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Featured Projects and Organisations

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What is Tikkun Olam?

Tikkun Olam (literally, "world repair") has come to connote social action and the pursuit of social justice. Tikkun Olam is a key element of the Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ) mission statement. The UPJ and its members, including Brisbane Progressive Jewish Congregation, support a range of projects in Australia and around the world. This page has been developed to provide a portal for our members and supporters to access some of these projects and other organisations who contribute to Tikkun Olam. As we become aware of projects, new links will be added. If you know of a new program, or would like us to add a link to an existing project, please contact us.

Djarragun College is situated 20 km south of Cairns in the sugar cane fields of Gordonvale in Far North Queensland. Most of the students are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands descent. Djarragun College opened its doors for the first time in the middle of the wet season in January 2001 with only a handful of students. Its grounds, still raw from the building activities, were a sea of mud. Since then the school has grown to an enrolment of around 400 students and the school grounds have become an attractive campus with grassy playing fields, shady trees, rock gardens and native shrubs. The UPJ is coordinating fundraising for the purchase of school uniforms and shoes. More information is available from the UPJ offices. 

Nothing But Nets.  The moral test of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable. Each year, malaria causes over one million deaths and infects 500 million people. The large-scale impact of this disease devastates society and the economy.

Yet, the spread of malaria is preventable and the solution is simple and cost-effective. Studies show that using insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce transmission as much as 90%. A $10 donation to the Union for Reform Judaism's Nothing But Nets Campaign goes directly towards the purchase, distribution, and education about the proper use of a family bed net. Contributions raised will assist Sudanese refugees who have crossed borders into Uganda, the Central African Republic and Chad. Save a life – one net at a time, one family at a time.

Whoever saves a life saves the world entire. 

The UPJ and its members throughout Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia have joined the Nothing But Nets campaign, with a pledge to raise 5,000 nets! You can contribute by making a donation or incorporating the campaign into your Bar or Bat Mitzvah or other life cycle celebrations. More information is available from the UPJ website.

Brisbane Progressive Jewish Congregation and Temple Shalom Gold Coast have joined the campaign by raising money at our 2009 A Taste of Netzer camps. We raised over $425 or enough anti-malarial nets for more than 175 people from our two camps.

Their mission is to mobilise the Australian Jewish Community to participate and assist, both locally and overseas, in under resourced humanitarian projects in the wider community that promote social justice, improves the sustainability of individuals in their communities or provides emergency relief.

JewishCare strengthens the resilience and autonomy of people who are disadvantaged or experiencing difficulties in the Jewish community. Core values include: Kindness - Chessed, Justice - Tzedaka, and Making the world a better place -Tikkun Olam.

Helping Israel, ideas from the National Jewish Outreach Program. Here are a variety of suggestions for Jews in the Diaspora to help Israel - so you can do "one extra good deed or one extra act of kindness each day on behalf of the People of Israel." Tax deductible donations to the UIA Refugee Relief Fund can be made via the UPJ.

The "independent non-profit body which provides a national focus for the process of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider Australian community".

Each time you visit this site and click on the "Give Free Food" button, sponsors give a unit of funding towards feeding the hungry. Also provides links to other "Tikkun Olam" causes for similar "free donations".