IX. College and Right Out of College

A. The Mitzvah Answer to Post-College Indecision: Avodah ($1,000)

Avodah provides a Jewish communal living arrangement for groups of post-college students who work for various agencies devoted to improving the lives of people in need.  In the Avodah houses, the students live in a Jewish atmosphere with a chance to study those Jewish texts that teach just why and how we do this thing called “Tikkun Olam – Fixing the World.”

Since Avodah was founded in 1998, there have been a total of 79 young adults who have taken part in this important program. Avodah continues to grow. A new houseful of young Jewish people in Washington, DC, has joined two other existing homes in New York, engaging 27 young people in special Mitzvah work, with 33 participants expected for the coming year.

Avodah’s founder, Rabbi David Rosenn, a former Ziv intern, chose the name wisely for this year-long experience  — Avodah. It means both “worship” and “work,” and in the name is the essence of the program: one way to worship is through rolling up your sleeves and doing Tikkun Olam. We join in Rabbi Rosenn’s vision of many Avodah houses throughout the United States — soon.

Our donation was used for repairs to one of the New York homes.

[Avodah, 443 Park Ave. South, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016, Attn: Rabbi David Rosenn, 212-545-7759, fax: 686-1353, mailto:info@avodah.net, http://www.avodah.net/. Washington contact information: 1101 14th St. 6th Fl., Washington, DC 20005-5639. Attn: Minna Scherlinder Morse, 202-842-4700, fax: 842-4151 avodahdc@att.net.]

B. Magic At Stanford ($1,000)

This summer, Stanford Hillel students will launch the third year of a marvelous camp, Camp Kesem. “Kesem” means “magic” and it is a magical experience, a week of fun at camp for children who have lost a parent to cancer or who currently have a parent diagnosed with the disease.  It is idealism-turned-real; it is, in our opinion, a living example of our Jewish values making a difference in the lives of so many people. Here is what one of the counselors wrote about her camp experience:

One of my campers told me on the last night of camp that her week there allowed her to realize that life goes on regardless of cancer. Her mom is sick with breast cancer, and much of her life is consumed with taking care of her younger brother and making sure that things around the house are taken care of. This is not something that a twelve-year-old should have to be concerned with. But what she told me on the last night is that her biggest fear in life had been relieved slightly by being at camp. After spending a week with kids whose parents have died of cancer, she was able to see that life goes on, and that whatever happens with her mom, she can still be a happy kid, have fun, and live her life. Although she is still afraid for her mom to die, she knows that if that happens, she has a loving community of peers and counselors who really care about her and will help her and the rest of her family through the hard time. I found this rather profound for a twelve-year-old, and it made me realize how much of an effect this week of camp has on these kids.

We are honored to be a part of their Mitzvah work.

[Camp Kesem, Hillel at Stanford, PO Box 20526, Stanford, CA 94309, 650-723-1603, fax: 725-8530, mailto:campkesem@yahoo.com, http://hillel.stanford.edu/kesemweb.]

C. Clothing Pantry On Campus ($300)

A few years ago, students in the Tzedek Hillel Program at Columbia University opened their Clothing Pantry. It provides Menschlich clothing for needy people referred by a local social service agency. We are impressed with the professional way this program is being conducted as well as the students’ recognition that everyone be treated with Kavod-Dignity. Our donation was used to purchase shelving and other display equipment.

[Hillel at Columbia University and Barnard College, Attn: Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, The Kraft Center, 606 W. 115th Street, NY, NY  10025, 212-854-5111, jcr40@columbia.edu.]

If you are in the New York area, we highly recommend getting involved in the Monday night soup kitchen run by the Hebrew Union College students. Torah study on the reality of just exactly what it means and is to be a poor person — and what to do about making a difference in the lives of poor people — is an integral part of this very impressive program.

[HUC-JIR Soup Kitchen, c/o Rabbi Aaron Panken, Brookdale Center, 1 W. 4th St., NY, NY 10012, 212-674-5300, apanken@huc.edu.]

For more college Mitzvah opportunities, contact Rich Moline, Director of Koach, at mailto:moline@uscj.org and Koach’s website at http://www.koach.org/, as well as the Tzedek Hillel website: www.tzedekhillel.org.