BECOME A FOUNDER!

Shtetl 2.0™ is an evolving and expanding all-volunteer grassroots undertaking. Like most new Villages, we are starting small and it will be a while before we will know what programs members will initiate, and before we have enough volunteer members to offer significant mutual support services.

Our task right now is to come together to build a diverse community of older adults with a shared vision of supporting us collectively as we age - and helping to stabilize the Jewish elder community in NWPhilly. 

We have chosen the metaphor of a Mishkan (sometimes translated as 'Tabernacle') for what we are buildling together. The Mishkan was the portable sanctuary that the Israelites carried with them in the wilderness, as it says in Exodus 25:8: “Make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them.”

R. Adin Steinsaltz has called this "The First Crowdfunding Campaign¹" There was no set tax to create the Mishkan - it was to be created from gifts "from every person whose heart so moves them." (Exodus 25:2)

And no person's gift was valued above that of another...whether they brought spun thread, woven cloth, silver mirrors, or cut gemstones.

Thus, while our Founder's Fund is essential for us to be able to purchase essential software - and, eventually, hire part-time staff - we hope that your heart will be moved to become a Founder of Shtetl 2.0™ and share your material gifts at whatever level is meaningful to your household, for example:

• $36        Spinner
• $72        Weaver
• $144      Carpenter
• $288      Stonecutter
• or more.........

PLEASE NOTE: If you wish to make a Founding Donation of a different or higher amount, please FIRST ENROLL AND SUBMIT A PAYMENT as a Founding Member using the link below - and THEN DONATE THE DIFFERENCE to The Founders Fund. The amounts will be combined in our records. (OY! We apologize for this two-step process, which is required by the membership enrollment software.)

Not only will you receive the satisfaction of being a far-sighted Founder, but you will have opportunities to shape Shtetl 2.0™, and to expand your community now and into the future.*

Click here for the Founding Members Enrollment Form.

We look forward to creating community with you!

Rivkah Walton, Chair
on behalf of
The Board of Shtetl 2.0™

PS, No Surprises Clause: Looking ahead, we anticipate creating membership dues structure, probably beginning in 2025-26. It may include different service tiers and will include provisions for need-based reductions. We will also seek to create mutual Associate Memberships with other area Villages.

* If you itemize on your 1040, you will also receive a 100% tax-deduction for these donations, for which no substantial value is received in return*. Shtetl 2.0™ is a Service Group of the Mt Airy Community Services Corp (MACSC), a 501(c)3 non-profit, EIN 23-2009048, PA Department of State Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations Certificate of Registration No. 27814.