The Union for Reform Judaism will honor three local congregations with the Irving J. Fain Award for outstanding synagogue social action programming.
The awards will be presented during a ceremony Tuesday, April 17 in Washington, D.C.
Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco won for Project HELP, a three-part program that provides fresh produce to low income schools, a summer food pantry geared toward seniors and a communal garden that generates thousands of pounds of vegetables for the local food bank.
Temple Sinai in Oakland won for its Consultation on Social Justice program, which drew 250 people to the synagogue for a day of discussions about policy, hunger, public education, economic justice, health care and affordable housing.
Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos won for its Healthy Living Health Fair program. Run in partnership with 20 other houses of worship and the Muslim community, the program provided health screenings and information to medically underserved families. People were tested for high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoporosis. Giveaways included 3,000 dental kits, 100 bicycle helmets and 75 home first aid, disaster and earthquake kits.
The Fain awards will be presented to 30 congregations during the Consultation on Conscience, the biennial public policy conference of the Reform Jewish Movement. The award is given every two years to congregations whose work in social justice is exemplary. It is among the highest honors available to Reform synagogues.
Fain Award recipients’ programming ideas are available on the Religious Action Center’s Web site, www.rac.org.