A Day of Mitzvot, A Community in Motion
By Jonathan and Tess Berger
More than 250 community members turned out at Temple Israel on Sunday, March 15, for Yom Gemilut Hasadim, a day of service.
The morning began with tefillah in the sanctuary before participants moved to the social hall to take part in more than 20 mitzvah projects. Volunteers from Women of Temple Israel, Men’ s Club, Temple Israel Religious School, STiLL, Chesed, Jewish Family Services( JFS), Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, Hadassah, Shalom Green, Camp Judaea, Blessings in a Backpack,
The Charlotte Jewish News- May 2026- Page 17
Nechama, Circle for Humanity, and others came together in support of the Men’ s Shelter, Safe Alliance, Crisis Assistance Ministry, Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School, the JFS Food Pantry, Jewish soldiers, Levine Children’ s Hospital NICU, and the Shalom Park Security Team.
Participants learned how to volunteer with the IDF through Sar-El and how to support rebuilding efforts in North and South Carolina with Nechama. Attendees also had the opportunity to provide feedback to representatives from Circle for Humanity on the design of Charlotte’ s new Holocaust Memorial.
Hundreds of pounds of food were donated to JFS for Passover and to children in need at
Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School, and clothing was collected for Safe Alliance and the Crisis Assistance Ministry.
We also raised $ 10,000 to support Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte’ s Outshine Hate initiative.
Thank you to everyone who organized and led the mitzvah projects, as well as to all who attended and volunteered. We are deeply grateful for the generous donations of food, clothing, and tzedakah.
Special thanks to Israeli Dance Charlotte for the entertainment, the Temple Israel Men’ s Club for lunch, and to Cantor Shira Lissek, Naomi Fabes, Caleb Seidler, the Temple Israel administrative and custodial teams, as well as the Shalom Park security team for their incredible support.
Temple Israel Social Action is guided by a commitment to live Jewish values through meaningful support for those in need within both the Jewish and broader Charlotte community. To get involved, please contact Jonathan and Tess Berger, Chairpersons, Temple Israel Social Action, at Jbergertisa @ gmail. com.