All week, we have shared Ava Zeidler’s account of her time in Israel thanks to the Young Judea Course Israel Gap Year, sponsored in part by Wise’s Tikkun Olam Leadership Scholarship.
Over the course of my long tenure at Stephen Wise Temple, I’ve endeavored to put tikkun olam at the center of our congregation’s vision. As a Reform congregation, we’ve inherited the legacy of a Jewish movement that seeks to turn the core mission of Jewish identity into the task of fashioning a world that holds all human beings with dignity and compassion. In our reading of Jewish texts and the lessons we gather from Jewish history, we’ve come to understand that the survival of our people is not only a precious gift that we’ve inherited from the tenacious commitment of our ancestors but also a legacy that compels us to act in the world.
A robust understanding of tikkun olam first and foremost places the well-being of our own people at the center. Hence the Center for Tikkun Olam works with partners to challenge antisemitism when it surfaces in our world as well as support Israel and world Jewry. We’ve also learned that active engagement in the well-being of others serves to secure our own future as well as that of those we serve. Whether through inter-faith work with congregations of color, our literacy program called Wise Readers to Leaders (serving LAUSD students), our advocacy for policies that protect the most vulnerable, or our donations to refugees across the globe, our position front and center as Jews helping to repair our broken world asserts the Jewish vision for a just and fair world.
The Tikkun Olam Leadership Scholarship offered to young adults who are Wise members seeks to engage more young people in realizing this grand Jewish vision. Through their work, they come to understand the depth and breadth of Jewish communal engagement and the true meaning of tikkun olam. It is at the core of who we are as Reform Jews and ultimately it is the best expression of our humanity.
— Rabbi Ron Stern