Community Outreach & Social Action

On Yom Kippur, we read from Isaiah a prescription for true fasting:

Let the enslaved go free; break off every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry; give the wretched poor a place to call home. When you see the naked, clothe them; do not ignore your own kin!

Regardless of the biblical source, there is little doubt the Jewish People have aimed less to accommodate and more to act in the world beyond their own homes and congregations. In this tradition, community outreach and social action are integral to the life of our synagogue.

Listed below are ongoing community outreach and social action activities at Brit Shalom. In addition to these, Zaryab Iqbal our Vice President of Programming organizes a speaker series which is often focused on issues of interest to the community-at-large, while Marjorie Stromberg Miller, our Director of Religious Education and Youth Engagement, advises the Brit Shalom Teens in their mitzvah events.

To make suggestions or to find out more about volunteer opportunities, please contact the outreach/social action leaders listed below.

Get Involved

Rabbi Ostrich’s Community Outreach and Social Action Activities

Rabbi Ostrich is an active participant in the religious and civic life of State College. His current outreach activities include: membership in the downtown clergy association; membership in interfaith clergy association; the Centre County United Way Board Development Committee; participant in the annual Centre County Constitution Day Celebration.  He previously served on the Board of the Centre Foundation and was active in the Interfaith Initiative Centre County

 Working with the Centre Daily Times Rabbi Ostrich revived the clergy columns of which he is a coordinator and regular contributor.  You will find the CDT clergy columns under the “Rabbi’s Writings” main menu item.

 Between January 7 and February 18 of 2022, Rabbi Ostrich published a series of torah essays using readings from the book of Exodus to discuss a variety of social justice themes: immigration reform; fair voting districts; the Supreme Court and reality; abortion rights; refugee resettlement and housing for the poor and disabled; populism and the Elite; and wrestling for truth on the left and right. You will find these essays in the “This Week in Torah” listing under the “Rabbi’s Writings” main menu item.

Rabbi Ostrich regularly teaches religion classes in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and was, for many years, a faculty member in the Penn State Jewish Studies Program. In addition, Rabbi Ostrich speaks about Judaism to classes, civic clubs, Bible study groups, cultural groups, and churches all around Centre County.

 If you would like him to speak to your community or religious group, please contact Rabbi Ostrich (rabbiostrich@britshalomstatecollege.org).

Social Action Committee

Josh Wretzel, Chair
Committee Members: Naomi Altman, Jennifer Norton, Richard Kalin, Ezra Nanes, Timmy Shanahan, Lindsay Walsh

We at Brit Shalom have a standing committee devoted to social action. In addition, the Union for Reform Judaism has a Religious Action Committee (RAC-PA) in which Brit Shalom participates as a Congregation. Through the Brit Shalom Social Action Committee and RAC-PA, we strive to make an impact on the broader community in which we live.
Social Action Priorities
The Social Action Committee circulated a survey in September and October 2021 to identify the types of social action members felt we should pursue as a congregation. A total of 69 people responded to the survey. Voting rights and refugee support surfaced as key areas of interest to the Congregation.
Recent Activities
In advocating for voting rights, the Social Action Committee is participating with other Reform synagogues in actions coordinated by RAC-PA, whose Racial Justice Campaign focuses on voting rights and the creation of equitable districts.
Regarding Afgan refugees, the Social Action Committee in partnership with the University Mennonite Church and University Baptist and Brethren Church is aiding displaced Afghan families resettle into our community. We are also working with Church World Service as well as Resettlement Outreach Advocacy Resources. Finally, Brit Shalom has recently joined forces with several other local congregations to form the Centre County Interfaith Coalition for Gun Safety, a group of religious leaders and educators committed to keeping our community safe from preventable gun violence.
Be an Active Participant!
To keep abreast of upcoming social action events that you can participate in, consult the program page of this website. And to find out how you can volunteer in Brit Shalom’s social action efforts, please contact Josh (jwretzel@gmail.com) about general involvement or Naomi (nsa1@psu.edu) and Jennifer (jsn4@psu.edu) about involvement in resettling Afghan refugee families.

Hesed Committee

This committee does not have a Chair at this time. Please direct inquiries and concerns to Esther Siegfried or Rabbi Ostrich

Sometimes in life, we each need some TLC: a meal, a listening ear, an errand, a hand-written note, a visit. The Hesed (Caring) Committee was re-started several years ago, to offer non-urgent, short-term gestures of support to congregants and to help foster a warm sense of community, to demonstrate the caring we feel in our hearts. For longer term support, we can help members and their designated helpers set up MealTrain -- an easy online way of organizing support according to a member's individual and evolving needs and wishes.

The Hesed Committee welcomes ALL participate in any capacity that works for them, from the more significant commitment of regular contact/visits to home-bound folks and seniors, to the informal mitzvah of mailing an occasional friendly holiday greeting. Every act of Hesed is very much appreciated!

Interfaith Human Services

IHS Board Representatives: Naomi Altman Karen Scherba Lynn Myers

Interfaith Human Services (IHS) provides a number of services to the needy in Centre County.  These include: The Furniture Recycling Project which provides used furniture for clients; Centre County Fuel Bank which provides heating fuel to needy families; Basic Needs Financial Assistance which provides emergency funds to cover essential needs; and the Financial Care program which provides financial counseling and budgeting as well as providing Representative Payees for clients who  need assistance paying essential bills and/or managing funds from federal sources such as Social Security. 

 Members of our congregation have supported many of the IHS fundraising activities: donating items and bidding in the Fall Silent Auction; Ringing Bells and making donations at Meyer Dairy each December; donating furniture; and volunteering in the IHS office. The congregation also budgets an annual donation to IHS via the social action committee. Please contact Naomi (nsa1@psu.edu), Karen (kdwensch@gmail.com) or Lynn (lfcm70@hotmail.com) if you would like to help in their outreach activity.