How to Find Good News Every Day

I look for good news stories every week because I need a break from the daily overdose of negative in the media. My favorite one-stop shopping for a smile, besides YouTube cat videos, is the Good News Network. Here's an uplifting story from Sunday's pages: A man sat next to a table with two women who had clearly heard bad news about a diagnosis. Seeing their distress, he asked the waiter to give him their bill. He paid his and theirs, and then quietly left. The waiter, who shared the note on Reddit, wrote, "Faith in humanity restored."

And here's another nice piece: Ethan Metzger performs his poem, My Parents Brainwashed Me, at the Bronx Youth Poetry Jam. Watch the whole thing, but here is something that stands out:

My parents did brainwash me... 

As early as I can remember, my parents were brainwashing me to have respect for other people, for their belongings and for myself...

Yeah, my father twisted my infant brain in such a horrific way that he made me value my integrity, and to make matters even worse, he led by example.

Kindness. Respect. Setting a positive example. The enduring values in these stories caught my attention this week. Last week, I got my good news in a different way - through United Synagogue's Centennial Solomon Schechter Awards.

The Solomon Schechter Awards have been the primary way that United Synagogue recognized excellence in programming in our synagogues for many years. Hundreds of synagogues would nominate the programs that they considered innovative or well received. This year, from 190 nominations, we gave eight major awards, and commendations for 40 programs that we hope will be replicated in other communities. Judges looked for more than creativity or events that had a positive response; they looked for impact in creating kehilla - sacred community. The programs receiving this year's Centennial Solomon Schechter Awards - from the deeply rooted focus in the Jewish Center of Princeton's religious school curriculum, The Story of My Family Coming to America, to Shaar Shalom Synagogue's Mitzvah Knitters - grew from a core vision to engage hearts, minds and souls.

We'll be sharing descriptions of all the award-winning programs, but I want to highlight the three that received special once-in-a-century "Chesed" acknowledgment. They were notable because they made an impact on the lives of people beyond their own communities. Here are the descriptions provided by the founders of each of these award-winning programs.




Living Tzedakah in Appalachia, from Congregation B'nai Israel, Millburn, NJ:

Congregation Bnai Israel (CBI) has established, over the past 4 years a presence in McRoberts, Kentucky, in the heart of  Appalachia. There are no Jews in McRoberts, only rural poor.  McRoberts is considered the poorest town in the poorest section of the United States. The goals of the ongoing program include:  1) To introduce the concepts of tikkun olam and tzedakah as responsibilities of our community to the entire world.  2) To educate our members as to the difference between rural and urban poor.  3) To brings hands on experience to our members in working with people outside our comfort zone.  4) To make a difference in the lives of poor people and families in McRoberts, Kentucky.

Weathering Superstorm Sandy as a Family, from Greenburgh Hebrew Center, Dobbs Ferry, NY:

In the Spring of 2012, we adopted a mission and vision statement that lists as one of our core values to "Be a family."  As Superstorm Sandy was approaching, during the storm, and in its aftermath, we applied that core value by actively engaging and caring for the members of our synagogue community as well as the greater community.  By doing so we helped build a sacred community among the members of our kehilla on many levels, including that people had the opportunity to perform mitzvot for one another; our shul became more clearly not just a building but a home, a place of safety and comfort; our Rabbi provided spiritual leadership; and all worked together to collect tzedakah for people in the greater community who were less fortunate than we were.

The Altamont Bakery, from Congregation B'nai Emunah, Tulsa, OK:

The Altamont Bakery, a pro-social enterprise founded by Congregation B'nai Emunah, operates year-round in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in the summer of 2011, it was designed to bring members of the congregation together with formerly homeless mentally ill citizens of our community in a shared, cooperative venture. The goal was to produce an outstanding product line while offering support, encouragement, and a sense of community to men and women who have been marginalized by circumstance.     A large team of Synagogue volunteers works without compensation in this project. A complimentary community dinner is served at the Synagogue on each baking day. A full description of the project is available at the bakery website: www.altamontbakery.com. The great gift of the program is a new insight into mental illness for everyone who volunteers for the project. Our bakers are troubled, uneasy souls who are also talented, generous, thoughtful people, capable of sustained effort and genuine achievement. We have entered into a deep and lasting relationship which feels less and less like a benefaction and more and more like a mutual relationship. The program has opened all of us to a new way of seeing, and to enlarging our sense of the human community where everyone, truly, is an image of the living God.

These programs might not be replicable in your community. They responded to extraordinary circumstances, like a hurricane, or required continual devotion to the vision of extending a helping hand to others. But the enduring values that were the foundation for these programs - kindness, respect, setting a good example - are no different than those in the good news stories I look for every week. They're just practiced on a communal level intentionally, every day, in a sacred community.