Tikkun Olam

Mishkan Shalom's Statement of Principles commits us to Avodah (Prayer), Torah (Study) and G'milut Hasadim/Tikkun Olam (Acts of Caring and Repair of the World).

"Through acts of caring and repair we seek to transform our world so that it reflects the divine values of justice and compassion."

The work of Tikkun Olam is central to our existence as a community and takes many forms: Mishkan-based committees and working groups and Mishkan members who lead our community's participation in the work of public organizations. If you are interested in Tikkum Olam activities but are not sure where you fit in, or are interested in Mishkan Shalom becoming active in something you don't see listed here, please contact our board of director's Tikkun Olam representative, David Love, to see what we can make happen.

[Image: Lithograph by Mordechai Rosenstein]

Committees and Working Groups

Immigrant and Refugee Rights Working Group

Contact:  Gail Bober
Join our listserv: Seth Horwitz

The Immigrant and Refugee Rights Working Group seeks to engage Mishkan as an institution and our individual members in the struggle for immigrant justice and refugee protection.  We do this through:

• Coordinating and building upon existing efforts as a member congregation of New Sanctuary Movement.
• Supporting HIAS PA/HIAS International, mobilization and interfaith initiatives that assist refugees, asylum seekers and those facing deportation.
• Acting as a clearinghouse and resource to provide information throughout the congregation with hands-on support activities, advocacy and direct action and protest.
• Educating ourselves and members of our congregation on immigrant and refugee rights, connecting our experience as Jews who fled persecution and oppression to the experience of today's immigrants and refugees.

Israel/Palestine Committee

Contacts: Rabbi Shawn Zevit or Marcy Boroff

Informed by our Statement of Principles, Israel-related programming at Mishkan Shalom evolves in relation to the needs and concerns of our community.

63rd Street Shelter

Coordinator: Rivka Jarosh

For over 25 years, every second Monday of the month, Mishkan Shalom school families and members have helped make hot meals for residents at the Eastern Delaware County Life Center at 63rd and Market Street. The center houses 50 people. Making food together as a family and delivering it to the shelter can be a rewarding experience for students. It can also provide high school students with volunteer hours for their school.

Interfaith Community Building Group and Urban Resource Development Group

Contact: Lance Laver

Members of Mishkan Shalom and St. Vincent de Paul Parish founded the Interfaith Community Building Group in 1997 and annually work collaboratively with other groups and people in under-resourced communities on their construction projects. The group has helped build or rebuild a burned African-American church in Mississippi; a community center, church, houses and latrines in El Salvador through Romero Interfaith Center and US-El Salvador Sister Citied; a post-Katrina church in New Orleans; post-Sandy church buildings in Rockaway Park, New York; and post-Maria houses in Puerto Rico. In addition, the ICBG has undertaken numerous Philadelphia projects, including a community Y, South Indian church, low-income housing with InnDwelling and the Urban Resources Development Corp., a mosque school, a women's shelter, and, for Mishkan Shalom, a pond and shelving for the library and vestibule/main sanctuary spaces.

Sustainable Mishkan

Contact:  Rabbi Shawn Zevit

Sustainable Mishkan members are interested in food justice, fair trade, animal welfare and sustainability. We are working to make Mishkan a more sustainable and environmentally aware synagogue. In 2017, we earned the Hazon Seal of Sustainability. We hope that you will help reconstitute our team.

Mishkan Shalom in the Community

Power

(Local and Statewide, part of Faith in Action, nationally)
Main issue areas: Climate Justice, Education Justice (Full, Fair, Funding), Live Free - Racial Justice, Economic Dignity, Civic Engagement and GOTV.

For more information, visit this page on our site: Mishkan and POWER and contact Sharon Weinman, Mishkan Power Core Team Chair.

Interfaith Peace Walk

Lance L, Peter H, Coordinators

“When I look into your face, I see the face of God” (Genesis 33:10)

2023 marked the final Interfaith Peace walk on May 5, 2023. Mishkan Shalom participates in the annual Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation, a walking dialogue among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Wiccans, and others. As participants share prayers, teachings, singing and fellowship, they affirm each other’s spiritual values. Check their website for current activities.

J.Proud Jewish Philly LGBTQ Consortium              

J.Proud is committed to working together as a collective agent of change to raise awareness, educate, and advocate for the diverse needs of the Jewish LGBTQ community while building relationships with allies in the Greater Philadelphia area. 

Family Promise Philadelphia

Family Promise Philadelphia seeks to prevent and end family homelessness in Philadelphia by mobilizing congregational volunteers and community resources to meet neighbor's emergency needs (shelter, food, and clothing); and by providing continued guidance and support to achieve self-sufficiency in affordable housing. Mishkan Shalom is a member. Family Promise promotes lasting solutions to homelessness by building relationships between caring volunteers and families who are homeless; and by advocating for public policies that support employment, access to education, and affordable housing opportunities.

Annual Shabbat Themes

- Jewish Disability Awareness Month; HIAS Immigration and Refugee Shabbat; Reproductive Rights Shabbat; Shoah Torah Shabbat; J-PROUD Shabbat; and more.

T'RUAH: Rabbis for Human Rights

The name T’ruah — one of the sounds of the shofar (ram’s horn) — calls us to take action to create a more just world and indicates our belief in the possibility of liberation. Mishkan participates in an Annual Human Rights Shabbat event, with internal and or outside guest speakers and liturgical and Torah-based engagement in the issue of Human Rights. View a recording of our December 4 2021 Service. See press coverage of a past Human Rights Shabbat.