To me, a well-constructed roof looks a lot like Jewish identity. Last year, more than 800 Jewish college students traveled to New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., during their winter and spring breaks to clean up the damage wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The chugging of the air compressor, punctuated by the pop of nail guns, provided the soundtrack as students put roofs on dozens of homes. The students were repairing homes, but they were also building their Jewish identity and their Jewish campus communities. The same inspiring magic wrought by Taglit birthright Israel in the Judean desert took hold along the Mississippi. As one student said, "When I stood on arooftop in Biloxi, that was my Masada."

Tzedek, social justice, is not just an expression of Jewish identity; it also can be an entry point to Jewish identity. For a student with a limited Jewish background, learning to build a roof in one day seems less daunting than mastering Hebrew. It is no wonder that today's Jewish students, who often hold multiple ethnic identities, would prefer social justice work to religious observance. A recent study by Brandeis University's Center for Modern Jewish Studies showed that Jewish students are more interested in "leading a moral/ethical life" and "making the world abetter place" than are interested in Sabbath observance or belonging to Jewish organizations.

Whether we agree or not,actress Natalie Portman spoke for a large number of her generation when she told journalist Abigail Pogrebin:"To me,the most important concept in Judaism is that you can break any law of Judaism to save a human life. I think that's the most important thing. Which means to me that humans are more important than Jews are to me. Or than being Jewish is to me."

Let me be clear: Social justice work is not a replacement for religious observance or for traditional learning. Many Jewish students derive deep satisfaction from traditional forms of Jewish expression and should be supported. For many students, social justice programs, when framed in a Jewish context, can provide an immersive, meaningful Jewish experience that deepens their Jewish identity. The American Jewish World Service, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, Chabad and other groups all offer students opportunities to do social justice in a Jewish framework.

This past April, over 1,200 students traveled with Hillel to Washington, D.C. to show support for Darfurians as part of the Save Darfur Coalition’s Rally to Stop Genocide. Those students represented voices from across the political spectrum, diverse backgrounds, leaders and followers. They also represented the thousands of students who have been involved with Hillel and other student organizations in raising awareness about the genocide in Darfur. These leaders are making the statement "Never Forget" relevant for their own generation.

But social justice is not a monolith. Last year’s Spitzer B'nai B'rith Hillel Forum on Public Policy included a broad menu of approaches. The students worked to make structural change in society by lobbying on Capitol Hill with our colleagues from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and they heard about grassroots advocacy from Eric Shockman, executive director of Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger. They applauded the president of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Ruth Messinger, for her work in Darfur, and Karen Austrian, who created the Binti Pamoja Center, a reproductive health and women's rights center in Nairobi, Kenya. And they acquired information and skills that they will bring back to their campuses.

It's educational to do social justice in a Washington hotel and on Capitol Hill, but it's not enough. Much more often, the face of social justice is not pretty. During a tzedek mission to Israel in January, Hillel students worked in underprivileged immigrant communities and among illegal workers. In New Orleans, one group of students worked and slept in a shelter with the homeless. In Mississippi, students grew to appreciate the convenience of port o potties.

The Jewish community needs to give students tzedek options. At this point in their lives, students are experimenting with their identities, their political beliefs and their professions. By exposing them to a variety of social justice opportunities—conferences, internships, service learning trips—they can learn, test, network and make informed choices, whether it's with Hillel, Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps, or another group.

For our part, Hillel is trying to shape a generation that is distinctively Jewish and universally human, proudly engaged in its tradition and in improving the world around it. Our goal is to double the number of Jewish students who are involved in Jewish life and who have meaningful Jewish experiences. By immersing young people in social justice, we will teach them about their heritage, and by immersing them in their heritage, we will teach them about tzedek.

Either way, they'll learn the meaning of tikkun olam, of repairing the world. And they may never look at a roof the same way again.

• Learn how to do basic first aid and organize a class for it
• Give a talk on your area of expertise at a residential home or youth club
• Pick up medicines for elderly or unwell people in your area
• Create and distribute a list of hotlines for children who may need help
• Learn sign language so you can communicate with the deaf
• Arrange for Jewish volunteers to cover at hospitals on non-Jewish holidays

• Arrange a regular phone chain for calling housebound or vulnerable people in your community to check that they are okay
• Offer used or new baby clothes and toys to new parents in your community
• Connect with a community in a poorer part of the world, make contact and offer help
• Invite someone to come to speak to your community about the Developing World

• Visit a new neighbor with a cake and give them information on local services
• Teach someone who has never learned how to use a computer
• Make coffee for the garbage collectors
• Volunteer your professional services to a charitable organization
• Create a football team, choir or orchestra for local children

• Arrange for new members of your synagogue to be welcomed into the community with gifts and invitations
• Organize a beginner's explanatory service at your synagogue 
• Check that your synagogue has disabled access and, if not, campaign for the necessary modifications
• Ensure that community bar/bat mitzvah programs include a volunteering element
• Make sure that every festival in your community includes a social action campaign

For more ideas and more information on JSAM, go to www.socialaction. com and www.cheshvan.org.