Our Partners
Kol Hadash participates with BOTH Jewish and Humanistic organizations. Our Values in Action activities partner with a variety of local nonprofits to help people in need. Many of our long-standing partners are listed below.
Jewish and Humanistic Organizations
Many members of Kol Hadash are active members of the Society for Humanistic Judaism (SHJ), our national organization of Humanistic Jewish congregations and communities. Through the SHJ, we participate in Jews for a Secular Democracy and the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable.
International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism
Rabbi Chalom also serves as the Dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism (IISHJ), which offers rabbinic and leadership training, publications, and public events to further the movement's intellectual work.
Throughout the year, for each major Jewish holiday, we present free storytime sessions for children 0-2 years old, funded by a grant from jBaby Chicago, a program of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago.
Through our membership in the Society for Humanistic Judaism, we participate in the Secular Coalition for America, which advocates and lobbies on behalf of nontheistic Americans.
Locally, we are members of the Chicago Coalition of Reason, which connects various Humanistic and non-theistic organizations in Chicagoland.
Values in Action
Through our Values in Action activities, we support many not-for-profit organizations, including:
We collect Wish List items at High Holidays, and in the past have knitted blankets, built a garden, stocked a library, run 5ks and more.
Chai LifelineThe entire congregation comes together to make blankets for children facing life-threatening disease.
We collect winter Holiday gifts for children coping with disabling conditions.
Northern Illinois Food Bank (Highwood)
We organize packages of food unloaded from a truck, and then load the food into vehicles, typically feeding 400 families from surrounding communities.
We serve dinner for the homeless at a local PADS shelter. We prepare meals and supervise overnight shelter for homeless men and women.
Our services are held at the beautiful North Shore Unitarian Church located at 2100 Half Day Road, Deerfield, and we regularly partner with them for community service projects.