Author Archive | Hazon

by Adeline Medeiros, Director – Brooklyn Initiatives, The Center for Community Leadership at JCRC-NY, Greening Fellow When I first started the Jewish Greening Fellowship and took an inventory of all the changes that had to be made around our office, it was overwhelming. There were infrastructure updates, policies to be written, office culture to be changed, a larger building management team to get on board, and the integration of greening into our community work. How on earth was I supposed to do this on my own? I soon realized I couldn’t and I didn’t have to. My experience in JGF has helped me connect with my coworkers in a new way. Prior to my involvement, I had no idea how many of our staff members gardened, composted, and shopped at their local farmer’s markets. I didn’t know that our office manager had fought to equip our office with reusable dishes and a dishwasher two years ago, unsuccessfully. But now we had a secret weapon: We had a team to get behind the cause! From our first green team meeting to our official greening kick-off, I’ve been supported, encouraged, and emboldened by my eco-minded coworkers. The overwhelming work I was first […]

Tu B’Shvat , the Jewish Earth Day, is on January 16, 2014. Plan a Tu B’Shvat Seder with resources from Hazon and Canfei Nesharim. Looking for other ideas? Check our Updates to learn how JGF organizations have celebrated Tu B’Shvat in the past. Shawn Shafner, founder of the POOP Project, has a trove of stories, texts, pedagogy, art, and activities to share with adults and children that transform participants from “waste”-making consumers into resource-conscious creators. We loved his presentation on the Asher Yatzar, the prayer for going to the bathroom. Bash the Trash builds, performs, and educates, with musical instruments made from recycled materials. They put on an astounding performance while demonstrating the value of what we consider to be waste. Arrange your own Environmental Justice Tour by contacting WEACT or an environmental justice organization in your community. To find environmental justice organizations, check the website of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and Environmental Justice for All.

Learning From Solar Congregations is a great booklet from Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light that describes how 12 churches and synagogues installed solar energy systems. Starting to think about how your community will observe the upcoming Shmita (Sabbatical) Year? At Building Community and Consciousness for the Shmita Year, co-sponsored by UJA-Federation’s Wiener Center and JGF, we learned about g’machs (free loan groups), gleaning, composting, and ways to invest money that support local communities and sustainable food systems. The presentations are now online. Rabbis who offer a sermon on fossil fuel divestment and clean energy investment before May 14, 2014 can win a cash prize. Check Greenfaith’s website for sermon tips and send in the date you’re planning to preach to get a free copy of Moral Ground, a collection of writings on religion and the earth. 596 Acres will bring a Community Land Access Workshop to your community to teach you about NYC’s land use practices and mapping tools you can use to identify unused parcels that can be turned into community gardens. Climate Access will help you find just the right way to talk about climate change in your community.

On a recent webinar for JGF Board Fellows (volunteer leaders) from congregations, the Executive Director of Canfei Nesharim, Evonne Marzouk, shared these tips for engaging congregations in learning about environmental responsibility and action: Identify your goals. Do you want to build community? Make practical changes? Educate? Advocate? Pace yourself. Build a big enough committee to serve your goals. Or, prioritize goals with the committee you have. Don’t neglect your committee! Continue to include people who miss a meeting. Continue to add members. Celebrate. Make it fun. Make it feel possible. Stay positive. Nobody likes a downer environmentalist. Be open to change. Committees and communities evolve as the program grows. Be willing to evolve with them. Include and engage the people who already agree with you. Don’t feel you need to invent the wheel. Use existing tools as appropriate. Canfei Nesharim ‘s mission is to engage Jews in “sustainable living, inspired by Torah.” Evonne led the webinar participants on a tour of Torah learning materials available on the internet including video, audio, study sheets, ebooks, podcasts, and articles, available from Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology. You will find Hanukkah resources that you can put to good use right now. Share these resources […]

by Naomi Singer, Community Services Social Worker, Greening Fellow, DOROT DOROT’s goal is to alleviate social isolation among the elderly and provide services to help them live independently as valued members of the community. Through concrete services as well as social, cultural, and health-promoting opportunities, we help seniors “age in place” safely and with dignity. At first glance, environmentalism may seem tangential at best to our mission. In reality, though, the goals and opportunities of greening are closely aligned with the needs of older adults. For those frail seniors who lost power during Hurricane Sandy and were reliant on volunteers to deliver basic necessities, the impact of climate change was all too real. Beyond that, healthy aging and healthy greening both are rooted in social connections and interrelatedness. DOROT’s involvement with seniors, whether at our offices, in the community, or in their homes, offers opportunities to disseminate environmental education while promoting social connections. For our recent Package Delivery Program, over 600 volunteers visited seniors at home, bringing a bag of holiday-related treats that included a flyer highlighting the elements of the package that are recyclable and outlining NYC’s new, expanded recycling program. For mobility-impaired seniors who have lost some of […]