United Synagogue Gemilut Hesed Project Creates Volunteer Opportunities for Visitors to Israel

Gemilut Hesed and Tikun Olam projects are not new activities at the USCJ’s Shirley and Jacob Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center. Indeed, for participants in the NATIV year-long program in Israel and for students at the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva, volunteer projects are an intrinsic part of their weekly activities. Moreover, United Synagogue Youth groups coming to Israel for Summer Pilgrimage and other activities have engaged in tzedakah projects every year since 1976.

Still, according to Rabbi Jim Lebeau, Director of the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, many visitors from North America continue to ask, “What can I do?”

The Lipson Schilit family of Rockville, Maryland, members of B’nai Israel in Rockville, have been visiting the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center for years. Learning that visitors were inquiring about volunteer opportunities – and wanting themselves to do something more for the Center and for the people of Israel -- Diane Lipson Schilit decided to initiate and fund a project to expand such opportunities and to encourage visitors to do volunteer work in Israel.

“I was active in USY,” notes Ms. Lipson Schilit. “Every summer, the groups come through and they have important things to do. This new project takes the idea that has been in place for youth groups and integrates it into a program that includes any visitor, adults as well as families. It’s not just for the kids.”

With this new project, opportunities will be expanded so that visitors to Israel, whether individuals, families or congregational groups, will have a choice of meaningful volunteer opportunities. Says Ms. Lipson Schilit: “I want the Jerusalem Center to be a place where people can come and find ways they can be of service during their visit to Israel -- a place to get connected.”

Hands-on opportunities include assisting with seniors; tutoring Ethiopian and Russian students; visiting nursing homes; assisting at Yad L’Kashish’s workshops for the elderly or helping at Yad Sarah, which provides medical equipment to those in need. There will also be opportunities for visitors to the Center to meet many of Israel’s Mitzvah Heroes (a term coined by Ziv Tzedakah Fund founder Danny Siegel), whether those who cook Shabbat meals or perform other important services, such as providing wedding dresses and other help to brides in need. It is hoped that after hearing their stories, the visitors themselves will want to volunteer some time to the organizations in question.

To access volunteer opportunities when in Israel, interested parties should call the Center, which also helps visitors with travel planning and provides a wide range of additional services. If planning ahead is not possible, visitors can drop in at the Center to find out about meaningful projects.

Rabbi Lebeau notes that this program will also expand the ongoing volunteer efforts of NATIV and Yeshiva students: “Right now, NATIV and the Yeshiva have many regular volunteer activities. However, we now look forward to developing relationships with more institutions and individuals. With a broader base of activities, we’ll be able to incorporate more experiences and options for our students,” he says.

To contact the Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center while in Israel, call 02-625-6386. E-mail the Center at Israel@uscj.org or visit the United Synagogue website learn more about the Center.