That’s why I am proud to be part of the Green Israel slate for elections of the World Zionist Congress.  If you care about the environment in Israel and have not yet voted in the election, your vote can make a difference in a greener Israel.  You can vote here: https://myvoteourisrael.com/

The vote costs $10, which pays for the cost of the election only.  All Jews are eligible to vote.  The election ends on April 30.

Here’s a little more information about the WZC and the Green Israel slate:

The World Zionist Congress exists to give Jews in the diaspora a voice in Israeli affairs.  Before 1948, the World Zionist Congress was the pre-state parliament of what would become Israel.  After Israel was established, most of its powers were taken over by the Knesset (Israel’s parliament).   But since all Jews have a stake in what happens in Israel, the WZC was retained to give diaspora Jews a voice.

The WZC retains considerable influence over several important institutions, including the Jewish Agency (which is involved in immigration), and the Jewish National Fund.  The JNF, which most people know as the organization that plants trees in Israel, owns 13% of the land in Israel.  Despite the identical name, the JNF in Israel is a separate legal entity from JNF in the United States.  It is the de-facto national forestry service of Israel.

Since its creation in 2001, with just a couple of seats, the Green Israel slate has passed seven laws at the Congress.  It has been able to use its position to appoint sustainability-minded members to the board of JNF in Israel, designate new nature preserves, quadruple the number of trees planted, and establish hundreds of miles of bike trails throughout the country.

You can see the slate platform here: https://vote.election-america.com/azm/bios/Green_Platform.pdf

And here is the Green Israel slate: https://vote.election-america.com/azm/bios/Green_Slate.pdf

If you care about Israel’s environment and would like to see it protected, please join me in supporting the Green Israel slate as the WZC election comes to a close.  Make sure to cast your vote by April 30!

So I keep reminding myself – and being reminded – to step back.  Step away.  Wait until the time is right.

And then the month of Shevat came.  And while I’ve enjoyed not running around to lead seders, not rushing to prepare and post articles or send out free haggadot or prepare my own community talks…

I found myself having a tearful conversion with my husband.  I confessed I didn’t want to go through Tu b’Shevat without celebrating with a Tu b’Shevat seder.

So we are having a Tu b’Shevat seder tonight.

We bought fruit and juice and we invited one other family in the neighborhood.  I’m going to set the table with the fruit and the spices and I’ve prepared a one-hour seder that I hope will be fun for kids and inspiring for adults.  I’ve included some lessons about mysticism that I love but never seemed to have space in a straight Jewish environmental seder.  In fact, I’m coming to understand Tu b’Shevat as not only environmental, but with all its kabbalistic beauty, too.

This is what it’s like for me right now.  I know that I’m growing.  I know that sometimes I have to let go.  And I also know that, personal exile or not, Tu b’Shevat is something I don’t want to miss.

But the truth was, we didn’t need all that much. We had saved bags of clothing, toys and other baby gear from our older son. And we live in a generous community where neighbors had already given or lent us key things like a carseat, a baby swing, a jogging stroller and our choice of baby carriers.

And setting aside need, we didn’t really want a lot of new stuff. We try to minimize our impact on the planet. As best we can, we also try to minimize the number of things in our house.

So, instead of a traditional registry, we tried something new: the So Kind Registry created by the Center for a New American Dream (CNAD). The registry “encourages the giving of homemade gifts, charitable donations, secondhand goods, experiences, time, day-of-event help, and more.”

The registry spoke to me because while I didn’t need any new onesies for my baby, there were some things that people could do to help which would make a world of difference. Things like preparing food, taking pictures at our son’s bris, arranging carpools for our older son, and taking us to the local pool. I was much more excited about these ideas than another rattle or swaddling blanket!

I created the registry about a month before our son was due, because I knew I wouldn’t have the energy for it once he arrived. The system was easy to navigate. After a simple login, I was able to customize the registry with pictures of my family, and request gifts of different types, like time, experience, skills, or charitable donations. Most of my requests were gifts of “time” or “experience,” but we were also able to specify our favorite charity for donations.

After my new son was born, we added a picture of him to the registry and publicized the link via facebook. We included it in our birth announcements (sent via email and Paperless Post). We also put a note on the tables at the bris, telling people we were registered with So Kind and where they could find the website.

Our results were mixed. We didn’t get all the gifts we requested, but we did get some totally awesome things that we wouldn’t have gotten if we didn’t ask. As a result of the registry, we found someone who took professional photographs at the bris for free, and a neighbor bought us a month-long membership at that local pool. (She said she was thrilled to find out what we really wanted.) People arranged time to visit and help out the week my husband went back to work. Other people made us meals, and lots of people donated to our favorite charity.

Here’s what I learned for next time:

• Be very specific about what you want and when you want it. For example, we asked people to help with carpools, but we didn’t specify the week, and we asked them to help with weekend playdates but didn’t specify individual dates or times. That meant that coordination was necessary, which prevented some people from volunteering – and even some people who offered to help weren’t available on the right days.

• Make sure that there’s something for everyone to give. We had a lot of out of town family and friends who wanted to get us something, but the gifts we asked for were really from local people. We had no way for out of town people to contribute, and so many of them sent us clothing or toys anyway. Other people told us that they would have liked to have given us something, but didn’t see anything that would work for them.

• Some “things” actually are helpful. In the end, we needed swaddling blankets. And I wanted a memory book for the baby’s first year. One of the best unsolicited gifts we got was a starter-set of eco-friendly diapers and wipes. If we’d put a bit more thought into it, we could have included these things on the registry and people would probably have appreciated that option.

• People are used to giving things. While everyone was a good sport about our non-thing registry, I could tell that they were unaccustomed to the idea. Let’s face it, it’s easier to buy a quick present online than it is to take a Sunday afternoon and entertain another kid (especially when you aren’t sure which Sunday and if you don’t have a kid the same age). I think that’s why we didn’t get everything we asked for.

• I was used to getting things. I must admit, I liked getting packages of presents at my door! I had to remind myself that we were getting fewer than we might otherwise because we’d specifically told people not to get things for us, not because people weren’t happy for us.

In the end, we still got a number of tangible gifts, but certainly fewer than we would have if we’d created a regular registry, or even if we hadn’t made it clear we didn’t need any things. So, hopefully, we achieved our intention of less impact on the planet. We certainly did succeed at less clutter in our house.

But I also learned that, in our culture, people express their love and happiness by buying things. Telling people we didn’t need anything reduced our friends’ opportunity to show us their love.

If we’re truly going to reduce consumerism in our culture, we need to find better ways to show love for one another, even if we live at a distance, and even if all we can manage is a couple quick clicks on the computer and $20.

I would certainly recommend the So Kind Registry to anyone who wants to receive gifts of kindness, rather than gifts of things you don’t need. I hope the things we’ve learned will help you!

It began in trickles, in private thoughts that I thought I could never share. It began with wondering: where do I want to be in ten years? If I continue the way I’m going, will I end up there? It began with wondering if there might be more that I could do, if I had the courage to make a move.

And for a time, those thoughts remained so secret I was embarrassed even to say them out loud.

After all, I’m a young Jewish leader. What do young Jewish leaders do? Clearly, as I’ve been taught, they start organizations and lead them.

Leaving might mean "failure." It might seem like quitting. At first, I wondered if I would ever be able to hold my head high inside a Federation building or synagogue again.

And it’s not as though my work as a Jewish innovator hasn’t been a great privilege and a gift. In the last decade I’ve had the opportunity to set the agenda for a small organization and use that platform to make a big wave of difference. Materials I’ve created or edited have reached tens of thousands of people. I’ve spoken in front of many hundreds. I’ve trained dozens of young interns. I’ve had young Jewish environmentalists see me at a conference and be awed into shyness because I’m one of their heroes. (I couldn’t believe it when it happened.) I’ve had the opportunity to interact with the leaders of my field and help shape the agenda for that field.

Most importantly, I’ve had the opportunity to raise consciousness about environmental sustainability, a topic I genuinely feel is the most critical challenge of our time, and to learn and teach a wide range of Jewish texts and commentaries about it – in an eleven year journey that has made a meaningful contribution to the Jewish community.

There is no off-ramp from that kind of work, or so it seems. Where is the Jewish program to teach young leaders when and how to exit, as if this too is a matter of leadership and innovation? Why would a person even want to step away from such an opportunity?

And yet the voice in my head started talking a bit louder. When I thought about my life, there were other things I still wanted to do, yet undone. Other identities to explore, in what could be a still-long career. I didn’t want to be here in ten years or twenty. And I feared if I didn’t stop now, I might be.

I began to wonder about the true meaning of leadership: if it might include knowing when it’s time to go.

I told my board president I was ready to conclude my term as director of Canfei Nesharim. We began the process of planning a transition. And it wasn’t long after that, miraculously, other dreams began to emerge. Thank G-d, I discovered soon after my decision that I’m pregnant and due (G-d willing!) at the end of June.

I still don’t know exactly where I will go, or who I will be next. I’ve always said that I would complete this journey with a crazy mishmash of skills and attributes, but they can be narrowed down: to project management, team leadership, writing, public speaking, website building. Jewish learning. Strong vision and clear values. My commitment to building a sustainable world. At least that’s a start on a curriculum vitae.

I'm so very grateful to the people who want to continue the work I've begun with Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology in the years to come. It's a reminder to me that I don't have to do everything by myself. Which is a good thing, because building a sustainable world is certainly going to take a village. I hope I'll get to be a meaningful part of it.

I’m proud that I started this journey, and proud that I’ve had the courage to complete it cleanly, with open eyes and without regret. And to all my friends, colleagues and partners, I wish you blessing and hope our paths with cross many more times in many years to come. I wish you success in all that you do. I wish that together, wherever we go, we will be a part of the great turning of this world toward integrity, responsibility and sustainability. I look forward to seeing you in that journey, whatever hat I’ll be wearing.

With my great devotion and appreciation,

Evonne

One of the lovely things about being on an interfaith webinar is getting to interact with a group of people with shared values and different perspectives. I felt honored to be able to participate and share about my efforts in the Jewish community, while also having the sense of coming together with a much wider group.

Joelle Novey, director of our chapter of Interfaith Power & Light, explained it well: when we all come together to make a difference, we start to feel like the kind of difference we can make may just be on a big enough scale to address today’s huge sustainability challenges.

My presentation included details about the Year of Jewish Policy Engagement on the Environment, and my process of realizing that learning and action – while important – are not enough. We have to claim our power as citizens, and use our democracy, or we will lose it to other interests who are more than willing to take it away from us.

I also shared my own experience of working as a faith-based leader in my local community, and participating in the Interfaith Power & Light campaign for offshore wind power in Maryland. That experience helped me to understand the difference that a small group of committed activists can make in state politics.

Some other highlights from the webinar:

• The session began with a reflection from Shantha Ready-Alonso from St. Camilllus Catholic Church in Silver Spring, MD. Shantha pointed out that so many of us find it uncomfortable to engage with environmental advocacy because our society has become so polarized politically that it’s rare we ever have the chance to speak respectfully and meaningfully with people who disagree with us. I have heard this often from lay leaders in faith communities.
• But Shantha pointed out a positive perspective: that our faith communities are sometimes the only place left where we can have conversations with people of differing political views, and still feel a sense of community. This ability to have dialogue is truly key to successful democracy and is one of the reasons that engaging the faith community to address environmental sustainability is so important.
• The session continued with Jose Aguto, of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. He made a compelling argument for the value of continuing to engage Congress on the topic of climate change. He said that so many organizations have given up on Congress that they don’t often even hear about addressing climate change from their constituents, getting the unfortunate message that people don’t care about this topic.
• As Jose expressed, we can’t let our resignation prevent us from meaningful democracy! It’s certain that our Congressional legislators are hearing from people who don’t want to address climate change, both with their voices and their dollars. And as the faith community we have a special voice to add, because our message is distinctive, and because legislators don’t expect to hear this concern from us.

I hope that over time, the Jewish community can become more involved in this type of meaningful advocacy work with others who share our commitments in the faith community. When we all come together, we can have a big voice!

We are blessed to live in a democracy like the United States, which gives us the power to influence our politicians by our votes. No matter how much money is poured into politics, it won’t rule the day if all citizens take their responsibility seriously, learn the issues, speak their mind and vote their conscience. Unfortunately, many of us have been cowed by confusion and perceived corruption, and distracted by entertainment and day-to-day pressures. If we give our power away, there are many who will be glad to take it from us.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to express this view on Sunday, March 9 at the closing plenary of the 6th Annual Pearlstone Beit Midrash. We had spent the weekend learning Torah on each of the days of the creation of the world, including some explorations of our own opportunities for individual action. At the closing plenary, the continuation of action on “Day 8,” we took the next step by exploring our own advocacy potential.

We began with a dvar Torah from Rabbi Fred Dobb of Adat Shalom Congregation in Bethesda. Then, we looked at what makes advocacy seem hard, such as uncertainty about how and when to get involved, disagreement on specific issues within our communities, and the need to fight against other powerful interests. We also looked at why advocacy is so important, and realized that we can make a real difference if we join together as a community – but if we don’t claim our power, others will.

Joelle Novey, from Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL), explained the opportunity to become an ally community as part of other, broader campaigns. She invited participants to build relationships with other environmental organizations, such as Interfaith Power and Light, that are working in their local region, so that they will hear about the most important activities where their communities can make a difference. These ally relationships have the benefit of creating trust so that we don’t have to learn every detail about every single topic, or run our own independent campaigns, but be deployed in larger campaigns where our participation can make a meaningful difference.

I shared a story of my experience working with GWIPL in my local community in Silver Spring, MD, which spoke directly to this point. Here is that story, in part:

In 2010, I decided to create a “sustainability circle,” a group of people in my local Jewish community who care about the environment. It was a kind of book club where we would talk about different environmental topics – and a kind of support group for environmentalists. We learned about local recycling rules, composting, and community supported agriculture. We heard from local members who were raising goats and chickens. We formed connections with each other and created a place in the community for these dialogues. We also formed a relationship with the local Interfaith Power and Light, led by Joelle Novey.

One day in the fall of 2011, Joelle came to me and said we had this amazing opportunity. There was an important Offshore Wind Power bill in committee in the Maryland House of Delegates and our local representative, Delegate Ben Kramer, would play an important role in the committee vote. We just needed to use our existing community networks to encourage people to support wind power. We had a presentation from someone in the Maryland Energy Administration. We made calls at the key time. I was able to speak, representing our community, at a Town Hall Meeting. And then, in 2012, we sent Del. Kramer his first ever Tu b’Shevat card, thanking him for his support of sustainable energy. The news was even covered in the Washington Post. That year, Del. Kramer changed his position to supporting the bill. The next year, the wind power bill passed, and we’re on our way to having offshore wind in MD.

What I learned from this process is the difference that can be made when I build networks in my own community, and offer them as an ally community to be deployed as part of a larger campaign.

At the end of the session, Rabbi Baruch Rock of Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, VA, facilitated an exercise in which each person recognized the difference that they have made through their actions. We realized that although sometimes we think it’s difficult to have an impact, we’re actually touching people’s lives and bringing goodness into the world with so much of what we do. If we’ve been able to do that without even trying, imagine what we could accomplish if we joined together!

I’m so grateful to the coordinators of the Pearlstone Beit Midrash, who welcomed the opportunity to begin the conversation about advocacy with participants who had spent most of the weekend learning Torah. It’s a recognition that while Jewish learning and action are very important, if we are truly committed to environmental change, we also need to be willing to think bigger. I hope this is a direction into which the Jewish environmental movement can continue to grow in the coming years.

Learn more about the Basics of Advocacy for Jewish Environmentalists, and sign up for our latest webinar on March 31!

6th Annual Beit Midrash Retreat

Mar 7-9, 2014 – Pearlstone Center

Breishit: A Journey through Creation

Join us for an inspirational Shabbaton weekend filled with Jewish learning, communal prayer and groundbreaking thought. Be a part of an intergenerational, pluralistic community of Jewish farmers, rabbis, educators and scholars from across the country for an in-depth exploration of creation, one day at a time, using traditional texts to uncover contemporary issues and values. Includes comprehensive children's programming with interactive activities for children 12 and under. Prices start at $250 for overnight guests and commuter rates are available as well. Limited financial aid is available.

Visit www.pearlstonecenter.org/beit-midrash for more information or to register. Contact Neely Snyder atnsnyder@pearlstonecenter.org with any questions.

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/567842649976842/

I'm an only child, and the nights of Chanukah were a special and intimate time with both of my parents. My father would like the Chanukah candles, proud to say the blessing. We would often play dreydl and eat potato latkes. And of course, the presents.

It wasn't so much about what was in the wrapping. Some of the Chanukah presents would be small, inexpensive things like a cute pair of socks or a few dollars. There were a few big presents. They gave me my choice and I'd survey the wrapped packages before choosing my gift for the night.

The presents were wrapped in newspaper. It wasn't so much that my parents were environmentalists. I think that they just felt it was ridiculous to spend money on paper that was just to be ripped into pieces and thrown into the trash. I very much agreed with them, always hating to throw away the beautiful ribbons from other relatives.

So my presents were wrapped in newspaper: the news of the day, and often the Sunday comics. It just seemed this was the obvious way it should be done.

Not so my husband. In his family, you buy wrapping paper from Costco. The idea of wrapping in newspaper is something between silly and profane.

This weekend, we had the conversation. A long-used stash of wrapping paper has run out. We need to wrap presents not just for my son but for our nieces and nephew. He suggested a trip to Costco.

I said, "Why don't we just wrap in newspaper?"

His expression said it all. The slightly wrinkled nose. The surprised eyes. The bemused smile.

Still, it meant one less trip to the store, one less thing to buy. He shrugged.

Things are a little more complicated in my house because unlike when I was growing up, we do not receive a regular daily paper. We get the Washington Jewish Week. It's not shaped like a big tabloid. The pages need to be taped together to be effectively used for presents. And there are no comics.

However, I did it. I wrapped the Chanukah presents in newspaper.

Once the presents were wrapped, I sat and imagined my nieces and nephew confronting these packages. Would they understand that very cool presents hide inside the texty pages of the Washington Jewish Week? Or would they raise their eyebrows like my husband did?

It's too late now. The presents are wrapped. And when we all gather to celebrate Thanksgiving and Chanukah on one special day together, I just hope that they'll remember not to judge a gift by its wrapping.

It’s the kind of thing that makes you proud.

I especially wanted to share about a recent event that I attended, the dedication of the new Vera Lieber Memorial Garden.

Vera Leiber was the preschool director at the school, in addition to other roles in the school, in the community, and in our county educational system. (She and her husband, Tsvi, were also supporters of Canfei Nesharim.) When Ms. Leiber died five years ago, she left behind so many people who loved and missed her. Now, her memory can be honored continually, through the dedication of Tsvi and his family and the hard work of staff at the Hebrew Academy, with a beautiful garden for preschool students.

Nancy Moses, the garden designer for the project, explained how the plan was made. The goal was to remove the candy-colored plastic play objects and create a multisensory environment for small children to interact with natural objects, learn where food comes from, and engage in creative play. Five new trees were planted ceremoniously in the garden. Artistic decorations in the garden were also made by the children.

The garden includes specific creative activity “rooms,” including a salad table, arbor, performance area, boulder areas for jumping and climbing, and an edible garden with herbs. The teachers can also integrate lessons about science, planting, and healthy nutrition in the garden.

At the dedication, educators showed a video of the children interacting in this new play area. A fallen tree had been transformed into play logs for the children to sit on, but because they were moveable, they became an active part of the children’s play.

Part of the stated goal of the garden is to help the children appreciate G-d’s world and the miracles of creation.

When I founded Canfei Nesharim more than ten years ago, the myth in the Jewish environmental world was that Orthodox Jews would never care about the environment. But things change. Now we see communities popping up with all kinds of creative and meaningful ways to educate themselves and their children about our connection to land, food, energy and the environment. It’s so rewarding to see!

Kol haKavod to the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy and the entire Lieber family.

Although these pictures were taken on a chilly autumn day, you can still see the beautiful flowers and the natural surroundings of this garden. May the garden grow, and may we see other versions of this model in Orthodox Jewish day schools across the country and the world!

I don’t think it’s really that there is more loss around me; I just think that my antenna is up.

It’s also made me more aware of the different kinds of sadness. My next door neighbor, who lost her mother at age 90, told me that her loss was sad but that my loss of my mother at 66 was “tragic.” Maybe. It certainly was tragic to me.

But I’ve also become cognizant of even more tragic things. The amazing social action leader in my synagogue, a friend who attended my wedding, who left us much too young after a long struggle with cancer. The friend of mine, a young widower with three sons, who lost his amazing wife much too soon. An older cousin (younger than my mom) fighting liver cancer.

And then there is Jonah.

A fellow Jewish environmental leader, studying at Yale after working in two different Jewish environmental organizations, struck down in a car accident, left in a coma, who died in hospice last week, at age 29.

This is tragedy.

Yet I see the way that the Jewish environmental leaders and his friends honor his memory. How they see his light shining in the world, and all the blessing he gave. It makes me proud to be a part of the Jewish environmental movement, where people bind love and faith and spirit into a thing of beauty.

I didn’t know him personally. But I can see the huge and beautiful impact that he had, how many he touched, by the ripples in the world that I inhabit. By the many who loved him and were inspired by him. And even by the small legacy he left on Jewcology with his articles.

Not having known Jonah, I am left inspired by the impact that he had, sad that I never got to know him, and shaken by the devastating nature of this loss to the world. May Hashem comfort all those who mourn him.

And may his memory be for a blessing. I know it already is.

See the tribute to him at the Jewish Farm School.

I suddenly found my silverware box unbearable.

It was the blue felt piece that it came in originally, the one that basically wrapped the silverware in a blue snuggy, with slots for the silverware to sit in, and a kind of zippered blanket covering and protecting it.

We didn’t have anywhere to put this particular silverware container, so it sat on the bookshelf shelf in our dining room, where it gathered lint and dust for the more than ten years since we got married.

I wanted one of those silverware boxes made of wood, that opens on a hinge, that looks like we are grown-ups, for goodness' sake, not college kids playing house! Thus I vented my sorrow on senseless things. I went to Amazon and searched for silverware boxes.

It turns out they are actually kind of expensive, and even in my state I wasn’t going to spend $100 to feel better about this thing. So I found one for about $30, and the reviews were decent, if not terrific, and so I bought it.

I tested it out for a couple of days before I decided to keep it, and it seemed to work OK, so I put my silverware into it.

Fast forward six months, and here’s what I’ve learned about the silverware box: the knives don’t stay in place. The rest of the silverware does fine, but the knives are always falling down (from the top where they are supposed to stand in a row) in a messy heap over the rest of the silverware. And so I have spent endless moments re-organizing the silverware box and putting the knives back in place. To return ten minutes later to find them back where they were before, in the lower part of the box.

Needless to say, this is not what I had in mind when I purchased it. I wanted everything to stay where it belongs! I wanted it to look like I had everything together!

Not exactly, says reality.

Life simply doesn’t stay together like that, does it? Like the laundry that constantly has to be done, like the dishes that are washed over and OVER again. In the same way, especially during this year of mourning, I have to just keep putting it back together. Again.

After a lot of testing, I’ve figured out that the knives are more likely to stay in place when I keep the box open. But when the box is open, all the pieces are more vulnerable. Another metaphor.

In this coming year, I hope I can keep my heart open – and also, worry less about having it all together. I hope to embrace the messy, sometimes beautiful, sometimes painful reality of life.

My family took on a shared focus of “ivdu et Hashem b’simcha” – to serve G-d with joy. I’m seeking simcha in 5774. What are you seeking?

Postscript: Please forgive me for any way that I may have hurt you during the course of 5773. I wish you only blessing!

If I’m going to try to save the world, I don’t think I can be satisfied until the whole wide world is fixed. I’ve always thought that was virtuous, but now I’m realizing it might simply be a recipe for banging my head against a wall.

Here are some of the numerous environmental problems that I’ve recently confronted:

• Prenatal Exposure to Pollution Raises Risk of Autism in Kids
• Meet the Town that’s Being Swallowed by a Sinkhole
• Fukushima leak is much worse than anticipated (in which we learn that 75,000 gallons of irradiated water pouring into the Pacific EVERY DAY may be an underestimate).
• And don’t even get me started about the mercury polluting our oceans and contaminating our food.

With these issues, I’m not even talking about climate change, which I agree with other environmentalists is the greatest challenge of our time. (And it is… but are we letting all of these other challenges build up unnoticed while we struggle and fail to deal with greenhouse gasses?)

It’s enough to make me cry. Which I’ve done. Several times, while thinking about the futility of it all.

Tomorrow we celebrate the anniversary of the March on Washington, when bold activists and the engaged public stood up for something that really mattered to them – their freedom. Those people made a true difference for our nation. But even their work wasn’t permanent. It requires constant vigilance, as we learned from the Supreme Court this year.

Or as Rabbi Arthur Waskow once said to me, “Every generation needs to take out the garbage.”

If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his entire movement couldn’t fix the world permanently, how can I possibly expect to? And if I can’t, is there a point to my efforts to try to make a difference?

Usually at this point in the conversation, someone brings up Pirkei Avot 2:21, about how it’s not our job to complete the work but we also can’t desist from it. I feel pretty sure that the rabbis in the Mishnah weren’t referring to saving the environment, but it’s a good message.

Still, it’s a struggle. How do we ever know that what we did is enough? And if we’re type A leaders, driven to results, how is a world of perfection to be pursued without burning out completely, feeling we never got there?

How can we ever feel we “got there”?

I’ve been thinking that somehow, the only answer is that the world is OK as it is. There is no “getting there,” there is only “being here.”

Hard as it is for me to imagine, hard as it is for me to confront, this is the world we have. It’s not a match for my values, but it is exactly what it is – not some other world that I imagine, but this world that we have. The fact that it doesn’t match my values gives me the golden opportunity to try to express my values, to aim to bring the world a little closer to the picture I hold dear. And that’s one of the greatest gifts of life.

As an activist, as a human being, how have you dealt with the question, how much is enough? I want to know. Please tell me what you think in the comments.

Below is an excerpt of my diary from my week in Jerusalem with ROI.

DAY 1, SUNDAY

I hope I’m not the oldest person here. As one of 30 returning members, invited to help create bridges between this new group and the existing network, I’ve been grandfathered in, even though I think I’ve crossed the age cutoff. I hope I don’t seem like a grandfather to them!

Opening ceremonies. Justin Korda, director of the ROI Community, encourages us to find people to learn from who are different from us, and to make as many friends as we can. We’re here to build a strong, vibrant network for the Jewish people and for Israel.

After keynote Nancy Lublin (Do Something), they pass out small shots of peach schnapps to everyone for l’chaim. I’ve never seen peach schnapps being passed to hundreds of people! Against my better judgment, I drink it. Then totally stumble through an icebreaker in which I have to throw a pretend ball from person to person in a small circle of strangers.

Read the rest of my article in the Washington Jewish Week!

With free information and technical support from ENERGY STAR, your synagogue can improve stewardship of your energy and save money which can be used for more important congregation needs.

Registration is now open for the 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. Sign up by May 31 to compete and promote stewardship of natural and financial resources!

Now in its fourth season, the Battle of the Buildings is a Biggest Loser-style competition to see who can reduce their energy waste the most. It’s a fun way to get your whole congregation involved in the serious opportunity to save money for your mission while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, last year’s waste-trimming competitors saved an average of $25,000 and reduced energy consumption by 8 percent. And the winning building reduced its energy use by 52 percent!

Registration closes May 31, 2013, and signing up is easy. Just download the step-by-step instructions from www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings to register one, several, or all of the buildings in your portfolio. Also visit this page to sign up for a webinar on how to register for the 2013 competition, read the rules of the game, download frequently asked questions, and get advice from past winners.

Back in the year 2000, I worked for ENERGY STAR for Congregations. It's a great program which encourages congregations to take steps to save energy and become ENERGY STAR certified! I encourage everyone to join the Battle of the Buildings before the end of May!

I’m not a gardener. When I was a kid, my mother (a teacher) would keep plants on her windowsill all year long, and when they were wilting would give them to a co-worker to nurse them back to health over the summer. She would say things like “I don’t have a green thumb,” and my experience showed the same – whenever I tried to take care of a plant it died. (My mother outgrew this perspective; when she retired she had a beautiful sun room of plants which thrived in her care.) But I have stayed away from plants, feeling that they are better off without me.

But the Jewish environmental movement has a way of pulling you in to the special grace of planting. Two weeks ago I had the privilege of planting some beautiful little sprouts while at a meeting at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Connecticut. Fingers in the rich soil, tiny little plants in my fingers. It was a precious experience.

I kept asking, am I doing this right? Afraid to make a mistake. Hasn’t that been the story of my life! I realized that whenever people garden or farm, they learn as they are doing. They make mistakes. Maybe I’ve avoided plants because I was afraid of failing them, of failing myself.

As with most situations, being afraid to risk failure can keep you from learning anything at all.

My eight year old son is undaunted. He’s spent this year at his Orthodox day school, learning how to plant a garden in his science class. (How proud I am of our local Orthodox day school!) Once he told me that he didn’t learn much in science that day, because “he was working in the garden.” I said, “Weren’t you learning how to plant things and how to make a garden?” He said, “I've already learned that.”

I said, “Well, maybe you were getting the chance to practice.”

Indeed, it was true. When we got to the backyard with our tools and our grass-covered plot of land, he knew better than me what he was doing. Together with my husband, we turned the ground and removed the rocks and weeds, smashing up the hard clumps of soil under his instruction. A few hours, and we had our first little garden – with a few rows of cucumber and green bean seeds planted.

As we continued digging, I heard him saying to himself, “I’m so excited! I’m so excited!” He had been trying to get us to plant this garden for several years already.

I’ve warned him that I don’t know what’s going to grow in this garden. Will all of our sprouts be eaten by weeds and/or pests? Will anything come out of the ground at all? We can’t know.

That’s the thing about life. You have to plant without knowing how it’s all going to come up.

My son doesn't seem nearly as worried about this as I am. It's one of the many things that he is teaching me.

So, we made our first effort. Undaunted by the fear of failure, pushing past my desperate need to get it right, we’ve planted. Whatever comes of this garden, we will learn. And we will continue. As I’m learning, that’s life.

Several years ago, Canfei Nesharim created materials to help us make the connection to the environment during the period of counting the Omer. These resources are still fully appropriate for learning today! I encourage you to take a look at the materials and use them during this special time of the Jewish year!

Torah Learning

Goats, Grapes and Greenbelts: Sustainability and Settling the Land

The period of the Omer and the festival of Shavuot are opportune times to explore our connection and relationship to the land. The grain offerings of the Omer (barley) and Two Loaves (wheat) had to come from the choicest grain of the land of Israel, thus offering to G-d the best of Jewish agriculture in Israel.

Omer and Shavuot Text Learning and Discussion Guide

Explore texts related to Goats, Grapes, and Greenbelts and teach them to your community. Great for Tikkun Leyl Shavuot!

Learn Torah each week of the Omer with the Eitz Chayim Hee Parsha Series.

There are seven Torah portions during the seven weeks of the Omer (Kedoshim, Emor, Behar, Bechukotai, Bamidbar, and Nasso), many of which contain important lessons to help us understand our Jewish responsibility to protect the environment.

For Children and Studenets

Where Does Bread Come From? Sefirat HaOmer and the Connection to the Land

The aim of the following program is to help children better understand the connection to the land during Sefirat HaOmer and our responsibility to take care of our Earth, especially the Land of Israel. Geared towards grades 3-7.

Our Relationship to the Land: Meaning of the Omer

A series of three lessons on the Omer and our connection to the land. Includes Teacher's Guide and student booklet! Geared towards upper-elementary and middle school students.

Counting the Omer

Counting the Omer, Refining Ourselves

“Counting the Omer” offers an opportunity for strengthening and refining our character. As we will explore, this process also contains within it meaningful ways to address, from a spiritual place, some of the pressing issues of our time.

Counting the Omer: A Tool for Nature Consciousness

In addition to our historical understanding of Pesach as our Exodus from Egypt, the holiday also signified the start of the grain harvest. Thus, scripture portrays the Omer season as a time for awaiting the wheat harvest.

The Jew and the Omer: An Ecological Synthesis

Once we grow as spiritual beings, we can again refer back to our dimensions of space and time, in order that our souls contribute to the healing of the world.

I’m impatient about these things and so I was very frustrated when the campaign wasn’t successful. But legislative results take time. I need to remember this, instead of expecting instant gratification. After all, a legislative campaign is not a twitter posting. It’s a long-term proposition. I’m always encouraging people to take the long view when it comes to protecting the environment – and I need to remember to take the long view myself when it comes to the big results we’re trying to make in the world.

Today, the wind power bill in Maryland became law. I feel so blessed to have been part of this effort – I think it’s the first legislative success I’ve ever been part of, but I hope it won’t be the last.

A huge thank you to Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL) for helping organizing the Maryland religious community for this campaign. Thanks to your dedication and inspiration, my hope is renewed that making a real difference is possible.

Sometimes we get to play a role in the big fights, and it turns out that sometimes – sometimes! – we win!

See the great thank you card that GWIPL created for the religious leaders who took part in this effort:

People who know me well might understand what a dramatic statement that is. I’ve been trying to save the world with my every action for at least the last fifteen years, and perhaps for most of my life. For as long as I can remember I’ve been trying to make a difference. I’ve felt the pressure of making the world a better place. And thank G-d, I’ve been able to offer some things that I do feel have contributed. Altogether, it’s been a privilege.

Almost three weeks ago now, I lost my mother.

I lost her to cancer, after a tremendous fight which included her incredible spirit and commitment to live, my father’s dedicated efforts to take care of her, and the thousands of people around the world who were praying for Sima bat Bella.

Perhaps those things brought us some extra months. After all, we weren’t sure she was going to make it through August, and she survived until February, including some very happy times together. I got the chance to share with her about speaking at the White House. We got to celebrate Thanksgiving together. She got to celebrate her 66th birthday, and to wish me a happy birthday on mine. We got to celebrate Chanukah together. She got to watch my son play basketball in January.

But we didn’t make it to spring.

The daffodils that she planted with my son a few years ago are starting to poke up from the ground. Last week it snowed, and we could see those little sprouts sticking up from underneath the snow. Now the snow is melted.

I remember last year how I took a picture of those flowers and sent them to her. It was March 15 and we had just found out that her February cancer blood marker numbers had increased ever so slightly. We were a little scared, but it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time.

When I sent her the picture, she wrote back asking if that is what she and my son had planted. “Yes!” I wrote. I remember thinking at the time, oh G-d, I just hope this isn’t the last spring we share them together.

You just never know how much time you will have, with the people you love.

Everyone says that it’s common to have problems with focus and motivation when you are grieving. I look at my list of things to do and it all seems so overwhelming. It doesn’t help that I took off several weeks from work, or that it’s two weeks before Passover. It doesn’t help that I probably have more responsibilities (two jobs, motherhood, a local sustainability committee, just as a start) than any normal person should. But the very things that I usually find interesting and challenging just feel exhausting right now.

I’m very sad. My relationship with G-d has been disrupted in complex and confusing ways. It may take awhile for me to regain my faith in miracles.

I guess that is the answer to the question that everyone keeps asking about how I’m doing. And while I know that is normal, I’m also finding it very frustrating.

On Friday night I had the realization that part of my exhaustion is that commitment that I’ve had for so long, to try to save the world. Right now I barely feel like I can take care of my family: my overwhelmed husband, my traumatized son, my broken-hearted father. Most importantly, myself. And so I’ve made this declaration: I’m not trying to save the world right now.

It’s actually a bit refreshing. For example, someone asked me to speak and I thought to myself: I can choose whether I WANT to do this, because I’m not trying to save the world right now. I did some work at my job yesterday and finished it, and left it in the office and thought: I’ve done enough, because I’m not trying to save the world right now.

To be clear, it’s not that I’m not going to do the work I have assigned, or that I’m going to give up on the things I’ve said I would do. It’s really just a context that is liberating me. I can do what there is to do in front of me and stop. Because I’m not trying to save the world right now.

Last year, I got involved in a state level legislative campaign promoting wind power in Maryland. Working with our local Interfaith Power and Light, I had the opportunity to speak in support of this bill at a town hall meeting on November 3, 2011. (See the text of what I said here.) My local Silver Spring Sustainability Circle also got involved, including sending a Tu b’Shevat card to our representative. Our efforts were successful in getting the bill passed through the Maryland House of Delegates, but the session ended without it becoming law. I was really disappointed, at the time.

Just last week, the bill passed the State Senate, a significant milestone that should ensure that the bill will actually become law this year. Under normal circumstances I’d be thrilled! But I’m not trying to save the world right now.

It’s a tremendously good thing to know that even while I’m taking this hiatus, there are other good people who are still doing good work. It is also really affirming to see that my own past work still matters. So in that small way, I feel happy about this news.

So thanks so much to everyone who IS trying to save the world, right now. I hope I’ll be able to join you again soon.

If your community really gets into the mishloach manot, it may feel like "keeping up with the Greenbergs" requires wasteful quantities of cellophane, ribbon, and styrofoam for your mishloach manot packages! But regardless of your community, you can create healthy, earth-friendly, beautiful and economical mishloach manot for Purim. Because you'll be giving gifts to others in your community, it's also a great time to share your environmental values with your community.

Several years ago, Canfei Nesharim developed a selection of five eco-friendly and fun themed package ideas for you or your group to prepare and distribute this Purim. To make this as easy as possible, we found many of the products on the web and included a price key to help you track costs. {Many thanks to Stephanie Frumkin for preparing this information!}

The five packages are the following:

• Lunch Break
• Health Nut
• Cold Kit
• Pesach Welcome Kit
• Blessing the Sun (Birkat HaChammah)

They can be viewed on Jewcology here. (And here's a printer-friendly version of them.)

To increase your impact, don't forget to include a note telling people WHY you have decided to send an eco-friendly mishloach manot package. You can find a sample note here. Simply print and send!

Also check out:

• Ten Tips for an Environmentally Friendly Purim
• Purim as a Model for Making a Difference
• Order great eco-reminders to drop into your mishloach manot – must order by February 14 to receive in time for Purim!

Whatever your plans for Purim, make it an opportunity to express your sustainability values — and to educate your community about them!

Reduce Food Waste Actions

1. Track My Food Waste for a Week

Learn more about the food you are throwing away in your home; the types of foods you are throwing away, when you’re throwing it away, and why.

You can use this great food waste diary as a tool, and make notes to record what you've learned! Check it out here: http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/sites/files/lfhw/LFHW_Food_Diary_WEB_FORM_2.f1ce6cf5.4870.pdf

By taking this action you will save "1 shtickel of food waste wisdom," by which we mean, you are well on your Jewish way to reducing food waste!

Energy Saving Actions

1. Assess Energy Use in my Home

Knowledge is power. The first step in any large undertaking is to find out where you are now!

Set aside an hour to walk around your home and make note of areas where energy may be wasted. Look for drafts, leaks, old appliances and light bulbs, and things plugged in that are not being used.

For more ideas, see http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/do-it-yourself-home-energy-audits. Add what you discover in the notes box, which appears when you check this item.

By taking this action you will save "1 shtickel of energy wisdom," by which we mean, you are well on your Jewish way to saving energy!

Leading a Tu b’Shevat Seder for an almost 8-year old and my husband was rather different from leading to the dozens of people at my seders in the past. But I must say that if leading all of those seders led us down to that one night together, eating fruit and nuts, talking about protecting the environment and all the various aspects of creation, and thinking about G-d’s intention for the world – it would have been worth it. The preciousness of seeing my son evolving into a little person with his own ideas, telling stories, and thinking about how important it is to protect the oceans, the clean air, the water and the land – and having him realize that there is a method to all of our actions (the Priuses, the geothermal, the CSA) – that we do them for a reason.

As Orthodox Jews, we live in a world filled with actions and reasons behind them. Why do we eat matzah on Passover? Why do we dress up on Purim? Why don’t we drive on Shabbat? There is an entire library worth of reasons for the way we live our lives. My son learns about these lessons at school, along with math and reading – so they feel like a natural part of his life. Personally, I think that’s wonderful – to learn faith and action as a part of his basic education – which is why I am sending him to a Jewish day school.

But when it comes to protecting our environment, there are fewer cultural mores and instructions in our lives. Although his school (and especially his science teacher) are environmentally inclined, I’m sure they are not learning that we must drive a Prius because it reduces air pollution or carbon dioxide in the air! Even if these lessons are present, of course there’s no set of divinely given laws to guide exactly what we must do. Part of that is because the challenges are extremely complex (hard to understand even for an adult, let alone a child) and the environmental movement is actually quite young. But part of it is because we haven’t created any cultural structures to answer these incredibly complex ethical and moral challenges – so we let science stand in, even though it’s inadequate when it comes to reaching people at the level of values, and (similarly) when it comes to teaching children in the formative primary years.

Teaching my son on Tu b’Shevat, I started to see what a cultural, ethical, religious view on protecting the environment might look like:

We teach these lessons to our children because we want them to preserve the precious resources we have. We draw their attention to things that may be transparent to them, like the importance of clean air and healthy land. We help them appreciate the wonder of water and the enormous number of species in the ocean. We inspire them to think of these as gifts from G-d, to be treated with respect. We tell them of things that we already do to protect these things – large and small. In so doing, we communicate a deeper value to our children, one that they will carry with them with pride – much more so than the fear and dread we cultivate when we scare them with threats, or the confusion we breed when we talk about complex scientific challenges and solutions. Perhaps this type of communication is important not just for our children but for all people.

On December 26, Rebecca Tarbotton, the head of Rainforest Action Network, died at age 39. May her memory be for a blessing. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I learned about her only through the news of her untimely death. There is a video of her speaking on the Grist Magazine website. One of the things that struck me from listening to her video was this quote (also reposted by Grist and the RAN website):

“The project of our time is bigger even than climate change. We need to be setting our sights higher and deeper. What we’re really talking about, if we’re honest with ourselves, is transforming everything about the way we live on this planet.”

I couldn’t agree more. And one of the things we will need, to transform the way we live on this planet, is a new, deep, cultural understanding of the preciousness of our resources and how we use them. We need to model this to our children (and also all of today's grown up children), in the beautiful way that Jewish tradition teaches us to do so. Perhaps the model of the Tu b’Shevat seder can remind us that we already have this wisdom in our tradition – now is the time to activate it for today’s challenges, to act on it and to share it.

Assumptions for Energy Actions

General disclaimer:

The purpose of this program is to demonstrate our shared impact as a group, and so we’ve taken advantage of U.S. national averages.  Depending on where you live and your specific energy circumstances, your individual results may vary.

To learn more about your personal energy use and savings, we suggest using the ENERGY STAR Home Energy Yardstick: https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=HOME_ENERGY_YARDSTICK.showGetStarted&s=m.

Energy savings accounted in this program relate only to direct energy consumed.  Estimated savings do not include embodied energy or lifecycle analysis.

Energy Action #1: 
We assume that you’ll gain a bit of wisdom by assessing your energy use.  Remember, the real impact starts when you ACT on what you’ve learned!

Energy Action #2: 
This assumes that 60 watt incandescent light bulbs are replaced with 13 watt compact fluorescents, and that lights are on for 3 hours per day. This saves 51 kWh per year per bulb switched, which is 153 kWh per year for three bulbs. The national average for kWh to CO2e is = 1.55536126/ pounds CO2/kWh, which gives a total savings for this action of 237.97027278 lbs of CO2e.

Sources:ENERGY STAR Data Book Worksheet for 2011. More of these details and assumptions are available in a downloadable spreadsheet at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/GHGCalculator.xls. kWh to CO2e conversion from http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/refs.html.

Facts about CFLs mentioned in the action are available at http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls_about#how_work and http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=LB .

Energy Action #3:

Assumptions for Food Waste Actions

#1: We assume that you’ll gain wisdom by tracking your food waste.  Remember, the real impact starts when you ACT on what you’ve learned!  Stay tuned.
#2-12: In this Year of Action we present a total of 11 food waste actions with practical impact.  Since it’s nearly impossible to know how much savings can accrue from any one action, we’ve settled on a different strategy.  We know that in the United States, the average person wastes 1400 kilocalories (food calories) per day, which is a total of 511,000 food calories per year.

Canfei Nesharim is seeking a spring intern. You can see the posting here: http://jewcology.jobthread.com/job/intern-silver-spring-md-canfei-nesharim-bb3ee9fa9a/.

While the process of acquiring, training and utilizing an intern can be a challenge, I'm a huge fan of interns. Perhaps that's because of the number of successful intern and fellowship experiences I had in my early career. As an unpaid intern I had the opportunity to edit books, as a lowly fellow I had the opportunity to lobby on Capitol Hill, and later on as a paid intern at EPA I had the opportunity to go to San Francisco to work with tribes and to Tblisi, Georgia to work on environmental issues there. So my own intern experiences taught me how much you can learn by giving a bit of yourself.

But I’m also a fan of interns because of the number of amazing young people who have worked with me over the years. I’ve had interns help me build a website, successfully create videos and podcasts, write articles, create perks for fundraisers, and generally keep our shoestring organization running when staff was short. Although we now have a little more staff capacity, I continue to seek interns because they bring new energy and ideas into Canfei Nesharim’s work, and of course, they do a lot of work which makes a difference!

Here are some things that I’ve learned from successfully working with interns over the last ten years.

The interview: When I interview interns, I trust my instincts. I’m more interested in enthusiasm, integrity and solid communications skills than I am in specific knowledge or experience. Specific skills and knowledge can be taught, but the intern I want is the one who is committed to making a difference and willing to put the time and energy into that. Several times I have taken a chance on young people who have not had any relevant experiences, and found them to be the most effective interns in my team.

Starting off right: When I start working with a new intern, my first goal is always to find out their interests and skills. The worst thing is a poor match between an intern’s skills and the projects they are assigned. While sometimes everyone has to do work that they dislike, I feel that interns should only have projects that they are at least theoretically interested in. If they are giving me their time for free, they should receive the experience and opportunity to work on something that helps strengthen their own skills and knowledge. I express this up front with the intern when we start working together, so that they know I have their interests in mind as well as my own. This helps us build a meaningful working partnership.

Professional expectations: Interns don’t always know what they will be able to do and what they won’t. So I also give interns a gradual progression of tasks, as I learn what they are good at and what they enjoy. Everyone knows it’s a bad idea to assign an intern a critical and time-sensitive project if they may not succeed at it. However, certain young people will really rise to the occasion with a deadline and a high-stakes situation. As I get to know my interns better, I adjust my expectations and the level of work that they receive. One important learning experience for an intern can be what they don’t like and what they aren’t good at.

Staff management: Interns typically require more management and hand-holding than more experienced staff. For that reason, I’ve learned to set aside specific times for check-in meetings, not just on work but to reflect on the general direction of the internship: what they are learning, what they are enjoying, and what they’d like to do more or less of (if possible). Many of my interns have worked from a distance, and this is especially important for them.

Gratitude: The most important thing I’ve learned about working with interns is to thank them. If an intern is going to give me their time and energy for a semester or a summer, they deserve a lot of gratitude. This is true especially if there are producing meaningful and helpful work! The most important way to thank an intern, of course, is in the reference that they receive at the end of the experience. If they have done good work, I’m fully expressive about that in my reference. Gaining a meaningful reference is one of the most important things an intern can get out of an experience, and I take that responsibility as seriously as I’d like them to take the internship.

By giving interns positive experiences, I’ve build a network of young people who have helped Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology thrive over the years. These young people are likely to refer others to our work and, hopefully, speak well of us in their communities. I consider internships incredibly important to a successful movement and I’m glad that the Jewish environmental movement offers so many of these types of opportunities!

To browse open Jewish environmental job opportunities, visit jewcology.jobthread.com. To apply for Canfei Nesharim’s spring internship, see http://jewcology.jobthread.com/job/intern-silver-spring-md-canfei-nesharim-bb3ee9fa9a/!

Then, yesterday, I had some quiet time, and I sat down to try to pull it all together.

A curriculum vitae means “the course of life.” It’s supposed to capture everything from your work accomplishments and community leadership to your personal status, publications, and awards.

The CV covered my ten years of running Canfei Nesharim, starting it as a fledging idea and ultimately engaging Jewish communities, creating meaningful Torah content, developing Jewcology, the Jewcology Leadership Trainings, and playing a leadership role in the Green Hevra. It included my twelve years at EPA, creating and maintaining EPA’s International Programs website, being the youngest member of the U.S. Delegation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, being the lead for public advisory committees for the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation. The many publications I’ve had: in Washington Jewish Week, On Faith, the Jerusalem Post, Conversations, My Jewish Learning, EJewish Philanthropy. The four books I’ve edited. Married, I wrote, mother of seven year old son.

At this point, I got overwhelmed.

Looking at the set of things we’ve accomplished together, I felt a profound gratitude to G-d, and something else that I rarely allow myself: I felt proud.

It’s funny how feeling proud and feeling humbled are really not opposites. For me, it seems they are often tied together in the same experience.

When I got to listing my awards, I realized I had a little stack of them, awards that I had not even acknowledged but had just piled in the corner of my EPA desk. And I thought: “Evonne, what a goofball you’ve been! Stressing out about every detail and almost never taking the time to reflect on the difference you’ve made and the amazing things you have built.”

I’ve had my eye constantly focused on the things that need to be created, fixed, made better. I’ve had a vision for this amazing sustainable future we’re trying to create. In the space between here and that future, I’ve always felt insignificant. We aren’t there yet, and so there is no reason to stop, to rest, to celebrate.

Yesterday, looking at my “course of life,” I felt a warm pressure on my chest, a tightness in my throat, a kind of glowing feeling, and a sense of satisfaction and peace. Since then, I’ve been trying to keep in mind that no matter how messy each individual moment looks, in the midst of the hectic pace of life, I’m building some amazing things.

Of course, I haven’t done it alone. We are doing that together. And every now and then (or maybe even a little more often than that!), we’re allowed to feel proud.

What accomplishments are you proud of from 2012 or even from the last five or ten years? Take a moment.

Whatever happens next, whatever the next challenge will be, just for this moment we can know: we really have made a difference already.

It’s a precious knowing that I am committed to keeping with me.

So, tomorrow is my birthday. I'm turning 36! I've been having a lot of trepidation about this. A lot of my identity has been tied up in being a "young Jewish leader." Several years ago I was chosen as one of the New York Jewish Week's "36 under 36." So, it's a little scary for me to be "not under 36" anymore. I'm coming to the end of my generational box.

In honor of this significant birthday — my transition to 36 — I'm asking my friends and family to help me raise funds for Jewcology.

It's been a big year for Jewcology. Specifically, it’s been a Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, with new learning materials released on a wide range of Jewish environmental topics. These materials have been shared widely in the Jewish community, including by such diverse Jewish publications as TorahCafe.com, the Jerusalem Post, Hirhurim (Torah Musings), and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. The final materials will be released over the next two months. In total, it’s the most comprehensive set of resources ever created on the topic of Torah and the environment.

I encourage you to learn these lessons and continue to share them with your communities in order to bring this wisdom into our daily lives! Compilations will be available later in 2013.

A lot of other exciting things have been going on behind the scenes with Jewcology. We've got some exciting new features in the works, which we'll be sharing with you very soon! And as you can see from the blog space, we've got a fresh new team of bloggers sharing their ideas and resources every day.

Starting this Tu b’Shevat, Jewcology will be taking our learning to the next level with a Year of Action, focusing on the mitzvah of Bal Tashchit. It’s going to be exciting! We will address food waste and opportunities to save energy, topics that we’ve learned a lot about this year. We’re also planning some great calculator tools on our Jewcology.com social media portal, so that everyone can see the difference we’re making together as a community. We expect to have major partners in the Jewish environmental world, and to engage the entire Jewish community in shared action to protect the environment.

In honor of my birthday, would you consider a donation to support Jewcology's Year of Action on December 5th?

You can donate here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Support-Jewcology

Thank you so much for your support!!

In my open letter, I was trying to express the frustration that I felt, and that I know other climate activists feel, about climate skepticism. I was trying to put into words my own cognitive dissonance between the scientists and environmental professionals – the leaders in my professional field – who have taught me that climate change is one of the most challenging issues of our time, and my intelligent, educated, good-hearted, environmentally-concerned friends and family members who argue that it is just not so clear.

As it turned out, an open letter was a lousy way to express that frustration. The few of my “climate-skeptical” friends who read it found it offensive. Part of that was because an open letter is just not a good strategy for having someone actually agree with you. As one friend pointed out, I had taken an argument with individuals into a public forum and turned those individuals into a “straw man” intended for attack, grandstanding in public while not being willing to entertain debate. Another friend told me that the writing, full of earnest passion, was like a proselytizer trying to convince someone to come to a new religion. The proselytizer means well, but they are only going to push their friends away. Bottom line, these intelligent people were insulted because I had implied they were in denial, when they actually felt quite informed. They told me I was patronizing.

To be sure, the open letter was a failure on many levels. Please, do not follow my example and do anything similar in your community.

I would also like to admit, to my great sadness, that I have no idea how to bridge the huge chasm between those who are working to address climate issues and those who think climate change is not happening or is not caused by human beings.

If you have been convinced by the science, perhaps you feel – like I do – that there is almost nothing more important for our long-term future than figuring out how to get our energy and climate challenges addressed. Personally, I’ve dedicated the last decade of my life to educating people to protect the environment. I’ve spent a lot of that time avoiding the topic of climate change because it feels too controversial. But I’ve come to see, over and over again, that it’s the elephant in the room.

One of my brilliant and passionate environmentalist friends, who doubts the climate science, recently encouraged me to avoid the topic of climate change because it’s too inflammatory and divisive, and to focus instead on things we can all agree on. For years I’ve taken this approach by speaking about a “sustainable future” – which of course includes a sustainable climate, but doesn’t say so directly. But as one of my climate activist friends commented to me, “How can we solve a problem that we can’t name?” This is the conundrum I’ve been struggling with over the last month. I just don’t know, anymore, if we can build that sustainable future if we don’t acknowledge that climate change is a problem.

The postings I wrote around Superstorm Sandy were my attempt to speak honestly about my concerns about climate change. They were probably the boldest statements I’ve made to date on the topic. For me, they were a step forward in my willingness to be honest about how important and urgent I feel this issue is.

What I’ve realized is that if I am going to speak out about an issue like this, I might get pushback. I have seen this across the internet, so I know it isn’t personal. People might comment by telling me I’m wrong, or make assumptions that I’ve said things that I haven’t, or question what I’ve said or what I have implied. They might try to engage me in public debate. In the end, whether or not I’m good at arguing this point does not determine whether or not the climate is changing. So it doesn’t matter who wins or loses that particular fight, which is why I’m not interested in having it. But by posting a blog that attacked, but didn’t allow for debate, I only made things worse. I made my friends take a punch without giving them the opportunity to respond.

For me, this has been a heart-wrenching experience. I’m used to looking for common ground. However flawed, my blog post was ultimately about trying to find a way to bridge the chasm between my friends who are skeptical and my friends who are activists. It didn’t work. It caused damage in the process. I am heartbroken about that damage, actually.

One thing is for sure: I’m never planning to post an open letter like that again. Still, I don’t want to go back to an earlier place, where I hide what matters most to me so that no one will ever challenge what I say or get upset with me. I am committed to speaking what I understand to be the truth. That includes my deepest understandings of what the Torah teaches about protecting the environment, and it also includes my best understanding of the science on the environmental challenges we're facing.

I’m going to strive to do that with wisdom and strategy, and without hurting people. And, if I do accidentally hurt people, I’m going to do my best to make things right — while still being true to myself.

Today is the last day that I'm writing as a "Jewish youth." Tomorrow I enter a new generational box in the Jewish community. I have so many wishes for the coming year, but here is one based on this experience: I pray that I'll increase in wisdom as I continue to grow, and that we will all have the opportunity to learn from one another, for many more healthy years in the future.

The structure of the conversation was intended to help audience members hear about the exciting new successes of the Jewish environmental movement in the Federation space. So, the panel included presentations about the Jewish Greening Fellowship (a program of the UJA-New York), the Associated Sustainability Initiative (Baltimore), and federation based activities in Cleveland. The panel also included a presentation by Rafi Rone of the Meyerhoff Family Foundation in Baltimore, explaining what motivates funders to invest in Jewish environmental organizations and activities. The session also included an unexpected visit from Michael Siegel, new chair of the JFNA, and brief breakout discussions on Jewish Environmental Education and Greening Your Jewish Community.

Other Jewish environmental leaders at the session included David Krantz of the Green Zionist Alliance, Jonathan Lane of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and Nati Passow of the Jewish Farm School.

My role in the session was to lead the breakout session on “Greening Your Jewish Community.” During that session, many participants expressed a common theme: I want my community/Hillel/synagogue to go green, but where do I start? What tools can I use? Several Jewish environmental organizations had provided suggestions to address these questions, and I had the opportunity to share about several resources from the field, including:

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) is focusing on energy with the Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign. The goal of the campaign is for Jewish institutions to reduce their energy use 14% by 2014, which is the beginning of the next Shemittah year in the Jewish calendar. COEJL’s Jewish Energy Network is cultivating a team of Jewish energy champions that will lead energy reduction and advocacy initiatves in synagogues and Jewish organizations throughout the country. COEJL’s Jewish Energy Guide will provide a comprehensive approach to the challenges of climate change and energy independence, with policy, communal action, Jewish teachings, and tips for reducing your energy use. COEJL is providing webinar briefings and a community organizing training, March 13-14 in Washington, DC, in partnership with JOIN for Justice.

Hazon uses food as a platform to create innovative Jewish educational programs. The Jewish Food Education Network (JFEN) is a way for educators from around the world to connect with, share and learn from each other with the help Hazon. JFEN Membership is open to all, whether you’re a full time Jewish educator or an individual looking to connect to a larger community. Currently, there are over 160 members of this growing network. JFEN members have access to training and networking opportunities with other educators in their field, and have the first access to Hazon educational resources.

Canfei Nesharim has been coordinating a Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, with comprehensive learning materials (articles, study guides, videos and podcasts) on a wide range of topics where Jewish wisdom can inform today’s environmental challenges. Fourteen materials have been released to date. The project will conclude on Tu b’Shevat 2013, when Canfei Nesharim/Jewcology will launch a Year of Action, focusing on the mitzvah of bal tashchit and the actions of saving energy and reducing food waste. Jewcology also offers a Public Narrative Training to empower Jewish environmental leaders to educate their communities.

The Jewish Farm School is developing Feast Forward, a web video series that raises awareness around important food and environmental issues. The series promotes Sustainable Agriculture, Eco-friendly Recipes, Environmental Action and Delicious Jewish Traditions. Through downloadable online resources for individuals and educators, Feast Forward provides additional Jewish and environmental content connected to the theme of each video. The first video, “A Prayer for Rain,” has already been released, and future videos will be available soon. The target audience is young adults interested in food related issues.

On behalf of Jewcology and On1Foot, I also had the opportunity to announce the launch of the new Online Jewish Environmental Source Library at On1Foot! Jewcology and On1Foot have collaborated to create a comprehensive library of more than 400 Jewish source texts, along with ready-made source sheets and divrei Torah, to empower Jews to learn about Torah and the environment. This is one of the many resources granted to the entire Jewish environmental field through our Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment. The new resource was launched on that day, timed for the JFNA-GA.

This session was also one of my first opportunities to try “live-tweeting” from an event. Using the Jewcology twitter account, I reported on the conversation, scrambling with my fingers to capture the most salient thoughts and engage the twitter audience. Here is the Storify with some of the tweets and retweets from this activity.

For me personally, the opportunity to be part of a GA session on Jewish Environmentalism was a great opportunity to meet new people, promote my work, and launch the new Online Jewish Environmental Source Library in the context of the JFNA-GA. I also got to learn new things, like how to live-tweet and how to use Storify!

I want to offer my huge thank you to the ROI Community for making my participation in this session possible via a “Go Speak” Microgrant. It was great to participate – thank you ROI, for making this possible!