Mitzvah Challenge Catches on Through A Sands Point Synagogue

If each person looked to do a good deed, the world would be a better place.

That seems to be the message behind the #ElulMitzvahChallenge, an initiative launched recently at Community Synagogue in Sands Point.

At the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul, which is in August and September, the synagogue aimed to make mitzvot, the Hebrew word for good deeds, go viral.

Inspired by the #IceBucketChallenge for ALS, the initiative was created by Rabbi Danny Burkeman. In the program, participants are asked to record a 30-second video of themselves performing a mitzvah and then to post the video on the #ElulMitzvahChallenge Facebook page. Each video is to also include the participant challenging at least three others to follow their example and do their own mitzvah.

As Rosh Hashanah began, the synagogue looked back on its month of mitzvot. And while organizers can’t determine the complete impact of the challenge, they found more than 100 videos from five countries – the United States, Canada, Israel, Britain, and Australia. And there more than 300 people were involved in performing mitzvot through the #ElulMitzvahChallenge.

Mitzvah videos were received from children as young as three, as classes in the Early Childhood Center of The Community Synagogue got involved making get well cards for children in a local hospital. Regions of the North American Federation of Temple Youth participated in groups performing a mitzvah as they gathered together for their events. And a group from the NFTY EIE High School in Israel, an accredited program for Reform Jewish high school students, performed the mitzvah of building the land of Israel. Families got together to perform mitzvot celebrating Shabbat and giving money to tzedakkah (charity). And there were a whole range of other mitzvot performed by people of all ages around the world.

The limitations of Facebook meant that it was not possible to find out about all of the videos posted to fulfill the #ElulMitzvahChallenge, the synagogue noted. But organizers said that there were many videos they did not get to see, and many mitzvot which they could noti nclude in their tallies.

At The Community Synagogue, the Religious School and Early Childhood Center have committed to continue the #ElulMitzvahChallenge into the new Jewish year, with a pledge to have a mitzvah video from every single class across both of the sysnagogue’s schools. The month of Elul provided a framework to launch its mitzvah challenge, but Elul is supposed to set up for the year ahead, so the challenge continues.