Volunteering & Tikkun Olam

Mitzvah Day was started in 2005 as a way to increase awareness and create a greater sense of community among temple members while helping others. Held at the temple, the day consists of a light breakfast, congregational prayer and more than 20 projects where volunteers assemble thousands of packages for some of the most vulnerable populations in New York City

Following is a list of just some of the activities from our 2018 Mitzvah Day:

Bagel and Bingo Brunch — Serve brunch to seniors from the Carter Burden Center for the Aging and lead them in a rousing game of Bingo!

Birthday Boxes — Create birthday gift boxes for DOROT seniors, many of whom live alone and don’t have family to celebrate with them.

Chemo Angels — Assemble comfort totes for women undergoing chemotherapy at the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Fun Kits — Assemble packages for use by children undergoing treatment at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM).

Help Feed the Hungry — Make sandwiches and prepare 200 meal bags for families at Jan Hus Neighborhood House and Bowery Mission.

Milk and Cookies — Bake fresh cookies and package with organic milk boxes for children at the New York Center for Children.

Mommy & Me — Pack diaper bags filled with baby essentials for new moms. These bags will be given to recipients at Project Sunshine, which provides free educational, recreational and social programs to children and families living with medical challenges.

Welcome Packages — Assemble tote bags for young girls at the Good Shepherd residence who are undergoing rapid-crisis intervention, these girls arrive with little to any possessions as they have been removed from their homes on very short notice.

Let’s Warm Up — Package warm weather items for those individuals who are without homes and need to stay warm during the winter months.. The Jan Hus Urban Outreach Center extends the breadth of social services necessary to support the full worth and dignity of all people. Taken together, they are striving for justice, transforming lives, and providing a space for the neighborhood to thrive.

Continuing Temple Emanu-El’s long history of Tikkun Olam efforts around Thanksgiving, members of our community came together on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 to assemble 550 Thanksgiving Breakfast bags for the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. The bags contain 14 items, close to over 8,000 units.

Traditionally, Temple Emanu-El hosts an Annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the temple (on the day before the holiday) for 225 senior citizens and women and children from local homeless and domestic violence shelters. Due to health concerns, Temple Emanu-El has been unable to host our guests in 2020 and 2021, but has continued serve those in need within our community throughout the pandemic. With each volunteer set up at their own socially distant station within Wise Hall, volunteers worked in tandem to assemble the 550 Thanksgiving Bags. Read the full story here.

Second Seder for the Elderly is one of the longest running community-service programs offered by Temple Emanu-El. It is staffed by dedicated congregants who volunteer their time to help make this evening possible. Prior to Passover, temple members also volunteer to pack bags filled with Passover foods for delivery to homebound seniors.

Each year on the second night of Passover, Temple Emanu-El holds its annual community seder for 250 elderly Jews in need of assistance. Our guests come from senior centers and are provided transportation from all areas of the city to come to this event. By organizing this community seder, the temple seeks to enable those Jewish elderly who no longer have families or whose families are far away to share the prayers and fellowship of this significant Jewish holiday.

Invitations are extended and arranged through the representative social workers from the different agencies only. If you are a social worker and wish to have your agency added to the invitation list, then please send your request in writing to Temple Emanu-El, One East 65th Street, New York, NY 10065 (Attn: Second Seder). Please include your agency’s background information.

Congregation Emanu-El has been preparing meals for those in need, whether they are homeless, underemployed or food insecure since 1982.

The time commitment for the Sunday Lunch Program is minimal… just two hours from 10:00 AM to noon every Sunday. We particularly need volunteers on holiday weekends and during the summer. In addition to preparing meals, the Sunday Lunch Program collects travel-size toiletries throughout the year. Items can be dropped off at the temple; bags should be marked “Sunday Lunch Program — Donation.”

QUESTIONS? Contact the Sunday Lunch Program at .

Volunteers from Temple Emanu-El prepare and serve dinner for families that are staying at Ronald McDonald House of New York, a “home away from home” for families of seriously ill children undergoing treatment. Dinners generally are organized on a monthly basis.

Temple members who are interested in participating must contact the , which organizes and funds the dinners. This activity is suitable only for adults over 18 who are in good health. All volunteers will receive a call back from the Women’s Auxiliary to confirm their volunteer dates. (Please, no walk-ins!)

Women’s Auxiliary volunteer programs are not offered at this time, until further notice. Keep checking their page for updates on future volunteer programs.

Click here to read about our Sukkot contribution to Ronald McDonald House in 2021.

Each spring, Temple Emanu-El helps more than 200 young ladies in the New York City area to shine at their spring proms.

In partnership with Park Avenue Synagogue, we provide a “boutique” shopping experience aimed at outfitting more than 250 low-income New York City high school girls for their proms.

The girls who attend Project Prom are recommended by their guidance counselors or parent coordinators and come from public schools around the city as well as several other community organizations that Temple Emanu-El works with closely. Last year we hosted girls from Liberty High School, Manhattan Bridges High School, Hunter College’s Now program, Good Shepherd, High School for Fashion Industries, among many others. One of the most important goals of this event is to enable the girls to shop, along with volunteer “personal shoppers,” so that they may experience the excitement of getting ready for the prom and celebrate their achievements.

Stitch’n Time is a knitting group for temple members who would like to knit or crochet items for various organizations.

Stitch’n Time participants knit warm scarves and caps for clients of Temple Emanu-El’s Sunday Lunch Program, as well as knitted goods for children and other adults in need. Both experienced and novice knitters are invited to join us. However, participation is limited to members of the congregation. Instruction is available for those who need assistance. Yarn and patterns are provided, but you must bring your own needles (#8).

Sessions meet on Zoom from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

The Zoom link for this meeting is automatically sent via email to past participants. If you have questions or would like to join us and need to request access to the Zoom link, please send an email to .

USHERS: The role of Emanu-El’s ushers is to greet congregants and guests, answer their questions and maintain the solemnity of the service. Ushers accomplish this by welcoming worshipers, helping them find their place in the prayer book, and by directing those unfamiliar with the temple building to seats, restrooms, exits and other necessary locations. Ushers are expected to dress in a dignified and unobtrusive manner and to maintain decorum in our sanctuaries with the help of temple employees. Ushers are provided with a manual containing basic information about their duties.

Being an usher at Temple Emanu-El is an important position. We welcome the interest of members who would like to join this longstanding group of dedicated volunteers who enhance the worship experience for members and visitors alike.

TOUR GUIDES: Every Saturday, following worship services, a member of our congregation leads a tour of the temple for interested visitors. These guides discuss the important architectural features of our magnificent Fifth Avenue building, the history of Temple Emanu-El as one of the great Reform temples of the world, and the programs we offer today to members of the congregation and to the community at large.

Each volunteer receives training from temple staff and generally is needed only once every two months. Often, the guide also will act as an usher for the morning service.

Worship is conducted at Temple Emanu-El every day of the year.

The Sunset Service began in 1945 when members of the Men’s Club committed themselves to lead worship on all days except those of Shabbat, holidays and festivals. Since then, a countless number of volunteers have sustained our Sunset Service with remarkable fidelity and devotion.

Today, the Readers Panel includes women and men from throughout the congregation. It is supervised by Senior Rabbi Joshua Davidson. While the panel remains under the auspices of the Men’s Club, participation is open to all congregational families — including teenagers who have completed their bar or bat mitzvah studies.

Volunteer congregants are needed to continue this magnificent tradition. Each reader leads the service about once a month. Readers acknowledge readily that leading the service — and thereby enabling others to worship — is a deeply fulfilling experience.

Read what members of the Readers Panel say about participating in this experience »

If you are a temple member and are interested in becoming a reader, then send an email to , or call 212-744-1400, ext. 251.

Note: Temple Emanu-El’s Sunset Service is open to the public. Attendees should enter at the Marvin and Elizabeth Cassell Community House, One East 65th Street.