 As your become a bar/bat mitzvah, you may want to participate in a mitzvah project to help others as you approach your joyous celebration. As you take your place in the Jewish community as an adult, you accept responsibility for fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah. Printer-friendly version of this page (PDF) Here are some suggestions for mitzvah projects. Use the BabagaNewz Mitzvah Machine to find other projects and fundraising ideas. |
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| A Package from Home The mission of A Package from Home is to strengthen the spirit and resolve of Israeli soldiers and to show appreciation for the sacrifices they make to keep Israel safe. The organization sends thousands of packages to combat soldiers and hayalim bodedim, soldiers without family in Israel. You can help the soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) by adopting an army unit of hayalim bodedim. Each hayal boded receives a care package filled with items such as anti-fungal socks, warm hats and gloves, t-shirts or 2-piece long underwear sets, assorted candy, chocolates and snacks, and toiletries. Sometimes shoe polish kits, shaving cream, a flashlight and batteries, coffee, and/or a pocket knife are included in the packages. A bar/bat mitzvah may include a letter with his or her invitations telling guests about the project and/or ask guests to donate directly to A Package from Home. The bar/bat mitzvah can also decide to personally adopt an army unit. A Package From Home http://www.apackagefromhome.org |
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| ALYN Hospital- Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation- MITZVAH OF LOVE
ALYN Hospital in Jerusalem is one of the world’s leading specialists in the active and intensive rehabilitation of children with a broad range of physical disabilities and is the only facility of its kind in Israel. ALYN is a private non-profit organization treating babies, children, adolescents and young adults, regardless of religion or ethnic background. ALYN receives no automatic government funding so we rely on the generosity of donors to bridge financial gaps.
Help support our heroic children by doing a MITZVAH OF LOVE. Customize your own MITZVAH OF LOVE. Involve your whole community and raise money to improve the lives of ALYN’s disabled children. Walk for Love, Swim for Love, Dance for Love, or Cycle for Love…
Pick a day, time and place and invite everyone you know to sponsor participants and share the Mitzvah. The American Friends of ALYN Hospital will provide all the necessary materials to get your project off the ground. Please contact our Program Director, Ariel Hurwitz at 212-869-8085 or programs@alynus.org to sign up for a project or request more information.
www.alynus.org
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| AMIT AMIT enables Israel’s youth to realize their potential and strengthens Israeli society by educating and nurturing children from diverse backgrounds within a framework of academic excellence, religious values and Zionist ideals. The organization cares for more than 16,000 children in Israel. Many do not have families with whom to celebrate or plan the milestone of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Many have families living below the poverty line. Some are children of immigrants who are struggling to make their way in a new homeland. The AMIT Bar and Bat Mitzvah Twinning Program allows a personal link between children in America and AMIT children and enables a bar/bat mitzvah to share the joy of celebrating with a less fortunate child in Israel while learning an important lesson in tzedakah. The program encourages correspondence between the twins to help them develop a relationship. AMIT http://amitchildren.org/twin.asp |
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| DOROT DOROT works one-on-one with bnei mitzvah students for individualized chesed projects involving the elderly. The staff will help you to design a personal mitzvah project. Some of their suggested activities include visiting an elder to study a Jewish text, helping to record an elders life story, participating in the delivery of holiday packages, making gifts for homebound elders or donating a portion of your gift money to a DOROT program. DOROT http://www.dorotusa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=vol_youth_D |
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| Hazon Hazon fosters new vision in the Jewish community through outdoor and environmental education. Through their Jewish environmental bike rides, they enable Jewish people to address contemporary issues through a Jewish lens. Hazon has many opportunities for bnei students, including rides in New York and Israel. You can learn about protecting the environment from a Jewish perspective while raising money for the cause. HAZON http://www.hazon.org/ |
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| Jewish National Fund (JNF) Celebrate your bar/bat mitzvah by planting trees in Israel. Jewish National Fund (JNF) offers a meaningful and memorable way to celebrate your simcha through its Bar/Bat Mitzvah & Simcha Program. You can send personalized tree and water certificates as one-of-a-kind invitations, or use them as favors, table signs or acknowledgements. Each certificate represents a tree planted in Israel in honor of your bar/bat mitzvah and your guests. Jewish National Fund (JNF) http://www.jnf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Simcha |
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| MACHAR MACHAR involves Jewish youth in projects that fight poverty in the spirit of Maimonides’ highest level of tzedakah – a partnership that enables someone to become self-sufficient. MACHAR projects are framed by study and discussion of Jewish texts on wealth and covenant, and by critical reflection on American ideas about success, wealth, work, and government. Through MACHARs Maimonides Project, you have the chance to use some of your bar/bat mitzvah gifts to save for college and become a partner in the economic revitalization of a community at the same time. Your deposit into a community development credit union enables you to be a partner with people in a low-income community, as your money is used to give loans to people working in the community. MACHAR http://machar.net/maimonides.html |
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| Magen David Adom USA Magen David Adom Israel has played a major role in providing vital, lifesaving medical services during each of Israel’s wars, skirmishes and terrorist attacks; as well as in times of peace. Magen David Adom USA has been in existence since 1956 supporting MDA Israel in their needs for medical supplies and equipment, ambulances, blood services supplies, training paramedics and volunteers. Young people have been creative in finding ways to support MDA. You can read about some of their projects using the following links. Bears For Life: Read about Bears For Life on BabagaNewz.com: http://www.babaganewz.com/kids/yoni-boder/ and: Bears For Life on magendavidadom.org http://www.magendavidadom.org/bearsforlife.asp Israeli-American Bead Pin: Read about Israeli-American Bead Pins on BabagaNewz.com http://www.babaganewz.com/kids/israeli-american-bead-pin/ and: Israeli-American Bead Pin on magendavidadom.org http://www.magendavidadom.org/ourfriends16.asp Ross Fayne on magendavidadom.org http://www.magendavidadom.org/ourfriends44.asp Use the BabagaNewz Mitzvah Machine to find ideas for how you can support MDA. Magen David Adom USA http://www.magendavidadom.org |
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MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger On the day you celebrate your bar/bat mitzvah, millions of children in America and around the world will go hungry, as they do every day. In the spirit of our Jewish tradition, MAZON asks that you consider giving 3% of the cost of your celebration to MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. You can make the day of your simcha even more special by providing food and other help to poor families everywhere. Among the options MAZON offers:
- Incorporate a message about fighting hunger into your bar/bat mitzvah speech
- Table cards or individual place cards that let your guests know that you have “invited the poor to your celebration table”
- Certificates honoring certain individuals, such as friends, relatives, your rabbi, etc.
- “In Lieu of Gifts” cards asking your guest to contribute to MAZON instead of giving you a gift
MAZON http://www.mazon.org/How_You_Can_Help |
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| North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) The North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) is a grassroots, non-profit organization that helps Ethiopian Jews survive in Ethiopia, assists them in reaching Israel, aids in their absorption into Israeli society and helps to preserve their unique and ancient culture. The NACOEJ Bar/Bat Mitzvah Twinning Program provides an opportunity for you to get to know and help your Ethiopian-Israeli counterparts. By participating in the program, you will give important assistance to Ethiopian youngsters in Israel and at the same time have the chance to develop lifelong friendships with your Twin. When you join the program, you’ll make a gift to your Twin’s class in Israel. Later, you may choose to share a portion of your own bar/bat mitzvah gifts with your Twin’s class. These gifts will help many Ethiopian boys and girls by providing books, computer programs and/or a group bar/bat mitzvah celebration.Read more about NACOEJ on BabagaNewz.com. North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ) https://www.nacoej.org/bar_bat.htm |
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| Orr Shalom Orr Shalom serves as a safe haven for Israel’s abused and neglected children by providing residential and therapeutic services to more than 350 children ages 5-18 that have been removed from their biological families by social services or the courts. You can donate tzedakah that can improve kids’ lives and make them feel “normal.” Your help will provide such things as additional hours of therapy, new clothing, a school trip or perhaps something new for their room. You can also sponsor a special bar or bat mitzvah celebration to a deserving teen at Orr Shalom. The teen you sponsor will enjoy a special celebration in his or her honor. For ideas on how to raise money to donate, visit the BabagaNewz Mitzvah Machine. Orr Shalom http://www.orr-shalom.org.il |
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| ORT America The iMitzvah project offers b’nai mitzvah students the opportunity to fundraise for ORT’s network of trade and vocational schools in 58 countries. These schools give their graduates the skills that they need to effectively compete in the world’s rapidly-changing workforce. For a bar or bat mitzvah project, you can either raise $550 to sponsor a student at-risk for dropping out of school, or you can raise $1,000 to donate a computer to an ORT school. Students participating in the iMitzvah project receive their own URL, an c-card or letter to send to family and friends, as well as tips and tools for fundraising in their communities. ORT America http://www.ortamerica.org/imitzvah |
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| Pitch In For Baseball Pitch In For Baseball is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to spreading the love of baseball around the world. They receive gently used and new baseball equipment and send it out all over the world to leagues that lack the resources to play baseball. They have had much success with bar and bat mitzvah students using the organization as part of their mitzvah project and we have teamed up with the Israel Association of Baseball on multiple occasions sending them equipment. They would love to help you plan a successful mitzvah project. To learn more about teaming up with Pitch In For Baseball for your mitzvah project, contact Ira at 267-263-4069 or at IraR@pitchinforbaseball.org. http://www.pitchinforbaseball.org |
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| Sharsheret Sharsheret is a national not-for-profit organization providing resources and support to Jewish women facing breast cancer. Include Sharsheret in your celebration by choosing a Sharsheret B’nai Mitzvah Project. Project ideas include organizing toy drives or make-up collections to enhance Sharsherets Busy Box or Best Face Forward programs, hands-on projects to be included in the Busy Box program, creating and selling crafts such as jewelry or hats and donating the proceeds to Sharsheret, or setting aside time to volunteer at Sharsheret’s office headquarters. To learn more about including Sharsheret in your B’nai Mitzvah celebration, please contact Elana Silber, Director of Operations, at esilber@sharsheret.org or (866) 474-2774. Sharsheret http://www.sharsheret.org/ |
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Yad Sarah Yad Sarah is the largest voluntary organization in Israel. It provides a spectrum of free or nominal cost services designed to make life easier for sick, disabled and elderly people and their families, including victims of terror, children with special needs and homebound older adults in Israel. Yad Sarah’s mission is to keep the ill and the elderly in their homes and out of institutions as long as possible. Yad Sarah’s best-known service is the lending of medical and rehabilitative equipment on a short-term basis free of charge to anyone who needs it. In addition, Yad Sarah provides a wide range of other services, including transportation and day care centers for the disabled, drop-in centers and minimum-charge dental clinics for the elderly, personal computerized emergency alarms monitored 24 hours a day, and guidance/exhibition centers which help disabled people choose the assistive devices most suited to their needs. You can help in a variety of ways:
- Contribute towards the purchase of equipment
- Adopt a person in the day rehab center or home creative projects for a period of time
- Contribute toward the running of a particular branch
- Honor or memorialize a loved one with a contribution
- Contribute towards a particular service
Read how other kids have helped Yad Sarah http://www.yadsarah.org/index.asp?id=168 Yad Sarah http://www.yadsarah.org/?id=70 |
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Where to find other ideas: Ziv Tzedakah Fund http://ziv.org/BarBat.htm Just Tzedakah http://just-tzedakah.org Areyvut http://www.areyvut.org/Bnai/bneimitz.asp  |
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