Doing the Right Thing: Tzeddakah 

Tzeddakah is the traditional Jewish commitment to justice and righteousness. Or Chadash Religious School has a tzeddakah program that involves all of our students in local community activities. We teach our students how to identify needs in the community, how to collect resources and how to distribute them to those that can benefit. We hope that in the following ways, the students will be inspired throughout their lives to try to do what is right:

 

Classroom Tzeddakah: Tzeddakah money is collected in our Judaica classes on Sundays and on Thursdays. At the end of the year the class votes on where or how the money should be donated. In past years, money has been donated to organizations like the Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties, the Union for Reform Judaism, the New Israel Fund, and Mazon.

 

School wide Programs: Samples of recent programs have included our Sukkot Mitten Mitzvah when children were asked to bring a pair of mittens or gloves to decorate the Sukkah; collecting books in November for Jewish Book Month; collecting Arts and Crafts supplies for Darts Mill Day Care Center, creating artwork for the Central New Jersey Jewish Home for the Aged.

 

Mitzvah Project: This program is designed to help our b’nai mitzvah students develop an understanding of mitzvot, the sacred commandments of Judaism that guide our behavior. Some examples of the mitzvot our students have performed as a class include helping out at holiday celebrations and collecting art supplies for needy children; donating time at the Flemington Food Pantry and Dart’s Mill Day Care Center; participating in school fund raisers; collecting supplies for a local animal shelter; collecting baby clothing and videos/music for the local Family Promise homeless network; and collecting novels for a kibbutz in Israel.