HomeCity NewsTemple Sinai Students Put Charity Teachings Into Practice

Temple Sinai Students Put Charity Teachings Into Practice

First published in the Dec. 3 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.

Jewish religious school students across the Foothills communities of Glendale, Pasadena, La Cañada, Burbank and beyond recently came together at Temple Sinai of Glendale to act on the Jewish traditions of charitable giving (“Tzedakah”) and doing good deeds (“Mitzvah”).
At Temple Sinai’s Tzedakah Fair, students met with representatives from six local charities: Autism Speaks, ChapCare, FosterAll, Inclusion Matters, TreePeople and YWCA. After learning about the important work that each organization does, the students returned to their classrooms to discuss which causes they personally felt most strongly about. Each class then selected two charities to be the recipients of the weekly donation money that the children bring to school on Sundays.
Two weeks later, the students got to perform good deeds of their own as part of Temple Sinai’s annual Mitzvah Day. Kindergarten through 4th grade classes made welcome cards and assembled school backpacks for refugee children. In the temple kitchen, the 5th grade class cooked an Asian-inspired meal that was delivered to individuals at a local homeless shelter. And the 6th- and 7th-graders made comfort cards and put together gift packages for children undergoing lifesaving medical treatment at L.A. Children’s Hospital.
One student was surprised to learn that the poem etched on the Statue of Liberty with the famous line, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” was written by Jewish author and advocate, Emma Lazarus.
Temple Sinai of Glendale, founded in 1928, is the Foothill community’s inclusive, socially active Reform Jewish synagogue. It offers Judaic education and Hebrew school and is now enrolling free kindergarten.

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