Posted on December 20, 2010
The Jewish Standard highlighted Yeshivat Noam’s chesed initiatives. Yeshivat Noam deserves to be recognized for their commitment to teaching chesed both within the school and Jewish community as well as outside the school community and in the general community. Chesed and communal involvement is one of the schools six guiding principles. The school weaves chesed into every aspect of the school community. Each grade has a chesed project woven into the curriculum, the newsletter features an ethical scenario that parents can discuss with their children and the students participate and volunteer for a wide array of community organizations. Throughout the year when you enter the school you have an opportunity to donate books, canned goods, crafts for children in the hospital, stuffed animals, school supplies, sports equipment and list goes on. The school community actively participates in UJA’s Mitzvah Day and throughout the year the school offers several opportunities for families to visit seniors and do other family friendly chesed opportunities together.
Areyvut is proud of our relationship with the school.
Last year with a grant from Targum Shlishi we launched a new Jewish teen philanthropy program called H.O.P.E. (Helping Organizations Provide Essentials) at the school. The participants studied Jewish sources on philanthropy, community needs, experienced the grant allocation process, volunteered at a local agency and distributed funds at a festive showcase.
The Mitzvah Clowns we have trained from Noam have helped the 3rd and 4th grades launch their chesed projects, participate in monthly visits to area senior centers and are recognized as leaders in the program by their peers, many of whom are older.
The Bnai Mitzvah and Chesed Fairs we have organized for the school have introduced the students and their families to community needs and have enabled them to get involved in the organizations and in impacting the community from a young age.
We continue to work with students and families from the school on Individual Bnai Mitzvah Consultations to add meaning to their Bnai Mitzvah celebrations and to ignite a lifelong passion for communal involvement and helping those in need.
We look forward to building on our relationship with the school and hope that other schools will follow the model that Yeshivat Noam has set.
