We did it! Riding from Jerusalem to Eliat in a week’s time, this year’s Israel Ride community has an incredible journey. On our final day of riding, participants cycled into Eliat and along the coast before joining staff and crew for a beach celebration. Registration for the 2015 Israel Ride is open and I encourage anyone interested to sign-up now! The ride will run October 27th through November 3rd 2015. If you sign up now you will receive an early registration discount, a complimentary Israel Ride wind breaker and a guaranteed spot on the 2015 Israel Ride. Click here to register now! Still not convinced? Check out these rider blogs from this year to read more about the experience! http://lesterdb.blogspot.co.il/ http://reuvenmr.blogspot.co.il/ Thank you for reading! Hope to see you next year.
Author Archive | Hazon
Riding to the Arava Institute
After a restful Shabbat riders returned to their bikes to complete the final two days of riding on the Israel Ride. Starting the day with an incredible sunrise and descent from Mitzpe Ramon, participants rode through the desert to Kibbutz Ketura, the home of the Arava Institute. Throughout the week riders have had the opportunity to meet Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians – Arava Institute and Hazon alumni on the Israel Ride crew who are working towards peace, environmental sustainability, and regional cooperation. These alumni have shared their stories throughout the week and today our Israel Ride community was able to visit the faculty and staff who supported them along their way.
The Beauty of the Israel Ride
Yesterday the Israel Ride entered the heart of the desert. Participants rode past magnificent desert vistas and ate lunch at Sde Boker, the burial place of David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel. While the Shomrim hiked to a beautiful desert spring in the afternoon, the Chalutzim took a detour to the Egyptian border. All three groups were greeted at the end of the day by one of the most breath-taking sites of the trip, Mitzpe Ramon. After three days of riding, our community is enjoying a restful and rejuvenating Shabbat. Today riders have the option to participate in communal prayer, discussions, hikes and yoga. After lunch there will also be opportunities to learn more about the work of Hazon and the Arava Institute. These organizations encourage sustainability, peace and service in Israel and America. The Arava Institute exists to ensure that the world’s environmental resource challenges are a catalyst for dialogue, cooperation and trust among people. Located in Southern Israel, this specialized academic institute prepares young Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and international leaders to cooperatively address the region’s environmental needs. Hazon similarly promotes sustainability by creating healthier communities in the Jewish world and beyond. Hazon does so by […]
Connecting with the Land and People of Israel
As we started our second day of riding and touring on the Israel Ride we traveled south through the Yatir Forest, a large Jewish National Fund forest, click here to read more!
1 Day; 3 Options; 165 Ways to Israel Ride
On our first day of riding we set off just as the sun rose above the Jerusalem skyline. As 165 participants took to their bikes to ride in support of peace and sustainability it was truly a sight to behold. To read more about the day click here!
Live From the 2014 Israel Ride!
Welcome to the Israel Ride Blog! Over the next week, this blog will feature stories and photos from the route, as I travel with the riders as they pedal from Jerusalem to Eilat click here to read more!
Compost Team
by Ann Berlstein, Greening Fellow, Teacher, Solomon Schechter School of Westchester When the Schechter Westchester Lower and Upper Schools selected “reducing waste in the lunch program” as our project for the Jewish Greening Fellowship, we were thinking about garbage. Trash. Piles of empty, half-pint milk cartons. Mounds of uneaten pizza slices. We were not focused on giving struggling students a reason to turn up at school every morning or unearthing hidden leadership skills in fourth graders. So nobody was more surprised than I was when our trash-reduction project became the vehicle for several third and fourth graders to organize themselves into a student-run “compost crew,” complete with job assignments, checklists, badges, protective gear, and – most importantly – “cool kid” status in the halls of the Lower School. In the upper elementary grades, it seems, kids look up to kids with clipboards and big shovels. And for some of our students, that recognition could not have come at a better time. At the time we decided to recruit students to work on the snack-composting plan, one of our boys – let’s call him Aaron – was going through a hard time. He often did not want to come to school […]
Thousands of Jews March for Climate Action and Keep Going
Thousands of Jews from over 100 communities joined 400,000 people of all faiths in the People’s Climate March on September 21. It was an inspiring day that revealed the public’s concern about climate disruption, and growing understanding of the need for serious action. We need to keep the pressure on political leaders at every level, from local communities to the US Congress, to follow through on measures that will limit greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. Here are some ways that you can engage your members who were inspired by the March and are ready to keep going: Educate Your Community Hannukah, the festival of light, is a great time to learn about different sources of energy and their impact. COEJL’s Hannukah Energy Scavenger Hunt is a fun place to start. Show Disruption, the exciting film that tells the story of the People’s Climate March. Do your members know what you are doing to make your organization more energy efficient? Share your progress with your board of directors and in your newsletter. If you need to start tracking your energy use, learn how to use EPA’s Portfolio Manager. Help Members Take Concrete Action […]
JGF Celebrates Graduation of 2013-2014 Cohort
Fellows, senior leaders, and friends and family from 20 organizations, celebrated the completion of the JGF’s third cohort at a moving ceremony at UJA-Federation of New York on September 15. (Pictured receiving certificates: Cindy Dolgin, Teri Fields, and Eileen Bohrer of Solomon Schechter of Long Island.) Mirele Goldsmith, Director of the JGF, congratulated the group, saying, “You have demonstrated that Jewish communities, with other priorities and limited resources, can lead the way in taking action to solve the climate crisis. You can further your missions, help the bottom line, and also fulfill your moral responsibility to leave a livable earth for our children. Perhaps even more important, you have taught the people who look to you for direction – in this cohort alone that’s over 85,000 people – that they don’t have to ignore the problem out of fear and despair. That although what each of us can do alone is a drop in the bucket, what we can do together can fill the bucket. You have demonstrated the power of Jewish community!” This was the most varied cohort to date, including 9 congregations, 3 day schools, social service agencies, a camp, JCC, and even an institution of higher education […]
Bring Hazon to your community for Tu B’Shvat!
Tu B’Shvat is a perfect holiday to learn about creating a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and more sustainable planet. Enrich your Tu B’Shvat programming by featuring a Hazon speaker at your Tu B’Shvat seder, or bringing a Teva educator to run a youth program at your school or synagogue. For more information and to create a unique Tu B’Shvat experience for your community, contact info@hazon.org Hazon Staff Guest Speaker at Your Tu B’Shvat Seder Hazon staff can speak to your community about the New Jewish Food Movement, Tu B’Shvat themes, the upcoming Shmita year and a variety of other Jewish environmental topics. Send us an email or call us so that we can get a sense of your community and its needs, and we’ll match you with the right person for your seder. Cost: travel + honorarium Elementary/Middle School programs with Teva Educators in the NY region Teva educators are trained to create fun and meaningful educational experiences, on the trail or in the classroom, combining Jewish values and environmental stewardship. Bring them to your community to lead a 1 – 2 hour experiential program (for your classroom, youth group, etc) for groups of 25 – 100 […]
Life Lessons Learned from the Shmita Year
by Akiva Gersh It’s fair to say that Shmita inspired me to become religious. After learning about it and other environmentally-related laws and values of the Torah towards the end of my college years, my perception of Judaism was radically and forever changed. The lifeless and irrelevant form of the Jewish tradition I inherited in my youth was being replaced by one that was proving to be vibrant, meaningful, and very, very relevant. As a spiritual seeker and social activist, Judaism had what to say about many of the things I was passionate about and cared for. Especially when it came to the Earth. Fast-forward twenty years and my home has transported across the world to the land of Israel where ancient Jewish environmental and agricultural laws have once again become part of the national consciousness of the Jewish people back in their land. Laws that technically only apply to this very small patch of our planet’s surface are being practiced by millions, affecting the way they grow, purchase and eat food. And now for the second time in the ten years since I’ve moved to this land, I am taking part in the unique opportunity and challenge that is […]
Because Sometimes it Rains on Your Sukkah
by Sarah Chandler Geshem Be’ito (Acceptance of Rain in Its Time) The following essay will be published in the forthcoming book of teachings “Good Noticing” published by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. The rhythms of the Jewish calendar may not coincide with your particular climate. At times, our traditional rituals may range from the impractical to the impossible. For example, in the Northern Hemisphere, calling upon light in the darkness of Chanukah in Kislev/December always resonates, but singing about blossoming trees in Shevat/January may not make sense. How can we stay true to our tradition when the weather doesn’t cooperate? And as mindfulness practitioners, how might we elevate the news of undesirable weather? Those of us who live in the Northeastern United States are usually blessed with bountiful precipitation year-round. Furthermore, our religion is no longer based on the careful balance between following God’s laws and receiving in return enough rain for our crops to survive. The Reform movement even removed the second paragraph of the Shema from prayer books to make the bold statement: we are modern Jews—we do not believe that we can influence God to change the weather by keeping the commandments of our tradition. Recent evidence […]
Shofars blowing and Noah’s ark rolling make for strong Jewish presence at the People’s Climate March
Thousands of Jews marched alongside other people of faith in the People’s Climate March, which drew over 300,000 individuals to the streets of New York City on Sunday, September 21st. The march had a strong and visible Jewish presence with over 100 Jewish groups having signed on as partner organizations and hundreds of Jews blowing the shofar – the ram’s horn traditionally sounded as a call to repentance on Rosh Hashanah, in a clarion call for climate justice. Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center spoke at the rally for faith groups at the start of the march, which was timed to send a strong message to world leaders meeting for a climate summit at the UN this week that people around the world are suffering from the changing climate and want strong action to reduce emissions from fossil fuels and support a transition to clean renewable energy. Hazon’s Topsy Turvy bus made guest appearances at Columbia-Barnard Hillel and the Manhattan JCC, with members blowing shofarot on the roof to symbolize the topsy-turvy world we’re living in, and the shofar’s call to teshuva – not only for us as individuals and as a community but for the whole world. “I was enthralled […]
Hazon Mini-Grants: Making Major Change
Every year I have the distinct privilege of waking up one morning, mid-summer, and the first thought that goes through my mind is, “Today we get to allocate $20,000 to help make my community healthy and more sustainable.” Rarely do I need coffee on such an exciting morning. Hazon Mini-Grants, funded by bike rides and other grantee sources, are small grants that help up-and coming JOFEE, Jewish Outdoor Food Environmental Education, programs and projects across the country. The initiatives funded by mini-grants are able to do a great deal of good with a relatively small amount of money. In Colorado, where I live, thanks to generous funding provided by the Rose Community Foundation, 18 Pomegranates, and the Oreg Foundation, the Hazon Colorado Advisory Board and local Hazon staff allocate 20k in mini-grants annually. Cumulatively, we have now funded $80k towards just over 40 projects and initiatives. Three weeks ago we went through this year’s allocations process. I was once again struck at the impact a small group of people inspired by philanthropy and a desire to make their community stronger can have. As a group we discussed areas where we collectively could try to transform the community. We gave funding for […]
Bringing the Israel Ride Home
Jon Harris-Shapiro, two-time Israel rider, talks about going on the Israel Ride for an adventure and returning with that – and so much more. Jon will be on the 2014 Israel Ride in November.
