Taskforces

Gun violence is a public health and safety issue and is now the leading cause of childhood death and this issue has been a Social Justice Network priority. Our mission is to educate, advocate, and engage with the community by providing evidence-based information and partnering with local leaders and elected officials.   

We are actively working on the following initiatives: 

1)    Speaking and presenting information about gun violence prevention to local and national groups and advocating for common-sense gun safety legislation.   

2)    Presenting the Be SMART program to school and community organizations.  Be SMART is an educational, non-partisan program developed by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action which promotes common sense gun safety measures and emphasizes that it is the adult’s responsibility to keep children safe by preventing them from accessing guns. 

3)   Partnering with elected officials and other community leaders to discuss gun safety issues and providing a forum for them to present information at TBS services and town halls. 

4)  Partnering with other Reform Jewish congregations in Miami-Dade County and creating a group, Congregations Against Gun Violence, to advocate for gun safety.  We are hoping to expand this group to include additional organizations and congregations of other denominations to work together on gun violence prevention issues.  

5)   Partnering with Bullets4Life, a local organization whose mission is to get bullets off our streets.  They have put on workshops throughout the Sisterhood and during Mitzvah Day.  

6) Wear Orange Shabbat will be on June 5, 2026 

We welcome all interested members to join us.  

Hilary Feldman 
Lauren Cantor 
Co-Chairs, Gun Violence Prevention Task Force 

Join Temple Beth Sholom’s initiative to secure access to literary freedom. As Jews, we believe in securing access & ability for everyone to read any book they want, anytime. Our goals are to educate, advocate & fundraise around the issue. If you’re interested in joining us, please email co-chairs Rachel Umlas rachelmsw@aol.com or Valerie Schimel vschimel@gmail.com.   

Temple Beth Sholom Teens have launched a monthly Banned Book Club to read and discuss banned books and fundraise for anti-censorship causes. TBS high schoolers interested in reading or justice can contact Ellie Feldman 

We continue working with Adamah and the Jewish Climate Leadership Initiative, a network of Jewish community organizations that recognizes the existential threat and moral urgency of climate change and commits to action. Temple Beth Sholom has committed to making and implementing a climate action plan for our campus where we will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, intending to become “carbon neutral” in the next few years. Our Sustainability Task Force is led by Nancy Salzverg, Steven Chaneles and Doris Galindo. Our school continues actively engaging the students in learning about climate change, our community’s impact, and solutions they can implement.