By, Robyn Rosen
1 min read
ByRobyn Rosen, Robyn Rosen
Mitzvah Day, the nationwide volunteer initiative where Jews across the religious spectrum give their time to help others, will be “bigger and better” this year, its founder promises.
Laura Marks expects to build on last year’s 10,000 participants and 85 partner organisations for the 2009 Mitzvah Day on November 15, for which the www.mitzvahday.org.uk website has now been launched. This year, she anticipates the involvement of 15,000 people and 130 communities from across the UK.
Ipswich and Norwich are among smaller communities being brought on board and Mitzvah Day is even going international with events in Israel, France and Hungary.
“Mitzvah Day draws people into the Jewish community in a different way from religious Judaism,” she explained. “We are based on strong Jewish values and are showing it not through prayer but through volunteering. People who are inspired by it will hopefully continue to support their communities.”
The day coincides with the government’s Interfaith Week and Ms Marks hopes members of other faiths will be involved in volunteering projects.
“We’re building relationships with leading lights in big faith communities and synagogues will be actively choosing partners in other faiths,” she said. “It’s an easy platform for building relationships between faith groups.”
All groups involved can have their own page on the website with a description of their project. Potential volunteers can search the website by geographical area, project idea or organisation.
“It’s very interactive,” Ms Marks said. “It’s a great way to build up excitement about the day.”