")......$500
Why
can’t Jewish children with learning disabilities attend
Jewish day schools? Why can’t they experience the warm sense
of community that so many of these schools provide? These
are the questions that inspire Kesher.
Each year Kesher assists eighty kids with special needs who otherwise
would be unable to attend Jewish day schools . This program
ensures that the kavod of all of God’s children is protected. Our gift
helped provide scholarships for families in need.
Kesher
ATTN: Rabbi Ezra Levy
18900 NE 25th Avenue, North Miami Beach, FL, 33180
305-792-7060
kesherld@bellsouth.net
13.
Maureen Kushner...............$1,000
Maureen
Kushner channels her immense creativity into empowering
children to share, explore, and understand their own extraordinary
histories. She helps Ethiopian Jews create art that celebrates
and documents their long, heroic journey, and helps Jewish
and Arab children address their prejudices through art.
This
year our contribution helped with Kushner’s “Peace Through
Humor” workshop for Jewish, Arab, Druze, and Bedouin children.
It gives kids a creative outlet to express their feelings
while teaching tolerance and understanding through jokes.
Maureen travels on foot and by bus all over Israel presenting this workshop. “When kids listen to the inside
of their hearts and discover the best part of themselves,
peace will be possible,” she says. We have KAVOD cards
available featuring artwork created by Ethiopian Jews in
Maureen’s programs. The cards themselves were produced through
a special donation for this purpose made by a KAVOD
supporter. For more information about the cards, contact
Judy Zweiback, 8914 Farnam Court,
Omaha, NE 68114, 402-397-1975, judyz@KAVOD.org.
Maureen
Kushner
122 Park Place,
Brooklyn, NY, 11217
(718) 230-5369
maureenkushner@hotmail.com
14.
NACOEJ...........................$1,000
In
1981 twelve North American Jews went on a mission to Ethiopia that was to change their lives and those of Ethiopian
Jews forever. Riding on mules, this small group made their
way up the Semien Mountains in northwest Ethiopia to remote villages where Jews lived, isolated from the
rest of the Jewish world for 2,000 years. The appalling
poverty, illness, and hunger they saw there, coupled with
a deep commitment to Jewish life, so moved the participants
that they returned home wholly devoted to the rescue of
this phenomenal Jewish community. Shortly thereafter, the
North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) was
born. This grassroots movement has four mandates: to help
Ethiopian Jews survive in Ethiopia, to assist them in reaching
Israel, to aid in their absorption in Israel, and to preserve
their unique and ancient culture. In Ethiopia today, NACOEJ provides food, education, employment and
religious facilities to over thousands of Jews awaiting
aliyah.
NACOEJ
ATTN:
Barbara Ribakove Gordon
132 Nassau Street, #412, NY, NY, 10038
(212) 233-5200
www.nacoej.org
15.
A Package From Home......$3,000
For
many years now, Barbara Silverman has been helping soldiers
in the Israel Defense Forces live a bit more comfortably.
Her project, A Package from Home, delivers thousands of
care packages each year to those who risk their lives in
defense of the Jewish homeland. It’s extraordinary what
a pair of warm socks, a wool hat, long underwear, a few
chocolate bars, and some toiletries can do to lift a soldier’s
spirits. Each package also includes a handwritten note from
an American or Canadian religious school student. This year
KAVOD adopted a Border Patrol Unit that helps to
make Jerusalem a safe place to live and visit.
A Package from Home
ATTN: Barbara Silverman
12/63 Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael Street, Jerusalem, Israel, 92428
011-9722-623-2548
emess@netvision.net.il
www.apackagefromhome.org
16.
Project Ezra.......................$3,000
Under
the guidance of Misha Avramoff, Project Ezra has
been a lifeline to Jewish elders on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan for the past 25 years. They combat poverty,
despair and loneliness, and treat those they serve with
the utmost tenderness, love, and honor. From augmenting
the below poverty level social security of many elders,
to creating community and nurturing curiosity and spirituality
through visits to museums and synagogues, to sending art
therapists to homebound elders, many of whom are suffering
from dementia, Project Ezra is there. Misha
Avramoff writes that Project Ezra’s partnership with KAVOD
is a “wonderful psychological support for me, because having
the trust of people who are committed and involved in Jewish
life convinces me that what we at Ezra do on the Lower East
Side is unique and exceedingly necessary.” Indeed, what
could be more necessary than ensuring that the kavod
of the weakest among us, the most vulnerable, those who
made our very lives possible—our elders—is attended to every
day?
Project Ezra
ATTN: Misha Avramoff
197 E. Broadway, NY, NY, 10002
212-982-3700
www.projectezra.org
17.
Rabbanit Bracha Kapach....$3,000
The
Rabbanit Bracha
Kapach, an Israel Prize winner,
feeds the hungry, provides for poor brides, and makes sure
poor youngsters get to experience the joy of summer camp.
She distributes educational material for children, helps
couples finance their marriage, supports old and lonely
people with food, clothing and trips, and embraces all of
those who seemed to have slipped through the holes of the
“safety net.” She draws needy people near and gives with
generosity and love. Once again, we assisted the Rabbanit in providing Passover packages for over 5,500 families
in need of nourishment and hope.
The Rabbanit Bracha
Kapach
12 Lod St. Jerusalem
011-9722-624-9296
18.
Rabbis for Human Rights Yeshiva
.........$1,500
Rabbis
for Human Rights is the rabbinic voice of conscience in
Israel, struggling to fulfill the commandment to “love your
neighbor as yourself.” They promote justice and freedom,
while campaigning against discrimination and inhumane conduct.
Last year they launched one of their most ambitious projects:
the creation of a Human Rights Yeshiva, a place for dedicated
young people to come to learn about and then do the sacred
work of Tikkun Olam.
Twenty students participated each week in the inaugural
year, exploring such topics as: the principle of equality
and the value of human life in the Bible, different approaches
to relationships with the “other,” responding to sexual
violence, slavery, and our obligations to immigrant laborers.
Students volunteer with existing projects and some have
developed a new program to provide help for teen runaways.
Plans are underway to expand the program as it builds upon
this successful first year.
Rabbis For Human Rights
ATTN:
Rabbi Avi Deutsch
42 Gaza Road
Jerusalem, Israel
011-9722-563-7731
www.rhr.israel.net
19.
SHALVA (“Serenity”)..........$500
Shalva
was founded on the premise that mentally and physically
challenged children are not just the responsibility of the
families to which they were born. These children and their
families need and deserve the support of the extended community.
Shalva is their lifeline, providing developmentally disabled
children with a loving environment that helps them reach
their full potential and gives parents the ability to keep
them at home, with the family. Shalva founders Kalman and Malky Samuels dreamed
of a state-of-the-art center for mentally and physically
challenged children that would instill pride in those who
came through its doors. This dream became a reality with
the opening of the Shalva Children’s Center, which offers
fantastic programs such as hydrotherapy, music, art, computer,
psychodrama and pet therapy. Visit their website and read
the testimonials from families whose lives have been changed
by this extraordinary organization.
SHALVA
:
Rabbi Kalman Samuels
P.O.B. Box 35199 Jerusalem, Israel, 91351
011-9722-651-9555
www.shalva.org
20.
Shoes That Fit.....................$500
Shoes
That Fit is all about kavod,
protecting human dignity. STF provide new shoes and/or clothes
to children in need so that they can attend school in comfort
and with pride. STF’s experience
has shown that children learn better and feel better about
themselves when they are able to come to school with properly
fitting shoes and clothes, rather than worn out or ill-fitting
hand-me-downs. The organization creates wish lists for particular
schools and then seeks sponsors to fulfill the wishes. In
this way, the sponsor purchases the exact items those children
require and delivers the items to the school. Every penny
spent goes directly to helping the children STF supports.
Shoes That Fit
ATTN:
Roni Lomeli
1420 N. Claremont Blvd., Suite 107-B, Claremont, CA, 91711
909-482-0050
www.shoesthatfit.org
21.
Ta Shma............................$1,000
Ta
Shma provides Hebrew and English
speaking Jews of all ages with educational programming that
conveys the excitement and relevance of Jewish texts and
tradition. Recognizing that diversity is one of the Jewish
community’s greatest assets, Ta Shma
offers a model of multi-voiced Jewish learning that emphasizes
the importance of constructive disagreement. Ta Shma’s educators have developed an educational methodology
based on a deep belief that Judaism’s vitality is rooted
in the contemporary meeting of many frequently dissonant
voices.
At
each Ta Shma event, faculty members of different ‘flavors’ of Judaism
— Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist,
unidentified, and undefined — join together to plan and
execute the program in its entirety. This offers young adults
in Israel opportunities to explore Jewish texts from a uniquely
pluralistic perspective, resulting in a powerful Jewish
learning experience. We at KAVOD are proud to support
a program that seeks to unite brothers and sisters over
Torah, with respect for each student’s beliefs and background.
Our funds were used to defray the expenses of a weekend
seminar for American students studying at Israeli universities,
covering half of the seminar’s cost.
Ta Shma: Pluralistic Jewish
Learning
ATTN:
Rabbi Leon Dow
Box 10156; Jerusalem, ISRAEL; 91101
02-621-6168
www.tashma.org
22.
VOSH...............................$800
Volunteer
Optometric Service to Humanity is an association of eye
care professionals who travel to impoverished communities
all over the world providing free eye care to those in need.
They also serve the eyesight needs of people in several
homeless shelters. Our funds were used to provide eyeglasses
for approximately thirty people connected with Hesed
House, a Chicago area shelter.
VOSH
has conducted missions to every major continent during its
existence, as well as domestic missions at homeless shelters.
VOSH operates with zero overhead because the doctors cover
their own expenses and equipment is donated. Ronald Weingart’s recent letter to us is music to our ears: “No donated
funds are used for administration or fund raising. We have
no paid staff and we pay our own expenses when we go on
missions. We strive to operate as close to 0% overhead as
possible.”
VOSH
ATTN:
Ronald Weingart, O.D.
1335 Douglas Road, Montgomery, IL, 60538
630-844-0908
www.vosh.org
23.
Ya’akov Maimon Volunteers
...........$1,500
In
the early days of the State of Israel, it was not unusual
for locals to be approached on the street by an energetic
man who would ask what they could do for the new immigrants
who were arriving daily. That man was Ya’akov
Maimon, and he believed that every individual had a unique
gift that they could offer each new arrival — whether in
the form of language tutorial, lessons on how to balance
a checkbook, babysitting, or teaching a trade. That
special, caring attention to individuality is what marks
the Maimon volunteers, and is lived out every day by their director,
Yoel Dorkam. He is our first resource
for questions and concerns about the compassionate absorption
of new immigrants into Israeli society. Yoel's
volunteers ease the transition to life in Israel for today's immigrants, from Russia, Ethiopia,
South America, Eastern Europe, and the rest of the Jewish
world.
Ya’akov
Maimon Volunteers
ATTN:
Eiton Green
Kibbutz Palmach Tzuba,
D.N. Haray Yehuda, Israel, 90870
011-9754-563-7920
eiton@tzuba.org.il
24.
Yad Ezra (“Helping Hand”)
...........$500
One
of the most neglected segments of any society is the mentally
ill. For almost fifty years, Yad Ezra has been dedicating itself to seeking out, screening,
and extending “a helping hand” to the mentally ill and the
needy in Israel. Yad Ezra offers its assistance
through a network of special supermarkets, dental clinics,
workshops, soup kitchens, hostels, and day-care centers.
Yad Ezra also has a soup kitchen
in which “a unique group of people, some homeless, others
stricken in spirit or by poverty, or by a broken home, comprise
about 100 men and women who visit these premises daily.
For 40% of the visitors, these premises have become their
home. Along with the three meals offered daily, a delicate
balance of educational lectures, guidance classes, and common
prayer sessions have been introduced to strengthen and feed
the spirit of visitors. A library on the premises offers
a large variety of selected books and a quiet and calm atmosphere
to soothe the painful spirit of many of its visitors.”
Yad Ezra - Samuel Katz
P.O.B. 7199, Jerusalem, Israel
011-9722-538-6460
25.
Youth at Risk................$1,000
Nira Peled and her dedicated staff at the p'nimiah (state sponsored boarding school for
youth at risk) at Kibbutz Bahan
provide unconditional love and opportunities for growth
to boys who have seen too little of both. These children
come from the some of the most troubled family environments
imaginable: this boy's mother is a prostitute, this one's
father is in prison for dealing drugs, this one was sexually
abused, and this one's mother was murdered by his father.
In order to provide an opportunity for healthy play, KAVOD
purchased two ping-pong tables for the boys.
[The
P'nimiah at Kibbutz Bahan,
ATTN: Nira Peled, nirapeled@gmail.com]
The P’nimiah at Kibbutz Bahan
ATTN:
Nira Peled
nirapeled@gmail.com
26.
ZIV Tzedakah Fund..........$750
Danny
Siegel, founder of Ziv writes that “Mitzvah heroes are
our teachers in Tikkun
Olam... They see, hear, and
touch aspects of life that we may have missed, and they
put their mind, heart, and soul into their efforts to make
life good or better or even the best possible for thousands
of individuals. And, they save lives that would otherwise
have been lost.” We are grateful to Danny and to Naomi Eisenberger, ZIV's Managing Director,
for their constant support, advice, wisdom, and love that
guide us in our work.
ZIV
ATTN:
Naomi Eisenberger
384 Wyoming Ave., Millburn, NJ, 07041
973-763-9396
www.ziv.org
THE
KAVOD TZEDAKAH FELLOWSHIP
Under
the leadership of Allison Lee, a member of our volunteer
board of directors, and with input and guidance from our
Fellows, we are making improvements to the program. We received
a generous grant this year to provide training to our fellows
and to create a resource booklet for them. We believe that
the Fellowship program is the most generative, impactful
initiative of our collective. We are thrilled with the achievements
of current fellows and look forward to working with the
newest KAVOD fellows, Sandi Intraub and Matthew Soffer.
Here’s
how the Fellowship works: Students at HUC-JIR who have completed
the year-in-Israel are eligible to apply. The KAVOD
board reviews the applications and awards four-year Fellowships
to the most promising candidates. Each year KAVOD
Fellows receive an up front allocation of $250 that they
can distribute to the tzedakah of their choice. All of their selections
must be approved by members of the KAVOD Board. In
addition to the up front sum, a 1:1 matching challenge grant
is offered. That grant grows each year, creating a bigger
and bigger incentive for the Fellow and his/her supporters.
Each fellowship “costs” KAVOD $6000 over four-years
($1,000 in up-front grants and $5,000 in matching grants).
The total tzedakah yield, assuming the Fellow makes the match,
will equal $11,000 (that is, the $5,000 matching grant will
yield $10,000 in tzedakah + the $1,000 up-front grant). And if the Fellow
surpasses the challenge grant (as a few have already done),
s/he can donate more than $11,000 over the course of her/his
fellowship.
If
you know someone who would like to fund a Fellowship in
honor or memory of a loved one or simply because it’s a
great tzedakah investment,
please direct them to us at KAVOD@KAVOD.org.
Most of the funds for this program come from donors who
wish to sponsor a full, four-year Fellowship. Additional
funds, as needed, come from the KAVOD general account.
If you are interested in supporting the work of a particular
Fellow, please make sure to note that on your donation (e.g.,
“For Erica Greenbaum’s Fellowship.”)
Tzedakah Distributed by the KAVOD Fellows, 2005......................$16,944
Ana
Bonnheim, Jocee Hudson, Alissa
Forrest, Erica Greenbaum, and Elana Erdstein—our first, second,
and third year KAVOD Fellows—directed donations to the organizations
below:
• American Jewish World Services—works to end the genocide
in Darfur
• Amutat A.M.A.L. Marpeh Lanefesh—responds to mental health needs
• Beit T'shuvah—supports Jews in
recovery
• Chai Lifeline—provides support for families dealing with
mental illness
• Dome Project—supports at risk teens in NYC
• Fernside: A Center for Grieving Children—supports children who
have experienced the death of a parent
• JACS—helps Jewish alcoholics and drug-addicts in recovery
• The Jaffa Institute—helps the
children of Jaffa live drug-free lives
• KARA Grief Center—supports kids, spouses,
and parents who are grieving the death of a loved one
• One Family Fund—supports families in Israel who have been victimized by terror
• Ozark Food Harvest—delivers food directly to those in
need
• Progressive Jewish Alliance—fights for economic and criminal
justice
• Project Ezra (see #16 below)
• Sova Children's Book Harvest
• Union for Reform Judaism—Hurricane Katrina Relief
• Yad L'kashish (Lifeline to the
Aged)—helps Jerusalem's elderly to continue to live productive
lives
Visit KAVOD.ORG for more information about these
organizations.
TEXTS
FROM THE 2005 REPORT
When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all
the way to the corner of your field, or gather the gleanings
of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare,
or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave
them for the poor and the stranger; I the Eternal am your
God. You shall not steal; you shall not deal deceitfully
or falsely with one another.
Leviticus
19:9-11
"You
shall leave them for the poor and the stranger" is
put next to "You shall not steal" (Leviticus 19)
to warn the owner not to steal from what belongs to the
poor. Similarly, the poor person is warned not to steal
from the owners by taking more than what is appropriate.
Ba'al HaTurim (14th century)
If
there is a needy person among you, one of your kinsmen in
any of your settlements in the land that the Eternal your
God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your
hand against your needy kinsman. Rather, you must open your
hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs.
Deuteronomy
15:7-8
You
shouldn’t think that you are giving to the poor person from
your own property, or that I despise him by not giving bread
to him as I have given to you. For he is also my child,
just as you are, but his portion is in your produce.
Rabbi
Moshe Alshikh (16th century) explaining
in God's voice the obligation to leave the corners of your
field for those in need
It
is a mitzvah, a religious obligation, to give tzedakah
to the poor. Anyone who averts his eyes from a beggar
so as not to see him, and does not give him tzedakak,
he has transgressed a prohibitive command.
Mishneh Torah, Gifts to
the Poor, 7:1
You
do the right thing because it's the right thing to do.
Max
Frankel
Ben
Zoma teaches: "Who is worthy
of kavod? The one who
treats other human-beings with kavod."
Pirkei
Avot, 4:1
The
more tzedakah the more peace.
Pirkei Avot 2:7
