Participants’ travel costs to and from Rome, and your lodging and meals, will be covered beginning with dinner on Saturday, 27 June and ending with lunch on Wednesday, 1 July. Participants will be chosen through a competitive application process. For Jewish participants who require it, lodging will be available form Friday June 26 and kosher food will be also an option. For those arriving on Friday, there will be a Shabbat program planned.

To learn more about the Convergence conference and to download an application go to:

http://www.greenfaith.org/resource-center/coming-events.

• Use natural methods to protect against the sun:  Use of sunscreens is commonplace from May through August.  Many sunscreens, however, contain chemicals and may be harmful to the skin and the environment.  Look for a sunscreen made with organic ingredients and no chemicals. Read the label before you buy anything.  Brands such as Alba Botanica and Jason Natural Cosmetics carry natural sunscreen products.  Adorable Baby and Earth’s Best are a few safe brands for infants and young children.    Also don’t forget to wear a wide brimmed hat during the middle of the day when the sun is strongest, a natural sun protection technique.

• Travel as much as possible by bike and by foot:  The benefits to your health of biking and walking are many.   Adding additional exercise to your day by biking or walking to  work, to summer activities, to run errands or just for pleasure can improve your physical health and can help combat problems that come with a sedentary lifestyle, such as obesity, diabetes and heart problems.  Regular exercise via biking or walking also is a great stress reliever, improving your mental health and well-being.  It also reduces your carbon footprint because it means you will be spending less time driving in a car.

• Shop at local farmers markets:  Typically, fruits and vegetables grown locally and sold at farmers’ markets are picked just as they ripen so they have a better taste, texture and aroma at the time of purchase.  In addition, since the produce is picked at the peak of the season, it will have a higher nutritional content and contain more phytochemicals (plant-derived chemicals believed to have beneficial health effects) than non-local produce purchased at a supermarket.The markets also help the environment because travel time and, therefore, the use of fossil fuels, is reduced for locally grown items.  In addition, many of the vendors have organic produce, which also helps the environment because many farm chemicals are made from fossil fuels.
• Think reusable/recyclable with items you take with you:  Chances are, you are going to eat or drink as part of your visit to cheer on your favorite team or watch outdoor Shakespeare.  So make it a point to bring items you can re-use whenever possible. Bring your own stainless steel water bottle rather than buying bottled water.  Pack munchies in re-usable glass containers rather than in throwaway plastic bags.  If you must purchase food at your venue (probably unavoidable at a sporting event), look for recycling bins on your way out rather than throwing things in the regular trash bins.  Many sporting locations now regularly recycle.  St. Louis’s Busch Stadium currently diverts close to 30 percent of all items purchased at a game and recruits volunteers for a Green Team at each event to help collect recyclable plastic and aluminum.

Enjoy celebrating summer in an eco-friendly way!

Join friends for routes through pine forests, farmland, and local villages, culminating in a barbecue lunch of kosher, pasture-raised meat from Grow and Behold, followed by an interactive marketplace of local, sustainable vendors, swimming and boating, children’s programming from Teva, and more! Your participation supports Hazon Philadelphia in running innovative Jewish programming on food, health, and  sustainability.

Not a cyclist? The Ride wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated crew, who support and cheer on riders, help behind the scenes, and then enjoy the lunch and afternoon with their rider friends. Registration sold out last year, so sign up today! hazon.org/phillybike

This past Sunday, over 100 members of the Jewish community, from New Bedford, MA to Brattleboro, VT, gathered at Hebrew College in Newton, MA, for the first Jewish Climate Action Network conference, “From Uncertainty to Action: What You Can Do About Climate Change.” According to Rabbi Arthur Waskow, it was the first conference of its kind, “I would have heard about it,”  he told us, if there had been another.

For four hours, we learned together, sang together, talked together, and connected to each other. And through all this, we were inspired, motivated, and recharged. It was an amazing afternoon. I am grateful to all those who helped make it happen, and to all those who took the time and energy to come. It was a vision fulfilled; it was a start, not and ending. It was a new beginning, of putting the Boston area Jewish community into the conversation about climate change.

As Jews, we are deeply rooted in Torah and in community. Today, we brought these together in the context of climate change.  The power of that connection was felt by every one present.

We will go forward from here, together. We will grow stronger. We will become more connected. We will build community. We will build enthusiasm and determination. We will weave networks of interdependence, caring, compassion, and trust. We will speak out. We will bring about change.

We will make a difference.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is a co-convener and coordinator of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network. 

Summery of the conference:

• Panel exploring what Judaism adds to our understanding and ability to respond to climate change
• Two rounds of workshops, each of which will provide concrete information about a specific way to respond to the threat of climate change and to connect with others
• Opportunity to speak with community organizations and businesses involved in environmental work
• Special workshop for teens and tweens
• Short wrap-up program highlighting what has been accomplished and providing a send off
• Facilitation of informal gatherings for dinner at nearby restaurants those who want to continue the conversations.

A schedule and descriptions of workshops and bios of workshop leaders can be found at http://www.jewishclimate.org/may-2015-conference.html

When: Sunday, May 17, 3-7 PM

Where: Hebrew College, Herrick Road, Newton
Registration: https://secure.hebrewcollege.edu/form/uncertainty-action-what-you-can-do-about-climate-change

Cost: $18 donation (optional); students are free.

Co-sponsors include: Hebrew College, Center for Global Judaism, Hazon, LimmudBoston, Shomrei Bereshit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth, and others.

Although these statements might seem somewhat harsh in tone, they are needed to shed light on gravity of these issues and to challenge our political leaders to take action.  In last month’s post I stated that my hope was for a more civil discourse to emerge in connection with addressing environmental issues and for everyone to work together in addressing these complex problems.  However, maintaining civility does not mean that our religious leaders should back away from their role in sparking both introspection and conversation among followers.  Rabbis across the world who view our role as Jews to be stewards of the earth should be speaking about important environmental issues, including climate climate change, with the same passion as the religious leaders from the Vatican. Congregants should be challenged from the pulpit to take action, both personally and on behalf of their community.  Similar to so many other issues over the past century where society seems paralyzed and ill equipped to take on a major challenge, it is usually our religious leaders who can provide the antidote, not only in the form of encouragement, but also in presenting such actions as an obligation.

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

This past Shabbat, in the same mail–delivery to my door,  there arrived both a copy of Rabbi David Seidenberg’s magnum opus Kabbalah & Ecology (published by Cambridge University Press), and the in-print Fall 2015 issue of Tikkun magazine, including an article of mine  on “Prayer as if the Earth Really Matters. ”  

My article encodes into liturgy an explicitly unconventional eco-Jewish theology. It joins a series of articles in that issue of Tikkun that are a kind of anthology of eco-theologies in various traditions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and several strands of spiritually open secular thought. 

Rabbi Seidenberg’s book  and my article (a distillation of much of my own eco-theology) present two new theologies, both rooted in Torah, looking at different aspects of Torah yet both reframing the relation of God to Earth and human earthlings.

David’s work, as his title announces, draws chiefly on Kabbalah and addresses its way of understanding tzelem elohim, the Image of God. He brilliantly shows that many Kabbalists extended the sense of the Image not only to the human species but to the universe as a whole and therefore all the beings within it. And he wonderfully explores the implications of this finding — intellectual, spiritual, scientific.

 My work is much more rooted in Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible — as the spiritual explorations of an indigenous people of shepherds & farmers

who are close to the land. To understand God at the heart of this, I hear— literally hear —  YHWH as YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh – the Breathing/ Interbreathing Spirit of the world –  ruach ha’olam – and I hear the shmei rabbah / Great Name of the Kaddish as a Rabbinic continuation of this outlook — weaving together all the names of all beings, including galaxies and quarks, rabbis and rabbits.

So it felt utterly fitting that on the day that they arrived in my mailbox was not only Shabbat but also the 8th day of Passover, Its fervently messianic Prophetic reading – “The wolf shall lie down with the lamb; in all my holy mountain nothing vile or evil shall be done; the intimate knowing of the Breath of Life shall fill the Earth as the waters cover the sea””) gives it the name of “the Passover of the Future.”.

My outlook begins with the spiritual findings, parables, and teachings rooted in one people’s experience of one sliver of a multi-ecosystem land on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean,  and I midrashically extrapolate from there/then to the planet as a whole in an era when what we extract and consume from the Earth is no longer only edible food but also burnable fossil fuels.

 Whereas the Image of God that draws David comes from the first Creation story, I focus on a crucial thread of Torah starting from the second Creation story –– adam birthed from adamah, and YHWH breathing life into the newborn human species as a midwife breathes life into the newborn human individual. (“Earthling” and “Earth” are the closest we can get in English to the richness of “adam and adamah” in Hebrew.)

 From there I see a crucial thread of concern for Earth-earthling relationship that runs through Tanakh — beginning with a parable of the disaster of failed adam/ adamah relationship in Eden, and then yearning toward a series of  sacred efforts to repair the disaster: the parable of bountiful Manna that comes with restful Shabbat; the attempt to make shared bounty practical through the Sabbatical/ Shmita Year and its hope of  the Jubilee/ Homebringing Year; and ultimately the vision of the Song of Songs  –  Eden once again, this time for a grown-up race of human earthlings and our well-beloved Earth.

I am delighted that both these new Jewish theologies are emerging in response to the planetary crisis we are in. Indeed, they both point to the ways in which the world we actually live in, and the policies and practices we develop to address it, call us to re-imagine God –-  that is, to create new theologies.

I had time on this past  Shabbos/ Yontif & Maimouna to begin perusing David’s book– which I had not been able to do in any thorough way via electrons. (My eye-brain connections still live in the 20^th century.)

I’m very impressed indeed.   Extraordinary breadth of scholarship, both in Jewish texts and in ancillary readings on e.g. evolution and other related fields. And a strong thread of Akiba’s “Study is greater ––  if it leads to action.”

I was especially tickled to see David’s comments on the Great Chain of Being. (The “Great Chain of Being” is a theory of the world as a hierarchy from “inanimate objects” like rocks up to the Divine King and Lord.)

In my Tikkun article I explicitly took on the GCB thus –

It is both factually and theologically notable that this liturgical song [“We Have the Whole World in Our Hands”] transforms an older hymn in which the refrain was, “He has the whole world in His hands.”

That assertion — He is in charge of the world —  is closely related to a major traditional metaphor in most Jewish, Christian, and Muslim prayer. In that metaphor,  God is King, Lord, Judge —  above and beyond the human beings who are praying.  In regard to the Earth, this metaphor crowned a series of hierarchies:

The “Great Chain of Being” is a theory of the world as a hierarchy from rocks and rivers up to vegetation, thence up to animals and then to human beings and finally up to the Divine King and Lord. 

Today we know that the relationship between the human species and the Earth is ill described by these metaphors of hierarchy.  Not only do we know that what we breathe in depends upon what the trees and grasses breathe out; now we know that within our own guts are myriads of microscopic creatures that occasionally make us sick but far more often keep us alive and healthy.

…  So  those metaphors of ordered hierarchy are no longer truthful, viable, or useful to us as tools of spiritual enlightenment.

If we are to seek spiritual depth and height, the whole framework of prayer must be transformed.

I hope that many of us will read both David’s book and the whole issue of Tikkun. My own essay is also at  –

 <https://theshalomcenter.org/content/prayer-if-earth-really-matters>. And the Introduction to David’s book is posted at <neohasid.org/KAE>, together with instructions on how to order it.

 From our different perspectives, David and I are both especially interested in efforts to synthesize ancient wisdom with post-modern science. 

 For him, the question is how Kabbalah and modern Science (especially an ecological-scientific frame of mind) may track each other.

 From my different focus on the Tanakh, I am interested in –

• connecting the warnings of Lev 26 with modern ecological predictions;
• connecting YHWH as  Interbreath of Life with the Oxygen/CO2 interchange so that the “climate crisis” – resulting from a catastrophic overdose of CO2 –  can be seen as a crisis in “YHWH” Itself – a crisis in God’s Name;
• seeing paragraph 2 of the Sh’ma as a  proto-scientific statement about the relationship between idolatry (“carving out” only a part of the Breath/Flow/ Great Name to worship as ultimate) and eco-catastrophes;
• seeing Pharaoh, enslavement,  and the Plagues as a teaching affirmed by modern political/ economic science that top-down arrogant power oppresses both human beings and the Earth, requiring struggle for eco-social  justice. (So for me, eco-theology flows smoothly into political activism.)

In short, I bring “social science” and “political science” and biological/ climatological/ ecological science into relationship with the early “science” of shepherds and farmers observing their own relationship with the Earth, making systemic theory from their observations  — and treating that relationship itself as sacred and our understanding of that relationship as Torah.

I take great joy in the simultaneous emergence of two eco-theologies – one that begins with the Image of God in the first Creation story, and another that begins with the Earth/ earthling relationship in the second Creation story. (David’s work does not ignore the second story, but his focus on the Image and on Kabbalah draw him in a different direction.)

May we be able to weave the two stories together as does our earliest Torah!

1.  Plant seasonal, native plants and flowers for the holiday:  One Shavuot tradition involves decorating our homes and synagogues with festive flowers and blooming plants.  Growing or purchasing your own native plants for the holiday helps the local environment. Native plants need less water and attract few if any weeds or pests, as opposed to non-native invasive species.
2. Study Jewish text on the environment:  Shavuot also typically involves studying Torah deep into the night. What better way to honor the environmental side of the holiday than by studying those parts of the Torah that focus on protecting the Earth, planting trees and taking care of G-d’s creation for future generations.
3. Think organic with the festive dinner:  Traditionally, the menu for Shavuot includes dairy products.   Consider purchasing organic milk, cheese and other dairy items for the meal.  Also look for locally made products where possible.
4. Dig deeper to increase the personal meaning of this holiday:  Because Shavuot includes eating dairy as opposed to meat, it already focuses on eating in a more eco-friendly way (preparing  meat for consumption involves much more energy and water use than preparing dairy products).  Go the next step and think about where all the food you eat typically comes from and the effects its growth and production have on the environment. Consider going meatless at least part of every week even after the holiday ends.

Chag Sameach!

In his lectures, Hershaft will discuss how dealing with the trauma and grief over the loss of his family during the Holocaust shaped his values and outlook on life, and increased his sense of compassion. When his life was no longer in danger, he felt guilty that he survived when so many others had perished. He felt that in response to his miraculous survival, he should devote himself to repaying a debt to society by devoting his life to helping the helpless and to working to reduce the evil in the world. After visiting a slaughterhouse where he saw piles of hooves, skins, hearts, livers, and skulls that he felt bore silent witness to evil, he became a vegetarian. (and later a vegan) He felt that the challenging mandate, ‘never again’ should apply to animals as well as people.

With a Ph.D. in chemistry, Hershaft could have had a career that would have provided him with a comfortable life. But he gave that up to devote his life to ending the mistreatment of farmed animals. He founded the Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM), which later became the Farm Animal Rights Movement. The group has many activities, including an annual Animal Rights National Conference that now attracts almost 1,500 attendees to hear leading animal rights activists and to visit booths that provide much information about other animal rights and vegetarian groups as well as information about the latest vegan products, books, and videos. Since their beginning in 1976 and official formation in 1981, FARM has launched a variety of grassroots campaigns in pursuit of their mission: World Day for Farmed Animals , Great American Meatout, Gentle Thanksgiving, 10 Billion Lives Tour , Letters from FARM, Sabina Fund, Vegan Earth Day, Meatout Mondays, and Live Vegan.

Alex is a former member of the Board of Directors of Jewish Vegetarians of North Americans and remains involved as a member of JVNA’s Advisory Council. JVNA is working with him in setting up talks in the US about how his Holocaust experiences contributed to his becoming an animal rights activist.

Alex’s schedule includes lectures at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv University, Ben Gurion University in Beersheba, and a civic center in Haifa, a half-dozen intense seminars for local activists, and private meetings with distinguished Israelis.

Last chance to help us make Israel a greener, environmentally healthier land: Until the end of April you can vote online for the upcoming World Zionist Congress. The results determine, among other things, the division of power at the Jewish National Fund’s international board.

For the past decade I have sat on the JNF board, largely because of the support and intervention of the Green Zionist Alliance – a wonderful group of young environmentalists who decided to get involved and improve Israel’s environmental performance. This support has allowed me to represent them and pursue any number of important green initiatives which include:

· creating new sustainable forestry policies for the JNF,

· putting bike lanes on the organization’s agenda,

· creating a brand new “affirmative action” program to systematically reach out to Israel’s Arab minorities to finance environmental projects,

· increasing the organizational commitment to green building and solar energy,

· leading the fight to prevent JNF funding over the green line,

· expanding funding for forestry and agricultural research as well as river restoration projects, and

· fighting for good government and transparency.

There is a lot more that needs to be done. Whether or not I can continue depends on whether the “GZA” – or Aytzim as they call themselves these days gets enough votes. It only takes ten dollars to register and 3 minutes online to vote. (The polls close this Thursday April 30th). Here’s a link to Vote Green Israel: www.worldzionistcongress.org

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. And thanks to all of you who have already voted green for the support. – Alon Tal

(Considered by many to be the leading environmentalist in Israeli history, Alon Tal is a co-founder of the Green Zionist Alliance)

News broke last week that a dozen Native Americans and a cultural consultant walked off the set of Adam Sandler’s new Netflix film under production because it was misrepresenting Apache culture and spouted derogatory lines about women and indigenous people. I stand with them!

Video of the Native actors confronting the producers of Adam Sandler’s film in production by actress Goldie Tom was published online by Indian Country Today. Note at 0:06 “Does it make fun of the Jews?” (Click the image to view the video.)

It gets personal for us Jews who are activists for social justice when successful Jewish business persons in the entertainment industry perpetuate racism in mainstream society. On the heels of a long term campaign which erupted last year to change the name of the football team that Dan Snyder owns from Redskins, Adam Sandler has thus far been silent while his name has trended on social networks over the Natives who walked off the set. Yet Deadline.com reported that Netflix actually jumped at the opportunity to defend Sandler and justify racism in the media by issuing a statement:

“The movie has ‘ridiculous’ in the title for a reason –because it is ridiculous,” said a spokesperson for the streaming service Thursday. “It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke.”

There’s nothing funny about racism and “ridiculous” is no excuse. The many Jewish activists who have been taking to the streets with the #BlackLivesMatter movement should be finding ways to educate others on the harmful ways Native Americans are depicted by the media and hold our Jewish brethren accountable.

Newsweek interviewed actress Allie Young who walked off the set in protest with others, and gave some more insight into the horrific suggestions depicted in the film.

The script posed more issues, including offensive names for indigenous women, like “Beaver’s Breath” and “Wears No Bra.” In one scene, a Native American women is passed out on the ground. A group of white men pours liquor on her, and she wakes up and starts dancing. “In Indian country, we’re battling that issue right now,” Young said. “It’s 2.5 times more likely for an indigenous woman to be raped or sexually assaulted. Movies like this perpetuate that and just add to the stereotypes of our native women.”

Actress Allie Young has first hand experience with the social challenges that plague the original peoples of this continent as a result of historic and current policies, evidence of ongoing colonization. She echoes what the many campaigns to change racist school mascots around the country assert about the impact of these negative representations on the identity of Native youth.

“I take this very personally because my little brother committed suicide when he was 17 because of racism,” Young said. “In his suicide note, he said, ‘It’s hard to stay alive when you’re brown and gifted.’ I want to take a stand for native and indigenous youth. I want them to see their people portrayed as something better.”

American Jews who are aware of the continuing legacy of governmental forces continuing the historic theft of land against indigenous peoples deplore these evolutions of social oppression. This September, despite prostests the Pope is planning to canonize Junipero Serro, the friar who founded the mission system in California in the 1700′s which enslaved and brutalized the indigenous peoples of the West Coast - and celebrations have already begun among Catholic institutions. In the past month, the State of Michigan sold sacred, treaty-protected land to an internationally owned limestone mine in the largest public land deal in the state’s history. In December, Arizona’s Senator McCain buried a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that gave sacred Apache land Oak Flats to an international copper mine. Over the past decade, the US federal government has militarized and confiscated historic indigenous lands for thousands of miles in constructing and securing the US-Mexico border wall. These new developments are just the latest while rape of the land affects indigenous peoples across the Americas from the Tar Sands to Patagonia.

We must stand against antisemitism on college campuses and around the world. We must protect our sacred and burial sites in the Holy Land and everywhere that Jews have lived. We must protest institutional injustices, endorsement of abuses and military violence by our governmental, corporate and faith leaders. And we must call on Adam Sandler to apologize and join in solidarity against racism in the media.

Whether it’s supporting the women on the front lines of indigenous struggles, endorsing campaigns to end racist mascots, becoming educated and sharing information with others about today’s plight for environmental justice or objecting to the bigotry that the media perpetuates in our society, American Jews and the organizations we are part of must increase our alliances with the indigenous peoples as they lead.

We dreamed, you and I,

my brother and my sister,

interpreter it has none,

an ancient dream it is,

as the days when we went forth from exile,

but you forgot it or did not elucidate it for yourselves,

and I did not recount it to you.

Grand is the dream,

vast like the void of the universe,

and we long for it with our souls,

but I will not remind you of it this time,

except for a small fragment/excerpt.
Now, please hear, my brother,

please hear my dream, my sister,

and remember that you also dreamed as I did.

 
In my dream–and here it is,

I arrive at the land.

And the land is neglected and desolate

and is in the hands of foreigners,

and the destruction darkens the light of her face

and destroys her spirit,

and an alien government corrupts her.

Distant from me and strange to me

is the land of my ancestors,

and I, too, am distant from her and a stranger to her.

The single connection that ties me to her,

and the lone memory that reminds me

that she is my mother and I am her son,

is–because my soul is also desolate

like her,

for it, too, fell into the hands of foreigners,

to destruct it and destroy it.

I feel the destruction and I ponder the ruins

with all my soul

and with every ounce of my being,

and a divine voice goes forth from the ruins and declares,

“Mortal! Consider these ruins,

and consider them once again,

turn not a blind eye to them.

And you shall know and gain insight

to what you already understand,

that the destruction is the destruction of your soul,

and the destroyer is the destroyer in your life,

in the midst of which you lived in foreign lands

and which clung to you until this time.

Remember this,

for your redemption requires this!

And as you continue to ponder and to dig deeper,

you shall see that from below the ruins

an orphan cinder still whispers,

saved by hiding from the spirit of that life,

and the spirit of the land breathes upon it

to bring it to life.

And when it totally abandoned that life,

which others created,

when you left their land and arrived here

to create a new life for yourself, your life–

then cinder smoldered and lived,

glowed and brought forth its flame,

and you returned and lived,

and your people and your land returned and lived.

Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as a Nature Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is a co-convener and coordinator of the Boston-based Jewish Climate Action Network.

This Earth Day, my hope is that we can start to have a needed civil conversation, with those who share our views and those who may disagree, on how we can address these critical environmental issues that impact millions in this country every day (billions around the world), especially the most vulnerable among us, and which will certainly impact exponentially more of us every year if we refuse to collectively work together to address these issues head on.

The story pasted below can be found here: http://www.weather.com/health/news/earth-day-health-and-climate-change

Intense heat waves — a result of climate change — are one of the most dangerous ways to the planet’s health affects our own, according to a new World Health Organization report that will be presented at the European Environment and Health Process in Haifa, Israel, at the end of the month.

The WHO report also includes a framework for the 32 nations in Europe to address these and other health-related challenges.

“Health in Europe is already suffering as a result of the effects of climate change,” the organization wrote in a press release. “The devastating floods of May 2014 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia affected more than 2.5 million and killed 60 people. In addition, a WHO study released in 2014 projects an annual increase of heat-related deaths in Europe, reaching 27,000 by 2050, for the over-65 age group unless action is taken now.”

(MORE: The Worst Cities for Spring Allergies)

Specifically, more should be done toward building an infrastructure for clean energy and transportation, as well as agricultural measures, the report said.

“Situations vary from country to country, of course, but climate change affects everybody across the entire region, from young to old,” Dr. Bettina Menne, Program Manager of the WHO Centre for Environment and Health, said in a press release. “Climate change is a cross-cutting issue in health, and what has been done so far is simply not enough to tackle the profound consequences.”

Similar sentiments have been reflected stateside by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and others.

“What we know is that the temperature of the planet is rising, and we know that in addition to the adverse impacts that it may have when it comes to more frequent hurricanes, or more powerful storms and increased flooding, we also know that it has an impact on public health,” President Barack Obama said during a roundtable discussion on public health on April 7.

This Earth Day, learn more about these top climatic health challenges.

Heat waves. By most measures, heat is the deadliest type of weather pattern. In particular, extreme heat waves are known to harm low-income urban residents who may not have access to air-conditioning. A 2013 report linked extreme heat specifically to human-caused climate change, reported National Geographic.

Wildfires. The changing climate’s heat waves and droughts will lead to increased wildfire outbreaks, if they have not already, according to the Third National Climate Assessment Report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, released in 2014. (However, direct links between human-caused climate change and past wildfires, up until at least 2013, have been tenuous, according​ to the same National Geographic report.)

Drought and water quality. Declining water supplies, and in turn, reduced agricultural yields are major concerns due to climate change, the Climate Assessment Report found. (That said, natural climatic variability, not necessarily human-caused climate change, could be the largest contributing factor to the California drought, a NOAA report released in 2014 announced.)

Vector-borne diseases. Diseases spread through mosquitoes and ticks killing thousands every year. The number of diseases affecting humans, plus the number of cases, is set to rise. “The climate will get warmer which means non-native species will be able to survive better, mosquitoes will develop at a faster rate and warmer temperatures will permit tropical pathogens to be transmitted and at a faster rate,” Dr. Jolyon Medlock from the Emergency Response Department at Public Health England told weather.com in an email after a study about future disease outlooks in the U.K.

Air pollution. Seven out of 10 doctors consider air pollution to be the top climatic health concern currently affecting individuals in the United States, according to a recent survey. Air pollution is known to cause lung cancer and has been linked to COPD, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, as well as heart attacks and heart disease. Hot, humid air exacerbates these conditions by causing the formation of additional ozone smog in the air.

Allergies. Not only will a generalized warming trend cause spring allergy season to start earlier and fall to go later, but also the changing climate itself is causing plants to produce more pollen. “The pollen is [directly] affected by greenhouse gases,” Dr. Clifford W. Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York and an ambassador for the AAFA, told weather.com earlier this spring. “It’s a double whammy — longer pollen season, as well as the fact that the pollen itself may be more super-charged.”

We are so pleased on the progress of our solar energy project. The panels are on the roof.

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!

• Choose less meat in your diet:   Most if not all of the climate pollution that our food creates happens before we buy it. The extent of these impacts depends on how much energy, land, feed or fertilizer, processing, and transportation is required to put a particular food on our tables. Yet sometimes the food itself is the problem. Cattle, for example, produce 34% of all U.S. emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Some of the meats with the largest carbon footprint include:  Lamb, which has the highest emissions of any food, generating 86.4 pounds of greenhouse gases for every kilogram (2.2 pounds) eaten and beef, which is number two with 59.6 pounds of gases produced per 2.2 pounds consumed.  Eliminating or reducing the amount of lamb and beef in your diet will go a long way toward reducing your own carbon footprint.
• Choose grass-fed, pasture-raised and organic meats:  If you prefer not to reduce or eliminate meat from your diet, you are best off eating meat that is grass-fed, pasture-raised and/or organic and locally raised.  Meat that is organic, locally raised and/or grass fed has a lower carbon impact in terms of producing the meat as it goes from farm to your table.
•  Fish has a lesser environmental impact than beef or poultry, but it is still preferable to buy wild fish as opposed to farmed fish.  The former is both healthier and better for the planet as its cultivation uses less energy and has a lower carbon footprint.
• Also try to reduce your cheese intake, as cheese is number three on the list in terms of having a high carbon footprint. Try eating more strong flavored cheeses like cheddar and bleu. You can use less of these and still retain a distinctive cheese taste in your dishes.
• Go vegetarian:  Try going vegetarian for all or some of your meals.  There is such a wide variety of tasty vegetables readily available today at local farmers markets, conventional grocery stores or through joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.  Pick up a good vegetarian cookbook and you might not miss that meat after all.

In general, it’s no secret that the lower we eat on the food chain, the fewer impacts we’ll create.  Even making small changes to your diet can go a long way.

Just weeks ago, many American Jews were deeply upset by reports of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s last minute appeal to Jewish voters to come to the polls to counter the strong turnout by Arab Israelis.  The prime minister of Israel should represent the nation’s highest ideals, not purposely exacerbate ethnic tension and undermine Israel’s democracy.

Netanyahu apologized after the election for his remarks, but the problems facing the Arab minority in Israel remain.  Despite their strong showing in the election, the Arab parties’ influence in the Knesset is likely to be limited.  Discrimination will continue and the principle of equality for every citizen will be undermined.

Israeli Jews often seem surprised by the depth of concern that American Jews show for Arab Israelis.  But the situation of Arabs in Israel speaks to us.  We know what it is like to be in the minority.  We are grateful for the welcome we have received in America.  We take pride in the way we have fought to be accepted as Americans, and how our success has opened the way for other immigrant groups.  We see a parallel between our experiences and those of Israel’s Arab minority.

Is there anything we can do from here to ease the tension between Arabs and Jews and strengthen Israel’s democracy?

The answer, surprisingly, is yes.  Because as American Jews, we can vote for the World Zionist Congress that in turn selects the leaders of the Jewish National Fund in Israel.  Like other Israeli institutions, the JNF could do much better in meeting the needs of Arab citizens. Our votes can make that happen by putting the right leaders on the board of directors of the JNF.

Environmental activism is one of the bright spots in relations between Arab and Jewish Israelis.  Despite the lack of official support, there are many grassroots efforts to work together to protect shared resources and improve the quality of life for all.  Alon Tal and Orr Karassin, the Aytzim (Green Zionist Alliance) representatives on the board of directors of JNF in Israel, have been leaders of many of these efforts.

Thanks to Tal and Karassin, the JNF is changing.  Recognizing its past mistakes, the JNF has hired Ralab Majadlah, a former member of Knesset and Israel’s first Arab minister, as an advisor.  JNF’s Land Development Committee has decided to prioritize projects in the Arab sector and has budgeted one million shekels to help Arab municipalities prepare the detailed plans required to receive JNF funding.  Several projects are now moving ahead, including a bike lane in Rafah — the first such resource in an Israeli Arab community; restoration of a stream in Rahat, the second largest city in the Negev and the largest Bedouin city in Israel; and a stream restoration initiative that will connect the Arab city Sakhnin with Jewish communities in the Galilee.

American Jews put Tal and Karassin on the JNF board of directors by voting for the Green Israel slate in past elections for the World Zionist Congress.  By voting now, we can affirm the new direction taken by the JNF, increase the number of change-makers on the board, and take another big, green step toward peace and understanding between Israeli Jews and Arabs.

Whether or not Prime Minister Netanyahu goes beyond apologies to repair the damage done to Israel with his campaign rhetoric, we can do our part by voting green in elections for the World Zionist Congress.

Download the free “Haggadah of the Inner Seder” (18 pp.). PDF, RTF, and DOC versions, along with a brief guide to the haggadah’s features, can be found at: http://neohasid.org/zman/pesach/InnerSeder/.
You can also go to neohasid.org for Omer Counter apps, and for information about David Seidenberg’s new book, Kabbalah and Ecology: God’s Image in the More-Than-Human World, published by Cambridge University Press.

You can support the Israel you want to see. All American Jews can vote in the World Zionist Congress election going on right now. One of the most common questions, we get is why it costs $10 to vote. As Mirele Goldsmith, a Green Israel slate member answers: “The American Zionist Movement has contracted with an independent company to run the online election.  This is to insure that the election is fair.  The registration fee is being used exclusively to pay for the election.  It is not a donation to the WZO.  I wish there was no fee, but it is a small price to pay to make a real difference in the future of Israel.”

Green Israel Platform: Peace for All • Green Energy • Sustainable Development • Diaspora Relations • Air Quality • Ecological Ecology • Animal Rights • Food Justice • Water Conservation • Schmita • Recycling • Encourage Environmental Start-Ups

Green Israel Slate: Eli Bass, Ellen Bernstein, Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Karin Fleisch, David Fox, Matthew Frankel, Ilana Gauss, Brett Goldman, Mirele Goldsmith, Wendy Kenin, David Krantz, Frances Lasday, Evonne Marzouk, Hody Nemes, Morgan Prestage, Shira Rosen, Richard Schwartz, Jacob Schonzeit, David Sher, Garth Silberstein, Marc Soloway, Lawrence Troster, David Weisberg, Eric Weltman, Laurie Zoloth

Please vote Green Israel. Go to http://jewcology.org/2015/03/votegreenisrael/ or worldzionistcongress.org for more info.

• Help the environment by reducing waste as you empty your home of chametz (leavened foods such as breads, pastas, etc).  Give leftover bread and grain-based items to area food pantries rather than throwing them out.
• Clean your house using environmentally friendly cleaning products. Consider brands such as Trader Joe’s or Seventh Generation. Or make your own cleaning product by combining water, lemon juice and a splash of vinegar.
• As much as possible, buy your Passover fruits and vegetables from local, organic sources. This reduces your carbon footprint as you will not be purchasing produce flown in from hundreds of miles away. Cook with vegetables that are in season.
• Use soy or beeswax candles for your Passover table.  These create less soot and are more sustainable than paraffin candles.
•  Avoid disposable plates and utensils.  If your level of observance requires using separate dinnerware during Passover, invest in purchasing separate dishes that you can use over again each year.  Don’t clog landfills by using plates, cups and cutlery that get thrown away after a single use.
• Use washable napkins and a washable table cloth for your Seders. This is another way to reduce waste.
• If travelling for Passover, consider carpooling with others and travelling at off-peak times to avoid wasting gas.
• Incorporate environmental themes as part of your Seder.  Find one example at    http://www.rac.org/sites/default/files/freedom%20seder%20.pdf

(Freedom Seder for the Earth)

Have a joyous and green Passover!

Still, it surprised me recently how I metaphorically fell apart when the government literally did.

There were reasons why the folding of the current government affected me.  After two years of hard work to promote a meaningful Shmita year and raise ethics at a national level, winning the commitment of three ministers and a deputy minister and partnering with Knesset members of all parties – all of a sudden there was nothing, a vacuum.

But this reality did not break my spirit.  My difficulty was with the political atmosphere but normal life continued in the social justice arena. When I set up the “Israeli Shmita Initiative” I planned this year as one of unity, of connecting people, of joint mobilization to highlight the good that we share. The reality of elections achieves pretty much the opposite of this, and the current election system is particularly harsh.

It took me a while to realize that elections affect us only at a superficial level, leaving intact the many choices each of us makes on an inner level every day. The values of Shmita reside within us, where they retain the potential to influence society for the better. And I had a tool – our Israeli Shmita Tent.

So what is this Israeli Shmita Tent?  It is, as the name suggests, a huge tent with which we travel around the country, offering people a space for relaxation, eating fruit, swapping books (our ‘Take and Keep’ library), and a space for shared discussion about our social dreams. With our Tent we will go anywhere we are invited, and stay a few days, getting to know the place and its people, and discussing the possibilities of positive action arising from the values ​​of Shmita.

The Tent’s journey began early in the year, but the election made us raise our game – really plowing the length and breadth of the country, reminding us how good it all is. Here are some of the stories I’ve collected along the way:

On the pilgrimage “Connections on the Road to Jerusalem”, I pitched my tent next to the Teva employees, who took part in the march as representatives of the business sector: a commercial company which chooses to invest in sending its employees on a two day march calling for unity in Israeli society. Definitely exciting.

At Festival Indie-Negev, which I went to for the local culture (not for corporate sponsorships), I came across an interesting choice made by one of the festival’s producers who made teshuva, but did not cancel the event (which takes place on Shabbat) but placed alongside it a ‘Jewish complex’ where people could pray, hear Kiddush and engage in spiritual activities. It was packed throughout the whole of Shabbat, and I got into deep conversations of inestimable value.

In Yeruham I met a community which chose not to give in to the stigma attaching to many a southern town. Cultural and intellectual life is vibrant, there is huge social entrepreneurship in evidence, and a variety of institutions combine learning and practice: these are the result of just some of the wonderful choices of the local people.  If I had not settled in the Galilee, for sure I would pack my bags and move.

In Jerusalem we pitched our tent at the First Station complex – a commercial complex which is trying to reinvent itself as Jerusalem’s latter-day ‘forum.’  In seven sessions around seven themes we met many residents of the Holy City, and found creative ways to imbue the values of Shmita in their lives.

There were more: the ecological farm in Modi’in which completely recycles all its waste; the Zionist Youth Congress which continues to bring relevant meaning to Zionism today; the Emek Hefer march that brings people closer to nature; and many more.

So whether you are happy with the result of the Israeli elections or not, I hope that all of us remember that the real choices which matter are those we make every day – not just at election time, and that the values inherent in Shmita invite us to choose good!

Over the past few weeks I’ve learned that politics is a tough business. As a candidate for the Green Israel slate, running for the World Zionist Congress, I’ve gained a lot of respect for anyone willing to put themselves out there on the campaign trail.  My potential voters are asking a lot of hard questions.  Fortunately, I have the answers.  Here are the 5 questions I get most often.  I hope the answers are compelling enough to get you to click and vote for Green Israel.

What is the World Zionist Congress?  What can it possibly do?

The World Zionist Congress exists to give Jews in the diaspora a voice in Israeli affairs.  Before 1948, the World Zionist Congress was the prestate parliament of what would become Israel.  After Israel was established, most of its powers were taken over by the Knesset (Israel’s parliament).   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.  These include the Jewish Agency (which is involved in immigration,) and most important for our purpose, 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.

With so much control over land, the environmental policies of the JNF have tremendous influence in Israel.  The composition of the WZC determines the makeup of the board of the JNF.  Today, through the WZC, the Green Israel slate — supported by Aytzim and its projects, the Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology, and Shomrei Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth — has named two of Israel’s leading environmentalists to the JNF board.   Alon Tal and Orr Karassin have pushed JNF to take the lead on a number of environmental issues, including taking stands for the protection of open space and against fracking.  The Green Israel slate must be reelected to continue to influence the JNF.

I’m not a Zionist, so why would I vote?

When I agreed to join the Green Israel slate, I anticipated that potential voters would assume that the WZC was an antiquated and irrelevant institution.  Somehow I didn’t realize how many Jews are uncomfortable with the terms Zionist and Zionism themselves.  My answer is simple.  Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish People.  It achieved its initial aim when Israel was established.  But no country is perfect.  Fortunately, there are ways we can help to make it better.  Voting in the WZC elections is one way.

I’m not so comfortable with the JNF either, so why should I support it? 

The JNF is a large, politicized, bureaucratic organization that is part of Israel’s establishment.  I don’t agree with everything that the JNF does.  That’s exactly why I’m on the Green Israel slate.  Because people voted for the Green Israel slate in past elections, there have been major improvements in how the JNF does business.  It has adopted significantly better policies on forestry, stream restoration, and soil reclamation.  JNF is taking the lead on green infrastructure such as bike lanes, solar energy, and wastewater reclamation.  Now JNF’s Sustainable Development Committee, chaired by Alon Tal, has established a program to prioritize quality of life improvements in Arab communities that have long been neglected by the JNF.  The JNF has power, and we can leverage that power by voting.

Why do I have to pay to vote?

The American Zionist Movement has contracted with an independent company to run the online election.  This is to insure that the election is fair.  The registration fee is being used exclusively to pay for the election.  It is not a donation to the WZO.  I wish there was no fee, but it is a small price to pay to make a real difference in the future of Israel.

In the last few weeks I have asked hundreds of people to vote for me.  In the last election, it only took 500 seats to get a seat at the WZC.  That means that every single vote matters.  Please vote right now at worldzionistcongress.org.

• User safer antifreeze:  Just 2 ounces of the standard ethylene glycol antifreeze can kill a dog. Propylene glycol offers a much less toxic alternative (although with fossil fuel origins, it’s hardly eco-friendly). Since both kinds pick up hazardous heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and chromium during use, recycle spent antifreeze to minimize impact. Ask your repair shop about on-site recycling or find a local collection facility at earth911.org.
• Fight frost naturally:  To prevent ice from covering home and car windows, rub the inside of the glass with a saltwater-soaked sponge; dry with a clean cloth. You won’t see it, but a residue from the salt will remain to ward off frost. For extra oomph, spray a solution of three parts white vinegar and one part water on the outside of the glass, then wipe dry.
• Use better de-icers:  Steer clear of rock salt (sodium chloride) and urea-based de-icers. Not only can they pollute habitats with plant-killing runoff, but they can also corrode concrete, destroy your lawn (even a snow-covered one), and contaminate water supplies. Better bets? Sand, which provides traction without damaging salt-sensitive landscapes, and calcium chloride, which may still hurt vegetation, but is free of the cyanide present in rock salt
• Don’t idle your car:  Don’t let your car idle for more than 30 seconds. Beyond wasting fuel, excessive idling strains cylinders, spark plugs, exhaust systems, and engines, which work best in motion — not in neutral. The best way to warm up the car? Drive it.
• Let in the sun: Even in winter, the sun’s rays provide a fair amount of warmth. Take advantage of this free heating by opening blinds and curtains on the windows that receive the most light (usually on the east side). At night, draw heavy insulating drapes to help preserve warmth, or invest in “low-e” Energy Star-certified windows (especially on the north side of the house). Learn more at energystar.gov.

Resources:  www.wholeliving.com

Find out why your vote matters. Hear about green activism in Israel and how you can make a difference from Captain Sunshine, Yossi Abramowitz.  Yossi is the solar entrepreneur who built the largest solar field in Israel and is bringing Israeli solar technology to Africa.

RSVP to receive location information.

–Give an eco-friendly gift:  Avoid the mall or department store. Go eco-friendly with your gift.  Some ideas include fair trade chocolate, organic handmade soap or a handbag made from recycled products.  Shop at your local fair trade store, organic market or similar venue to find just the right gift.

–Give an experience rather than a gift in a box:  Another way to be more respectful of the environment when you do Valentine’s Day shopping is to buy a gift of a dinner out or tickets to a show or concert.  That plush teddy bear or pair of earrings may just sit on the shelf or in a drawer.  Live theatre or a meal out can offer a great experience without generating more waste in your home.

– Give a gift of your time or experience:  Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that involve giving of yourself.  Consider giving a “gift certificate” offering to make a special home cooked meal for your significant other or to give him/her an evening back rub.  Think about what you are good at and love to do and share it with someone you love for the holiday.

–Combine a gift with a cause:  There are some purchases that can combine your wish to give a tangible gift with efforts to help the environment. For example, the company Amour Vert (http://www.amourvert.com/)  plants a tree for every tee shirt purchase (in partnership with American Forests).  The tee shirts are also made from organic cotton.  Or visit the Sierra Club website and buy a gift from the Sierra Club store (http://vault.sierraclub.org/store/) which the supports the work of the organization.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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.

“May the merciful One turn our hearts toward the land,
so that we may dwell together with her in her sabbath-rest the whole year of Shmita.”

Harachaman hu yashiv libeinu el ha’aretz
l’ma’an neisheiv yachad imah b’shovtah, kol sh’nat hash’mitah!

הָרַחֲמָן הוּא יָשִיב לִבֵּינוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ לְמַעַן נֵשֵב יָחַד עִמָהּ בְּשָׁבְתהּ, כָּל שְׁנַת הַשְׁמִיטָה

The words of this blessing were written by Rabbi David Seidenberg. Nili Simhai made it into a singable liturgy by setting the words to the “Sosne Nigun” by Jonah Adels, z”l. (Listen to the song at www.neohasid.org/resources/shmita-harachaman.)Harachaman blessings come after the main part of the blessing after the meals, and they ask for special blessings, including blessings related to Shabbat and holidays. Sing it at your Tu Bish’vat seder and at every meal this whole Shmita year!

Shmita means “release”, and the Shmita year is about release or liberation for the land, liberation between the people and the land, and liberation between people themselves. This Harachaman blessing references all three kinds of liberation, and it does that by using three different verbs that include the letters Shin ש and Bet ב. The first, yashiv, comes from the word “turn”, lashuv, לשוב, and it refers to our returning to a right relationship on a heart level with the Earth. The second, neishev, comes from “to settle” or “dwell”, lashevet, לשבת, as in shevet achim gam yachad — how good it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together, and it refers to liberation between individuals in the year of release, when debts are canceled and food is shared. The third, b’shovtah, comes from lishbot, לשבות, to rest, and it refers to the shabbat that the land itself enjoys in the Shmita year, as it says, “the land will enjoy her sabbaths”. This is the true nature of tikkun olam: tikkun, repair and restoration, on all these levels together. That is what must happen to fix the world.

You can download the PDF at neohasid.org/pdf/Shmita-Harachaman.pdf or get a PNG graphic of the blessing at neohasid.org/resources/shmita-harachaman/ (there are 8 Harachamans per page) to use at your Tu Bish’vat seder and for every meal during this Shmita year.

The words fit into the song like this:

Harachaman hu yashiv libeinu
el ha’aretz, el ha’aretz
Harachaman hu yashiv libeinu
el ha’aretz, el ha’aretz 

l’ma’an neisheiv yachad imah
imah b’shovtah
neisheiv yachad imah
imah b’shovtah

kol sh’nat hash’mitah
kol sh’nat hash’mitah
kol sh’nat hash’mitah
kol sh’nat hash’mitah

About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff role models, we foster our campers’ positive Jewish identity and genuine commitment to tikkun olam (healing the world). Our 3 acre educational farm and orchard are based on principles of permaculture, sustainable and organic farming. We produce annual vegetables, perennials, and tend educational gardens as well as animals.

About the Farm Educator Apprenticeship: This is a paid six-month apprenticeship for young adults seeking hands-on experience. In the Spring build your knowledge based on agriculture, farm-based education and Jewish community. In the Summer, work at our 8-week intensive summer camp as Jewish Farm Educators. In the fall, take ownership and integrate your new skills by diving deeper into independent projects.  Live on-site at our beautiful camp, one hour north of New York City. By joining the farm staff at Eden Village, apprentices will hold two main responsibilities – tending our growing spaces and educating in our all of our programming through the spring, summer and fall. Apprentices will also have an opportunity to dive deeper into one of four focus areas: perennials, annuals, animals, and educational gardens. In these specialties apprentices will gain a deeper understanding of certain aspects of farming and will take on leadership and special projects to booster their learning and the learning of campers and program participants.

Details: April 14th, 2015 – October 22nd 2015, Apprentices receive full room and board at Eden Village, as well as a modest stipend. Extensive experience is not necessary but experiential curiosity is required. We recommend you explore our website thoroughly to get more information about our apprenticeship, farm, camp, and more at Eden Village Camp.

More questions? Explore the FAQ page. For all other questions, contact farm@edenvillagecamp.org