Gemilut Chasadim: acts of loving kindness- you may not realize but you probably achieve gemilut chasadim frequently. For example, during a typical day at school it is likely that you have held the door open for someone or let a classmate borrow a pencil. These are small things but they do count. Something that may not come to mind right away that is incredibly important is gemilut chasadim to elders. What does this involve?

The B'nai Tzedek Youth Foundation provides a chance for Jewish teens to recognize and act upon the importance of Tzedakah and Gimilut Hasadim. The B'nai Tzedek Youth Foundation along with the outstanding B'nai Tzedek Director, K'vod Wieder, has worked to promote enthusiasm in giving Tzedakah towards Jewish organizations that we feel are important to fund.

At the beginning of the year, we decided on our funding focus. It consisted of four areas of concentration:
1. Poverty
2. Jewish education for young people

On April 23rd , Jewish teens from all over the world took to the streets for J-Serve 2006, a global tikkun olam (repair the world) day. Teens everywhere cleaned up their communities, educated about Darfur, shot hoops in charity basketball games, and sorted food for the homeless, to name just a few of the many J-Serve projects. We managed to catch up with Matt Kurs-Lasky, 17, a super-teen who coordinated all of the J-Serve action in Pittsburgh, to get the low-down on J-Serve and volunteering.

Let's face it. Jewish teens today are part of an American culture that's more about clothes and cash than community and tzedakah.

So in Memphis, Tenn. on an August summer night, 113 Jewish teens decided to do something different. We are called B'nai Tzedek (Children of Justice), and we threw a party with a purpose.

I know you want to label me. You see me in my designer clothes, accented with the hot new “it” handbag and the cutest pair of ballet flats, and immediately, that three-letter word flashes in your head. But before you jump to hasty conclusions and assume my only penchant is for shopping, take a look behind my oversized sunglasses, because there's more to this Jewish teen than meets the eye.

It could have been like any other ordinary day, but there I was, watching little girls making earrings for themselves and their moms, and little boys playing on the playground. It brought a smile to my face because I knew that my fellow volunteers and I were making a big difference in the lives of these homeless families.

The volunteers at this particular event were the teens of Memphis B’nai Tzedek (Children of Justice). This teen philanthropy organization has only been around for a few years, but it is growing and is stronger than ever right now.

High school students are most often pegged as being selfish and irresponsible.

By the time it was freshman year, we noticed that we were living with a constant sense of guilt hanging over our heads. Perhaps it was because our families seemed to be doing a lot more for us than we were doing for them, or maybe it was because everyone thought we were contributing so much for social change around the world, when in reality we were doing very little.