August Tzedakah Project: Parents Circle Family Forum is a community of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who have lost close family members during the conflict. Together they promote a long-term reconciliation process through dialogue, mutual understanding, and education. They strive to offer a breakthrough in people's frame of mind, to allow a change of perception, a chance to re-consider one's views and attitudes towards the conflict and the other side. The Forum activities are a unique phenomenon, in that they continue during all political circumstances and in spite of all tensions and violence in our region. Our members initiate and lead projects throughout the Israeli and Palestinian communities. To support this important work, visit their Web site at www.theparentscircle.org. You can support them by buying their products or making a donation.

August Advocacy Project: The Community Planning Act (CPA‐2) is an effective rewrite of the Commonwealth’s ineffective land use statute, one of the most antiquated in the country. Indeed, progressive‐minded officials in many Massachusetts cities and towns find their pro‐smart growth, pro‐community planning efforts stymied by laws that protect individual developers. And in an era of rampant development, the damage has been quite evident. Subdivisions full of oversized houses abound, and over 10,000 acres of farmland and open space are lost to sprawl each year. The Community Planning Act would propel Massachusettsʹ cities and towns into a new era of sound, community‐based land use planning and resource conservation. Among other things, it would:
**Require every municipality to adopt a master plan, and give teeth to that plan by requiring that zoning be made consistent with it.
**Close zoning loopholes that undermine planning, such as those that exempt new housing development from local review so long as developers meet minimum frontage requirements.

The organizers of CPA2 stress the importance of contacting local senators/representatives/people of importance and encouraging them to support the bill.

Visit http://www.mass.gov/legis for contact info for your state senators and representatives. If you need to find out who your reps are, you can enter your address at http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm. For more information, visit www.massmunilaw.org or contact Coalition for Zoning Reform Coordinator Don Keeran at dkeeran@apcc.org.

August Environmental Project: Check out the newly completed Environmental Tips page of the Ma'yan Tikvah web site. Take your pick of projects and sign up on the Commitment to the Earth page.

 July Tzedakah Project: Get connected to a local Community Supported Agriculture farm and get your food locally. Buy a share or make a donation. Many CSAs donate food to local food pantries or homeless shelters, so your dollars can help those in need to eat locally and eat more healthy food, at the same time that you are supporting local agriculture and cutting down on pollution. Among the many, many CSAs in the area are the Food Project in Lincoln and Heirloom Harvest Community Farm and CSA in Westborough. For some lists of farms, go to NOFA/Mass or Green People or Wilson College.

July Advocacy Project: Register your support for the Global Warming Solutions Bill expected to come before the Massachusetts State Senate later this summer. The bill has passed the Senate and is pending action in the House. Please tell your Representative you want them to do everything they can to make the Global Warming Solutions Act a law. This legislation would help Massachusetts do its part to solve global warming by requiring a 20 percent cut in emissions by 2020 and an 80 percent cut by 2050.

July Environment Project : Find out how safe your cosmetics and personal care products are for the environment, and if need be, switch products. Just type in the name of your product at the Skin Deep web site. 

June Tzedakah Project: As a celebration of Israel's 60th birthday, I invite you to send a donation to the Israel Free Loan Association. Since 1990, the IFLA has extended over $82 million in interest-free loans to more than 32,000 new immigrants and their families from the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Ethiopia, and to Israeli families in need. To learn more details of their efforts, go to their Web site. You can make a check payable to P.E.F., and include a note saying, "For The Israel Free Loan Association - IFLA" and mail it to P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Avenue, Suite 607, New York, NY 10017.

June Advocacy Project: Support hunger strikers in Prague who are asking for respect for the expressed will of 70% of the people of the Czech Republic and that a democratic referendum be held to determine whether or not to install a U.S. military base on Czech territory. Although a military base in the Czech Republic would be located thousands of miles away from the U.S., it would have major implications for people around the United States and the world. Add your name to the more than 87,000 people who've already signed on online petition. Thanks to Robyn Bernstein for this information.

May Tzedakah Project: Although we can't be sure that our donations will immediately get to the people and places that need them most, it nevertheless feels important to contribute to the relief efforts in Mayanmar. Reliable international NGOs are working in the area, getting as close as possible, as quickly as possible. These include the American Jewish World Service and Direct Relief International.

May Advocacy Project: Friday, May 9 is the day to call your Representative about the Price-LaHood sign-on letter to President Bush, the first constructive, pro-peace Congressional initiative to address the ongoing violence in Gaza and southern Israel. The window for signing closes Monday, May 12, so please call on May 9, the earlier the better. You can go to Brit Tzedek V'Shalom to see the letter and also a sample script for your phone call. Here are the phone numbers. For those of you in Rep. Capuano's (8th) and McGovern's (3rd) districts, the good news is that they have already signed! 1st District - Rep. John W. Olver: 202-225-5335 2nd District - Rep. Richard E. Neal: 202-225-5601 4th District - Rep. Barney Frank: 202-225-5931 5th District - Rep. Niki Tsongas: 202-225-3411 6th District - Rep. John F. Tierney: 202-225-8020 7th District - Rep. Edward J. Markey: 202-225-2836 9th District - Rep. Stephen Lynch: 202-225-8273 10th District - Rep. William D. Delahunt: 202-225-3111

May Environmental Project: From Coop America's list of 10 things never to buy again: 2. Paper towels waste forest resources, landfill space, and your money. Alternative: When you do buy paper towels, look for recycled, non-bleached products. Best option: Buy dishtowels or make rags from discarded clothes to wash and reuse.