An excerpt from Action (Mattot-Mas’ei, July 14, 2007)
How many of us have engaged in some social activism in the past year, connecting us constructively to the community – however you may define community or social good? One study reveals that 53% of college students reported having volunteered in their local communities in 2004, down from 68% just three years earlier. The National Jewish Population survey of 2000-2001 revealed that only 43% of Jews interviewed had volunteered for any organization. I worry, when I learn that college-age volunteerism is declining and the majority of American Jews choose not to engage as volunteers in their communities.