Temple Israel Serving the Community! You can too!

This fall, book-ended by Sukkot and Thanksgiving, reminds us to take notice of God’s creation, be grateful for what we have, and help those around us. Our Temple Israel community is engaged in a number of activities that foster these values of awareness, gratitude and generosity. If you are not already involved in one of these projects, we hope the beauty of fall will inspire you to join in.

• Farmigo – Temple Israel is partnering with Farmigo, an online farmers market, to bring fresh, local food to our members. In addition to promoting sustainable agriculture, Farmigo shares part of the profits with Temple Israel. To learn more about this “farm-to-neighborhood” movement, come to our Food for Thought lecture on Wednesday, October 14. Farmigo Educator Alissa Stoltz will be speaking on “Connecting Food, Nourishment and Jewish Values." Click here to join the Food for Thought lecture. To find out how to order food for your family, go to farmigo.com/TINR.
  
  

• Temple Israel Feeds the Hungry in Two Ways! – We continue to partner with HOPE Community Services to provide food for their food pantry. While our High Holiday food drive is complete, we continue to collect food all year long. If you did not get a reusable shopping bag at the High Holidays, pick one up in the lobby. (These reusable shopping bags are not for your own groceries, but serve as a reminder to fill a bag with food to donate.) When you drop off a full bag, take another one so that you will always have a reminder that people in our community are in need. Also, the Social Action Committee is helping to feed the hungry through their "Cook for a Cause" effort, so please help them out as well! Temple Israel makes and serves dinners for the Community Service Associates in Mount Vernon. The next two dates are Wednesdays, October 21 and November 18. Nanette Sacks is the contact and lead on this, and very often handles this on her own. Please help her out! Email Nanette Sacks and let her know you will volunteer your time. Look for future monthly dates in this ongoing effort in Temple Topic and weekly eblasts.
  
  

• Pet Blessing – Celebrate our animal friends on the weekend we read Noah’s Ark in the Torah! On Sunday, October 18 we will gather in front of the Temple at 12:15 p.m. to bless our pets. Callie Nichols looks forward to seeing you! 

L’Shalom,

Rabbi Beth Nichols