We are committed to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) by supporting our greater Jewish community and beyond and engaging in local, national, and Jewish-focused activities.
Want to learn more? Contact us!
Antisemitism –
Food Insecurity – food-insecurity@keremshalom.org
Holiday Cheer –
Household Goods –
Immigration (Afghan evacuees ): immigration@keremshalom.org
Racial Justice – racial-justice@keremshalom.org
Antisemitism Awareness Team (AAT)
The KS Antisemitism Awareness Team (AAT) members are committed to learning, and educating the community, about antisemitism in today’s world as well as actions we can take to combat it. We sponsor events such as book discussions, classes, and guest speakers, and join in local community actions as ways to accomplish these goals.
CLICK HERE to learn more.
Food Insecurity Fund
For over two decades, KS has sponsored an annual food drive during the High Holy Days with groceries collected at KS and then delivered to Open Table which practices the mitzvah of maakhal revi’lim, feeding the hungry. The Food drive continues through the holidays and ends when we celebrate Simchat Torah. Bags and suggestions of “Pantry Staples” and items for “Kids Bags” are provided in the KS foyer.
Kerem Shalom also collaborates with JF&CS Family Table by providing donated groceries on a monthly basis. Our current commitment is 35 cans of salmon and 45 cans of tuna (low sodium preferred) that are delivered to JF&CS in Waltham on their distribution dates. Members may drop off cans of tuna and/or salmon in the wooden JF&CS Family Table bin next to the admin wing or have their children deliver the cans when they come to Hebrew School Reimagined (HSR). KS volunteers have also spent time bagging groceries and delivering them to clients. For general information about JF&CS Family Table, click here. In reaction to the coronavirus pandemic and its unprecedented consequences, Kerem Shalom created a Food Insecurity Fund from which donations are made to both Open Table and Jewish Family & Children’s Service Family Table. Our congregation has a longstanding relationship with both organizations, and both are working harder than ever to service their clients. DONATE to the KS Food Insecurity Fund.
Holiday Cheer
Each year during the winter holidays, Kerem Shalom participates in “The Holiday Cheer Project,” which assists children whose families receive services through “Voices Against Violence,” a program administered by South Middlesex Opportunity Council (a comprehensive social service agency in Framingham, MA). Voices Against Violence provides emotional support, financial resources, and shelter for individuals and families who are impacted by domestic and sexual violence.
Kerem Shalom members and friends can volunteer by:
1) shopping for a specific child using a wish list, consisting of toys and articles of clothing,
2) purchasing a generic gift card to support any of the children, or
3) donating a check for the project.
Project participants have the option of selecting a wish list based on their preferred age range and/or gender. Many of our Kerem Shalom members have found it especially meaningful to sponsor a child who is the same age and/or gender as their own child, enabling their child to help shop for a peer. Grandparents and friends have enjoyed following this model as well.
Household Goods
Kerem Shalom partners with Household Goods for social action events and also has opportunities for members who wish to volunteer or donate on their own schedule.
Household Goods, based in Acton, is an independent not-for-profit organization that provides a full range of donated furniture and household items, free of charge, to help people in need make a home. Each year, Household Goods furnishes over 2,500 homes with 60,000 pieces of furniture and smaller household items. All this is made possible by hundreds of dedicated volunteers as well as the incredible support of our community of people and businesses who thoughtfully donate furniture and goods that meet our guidelines.
Kerem Shalom partners with Household Goods for social action events and also has opportunities for members who wish to volunteer or donate on their own schedule. Family volunteering at Household Goods is also a wonderful project for B’nai mitzvah families.
Immigration Task Force
The Immigration Task Force (ITF) was created in 2021 in response to the settlement of Afghan evacuees in our area. We need help in several areas:
- Fundraising – for rent and expenses especially until work is found. Donations in any amount are welcome.
- Securing housing – Do you have or know of an apartment that is available? When possible, preference is given to communities that already have Afghans able to welcome the new arrivals
- Moving furniture and setting up an apartment (usually during the workweek, business hours)
- Buying household goods to set up a home.
- Donating items to Household Goods in Acton. They will be providing furniture and other goods to the families.
- Finding jobs
- Helping children get enrolled in school
- Helping the family learn English
If you are interested in joining Kerem Shalom’s Immigration Task Force and becoming involved in this important initiative please contact Sue Viskin, .
Please consider making a donation to the KS Afghan Resettlement Fund!
CLICK HERE to donate. Select “KS Afghan Resettlement Fund” from the drop-down menu.Thank you on behalf of the KS Immigration Task Force!
Racial Justice Task Force
The mission of the Kerem Shalom Racial Justice Task Force is to observe the Jewish imperative spoken of in Deuteronomy, “Justice, justice, thou shalt pursue.” Through awareness and learning about racism, we can further the cause of justice through action. READ MORE
Mitzvah Day
Mitzvah Day ONE is our annual fall kickoff for major projects and includes both short-term and annual ongoing projects throughout the year. These include:
- Open Table – providing weekly meals and kids’ snack bags to families in need
- Greater Boston Jewish Coalition for Literacy – providing reading tutors for children grades K-3
- Family Table Food Pantry of Jewish Family & Children’s Services – providing food for needy Jewish families in the greater Boston area
- Household Goods – providing household goods and furnishings for individuals and families in need
- Project Linus – providing blankets for comfort, warmth and security for pediatric patients
- The Healing Garden – providing cheering gifts to cancer patients.
“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed citizens to change the world. Indeed, it has never been done otherwise.” – Margaret Mead
Mitzvah Day ONE is a well-subscribed, much anticipated, highly populated, volunteer-run event that our membership is proud of—a day on which we experience the power of a community effort towards Tikkun Olam, or healing the world.
Tzedakah, righteous giving, Gimilut Chasadim, acts of loving-kindness, and social action, all are aspects of Tikkun Olam. And our Mitzvah Day is filled with many acts of kindness, as over 200 members participate in projects, (either on or offsite), volunteer, and make donations.
The Virginia Thurston Healing Garden
The Healing Garden, based in Harvard, provides expertise in therapeutic services and wellness education to the community at large, so that the Garden’s unique and remarkable environment will reach as many people as possible. The Healing Garden’s mission is to optimize the quality of life for all those affected by cancer, having served over 1500 clients affected by cancer as well as providing care for their caregivers and families. For information about Healing Garden contact JoAnn Simon at . At our Mitzvah Day Kerem Shalom provides hand-made gifts, healing lotions, teas, and potted winter bulbs to cheer the patients receiving services at Healing Garden.
Project Linus
Project Linus provides homemade blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need, through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.” Throughout the year and on Mitzvah Day, knitters create squares for blankets at home and in our “knitting nook” in the lobby. Pat Lukens assembles the squares into blankets. KS students also make fringed no-sew blankets at our School Mitzvah Day.