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Tikkun Olam: Repairing the World

Bikkur Cholim — Supporting the Sick and Caregivers

Can you take food to families who are in grief or caring for an ill family member? Maybe you can give rides to and from appointments? Or perhaps you could pay a visit to an ailing congregant, or phone to wish them well?

We'll take any help, big or small — whether it’s on a regular basis or just once in a blue moon.

Email Elizabeth Otto: elzbeth.otto@aim.com

Email Doris Fasbender: doris.fasbender@colorado.edu

The Sparks - Taking Collective Action

The Tikkun Olam Sparks is a vibrant group of Nevei Kodesh members coming together to make a positive impact and inspire others to participate in repairing the world.

Group meetings are monthly on Zoom and open to all members. Currently, "the Sparks" are most active on climate change and anti-racism issues. Other potential activities are described under the Possibilities link.

For details on meetings, or more information, please contact Reggie Gray: rbginboulder@comcast.net

Climate

Anti-racism

Possibilities

Climate Sparks

Our group efforts emerged in fall 2021 from community member discussions during a virtual CNK Climate Action event organized by the Climate Sparks. If you would like to contribute to these and other climate efforts, contact Reggie Gray.

Climate Talk: A multi-part discussion group where congregants and community members come together and learn more about climate change through reading and discussion. For our first sessions, we are reading "All We Can Save," by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katherine K. Wilkinson (available from Kizzy’s Books). We discuss two sections of the book in each monthly 90-minute session (see the NK Calendar for schedule).Climate Talk is led by David Simon, Lynn Stein, Kathleen Sands, and Avi Edwards. Click here to get involved. (David Simon Email)
Climate Giving: This team spearheads the donation of funds to organizations working to protect Earth's climate. Donations to climate-focused groups are one of the most powerful and effective ways for the layperson to respond to the climate crisis, so we identify target organizations and mobilize donation efforts to those organizations. Click here to see the organizations recommended by the Climate Giving Team
The Climate Giving Team is: Avi Edwards, Elizabeth Otto , Zhenya Gallon. Contact Zhenya with questions or to get involved.
Climate Action: This group’s aims are ensuring that CNK has a proactive focus on climate, and encouraging individual actions. Led by Mary Fulton and Jeff Skovron.

Anti-Racism Group

We work to keep anti-racism issues front and center in the CNK community. Activities include promoting and attending trainings and convening NK discussion groups. In early 2022 this included a moving online training and our small-group discussions offered by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality with beloved Jewish scholar and teacher Yavilah McCoy.

We have also put together a list of local businesses owned by people of color in our area. Click here for a list of Black-owned Businesses in Boulder.

To learn more, please reach out to: Susan Berman, Sue Chase, Mary Fulton, or Debbie Zucker

Possibilities for Individual and Group Action

Postcard Project: Individual CNK members have been writing postcards about voting issues. Contact Ellen Brock to learn more.
Food Justice: There are several possibilities under consideration involving food for the unhoused. Watch for more info in the CNK newsletter and here.
Bridge House: CNK members have volunteered at Bridge House as individuals—you can too! Get involved at boulderbridgehouse.org.
FeetForward: This relatively new organization helps the unhoused in a variety of ways, including providing blankets, hand warmers, clothing, and transportation. They also organize and serve hot meals that are donated by the local community. Check them out at feetforward.org.

Accomplishments

In 2018-2019, the CNK Green Team put considerable effort into "greening" our building. See those accomplishments here.

During 2018 and 2019, we had a committee called "The Green Team" which focused on "greening" our building.
Here are some things we did:

We did an energy audit of our building and that let to energy efficiency improvements to the building.
We put in bike racks.
We put in raised garden beds and started gardening.
We put in compost bins to recycle our garden waste back into the gardens.

We also ran a fundraising campaign for rooftop solar panels and quickly purchased a solar array to cover our electricity needs. Then we inaugurated our solar electric energy system and held an awesome energy fair at the celebratory Shabbat service. Those solar panels are still working, just about every day! By now, we've avoided creating nearly 30 tons of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-burning electrical plants with that solar energy system.

Here is a picture to see how much less CO2 we've generated in the first 3 years with the solar panel on our roof. Roughly, you could have covered an entire football field with balloons filled with CO2 to a depth of about 10 feet with the CO2 we would have made. That CO2 in a big balloon would cover a standard football field to the level of the crossbar on the goalposts. After 10 years, we'll have the field filled up to the top of the goalpost. Before its useful life is over in about 30 years, that little solar array will have saved us from filling most of the arena with CO2.