A little can go a long way … and make a big difference in the life of a community.

For the fifth time in four years, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago’s South Suburban Mini-Grant Program will provide the financial boost that will bring a wide array of Jewish cultural programming to the Southland. Over the coming year, 13 cultural, religious and educational projects will share small grants totaling $15,700.

Programs range from biblical to contemporary, and will appeal to many ages and interests. This year’s events include sessions on traditional topics such as holidays and ritual objects, but also branch out into ecology, human trafficking, theater, cinema, campus anti-Semitism and the politics of water.

All were selected from proposals submitted by area Jewish organizations and reviewed by a group of local residents – the South Suburban Mini-Grant Kehillah – which awarded the grants.

The full list of programs, which begin this summer, includes:

• BBYO Great Midwest Region Hanukkah Party – presented by BBYO Great Midwest Region, Chaverim BBG and Barney Ross AZA
  
  
• Mezuzah Project – presented by Beit AmiChai School of Jewish Education

Students and their families will learn about and make a mezuzah to hang in their home.

• Kibbutz Lotan: Promoting Ecology and Tikkun Olam in the Israeli Desert – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom

Alex Cicelsky will discuss “green” Torah study, water issues in the Middle East, eco-village living, and looking at the calendar from a “green perspective.” Students will make seed balls.

• Campaigning Against Anti-Semitism on Campus – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom

Educate participants of the newest developments in anti-Semitism, including BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction).

• Continuum Theater Presents the Chicago Jewish Play Reading Festival 2016 – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom
  
  
• Sharing Water Across Borders in the Middle East and the Great Lakes – presented by B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom

Discuss strategies for sharing, protecting and distributing water equitably across political boundaries.

• Biblical Mysteries – presented by Congregation Am Echad. Oct. 11, Nov. 22 and Dec. 6, 2015.

Answers interesting questions about how the Bible was written and early Jewish and Christian history.

• A Light Unto The Nation – presented by Zahava Deborah Hadassah
  
  
• Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema in Southern Suburbs – presented by JCC Chicago. Nov. 15, 2015.

Presents two acclaimed Israeli films with facilitated discussion, at the Marcus Theater, Chicago Heights.

• Trip to the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center – presented by the Pvt. Sam Nievelt Jewish War Veterans Post #407. Oct. 8, 2015.
  
  
• An Anti-Trafficking Seder: The Freedom Haggadah – presented by National Council of Jewish Women South Cook Section. March 30, 2016.

Raises awareness of how people can become part of the solution to human trafficking by performing tikkun olam .

• Remembering at 70 Years: Holocaust Education & Dialogue Initiative – presented by Temple Anshe Sholom

Holocaust remembrance and educating future generations to capture its stories and lessons.

• Christianity, Islam and Buddhism: How Much Do You Really Know About Them? – presented by Congregation Am Echad. Oct. 8, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 2015.

Mini-grant proposals were reviewed and selected for the South Suburban Mini-Grant Kehillah by Janet Herbstman and Dr. David Gottlieb (co-chairs), Gayla Cahan, Bonnie Ribbet, Dan Greenberg and Robert Zitter.

For more information, contact Alene Rutzky, Jewish Federation South Suburban Office coordinator, at (708) 798-1884 or [email protected] .