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I recently began my training period for an AmeriCorps program. I was originally thinking that I would need to explain AmeriCorps to readers, however I now realize that Jews are awfully familiar with AmeriCorps.

My fellow members amount to 230, the largest group in the program’s history in this city. The group was broken down into teams of 18-20 on Monday, and I have quickly learned that of the 18 people in my group, there are 5 definite Jews, and possibly 2 others. That’s over 25% Jews in my group. If I wanted to, I could extrapolate and guesstimate that about 57-58 of the 230 are Jewish. That number blows my mind.

What’s interesting about this excellent and sizable number of Jews with which I am serving this year – aside from the opportunity to affect change with fellow Jews – is that The Forward published an article back in July about this exact topic. The Forward points out that young Jews seem more interested in secular volunteer work than specifically Jewish or Israel-related work. The article reports on a survey conducted by a not for profit group called Repair the World, and refers to the survey as “a good news/bad news sort of survey.” I totally understand that Jewish support of non-Jewish services detracts from Jewish support of Jewish services, but I’m uncomfortable calling this situation “bad news.” Though local projects, Federation, and organizations like Avodah are wonderful, I find my present experience to be equally positive for the Jewish community. Any positive public service performed is tangible proof that Jewish ideals are inspiring young people to repair the world.

I noticed that our schedule does not show us as having off for Rosh Hashanah. As I was preparing to ask one of my team leaders about this likely mistake, she informed me that we would have off for the first day- a good thing for them, because otherwise they would potentially have up to 58 members taking a personal day.