Areyvut - Bnai Mitzvah

	BNAI MITZVAH PROJECT IDEAS
		A Package from Home: A Package from Home offers the opportunity for Bnai Mitzvah to perform a mitzvah by helping the soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). By adopting an army unit of Chayelim Bodedim (soldiers with no family in Israel), each Chayal Boded will receive a care package filled with such as items as a t-shirt, anti fungal socks, snacks, candy, chocolates, toiletries and in the winter a two piece long underwear set, warm hat and gloves. A Bnai Mitzvah may include a letter with their invitation telling their guests about their project and/or ask guests to donate directly to A Package from Home, or the Bnai Mitzvah can decide to personally adopt an army unit. For additional information please send an e-mail to emess@netvision.net.il or visit them on the web at www.apackagefromhome.org/ Action for Post Soviet Jewry: This organization twins the Bar/Bat Mitzvah with a child from the former Soviet Union. The program raises awareness of needy children and people throughout the former Soviet Union. Information about background, interests and family as well as photos of the Bnai Mitzvah twins are exchanged. For information call 781-893-2331 or send an e-mail to ActionPSJ@aol.com or visit them on the web at www.actionpsj.org/twin.html. Alyn Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center: Located in Jerusalem, Alyn Hospital is a leader in the active and intensive rehabilitation for infants, children and adolescents. Alyn cares for Israel's citizens who daily face the challenges of living with physical handicaps that result from congenital disorders, or who struggle to regain "normalcy" after their lives have been shattered by the traumas of severe illness, accidents or terrorism. The American Friends of Alyn Hospital offers young people of all ages the opportunity to dedicate their mitzvah projects to benefit the special children at Alyn. Through sports-related "thons" that get sponsor support to donating unique centerpieces made up of art supplies they offer students the opportunity to learn the value of tzedakah , foster community involvement and encourage social awareness and responsibility. To learn more about how you can help participate contact American Friends of Alyn Hospital at 212-869-8085 or visit their website at www.alynus.org. AMIT: The AMIT Twinning Program allows a personal link between children in America and AMIT children. It enables your child to share the joy of celebrating with a less fortunate child in Israel while learning an important lesson in tzedakah. The cost of the program is $250. The money goes toward sponsoring an oneg Shabbat for the Israeli twin. The program encourages correspondence between the twins to help develop a relationship between the two celebrants. For information call the National AMIT office at 800-989-AMIT, 212-477-4720 or send an e-mail to info@amitchildren.org or ardie@amit.org.il. You can also visit them on the web at amitchildren.org/sup2f.asp. B'nai Tzedek Program: The Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF), in conjunction with the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Western Massachusetts (JEF), developed the B'nai Tzedek program to introduce b'nai mitzvah to the joys and pleasure of tzedakah. More specifically, B'nai Tzedek -- Hebrew for "children of justice" -- teaches teens about the value and rewards of philanthropy, and provides them with an exciting way to give and become involved with local Jewish organizations. The Four Objectives of B’nai Tzedek are: To help every Jewish teen in your community establish an endowment fund in their name. To provide Jewish teens with skills and knowledge in the area of Jewish sources on giving, financial literacy and modern philanthropy. To help Jewish teens establish relationships with Jewish organizations in your community and abroad. To offer the opportunity to network with other Jewish teens locally and nationally. The B'nai Tzedek program enables bar/bat mitzvah youth in Western Massachusetts to establish a $500 endowment. Each participant is asked to set aside $125 of the monies received as gifts. A $125 grant from JEF, and a $250 grant from HGF then matches this amount. With the sum total, $500, JEF establishes and manages an endowed fund in the teen's own name. Each year thereafter, as the anniversary of the bar or bat mitzvah approaches, the teen gets to recommend a distribution, 5% of the fund's current income, to a Jewish charity in Western MA. This fund grows over time as B'nai Tzedek members and their loved ones contribute additional amounts to the principal, and as fund growth over 5% (minus administrative costs) is added to the fund's balance. After 20 years, the fund becomes an asset of JEF. If the fund exceeds $1,000, it is converted to a permanent unrestricted endowment fund of the JEF of Western MA in the name of the original B'nai Tzedek donor. If the fund exceeds $10,000, it can be converted into a permanent restricted or philanthropic fund of the JEF, and the donor can continue to recommend distributions to any Jewish charitable organization, including organizations beyond Western Massachusetts. The program enables teens to perform tzedakah in an exciting and hands-on manner, and provides a wonderful opportunity for rabbis and educators to design curricula and other learning experiences for b'nai mitzvah and their families. To start a B'nai Tzedek program in your community, synagogue, or school, you'll need the following: An innovative philanthropist or group of philanthropists willing to match the monies contributed by participating teens and the endowment fund or foundation. A Jewish federation and/or federation endowment fund that is willing to establish and manage modest endowed philanthropic funds for participating teens. Rabbis and lay leaders who would like bar/bat mitzvah candidates and their families to participate in the program. The HGF can help you in several ways: Marketing Ideas: The HGF would be glad to show you attractive brochures, posters, and print ads they produced to promote this program in Western Massachusetts. When computer program compatibility allows, the HGF can share materials stored in their computer files, allowing you to customize them for your community, synagogue, or school at little or no cost. Technical Help: The HGF would be happy to provide you with sample documentation to establish this program, as well as correspondence to use with participating teens. They will also put you in touch with the appropriate individuals at the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Western Massachusetts to provide you with details about how the funds are administered. General Assistance: The HGF can tell you about some of the educational programming they did with teens on this project and put you in touch with other sites that have successfully adopted the program. For additional information please contact K'vod Wieder at 413-736-2070, ext. 14 or via e-mail at kvod@hgf.org or visit the HGF website at http://hgf.org/teen_philanthropy/teen_philanthropy.cfm. Chai Lifeline: Share the Simcha! is Chai Lifeline’s bar/bat mitzvah program which helps celebrants to understand the true meaning of becoming bar or bat mitzvah and the sense of responsibility and communal obligation the milestone confers. For more information e-mail bblock@chailifeline.org or call 877-465-1300. Children for Children: Children for Children (CFC) is a New York not-for-profit organization founded by parents to foster community involvement and social responsibility in young people. CFC's youth service and philanthropy programs include CFC's Celebrations Program, Children's Action Board, Book Programs, Special Events, and the Kids for Community database of NYC youth volunteer opportunities. These programs help students learn to volunteer and give from an early age and generate valuable resources for schools and teachers struggling to offer quality education to New York City's underserved communities. For more information contact Katie Flahive at 212-759-1462 or via e-mail at katie@childrenforchildren.org or you can visit them on the web at www.childrenforchildren.org. Commission on Social Action and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism: The Commission on Social Action and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism maintain a program bank which describes all types of social action programs. You can use the program bank to find ideas for projects and submit successful programs for others to emulate. For information call Rabbi Marla Feldman at 212-650-4160 or send an e-mail to csarj@urj.org or visit them on the web at www.rac.org/social/bank. Do Something: Do Something is a nationwide network of young people who know they can make a difference in their communities and take action to change the world around them. Do Something is all about your ideas, your solutions and your vision for a better community. As part of Do Something, you decide what you want to do to make things better and then Do Something gives you the resources and support to bring your unique vision to life. For more information write to mail@dosomething.org or visit www.dosomething.org. DOROT: DOROT works one-on-one with bnai mitzvah students for individualized chesed projects. Some project highlights include: Designing and printing or creating handmade birthday cards for DOROT's simcha project. DOROT mails out about 200 birthday cards a month to DOROT seniors. Recently one bat mitzvah girl had her friends make cards and small birthday gifts at her bat mitzvah party. Deliver birthday cakes to homebound seniors and help celebrate their special day. Perform a concert with your youth band over the phone to DOROT seniors. Donate your centerpieces to residents at DOROT's Homelessness Prevention Program. Organizing food and/or tzedakah drives. One bar mitzvah boy collected old computers from family and friends and donated them to DOROT seniors. The bar mitzvah boy also helped to install the computers and teach seniors how to use the computer. For more information about doing a project with DOROT please visit www.dorotusa.org or call them at 212-769-2850. Happy Birthday Foundation: This foundation helps children in homeless shelters have "happy" birthdays. The Bnai Mitzvah is able to contribute money that will go towards a birthday party for the children in a homeless shelter. For information contact 732-254-5914, write to bdayfoundation@aol.com or visit their website at www.birthdayfoundation.org. Hebrew Free Burial Association: As a family and child prepare for one of the happiest milestones in their lives as Jews, they have the opportunity to enhance the meaningfulness of their celebration by participating in acts of tzedakah. One of the most important Jewish precepts is charity towards the Jewish poor, not only while they are alive, but also when they die. Our Sages tell us that Chesed Shel Emet, providing the indigent with a Jewish burial, is the ultimate act of charity, since our service is unknown to the recipient and we will never hear a "thank you" from those we help. For over 100 years, the Hebrew Free Burial Association (HFBA) has taken on that responsibility for New York’s Jewish community and has engaged in performing acts of kindness for Jewish men, women, and children at the end of their lives. They have buried close to 60,000 poor Jews - babies who succumbed to childhood illnesses in the tenements of the Lower East Side, victims of horrible disasters and war, aged grandparents who outlived their children and savings. Each was given the same dignified and traditional burial we would want for our loved ones. The HFBA Bar/Bat Mitzvah Circle was established to encourage and acknowledge the participation of young adults in the mitzvah of burying the Jewish poor. Bnai Mitzvah can choose to make their own donations to further the work of burying the Jewish poor and /or can use their special day to encourage others to join the growing number of young people who have become supporters. In addition, they can choose to organize a group of family and friends to volunteer with clean-up projects at one of our cemeteries in Staten Island, New York. Whatever option is chosen helps the celebrant begin their "adult" years with a concrete, immediate commitment to "doing mitzvot" and their generosity reinforces the Jewish principle of responsibility for the less fortunate. In appreciation, HFBA sends them a framed certificate acknowledging their philanthropy and good deeds. For more information about this program please contact Amy Koplow at 212-239-1662 or via e-mail hebrewfreeba@aol.com. *The Hiddur Mitzvah* Project from the Gary Rosenthal Collection:** The concept of hiddur mitzvah, or “beautification of a commandment,” states that any Jewish ritual item required to fulfill a mitzvah be as aesthetically pleasing as possible to glorify G-d and his commandments. The Gary Rosenthal Collection is committed to helping others perform hiddur mitzvah through The Hiddur Mitzvah Project. Try to imagine how a bag of polished glass can become the beginning of a unique project that combines the concept of hiddur mitzvah with tzedakah. In using their customizable project ideas and a little imagination, this bag of glass allows for the possibility of several mitzvot using one simple program. In addition, this bag of glass is, literally, the start of a beautiful piece of sculpture. The mosaic you make from this bag of glass is sent back to the Gary Rosenthal Collection where it is melted at 1500 degrees and fused into a solid piece and mounted as an embellishment to your chosen piece of Gary Rosenthal Judaica. This is how a bag of glass can become a Jewish work of art. For additional information please contact Talya Levin via e-mail at talya@hiddurmitzvah.org, at 301-493-5577 or you can visit them on the web at http://hiddurmitzvah.org. Israel Special Kids Fund: Each year, Israel Special Kids Fund organizes bar/bat mitzvah celebrations for dozens of children who have serious illnesses and disabilities throughout Israel. All of the arrangements are taken care of by Israel Special Kids Fund who join with the celebrant for the synagogue service. The cost per celebration is over $1,000, but sponsorships are available from $250 and up. For information please contact them at 212-268-2577 or via e-mail at IsraelSpecialKid@aol.com. Jewish Foundation for the Righteous: The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous strives to support righteous gentiles who risked their lives for Jews during the Holocaust. It gives the Bnai Mitzvah an opportunity to learn about and support people who sacrificed themselves for Jews and are now in need. The JFR twinning program allows a Bnai Mitzvah to share their simcha with a righteous gentile. The program has three different options that the Bnai Mitzvah can choose; they are outlined on the organization's website (www.jfr.org/content/default.asp?artid=212). Jewish National Fund (JNF): A Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration is one of the most joyous occasions in a child's and his/her family's life. Jewish National Fund (JNF) offers a meaningful and memorable way to celebrate this milestone. By incorporating JNF tree certificates into the simcha, the child and family celebrate while doing a mitzvah. Through JNF's Bar/Bat Mitzvah & Simcha Program, JNF offers its personalized tree certificates as one-of-a-kind invitations, favors, table signs, or acknowledgements for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration. Each certificate represents a tree planted in Israel in honor of the simcha and the guests. The attractive, affordable, (tax deductible,) certificates help beautify Israel and make the child and guests feel honored. They connect the child with the homeland of Israel and the cycle of life and nature that is so vital to the Jewish tradition. For more information about JNF's Bar/Bat Mitzvah & Simcha call 800-700-1312 or visit http://www.jnf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Simcha. Keren Or, Inc.: Keren Or’s Teen-to-Teen bar/bat mitzvah twinning program pairs pre-teen children in the United States with their multi-disabled blind Israeli peers at Keren Or. A biography and photograph of a Keren Or student who is about to become bar or bat mitzvah is provided. The blind or very low versioned students at Keren Or’s center in Jerusalem suffer from additional serious disabilities which make every developmental milestone, from sitting to self-feeding to learning to read, major challenges in their lives. Teen-to-Teen encourages participants to share their upcoming celebrations with the "twin" whose bar or bat mitzvah will be a very different experience. By learning more about the lives of children with disabilities in a personalized way, participants internalize the importance of the mitzvot of giving tzedakah and doing chesed and begin a life-long commitment to the greater Jewish community. For more information call the Keren Or office at 212 279-4070, or via e-mail at info@keren-or.org or visit them on the web at www.keren-or.org . The Kindness Clearinghouse: "The Kindness Clearinghouse" produces a weekly e-mail with descriptions of chesed projects from Jews of all religious backgrounds throughout the world. These ideas may by helpful in thinking of a meaningful project to incorporate into your celebration. To sign up for "The Kindness Clearinghouse" please visit www.traditionofkindness.org/subscribe.php. MACHAR: Rabbi Moses Maimonides taught that the highest degree of tzedakah is a gift, loan, or partnership that enables another to become self-sufficient. When you deposit money in a community development credit union, you become a partner with people in a low-income community. Community development credit unions (CDCUs) serve areas that most banks ignore. They provide the basic financial services you take for granted--checking and savings, ATMs, loans; the things that make financial security possible and the things that help people earn and use their money. When you deposit money in a CDCU, you earn interest and save for college. Meanwhile, your money goes to work in a neighborhood in the form of loans. People borrow from the credit union to start or expand a business, to purchase or furnish a home, to go to college, to purchase energy-efficient appliances, and to meet the many other needs for which people use a bank. Through THE MAIMONIDES PROJECT, Bnai Mitzvah have the chance to use some of their gifts to save for college and become a partner in the economic revitalization of a community at the same time! Here is how it works: You join the Bethex Federal Credit Union (www.bethexfcu.org) located in the Bronx; make a deposit of at least $500 in an interest-bearing account; and agree to keep the money in the account until you graduate high school. (You can add money at any time.) Each year, you and your parents participate in three programs. One is a meeting in the community where the credit union is located, to see what "your money" is doing and to meet people in the neighborhood. The other programs focus on financial management skills, and on Jewish values connected with wealth, tzedakah, and social responsibility. MACHAR charges a one-time fee of $25 for participants and provides them with educational materials in print and on the web. For information please contact Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett at jon@machar.net. You can also visit the MACHAR website at machar.net/maimonides.html. Magen David Adom USA: Magen David Adom USA has been in existence since 1956 supporting MDA Israel in their needs for medical supplies and equipment, ambulances, blood services supplies, training paramedics and volunteers. They also support MDA in any emerging needs they may have such as armored vehicles, rehabbing First Aid Centers throughout Israel and creating exchange programs for staff and volunteers. Since the current round of violence began in Israel in September 2000, young people all over the United States have begun to think more about helping the people of Israel in new and unique ways. Bnai Mitzvah celebrants can assist MDA in a number of ways and raise awareness of the humanitarian needs of the people of Israel. By contacting our office we will tailor a program to meet your interests. Some of the programs celebrants have developed and already in place can be viewed at: Bears For Life: www.magendavidadom.org/bearsforlife.asp Ross Fayne: www.magendavidadom.org/ourfriends44.asp US Israel Flag Pins: www.magendavidadom.org/ourfriends16.asp If you have an idea or want additional information please contact MDA USA toll free at 866-583-8539 ask for Co-Executive Directors Gary Kenzer (ext. 11) and George Lennon (ext. 13) or visit their website at www.magendavidadom.org. MAZON: There is a tradition that teaches us to deepen our happiness by sharing joyous celebrations with those in need. It is especially appropriate to do so on the day of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, when a child becomes an adult accepting responsibility for fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah. On the day you celebrate your Bar or Bat Mitzvah, millions of children in America and around the world will go hungry, as they do every day. That tragedy - and the happiness of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah - represent the joys and sorrows of life. Both need your family's attention. In the spirit of our Jewish tradition, please consider giving 3% of the cost of your celebration to MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Make your Bar or Bat Mitzvah day even more special by providing food and other help, through MAZON, to poor families everywhere. You will enrich their lives -and your own. MAZON table cards are an easy, unobtrusive way to tell your guests that you are sharing your Bar or Bat Mitzvah with those in need. For information call 310-442-0020 or visit the website at www.mazon.org/pages/barmitzvah.html. Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty: The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty provides crisis intervention, counseling, kosher food distribution, career services, housing, furniture, clothing, home care, family violence prevention and home repair services to those in need. They can tailor a chesed project specifically for you for your Bar/ Bat Mitzvah. Volunteer opportunities include friendly visiting to frail seniors, food packaging and distribution and phone calls to the sick. For more information contact Shelley Sackel via e-mail at ssackel@metcouncil.org, at 212-453-9619 or visit their website at www.metcouncil.org. North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ): By participating in the twinning program you can give important assistance to Ethiopian youngsters in Israel. When you join the program, you'll make a gift to your twin's class in Israel. These gifts will not just help your twin, but many other Ethiopian boys and girls. Your gifts can buy books, computer programs or other educational materials. They can enable Ethiopian youngsters to go on school trips with their classmates that they would otherwise be unable to afford. Your gift can also help provide a group Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration. Without your help, all these things may be impossible dreams! For information call 212-233-5200, send an e-mail to nacoej@nacoej.org or visit their website at www.nacoej.org. Ohel: For a precious child or young adult in OHEL the joy of celebrating a simcha can be overshadowed by the memories of being neglected or abused. These children depend on OHEL and concerned and sensitive members of the community to give them what every child needs. OHEL's Simcha Fund is designed to enable people to create a simcha for a child in need. Additionally, you can give personalized items for children in OHEL's care. You will be provided with a list of their first names and based on that list you can make personalized gifts for OHEL's children. Alternatively, you can have centerpieces that will be given as gifts for children at OHEL. For more information please contact Deena Fogel at 718-686-3103 or via e-mail at deena_fogel@ohelfamily.org or visit their website at www.ohelfamily.org. Orr Shalom: Orr Shalom serves as a safe haven for Israel's abused and neglected children by providing residential and therapeutic services to more than 350 children ages 5-18 that have been removed from their biological families by social services or the courts. You can donate tzedakah that can improve kids' lives and make them feel "normal." Your help will provide such things as additional hours of therapy, new clothing, a school trip or perhaps something new for their room. You can also sponsor a special Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration to a deserving teen at Orr Shalom. The teen you sponsor will enjoy a special celebration in their honor, the fun of shopping for special clothes and it will give them support from people who care about them. To learn more and/or to participate in their tzedakah program call Lynn Berney at 212-672-5169, via e-mail at lberney@orr-shalom.org or visit their website at www.orr-shalom.org.il. Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel: Medical Development for Israel (MDI) supports Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, the only hospital in Israel and the Middle East dedicated exclusively to the healthcare of all children. MDI’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program has been designed specifically for American bnai mitzvah students and offers them the unique opportunity to develop a real and meaningful connection with Israel through its children in the spirit of tzedakah. Children can work on projects to support the hospital, and be instrumental in saving the lives of children in Israel. Students will have the option of supporting a specific project at the hospital including computers, toys, art supplies, hospital clowns and other projects that will benefit the children, or they can choose to support the general needs of the hospital. Participants in the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program will have their name inscribed in a Roll of Honor Book kept permanently at the hospital. For more information, and to get a complete Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program Guide, please contact Tani Schwartz at 800-556-5327 or mitzvah@mdinyc.org or visit their website at www.mdinyc.org. *Seventh Grade Tzedakah* Project:** The Seventh Grade Tzedakah Project (SGTP) is an educationally based philanthropy project planned in conjunction with Bnai Mitzvot. Recognizing the often-magical time of entering Jewish adulthood and the material wealth that often accompanies this time, the SGTP guides each Bnai Mitzvah student to enter the Jewish adult world philanthropically minded. The hands on educational program allows students to connect with non profit agencies, meet with local philanthropists to learn about personal and social responsibility and learn the how's and why's of the philanthropic world. Students learn to leverage and allocate funds, learn to cooperate as a board of directors and most importantly students are empowered to change the world. Within day schools, The Seventh Grade Tzedakah Project is an inter-departmental collaboration woven into the classroom by incorporating English and social studies, Judaic Studies, and Technology course standards into the academic requirements of the project, thus uniquely weaving Jewish values with secular education. In congregational schools, the SGTP is woven into general course work and also into the Bnai mitzvot requirements. For more information on setting up a Seventh Grade Tzedakah Project at your day school or synagogue, contact Sue Schwartzman at TzedakahSue@aol.com. Soaringwords: Soaringwords is a non-profit organization devoted to helping ill children and their families heal. Soaringwords embraces ill children in hospitals throughout America and Israel to inspire them to "never give up." You can put fun and added significance into your bar or bat mitzvah celebration with innovative and imaginative Soaringwords programs. Soaringwords social action activities can be enjoyed at the party or as a separate mitzvah project with friends or your entire class. You will receive a thank you letter from the hospitals and a photo showing patients and families enjoying the gifts that you made. Below are examples of Soaringwords bar and bat mitzvah activities: SoaringQuilts and Pillows are decorated by children, teens and adult guests with artwork and hand written messages. The quilts and pillows are donated to ill children in local hospitals and hospitals throughout Israel. SoaringMurals are created prior to the celebration either in school or after-school. The finished murals are displayed at the celebration and then sent to local and/or Israeli hospitals. Create SoaringHats, SoaringT-shirts and SoaringMessages. Soaringwords can help you integrate your community service project into the bar and bat mitzvah invitations and into your Dvar Torah/speech. For more information please call 212-290-SOAR, send an e-mail to mailto:heal@soaringwords.org or visit them on the web at http://www.soaringwords.org. The Jewish Fund for Justice's Youth Endowment Fund Program: Educates young people about the injustice of poverty in America and enables them to act on the Jewish values of tzedakah and tikkun olam. A Youth Endowment Fund can be established by a family member or friend seeking to honor a special young person at a significant time in life--e.g. birth or Bar/Bat Mitzvah). Or a young person can establish the fund as part of the ritual celebration of the special occasion. Funds are created with a minimum contribution of $1000, plus a one-time administrative fee of $100. Once a year the Jewish Fund for Justice presents to the YEF honorees descriptions of community-based organizations that organize low-income youth to address problems confronting their neighborhoods. The honorees choose an organization that will receive the interest from the Youth Endowment Funds. Through the process the honorees learn about and support young people acting as leaders and making a difference in their communities. They learn the value of activism and thoughtful philanthropy. For more information visit the Jewish Fund for Justice website at www.jfjustice.org or contact Aaron Dorfman at 212-213-2113, ext. 62 or aaron@jfjustice.org. The World Repair Company: They believe that today's youth are a powerful force in changing the world to make it a better place. The World Repair Company is a youth-run organization that disperses money to selected causes around the world. Youths become part of The World Repair Company when they buy, or someone gives them, at least one share of stock, for $18. The more shares they own, the more votes they have. For information contact Louis Berlin at 305-778-7971, via e-mail at louis@worldrepair.net or visit their website at www.worldrepair.net. Tzedakah, Inc.: Mark your bar/bat mitzvah celebration with the mitzvah of tzedakah by giving on-line to one of over 70 charities, by getting a Giving Certificate™, Giving on Schedule™ or by signing up for the Giving Registry™. For information on these programs please visit the following links on their website: General information Contributions Giving Certificate Giving Registry Giving on Schedule UJA Federation of Bergen County: This website has a variety of Ethiopian, Holocaust, Israel and righteous gentile twinning programs. For information visit their website at www.jewishbergen.org/rlife/#twinning. Yad Sarah: Yad Sarah provides free or low cost services to help the frail and the disabled as well as victims of terror, children with special needs and homebound older adults in Israel. Though Yad Sarah is best known for lending medical equipment such as wheelchairs and oxygen machines, its volunteers also drive the injured to medical appointments, help adults and children function independently in our day centers, provide in-home geriatric dental care and advocate for victims of elder abuse. With 6,000 volunteers in 102 locations, Yad Sarah is Israel's largest volunteer-staffed organization. You can help: Sponsor a child and his/her family for a year in Yad Sarah's Play Center. Enable children with special needs to learn and play in a safe environment and to visit Yad Sarah's unique Toy Library. Design and create holiday or birthday cards for homebound older adults in Israel through Yad Sarah's 15 Homebound Projects Centers. You choose the region in Israel for Yad Sarah volunteers to share your cards. Adopt a client in the Day Rehabilitation Center. Help children and adults learn to be independent once again. Bring support and comfort to an isolated older person with the installation of an emergency alarm system. Organize an equipment drive in your community and collect used wheelchairs, walkers and other items for use in Israel. Dedicate a wheelchair, walker or an oxygen machine. Invest in medical equipment to help children (and families) such as infant scales, baby car seats, lower arm crutches and reclining bath chairs. Volunteers will lend this equipment; your gift can reach people in Israel over and over. For more information contact Yad Sarah at 212-223-7758 or 866-YAD-SARAH, via e-mail at yadsarahny@earthlink.net or visit them on the web at www.yadsarah.org. *Ziv Tzedeka* Fund:** The Ziv website (http://ziv.org/BarBat.htm) has a variety of additional suggestions and ideas for Bar/Bat mitzvah tzedekah projects. Additional Ideas: In addition to the ideas, organizations and projects mentioned above you may want to consider some of the suggestions listed below. All of these ideas can be developed further. Adopt a Grandparent: Go shopping with them, talk with them, read to them, etc. Blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana for the elderly or sick. Book Drive: Organize a book drive. Calling: Call someone (once a week) who has no one else to call. Centerpieces can be made out of items that can be donated (plants, toys, CD's, books). Clothing Drive: Help coordinate a clothing drive. Collect Money: Collect money for the tzedakah of your choice. Donate food to a less fortunate family for Rosh Hashana, Purim or Pesach or on a regular basis. Donate the flowers on the bima used during the service to a shelter or hospital. Environmental Friendliness: Address issues that relate to the environment such as how much paper is used, how much is recycled and raise people's consciousness of ecological concerns. Get your school, synagogue or youth group involved in a project to raise awareness in the 3 R's-Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. Food Drive: Help coordinate a food drive to help the homeless or volunteer at a local food pantry. Give away a certain percentage of the total amount you received in gifts. Have a tree planted in Israel in honor of each guest or each table. The Jewish National Fund (www.jnf.org) should be able to help you in this regard. Have everyone that attends the celebration bring something to donate (books, clothes, toiletries, toys, etc.). In addition to a party, you and your friends can go and volunteer your time to service your community. Invite elderly people from a local retirement home to come and join you for your service and celebration. Learn to juggle or do magic and perform for a hospital, retirement home or for disabled people. Learning/Teaching/Tutoring: Learn with someone who wouldn't normally learn. Teach your family & friends. Tutor a friend or neighbor in a subject that you are an "expert" in. Leftover Food: Consider donating the leftover food to a food pantry or homeless shelter. Minyan: Upon becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah decide to attend minyan regularly especially on Sunday mornings, national holidays, at shiva houses, etc. Along similar lines you can volunteer to lain or to be shaliach tzibbur. Nursing Home/Hospital: Visit a nursing home or hospital weekly or monthly. Organize a program for your synagogue where they give a tzedakah box to each bar/bat mitzvah. Pick a mitzvah: Choose one mitzvah & learn everything there is to know about it. Keep that mitzvah to the best of your ability & encourage others to do the same. Reading: Read to people who have difficulty seeing. Tehillim: Organize the recitation of Tehillim for sick people. Volunteer: Help an organization from your home or their office in whatever way you can. If you have not found something on this list that interests you and would like to find a personal and fulfilling chesed and tzedakah project to mark your bar or bat mitzvah please contact the Areyvut office at 212-813-2950 or via e-mail at daniel@areyvut.org to help tailor make something that meets your needs.