Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand Inspires Jewish Social Action
From where do we understand our obligation to reach out and help others? This was the topic for Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, Executive Director of the Movement for Reform Judaism to discuss with nine young volunteers heading out to Kenya on the Jeneration social action trip in July.
Rabbi Shoshana taught about the Torah’s special relationship to giving, acting and raising awareness of poverty, suffering and hate. She enabled the group to view their forthcoming trip within a Progressive Jewish framework.
The session was part of their orientation day in the UK, after which the group headed off to Nairobi for two weeks. This was a unique opportunity to witness at first hand life in a developing country, and to offer help. The group worked in a disadvantaged school, the Morrisons Primary School and at an associated orphanage where many children had lost parents due to HIV/AIDS, surviving on the equivalent of 80 pence per day. The group got to work, redecorating classrooms, preparing food and teaching English. These acts, although simple and small in comparison to the enormities faced by these children, still made a difference.
Anna Simons said: "Being able to hold their hands and play with them was a joy as although they had nothing they were so happy and it was evident how much joy we were bringing them by spending time there."
The group saw the poverty but they also experienced the hospitality, humour and the Kenyan gift to appreciate even the smallest of gestures. Stan Collins reflected: "These people have gone a long way in showing me not only what it means to be Jewish but what it means to be a better person as well."
The group has returned to the UK and is now planning to make another mitzvah; to raise funds and awareness by providing the people they met in Kenya with what so many of us take for granted: clean clothes, mattresses to sleep on and school books from which to learn.
If you would like to help make a difference to these children’s lives either by enrolling on the next Jeneration volunteer programme or by making a donation, please email Dan Rickman from Jeneration at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Find out more about Jeneration's social action trip to Kenya
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