Uri Westrich (YC ’09) was honored this past week as Valedictorian for Yeshiva College, and spoke in front of his graduating class. Among Uri’s many activities during his time at YU was Eimatai. Uri served as an Eimatai advisor this year working with YULA and the Frankel Jewish Academy in Detroit.

Among Uri’s other talents is a penchant for making videos both serious and humorous, and some of his works can be found here, here and here.

Sounds like it’s not such a big deal, but all you have to do is make the promise, and you get the free coffee. Maybe drinking the coffee first will guilt people into fulfilling their promise?

Either way, checkout the Pledge 5 site, and find some volunteer opportunities in your neighborhood.

Tu b’Shevat, the Jewish “New Year of the Trees,” falls this year on February 8-9.  It’s a great time to learn and share with your community about Torah teachings on protecting the environment.  This year Canfei Nesharim is offering a wealth of NEW resources for this Tu b’Shevat, including FREE colorful haggadot for your Tu b’Shevat seder; synagogue activity suggestions (with resource sheets) for children, teens, adults and communities; FREE “Appreciation for Creation” wallet cards for you to order and give out to your community; “The Trees Sang with Joy,” a new Torah teaching for Tu b’Shevat (available for reprinting); electronic greeting cards to share with your loved ones; and the opportunity to plant a tree in our virtual forest OR in the land of Israel.  Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn and educate your community about our Torah-based responsibility to protect the environment.  Check it all out at http://canfeinesharim.org/community/shevat.php!

Peace in the Middle East

Better Health Care

Financial Reform

The War in Iraq

The Environment

Whatever it is that you are passionate about, you have the right to contact your elected officials, and tell them how you feel. It is not so difficult to get in touch with them, and they do take what they hear into consideration when they are making decisions.

Now is the time to reach out to anyone who has been elected to a new position. The new Congress people have not been sworn in yet, and they are still preparing to take their positions. It is now that they will be forming their policies, and it is now that you can have your voice heard before they are fully engaged in their day-to-day responsibilities.

Phone calls, emails, and letter writing are all good ways to get in touch with the people that represent you in government. The more time you have to spend (writing a letter and mailing it is harder than sending an email), the more impact that item will have.

So take the time send a hand-written letter or postcard to your newly elected or re-elected officials.

You can find information about contacting your Senator, your Representative in the House, and your state Governor. More information can be found online to contact other elected officials.

The transition team of President-Elect Barack Obama has made it very easy to give input. Their website, www.change.gov, asks Americans to submit stories, videos and questions, and to share their thoughts with the transition team. They are making it very easy to get in touch with the people crafting the next administration.

So take the time, think about what you care about, and take Action. You can contact the Obama transition team above, or write to them at the following address:

President-Elect Barack Obama
Presidential Transition Office
Kluczynski Federal Building
230 S. Dearborn St.
38th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604

I sent my postcard out the other way, whats on your postcard?

Hebrew Academy of Montreal
Goal: To raise money and collect good to help Jewish and non-Jewish causes in and around Montreal.
Method: The students plan to run a staff vs. students basketball tournament that will raise money through ticket sales, and collect coats from people who attend.

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County
Goal: To encourage students in the school to view chessed as something they want to do, and not just something they are required to do.
Method: HANC students will coordinate chessed trips to connect students in the school with needy kids so they can see the need for their volunteering, and the impact they can have.

Hillel Yeshiva of Deal
Goal: To promote a sense of school spirit and unity for the student body.
Method: The students will be organizing a birthday bulletin board to create a stronger sense of community, and will be publishing a student guide with contact information for all students in order to keep better connected.

Magen David Yeshivah
Goal: To increase awareness among the student body about the value and beauty of mitzvot.
Method: Each month a different mitzvah will be highlighted. Divrei Torah will be distributed about this topic, a present will be given to each student related to the mitzvah, and a bulletin board will be hung up about the mitzvah.

RASG Hebrew Academy of Miami
Goal: To rally the school behind causes that will benefit the larger community.
Method: Each month will have a volunteer theme to it The month will begin with a skit promoting the theme to the entire school, and will continue with volunteering opportunities for all of the students.

Yeshiva University High School for Boys (MTA)
Goal: To promote recycling in the school.
Method: The students plan to educate about the importance of recycling, place recycling bins strategically throughout the school, and donate the money raised to a tzedaka.

YULA Boys School & YULA Girls School
Goal: To connect with another Jewish High School through volunteering.
Method: YULA students plan to team up with another area school to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, building homes in needy communities.

Each episode features 1-2 related people who just happen to be multi-millionaires. After proving to the audience that these people are legit with shots of their mansions, personal jets, and Lamborghinis, we are informed that they will be giving that all up for a week. Stripped of their luxuries and credit cards, one millionaire a week is sent to a very poor neighborhood, given the equivalent of a welfare wage, and sent to live in the most basic apartment or mobile home.

As the week goes on, the millionaires must present themselves falsely as normal people filming a documentary about the community, and meet as many people as possible. After 25 minutes of some very depressing stories of poverty, illness and violence, the millionaires pull back the curtain, reveal their true identities, and distribute at least $100,000 of their own money.

At first I was a bit creeped out, and could only think about how Fox was pulling in millions of dollars in advertising revenue by showing the poor Katrina victims in Louisiana getting $100,000. I felt like this was TV trying to turn poverty into a reality show, and allow the rich to get on TV and “have an experience” that only cost them a couple bucks.

But after watching the show, I saw that it was more than that. The millionaires seemed to experience a transformation throughout the course of the show. Gregory and Cole Ruzicka, father and son millionaires from California were very affected by the experience. Cole remarked how he never knew that people lived with the poverty he saw, that he had assumed that poor people were ignorant or negligent, and that it was the rich people who are ignorant of how millions of people live.

In the end I found it to be a very moving show, and would love to hear what you think if you get a chance to watch it. I will only plug Fox’s show because they also have a page called Fox Gives that features organizations they are donating money to in conjunction with this show.

So check it out on Wednesday nights on Fox, and let us know what you think.