Temple Jeremiah

Temple Jeremiah adopted Project NACOEJ as its tzedakah project for 2003/04. Each Sunday School class selected its own tzedakah project for this cause during the year. Ways of helping included: sponsoring an Ethiopian child, purchasing a hand-made Ethiopian product and donating school supplies to Ethiopian children moving to Israel. A chart was on display at temple, showing how much money was raised and how many school supplies were collected for this worthwhile project. Religious School classes adopted their own projects to help Ethiopian Jews. The display of Ethiopian-made products was just one of the ways school children strove to make a difference in the lives of Ethiopian Jews, both those living in their homeland and in Israel. Display of Ethiopian Products
Sunday, December 7, 2003
Temple Jeremiah students and congregants were treated to a display of Ethiopian products. Items included tallits, hats, pictures, seder plates and woven products. This was a wonderful opportunity to purchase hand-made crafts from Ethiopian Jews and learn more about their plight. In addition, Lynn Hazan, a Chicago Jewish activist who has traveled to Ethiopia, made presentations about the Ethiopian Jews to our Religious School students and parents, who were captivated by her talk. National Photo Exhibit: "Children of the Lost Tribe of Dan: Portraits of Ethiopian Jewry"
Debut: Sunday, March 14, 2004
Temple Jeremiah was pleased to be the site for the Chicago-area premier of the photo exhibit, "Children of the Lost Tribe of Dan: Portraits of Ethiopian Jewry", which opened March 14, 2004 and remained on display through the month of March. This exhibit shows Ethiopians in two contrasting worlds, Ethiopia and Israel, and is a moving account of human courage and determination. Photographer Win Robins and Barbara Ribakove Gordon, founder and Executive Director of NACOEJ, spoke.

"Sharing an Ethiopian Shabbat"
Friday, March 19, 2004
This special Shabbat worship program integrated Ethiopian rituals with our own.

•  Lynn Hazan, a NACOEJ volunteer, wove  personal stories and  folklore from Ethiopian  Jews.
•  Ethiopian Shabbat  traditions were  experienced  through  prayers, songs and food
•  Ethiopian cuisine was added to the traditional Shabbat dinner. Temple Jeremiah Receives the Fain Award!
  March 14, 2005

In recognition of its work with Ethiopian Jewry, Temple Jeremiah received the Irving J. Fain Award for Excellence in Social Justice Programming. For more information on this, please visit the Temple Jeremiah Website NACOEJ page at: http://www.templejeremiah.org/s/nacoej.php