PJTC Community News - February 2021
PURIM | THE DAY (Teen Leaders)
Purim is in FEBRUARY this year?! Well, at least the masked costumes will fit right in. You can even dress up your vehicle for our Purim CAR-nival, complete with clergy “dunk tank” raising tzedakah; LBSRS, USY and even preschool families can deliver mishloach manot (Purim gift bags, courtesy of Sisterhood!) to congregant doorsteps, dressed in costume for a friendly wave hello from a safe distance; and of course we’ll have a Megillah reading with time for a festive meal and kibitzing beforehand. I actually just finished filling out my Sisterhood Happy Purim donation, conveniently allowing me to send Purim greetings to all of you. If you’ve never participated in this wonderful initiative, THIS is the year. Check your email/snail mail for more info!
I also want to share how proud I am of our teen leaders for putting together a particularly creative Into The Day, our annual full day of Social Action/Tikkun Olam. We had 18 teenagers participate in this twelve hour day! A mix of online and outdoors, onscreen and off, in honor of MLK Day, these teens:
• Participated in a racial justice panel with Tzedek America, and watched “The Hate You Give” (award-winning YA novel recently adapted for film), discussing the film’s nuanced presentation of tensions between police and the communities they serve
• Went on a 5k walk/run near their own homes, taking care of their own bodies while raising pledges for canned food
• Discussed mental health awareness and coping skills with Mind Your Mind
• Learned about voting rights with special guest speakers from The Civic Center
• Created lawn signs with uplifting messages to bring smiles to passersby
• Visited congregant doorsteps to safely say hello and pick up canned goods for their food drive, then learned through playspent.org about the tough choices so many families have to make every day that lead to food insecurity.
Hundreds of items were collected for Foothill Unity’s Food Bank. Thank you for your support! Check out the photo with Facilities Manager Alex Beck, who had to move all the donations to the Lounge as our donation bins were full to capacity and the Amazon food donations just keep coming in!
By: Melissa Levy, Director of Congregational Engagement
