Project Hamotzi

> "Project Hamotzi: Beth Emet’s Response to Hunger” is a broad-based initiative to combat hunger and poverty launched by the Social Action Committee. “Hamotzi,” a prayer recited before eating, means “to bring forth.”

Project Hamotzi tackles both local and global issues related to hunger. Project Hamotzi activities include a weekly soup kitchen at the synagogue, an annual High Holy Day food drive, a food stamp application program, a Council of Jewish Elderly Shabbat lunch, and the interfaith CROP Walk Against Hunger, as well as educational workshops and advocacy programs.

To encourage our youngsters to confront difficult issues associated with hunger, our seventh grade religious school students participated in The Judaism and Urban Poverty Curriculum. This program, sponsored by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, is a first step in helping students explore and confront the causes and consequences of poverty and how to respond.

Project Hamotzi invites all members of our community to become involved. We welcome you to use this Web site as resource to find out more about these activities and find out how you can participate. The social action committee welcomes suggestions for new projects as well as ideas for programs under way.

CROP Walk

Beth Emet members annually participate in the CROP Walk helping to raise thousands for dollars for both local and world hunger needs. Seventy-five percent of the money raised in the event goes to national and world hunger needs through Church World Service, the CROP Walk sponsor. The remaining 25 percent stays in the local area, divided among neighboring soup kitchens and emergency food pantries, including the ARK.

Annual High Holy Day Food Drive

Our annual Yom Kippur Food Drive demonstrates our commitment to g’milut chasadim. Congregants brought scores of bags filled with non-perishable food items to the synagogue on Yom Kippur. The Greater Chicago Food Depository collected the donations to aid the needy in the Chicago area. If you would like to help with next year's food drive, contact Barbara-Ann Lewis at (847) 864-5744.

The Food Stamp Assistance Program

The Food Stamp Program is our country’s major defense against hunger. The program serves mostly children, disabled people and poor seniors. There are significant barriers that stop people from getting food stamps like lack of knowledge, shame, bureaucracy and immigration status. There are ways that Beth Emet can help.

Members of the Beth Emet Social Action Committee are planning to train volunteers to help with the food stamp application process. If you are interested in being trained for this project, call Becky Rieck at (847) 332-2545.