News

It's been a busy winter at Olam Chesed. 

Though we've been apart we've been working together on all sorts of learning and finding ways to connect with one another, our JCOGS community, and the communities we live in.  

We went down to Egypt with Joseph and his brothers in January, exploring the power of dreams and dreamt up our own cloaks of many colors. We hugged trees all around Vermont and then came together online to create sumptuous platters for Tu biShvat.

Then came Purim and we delved into the mitzvah of mishloach manot: the kids sent beautiful cards of appreciation to one another and families put together creative and delicious packages of goodies which they delivered to JCOGS members far and wide.  We also flipped for Rabbi David's challenge to celebrate the joy of Adar!  Scroll down a few posts to see all different stages of upside down!

As spring brings a sense of hope to the world we are diving deeply into the mitzvah of our most precious prayer, the Shema, and the concept of ahavah/love. Last week we made personal mezuzot out of a range of materials incorporating our own interpretations of the Shema inside.

 Our teens participated this past weekend in a wonderful online Seder focused on slavery in the  modern world.  Together with teens from Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington, Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury, and Kol Haemek/Upper Valley Jewish Community in Hanover, NH, they learned about migrant workers in Vermont while dipping their carpas, examined where their clothing came from, and contrasted the tragic conditions of textile workers in Bangladesh with the Triangle Shirtwaist fire as we tasted the maror, and discussed how and why to source our food reliably as we nibbled on fair trade chocolate.

 Families are helping with tikkun olam, too.  Pictured here, Ruby, Eliana, Ivy, and Steve spent a day during winter break making order of all the clothing donations we had received.  Thanks to their superb organizing (which involved a lot of laughing) now, when we get a call to help clothe our neighbors we know exactly where to go and what we've got.

Stay tuned for more ways to help, including volunteering with the new JCOGS Mitzvah Garden! Who knows? Maybe we'll have spuds for our latkes again this year! Click here for more information.
 

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