Clean Water & Jewish Values
Exceprt: Water has played a role in virtually every major story in the bible. Isaac’s wife was chosen for him at a well. The baby Moses was saved after floating down a river. The Israelites were freed when the red sea parted. Miriam will forever be remembering by her gift of water to the Jewish people in the desert. The history of the Jewish people is the history of our relationship with water.
Learn more at http://rac.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=2035&pge_prg_id=8862&pge_id=3003.
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Endangered Species and Jewish Values
Excerpt: Specific concern about the destruction of a species was expressed centuries ago, as Nachmanides interpreted the following passage:
Do not take the mother bird with her young. (Deuteronomy 22:6)
Scripture forbids a destructive act that will cause the extinction of a species even though it has permitted the ritual slaughtering of that species.
Learn more at http://rac.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1856&pge_prg_id=8610&pge_id=2405.
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Environmental Health and Jewish Values
Exceprt: We are commanded to preserve the earth and all its varied life for our own sake and for generations yet unborn...In our time, it is our obligation to preserve human life by educating ourselves about the dangers of environmental health risks, and working to prevent them for all humanity.
Learn more at http://rac.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=2326&pge_prg_id=12598&pge_id=2400.
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Jewish Values
Excerpt: Jewish tradition emphasizes many values that speak to our nation’s need for energy policies that are environmentally responsible and that pay due attention to the public health and safety of both present and future generations. Humankind has a solemn obligation to improve the world for future generations.
...The countries most responsible for climate change should be those most responsible for finding a solution to the problem. Judaism also underscores the moral imperative of protecting the poor and vulnerable...
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Forest Issues and Jewish Values
Exceprt: Similarly, Jewish tradition teaches us that human domain over nature does not include a license to abuse the environment. The Talmudic concept bal tashchit, “do not destroy,” was developed by the rabbis into a universal doctrine that dramatically asserted God’s ownership of the land. This concept came about in a commandment to preserve the foliage of city even during a war, "When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, ...
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We commit to this Brit Adamah in honor of Tu B’Shvat, the holiday of the trees. Use this blank Brit Adamah for families, as they commit to saving trees, conserving resources, and protecting the land, in honor of Tu B'Shvat.
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Use this collection of thought-provoking quotes to spark discussion about the wisdom of Shabbat, our ultimate Jewish environmental holiday!
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I commit to this Brit Adamah--Covenant with the Earth--in honor of Tu Bishvat, the holiday of the trees. Use this blank Brit Adamah card for students of all ages, as part of a discussion about Tu Bishvat, and their role in protecting trees, conserving resources and caring for the land.
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This five-page guide (with full-color pictures!) takes you on a tour of a successful URJ synagogue garden in Chicago, and outlines all the steps to create a garden project at your own congregation.
Learn more at http://urj.org/life/food/?syspage=document&item_id=27460 .
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Background Information
Excerpt:
The first step towards a healthier, greener planet is an educated community that understands ...
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Jewish Text Quotes
Excerpt:
The following environmentally-themed Jewish ...
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Here are 18 easy things the Teva Learning Center suggests you can do in your daily life to live the value of Bal Taschit--do not waste.
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The goal of this activity is to learn practical solutions to energy reduction, to begin analyzing the energy use practices of the synagogue, and to discuss and develop a class-led project to help the synagogue reduce its
environmental impact/footprint.
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Perform a Synagogue Environmental Audit:
· In small groups, please answers the questions outlined in the audit sheet(s) attached.
· Your results will be used to help the synagogue measure its current environmental impact
(“footprint”) and to identify effective ways your community can make change!
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The Goals of this activity are:
· To learn the need for compromise and teamwork
· To learn Jewish values related to urban planning
· To learn to apply responsibilities and values in the “real” world
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Solar Oven progam
The goal of solar ovens is for all students to walk away understanding how solar ovens use the greenhouse effect, (which they just learned about in the intro), to use the heat of the sun to heat their food.
Set up a solar oven in advance, with something cooking in it. Have the kids try to guess what the outside temperature is and then point out the temperature on the thermometer of the solar oven.
Have the kids try to figure out all the different components of the solar oven based on what they learned earlier about the ...
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The name of this exercise is taken from Birchot HaShachar, a morning prayer in which we thank God
for the restoration of our senses upon waking. These senses include bodily mobility as we wake,
stretch, dress and begin our day. One bracha (blessing) ends in, Pokeiach Ivrim, which means, who
opens our eyes, thanking God for the gift of sight.
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Here is an easy and fun way to make a solar oven out of re-used materials. This one actually works!!!
Solar Oven program
The goal of solar ovens is for all students to walk away understanding how solar ovens use the greenhouse effect, (which they just learned about in the intro), to use the heat of the sun to heat their food.
Set up the “cooler” solar oven in advance, with something cooking in it. Have the kids try to guess what the outside temperature is and then point out the temperature on the thermometer of the solar oven.
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