WASHINGTON (RNS) Christian missionary work spans the globe. But Jewish mission trips?
Your average American synagogue is not planning a congregational visit to a poor corner of the world. But a few are starting to, and some rabbis are lobbying for more to follow.
“At a time when synagogues are losing market share and ‘Next Gen’ Jews are deeply ambivalent about how much they are prepared to identify as Jews, I can testify that this kind of service mission is a game changer,” said Rabbi Sid Schwarz, founding rabbi of Adat Shalom, a Reconstructionist synagogue in suburban Bethesda, Md.
Unlike many Christian groups, Jews don’t believe in proselytizing: It’s just not in their religious DNA. But alumni attest that synagogue-sponsored mission trips provide a hands-on way for Jews to fulfill the obligation of “tikkun olam,” Hebrew for “heal the world,” as they strengthen Jewish identities.
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“If I’m a Haitian schoolchild and I see this group of people who don’t know who I am, never met me, and they are willing to come leave their families and help me build my school? That tells me a lot,” he said. “There are people in the outside that actually care. You can’t put a price tag on that.”
With synagogues, there is an additional question: Judaism teaches that you have to help those closest to you first, said Soffin. So isn’t the first responsibility to Jews in need?
“But those most in need,” he said, “come in a close second.”
