My shul took a trip.  Oh, it took more than a few trips.  We re-enacted the Selma to Montgomery march (after David Duke threatened our shul).  We went down to Houston to help after the floods.  My rabbi personally visited the Mother Emmanuel Church after the terrorist gunned down 7 praying parishioners.  We joined in the funerals for those gunned down at the Tree of Life/Or l’Simcha shul in Pittsburgh.

And, this past summer, we sent a mission to Guatemala.  In response to the two children who died trying to enter the US.  And, to remove the demonization that TheDonald and his ilk have been tarring Hispanics in general.

The 5 day trip (18 to 23 June) started in Guatemala City, joining Viva (an outreach group) to help the addicts, the children, and the homeless.  The next day, the group went to Casa de Dios, a socially active church, and Nueva Jerusalem, ending up in Antigua. There we spent time with Rosario, a community development organization, until the return to Guatemala City for Shabat.

Our synagogue elected to continue to support the folks in Guatemala by purchasing challa covers from Mayan Hands.  This is a fair-trade organization, working with Mayan women to preclude their joining the homeless.  There are some 200 women artisans in 13 communities in the highlands, and they are weaving beautiful challa covers for us to purchase.

I bought a beautiful red challa cover- the last one we had; the purple colored weave is now also sold out.  But, the blue and teal ones remain.

You should buy one, too!  Or, you could purchase kipot, Christmas décor, and more directly from Mayan Hands.

Stopping poverty- whether in Guatemala or elsewhere- should be a priority.

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