Special Interests
Affiliates
Temple Beth Shalom promotes interest groups by providing activities for a number of different affiliates:
- The Women of Beth Shalom provides the women in our congregation programming to connect them with women’s roles in Judaism and social, cultural and religious issues. They also play a central role in fund-raising and membership development.
- Temple Beth Shalom Men’s Club, in addition to sponsoring social activities, supports temple programming in a number of different areas including youth programs and the facility.
- Our Youth Groups for various ages arrange meaningful and fun activities outside the classroom and coordinate with other youth groups in the city and throughout the Midwest.
- A number of family oriented Havurot, and some committees and formal activities that draw the like-minded people operate year-round.
Social Conciousness
Our tradition views “acts of lovingkindness” as personal and communal religious activities. Adults, young adults, and children share in these “tikkun olam” activities. Our projects include work with the local community advocacy group known as BREAD, for which our Rabbi serves as co-president; High Holy Day and ongoing food drives; Life-Care Alliance’s Meals on Wheels; Franklin County Committee for Good Government; and a variety of other projects coordinated by the local Jewish and general communities. Our Tashlikh ceremony on Rosh HaShanah highlights what we do offsite.
Our youth groups engage in social concerns activities both within the city and in cooperation with their regional affiliates. Students for Bar and Bat Mitzvah have a “mitzvah” requirement. Even our religious school gets into the act… dedicating each month to a different Jewish social value and a charity associated with it.