As the chair of the Social Action and Advocacy Committee, Bob Band’s goal is to make this committee active and responsive. The committee will be soliciting feedback so it can tailor its efforts to meet the needs of the congregation and the community. Everyone is invited and encouraged to be part of the committee, whether by promoting hands-on projects locally, formulating positions on key issues and bringing them to the Board for action, disseminating information on key global and local issues, telling stories about individual members' involvement in social causes, hosting speakers on key issues, or Mitzvah Day. If you are interested in learning more about the vision for the Social Action and Advocacy Committee and how each person can help, contact Bob Band.

The Social Action chairs from Miami's six reform Jewish congregations, including Temple Judea, have agreed to work jointly to advance one major initiative each year. This year that initiative is public education. We have adopted a school from Miami-Dade’s School Improvement Zone and are helping its principal, teachers and students raise the school's performance level.

This project offers many ways for our collective temple members to participate, be it tutoring and mentoring, school and local beautification projects, field trips and speakers, book and supply campaigns, specific fund raising projects, and general support of the on-going needs of the students, teachers, and the principal. By teaming up, we hope to deliver enough human and financial resources to make a major difference at the school.

Temple Judea is proud to present Project Step-Up. We have adopted Toussaint L'Ouverture Elementary School in Little Haiti . Click here for more information. Click here to find out what you can do and to see the school's Wish List of Needs. To volunteer for this project, contact Julie Simon.

• Volunteers are needed for in-class help with children at Toussaint L’Ouverture. If you have 1-2 hours to give, please consider assisting the teachers – no experience necessary. We have a wonderful opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of a group of children and their families. If you’ve always wanted to see where your tzedakah efforts go, here’s a perfect opportunity. Please – Step-Up to the plate and get involved. Contact Julie Simon or Sharon Goldman.

The Social Action Committee will continue to focus on educating and raising awareness on the atrocities occurring in Darfur. Click here for information on the situation.  For more information on Darfur, go to www.savedarfur.org.

As we look to right the wrongs we have committed in the past year, we must ask ourselves if we have committed the sin of silence on the genocidal crisis in Darfur, Sudan. We at Temple Judea are raising our collective voices and NEED YOUR URGENT HELP. The best way for concerned citizens to compel their elected officials to head off this humanitarian crisis is to call them and write to them with individually composed letters.