Mitzvah Day International Day around the world. Though based within the UK's Jewish Community, Mitzvah Day traditionally marks the first day of UK National Inter Faith Week, and as a result has expanded to include participants from other faith communities as well. 'Mitzvah' is the Hebrew biblical term for 'deed' or 'commandment', which has come to mean 'good deed' or 'charitable act' in contemporary English. The 2017 date is November 19. Mitzvah Day International was founded by Laura Marks in 2005, who, upon returning to her native UK from a period spent in Los Angeles, decided to bring the 'Mitzvah Day' concept she
Mitzvah Day International became familiar with through the Temple Israel of Hollywood synagogue back to the UK. Though the Mitzvah Day she was familiar with (and most Mitzvah Days in the US) was based around a single community or congregation, her concept for Mitzvah Day in the UK was to unite Jewish community and other groups around a single coordinated day of social action across the country. Mitzvah Day was originally associated with the Jewish Community Centre for London, and became registered as an independent charity in the United Kingdom in 2008. Mitzvah Day has been publicly endorsed by many public figures in