Areyvut recognizes Bnai Mitzvah students throughout the world who have chosen to make a difference by actively contributing to their communities.  The contest is geared towards students who have chosen to participate in a Mitzvah Project as part of their Bnai Mitzvah. Participants in the video essay contest create a video that tells how they incorporated the values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (philanthropy) and tikkun olam (social justice) into their project. Students in grades 5-10 are eligible for this contest and prizes will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners and winners are invited to participate in Areyvut sponsored events.  Areyvut will also post your winning video essay on their website as a model for students who are just beginning to plan their Bnai Mitzvah projects.

Grand Prize: iPod Touch* or $250 Apple Gift Card
2nd Prize: Insignia Digital Camcorder* or $100 Gap Gift Card**
3rd Prize: $50 Barnes and Noble Gift Card

*The make or model of the item may vary based on the price at time of purchase.
**Gift Card can also be used at Banana Republic, Old Navy, piperlime.com and athleta.com.

Create a video (2-7 minutes) that captures why and how you incorporated (or will incorporate) the values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (social justice) into your Bnai Mitzvah celebration. Deadline is Friday, December 31, 2010.

Please be sure to answer the following questions in your video:

• How did (or how will) you make the values of chesed, tzedakah and tikkun olam an important part of your Bnai Mitzvah celebration?
• Why did (or will) you participate in a service project?
• Why did you choose this particular project?
• How did (or how will) this project impact your Bnai Mitzvah celebration?
• If you already had your Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration, how have you continued your project?

To learn more about this contest, and to see the videos of previous winners, please visit http://www.areyvut.org/bnai_mitzvah/essay_contest/ and see The Official Rules and entry form.

Areyvut, translated from Hebrew, means “responsibility.” Responsibility to one’s community, responsibility to the world. But when it comes to what Areyvut is about, responsibility is just the beginning.

There are several Boulder Valley Jewish faces that appear in the video including Rabbi Josh Rose, Howard Steinmetz, Gary Sobol, Risa Heywood, Buzzy Jackson and Ellen Kowitt.

Viewers can watch and vote for the video more than once by clicking on all five gray dots above the score or in the drop down box at:
www.leadel.net/jews-that-do-contest/videos/connecting-your-roots

The Tracing the Tribe Blog (out of Israel) ran a nice piece about it… check it out too!

Please take a look, vote and pass the link onto your friends and family. Let’s win one for Colorado!

Subjects can be anything from street musicians to prime ministers, humble shopkeepers to intellectuals, teachers to activists to pro-bono giving doctors and lawyers. We want to hear from your grandmother and your little brother. We want to be moved, inspired, and touched by the full diversity of the contemporary Jewish experience.

We want you to share with us the Jewish people you find most inspiring. Perhaps we’ll find them inspiring too.

As opposed to all those “other” contests out there “Jews That Do” is Grass Roots, completely user generated and taps the web 2.0 community by utilizing new media and social networking.

He/she who enters the video Wins. That someone can be You. There is no age limit, but you do have to be at least Bar/Bat Mitzvah age. It can be someone you know well. Or someone you don’t. Maybe you’ve seen a stranger on the street, in the subway, or at your office who inspires you and are able to catch him/her on film. The only requirement is that all subjects be Jewish (as liberally defined by Taglit, Birthright).

And don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be professional! Use your cell phone, flip camera, digital camera, video camcorder, anything that takes video clips. In return, we’ll share your “Jew-Doer” with the world and give you the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes!

• GRAND PRIZE WINNER: 13″ MacBook Pro
• First & Second Runners-Up: Ipod Touch
• Third, Fourth and Fifth Runners-Up: 8G Ipod Nano

Important Contest Dates:  Accepting entries through January 31st, 2010!!  Voting Begins February 1st, 2010.

Winners Announced online and in person @ The Jewlicious Festival, February 21st, 2010.

If you enter – please send us the link!

So the key words are: Jewish – Book – You, any interpretation of that is good.

A winner will be selected from mateys who scrawl a message (here having the meaning of “Comment”) on this post by 11:59 Tuesday night (use the comment box below, no registration required). The prize is a copy of Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean:  How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom – and Revenge, by Edward Kritzler. Thank you to the Boulder JCC Library for contributing the prize!