Tikkun Olam in the New Year

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January 7, 2021

The start of the New Year can mean something different for everyone. For some, the New Year is a chance to reset and create new goals for the year. For others, January 1st may just be any other day. Regardless of your New Year’s practices, it’s always a good time to establish your commitment to repairing the world. Below are some resources and program ideas covering a wide array of topics to support you and your community’s tikkun olam efforts throughout January and February:

January: Mark MLK Jr. Day and Focus on Racial Justice

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day coming up on January 18, you may find yourself wanting to take some time to center issues of racial justice with your community, commemorating Dr. King’s work and legacy. Explore the following resources and program ideas to continue important conversations and actions supporting racial justice throughout January and beyond.

Turn the Tables: Host an MLK Jr. Day Shabbat Dinner, a guided meal to honor MLK Jr and relate his work to today’s world. Use this education guide, which examines racial equality in a pandemic, to learn and reflect as a basis for action, then refer to this list of next steps your community can use to commit to ongoing anti-racist work. Repair the World also has many other resources to guide and inspire your learning and action.
Get Involved: Volunteer with a local organization doing racial justice work in your community, or check out Repair the World’s virtual and in person volunteer opportunities. Gather a group to get out and get involved, and explore other resources (like Repair the World’s reflection resources for service work) to help ground and frame your volunteering.
Learn & Do: Revisit Moishe House’s Antiracism resources, which are packed full of not only guides, readings, films, and podcasts, but also tons of corresponding program ideas that may inspire your community. Gather a group to read, watch, listen, learn, discuss, and do.

February: Focus on Mental & Physical Health and Wellness

Self-care and community care are core practices in the pursuit of justice. It’s important to not only take care of oneself to avoid burnout, it is also crucial (and very Jewish) to participate in individual acts that benefit the broader community. There are several events and opportunities via other organizations to help focus on these important topics in February:

Cocktails and Mocktails with Sharsheret for World Cancer Day: World Cancer Day is on February 4th and a chance to bring your community together for a Sharsheret mixology program, in-person or virtually. Make pink and teal cocktails and mocktails while learning about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risks, measures you can take to protect your health, and the impact of these cancers on Jewish communities. You hire a mixologist, provide the materials for your community, and our partners at Sharsheret will help with the rest! Apply for the Sharsheret Partnership Program Grant here for an extra $50 and access to Sharsheret’s resources.
Register with Gift of Life: Hosting a Gift of Life swab drive is a great way to achieve your tikkun olam program goals by registering yourself and your community members as potential bone marrow donors. Send your community members this link to request a swab kit in advance of your program, making sure you allow enough time for the kits to arrive. Along with taking saliva samples for the registry, you can discuss the Jewish value of pikuach nefesh (preservation of life) and how this manifests in the Jewish community. A Gift of Life swab drive is a great addition to a program you’ve already planned, or can be a standalone program.
Focus on Mental Health: 2020 was without a doubt a year full of uncertainty and stress, so take the beginning of 2021 to set intentions for yourself with your community. Come together in gratitude and recount 2020 through your senses. This recent Moishe House article has prompts to guide your community in gratitude practices and ideas for how to bring gratitude into the new year. Please also note, if you or a community member need mental health support, please refer to this Mental Health resource list to find conversation starters, crisis hotlines, and more.

More for February: Interfaith Work

World Interfaith Harmony Week, February 1-7, provides a platform for interfaith groups to show the power and impact of interfaith work. At Moishe House, we see how interfaith programs can connect individuals and communities in unique ways: sharing about your Jewish experience can help illuminate and deepen your own identity, as can learning about other peoples’ experiences. Building interfaith and inter-community relationships can be personally meaningful tikkun olam work, emphasizing understanding and interpersonal connections. Here are a few examples of 2020 programs for your inspiration:

Moishe House London Kilburn – Late Night Festive Feasting: MH London Kilburn organized a virtual celebration of the winter festivals of different religious traditions: Hanukkah, Christmas and Diwali. Through a panel discussion with members coming from different religious backgrounds, they talked about how the celebrations are marked and learned about the many similarities and differences between them.
Moishe House Prague – Interfaith Shabbat Dinner (pictured right): In March, MH Prague created an interfaith Shabbat dinner partnered with members from the Hindu community in Prague. They gathered over a meal to discuss interfaith communication and respective traditions and practices.
Moishe House Barcelona – Virtual Interreligious Talk: MH Barcelona learned about and discussed stereotypes of Muslims in film and tv, led by local professionals and experts in the field.

+ - Financial Resources for your Tikkun Olam Programs

The Tikkun Olam Enhancement Opportunity is designed to support tikkun olam programming and facilitate pathways for long term engagement with a topic your community is passionate about. Houses, Pods, and MHWOW hosts can apply for up to $50 per program to be used on things like: speakers/educators, space rental, or other special supplies. Find the application and more information here.
The Grassroots Interfaith Grant encourages interfaith programs, providing up to $100 to any House or Pod resident or MHWOW host living in Europe or the FSU. See this guide for more information and apply here at least 2 weeks before your planned program.
The Sharsheret Partnership Grant, available only in February, supports programs that educate about breast and/or ovarian cancer. Apply here for an additional $50 to host a Pink or Teal Shabbat or related program.