Tag Archives: Bar Mitzvah

Do a Mitzvah Raking Leaves (by March 16th)

JRAid has a lovely woman in Elkins Park that has a small property with leaves and some debris that need to be cleared. She needs volunteers that are thorough in their work with an attention to detail. In the past, she has filled about 10-15 bags. The bags will be supplied by the homeowner and she does have 1 rake. To sign up, visit www.jraid.org or Contact: Melissa Samen, JRAid Program Director; JRA Group and B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator 610-660-0190, x104

Becoming Pals for Life

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A lonely individual stares at the same book she’s been reading for weeks, feeling no motivation to even lift her head. Suddenly, she hears the happy jingle of dog tags and looks up to see a fuzzy dog prance into her room, plant himself by her side, and lean in for a pat. A smile spreads across her face as she reaches down and strokes his soft fur. Both human and dog sigh in perfect contentment, happy to be in each other’s presence. This is a typical day for a therapy dog, and the hundreds of individuals that Pals For […]

Mitzvah Project Challenge

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To commemorate Jewish Disabilities Awareness month, The Mitzvah Bowl would love to hear from you with mitzvah project ideas for special needs students. Please comment below! Many congregations are adapting their bar and bat Mitzvah programs to meet the needs of an ever-growing population; students with special needs (i.e. disabilities, health-related issues, learning difficulties). Several examples of this include torah portions becoming abbreviated, adaptive equipment being utilized, Hebrew transliterated to English and torah services moved to a smaller chapel to limit background noise. One key element to a bar/bat mitzvah student includes the mitzvah project. However, when a student with […]

Delivering a Package from Home

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On December 20th we had a Bar Mitzvah group in addition to our regular volunteers who came to Hanasi Synogogue in Jerusalem to help us pack 500 winter Chanukah packages. The Bar Mitzvah boy, who wanted to do something to show his appreciation for and support of the IDF soldiers, got his community involved and started a collection of deodorants, powders, toothpastes, toothbrushes and candies to bring on his trip to Israel so we could add it to the packages. We started packing at 9am and by 12pm the last group of soldiers arrived to collect their packages to […]

Between 1 and 365 days to honor MLK

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When I recently asked my 10-year old to name a famous deceased person she would like to meet, she emphatically replied “Martin Luther King!” Every year, around the time of his birthday, school teachers review equal rights, discrimination, treating others with respect and, of course, MLK’s profound impact on civil rights in the United States. The MLK Day of Service is part of United We Serve, the President’s national call-to-service initiative. As a response to King’s question ‘What are you doing for others?’”, The Mitzvah Bowl has outlined several websites to refer to when searching for a MLK Day Service […]

Saving Children’s Hearts

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In the fall of 2010, Lucy Sullivan traveled to Israel and took on a role as Full Time Volunteer for Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), a humanitarian aid organization based in Israel, dedicated to providing cardiac care for children from developing countries. Lucy lived in the SACH house in Azur, just outside of Tel Aviv, and spent each day working with children from all across the world. While living in the house Lucy assisted the mothers and children, from hospital trips, teaching English, completing puzzles and taking endless amounts of silly pictures. Lucy became wholly involved in the difficult and […]

A ‘visionary’ gives more than expected to this project

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Talia, from White Plains, New York was looking for a unique project that would combine her love of animals, with helping others and that would also connect her with an organization located in Israel. She found the perfect match with the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind. She was amazed to find that this was the only place in the entire Middle East that breeds, raises and trains guide dogs for the visually impaired. She was fortunate enough to travel to Israel prior to her Bat Mitzvah, and when she visited the center she took a blind-fold walk with […]

Developing Libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa

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African Library Project www.africanlibraryproject.org When you are a teen and first learning about the challenges facing Africa, what can you do to make things better? Bar and Bat Mitzvahs from all over the U.S. have channeled their compassion into starting libraries in Africa as their mitzvah project. They each committed to collect 1000 books and $500 to start a library in sub-Saharan Africa with the African Library Project (ALP). ALP promotes literacy and education in sub-Saharan Africa through developing libraries in schools and villages without access to books. By helping Americans start community libraries with African partners, ALP works to […]

Do you believe in living colorfully?

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The Colored Pencil Project Children and their world in color, a global project How do you express yourself? Do you tweet, post, or blog? Maybe you love to sing, write, or draw? At The Colored Pencil Project, we believe in coloring. For children in developing countries, self expression is a priceless tool that few have access to in even the simplest forms. The Colored Pencil Project believes that self expression is an integral part of childhood development, and that every child deserves the opportunity to find their voice. We believe that art is the foundation of self expression, and our […]

Found on The Mitzvah Bowl

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The Mitzvah Bowl staff feels personally rewarded when we receive stories like this one. Keep the stories coming to info@themitzvahbowl.com! Here’s how Zac Emanuel’s Mitzvah Project evolved in his mother’s words (Stacy Emanuel). “Zac really wanted to have something to do with sports for his Mitzvah project. Last summer I was trolling the web for ideas when I came across your website. I saw info on PeacePlayers and the baseball collection drive and showed them to Zac when he came home from summer camp. He checked out the information and really liked what PeacePlayers stood for. He loved the idea […]