Mitzvah Day

Mitzvah Morning is a congregation-wide community program of social action and social justice, in which hundreds of volunteers of all ages participate in worthwhile philanthropic projects and programs. We encourage all congregants to participate.

Join us on January 20th, 2013 as we hold our third annual Mitzvah Morning.

The schedule of the morning is as follows:

Organizations and Projects for the morning include (10:15 am - 12:30 pm):

• Making dog toys and cat blankets for Heartland Animal Shelter
• Assembling Troop Care Packages for Soldiers overseas through Jewish War Veterans
• Putting together Housewarming Baskets for low-income new homeowners in Highland Park through Community Partners for Affordable Housing
• Making 300 bagged lunches to feed the homeless through P.A.D.S Lake County and The Night Ministry
• Decorating Journals, Bookmarks, and Pencils for children of domestic violence victims through Luggage For Freedom, a project of National Council of Jewish Women's North Shore section
• Making Challah Covers and writing letters to students at our sister congregation in Gomel, Belarus
• Decorating 400 bags that will be used in toiletry kits to be donated to local homeless shelters through Highland Park's Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Event
• A used-bike donation collection that will benefit The Recyclery Collective in Rogers Park
• A Food donation collection that will benefit the Food Pantry at Moraine Township

Speakers include (10:15 am - 11:00 am):

Amy Kaufman (Director of Community Relations, Community Partners for Affordable Housing):
Amy is the Director of Community Relations for CPAH. Prior to raising her children in Highland Park, Amy was an attorney at Phelan Pope & John in Chicago and Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York. Before law school, Amy worked at the Washington Post as the assistant to political reporter and columnist David Broder, and at a public policy consulting firm in Washington, DC, ICF, Incorporated. Amy holds an A.B. degree from Duke University in Public Policy and Economics, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. She lives in Highland Park with her husband and two college-aged children.

Jill Zenoff (Founder and Executive Director, The Gan Project):
Jill is a Jewish environmental educator, farmer, and Chef. Jill was an 2008 Adamah Fellow at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, a 2009 intern on Henry's Farm in Congerville Il, and is a Chicago native. She started growing food in 2006, has been cooking professionally since 2004, and has been an eater of food since 1982. Jill is a graduate from DePaul Univeristy and Kendall College.

Elan Margulies (Director, Pushing the Envelope Farm)
A graduate of Cornell University's Natural Resource Management Program, Elan has led hikes in the Kalahari Desert, lectured at the Spertus Institute, and created the Science of Nature curriculum for Eden Village Camp. Elan received training as a naturalist/educator at: Eden Village Camp, The Teva Learning Center, The Student Conservation Association, The Cornell University Naturalist Outreach Program, The US National Park Service and The Hebrew University.

Kate Re (Farm Manager, Pushing the Envelope Farm)
Kate, is a permaculture enthusiast, gardener, artist, and part-time goat milker. She studied Environmental Science at Ursinus College, and enjoys managing a small scale organic farm.

Rabbi Menachem Cohen (Youth Outreach Rabbi, The Night Ministry)
Since June 2006, Menachem has been a youth outreach rabbi with The Night Ministry, working with LGBTQIQ and/or homeless youth on the streets of Chicago. He is the founding rabbi of Mitziut and the Black Rock JCC, at Burning Man. He was ordained by Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf in 2003.

Sari Rubin (Director of Development, PADS Lake County)
Sari Rubin joined PADS Lake County in April 2012 as their Director of Development. In her role, she is responsible for all of PADS' fundraising, development, and marketing/communications initiatives that support the important programs and services PADS provides to Lake County's homeless families with children and individuals. Sari began her career as a Development professional at the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, a Jewish social justice organization that combats poverty, racism, and antiSemitism in Chicago's underserved communities. Just prior to joining PADS, Sari served as the Director of Administration at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago.

Commander Joe Walsh from Northshore Post 29 of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America

Jackie Borchew from Orphans of the Storm and her furry friends!

Work. Learn. Give. Play. Mitzvah Day is a day full of Tikkun Olam – acts that repair of the world.