Social Action

Tikkun Olam, Repairing the World

BTEE Social Action committee and our members have participated in many activities in and around our community for many years - it is a central pillar of our Jewish practice. Here's a recap so you can have a sense of our achievements and the deep relations we've developed with our many community partners.

Mitzvah Day

Annually, we have a vibrant, multigenerational Mitzvah Day on the first Sunday of November. From a blood drive and a bone marrow donor drive, to various projects benefiting the Burbank Boys and Girls Club, Burbank title I schools, Valley Interfaith Food Pantry, Burbank Temporary Aid Center, Burbank Animal Shelter, FosterAll, and Jewish Home for the Aged, we have a project for everyone.  We write letters and cards to American and Israeli soldiers and to children in hospitals. These are just some of the ways we have practiced Tikkun Olam on this special day over the years.

Food Justice

For times a year, for a week at a time, BTEE community members provide dinners and share fellowship to unhoused families with minor children with Home Again LA (formerly Family Promise of the Verdugos) when they are staying with Burbank First Presbyterian Church. With steadfast support, we partner with this interfaith program annually since its inception over 10 years ago.

Another way we provide support is through making "mitzvah meals" to hand to unhoused neighbors in Burbank and beyond. We also gather food and supplies at our High Holidays for Sova and Burbank Temporary Aid Center.

BTEE Social Action Members have been involved in Food on Foot in Hollywood, a program that runs every Sunday. Volunteers hand out lunches and clothing, then hear about the program from participants and graduates.

Our BTEE Hebrew School students have picked fruit from BTEE members' trees to donate to Food Forward to address food insecurity all over LA.

Interfaith Bridge Building

Over the years, BTEE participate in regular opportunities to collaborate with our interfaith partners. To name a few, we attend meetings, service days, the annual Holocaust Memorial Program sponsored by Burbank Human Relations Council, and the interfaith Thanksgiving service in Burbank through the Burbank Ministerial Association.

Greening

We are actively greening our BTEE campus by mulching our land, planting native pollinators and native fruit trees, as well as a Biblical garden that is regenerative, water-wise, and open to the public.  We are actively reducing our waste stream, composting, and eliminating our plastic footprint. In the coming years, we are planning to decarbonize and decrease our fossil fuel reliance and eliminate our plastic footprint. We are actively reducing our waste stream, and composting. We are eager to increase our involvement in environmental and social justice efforts.