At Hazon, we are framing Israel in powerful new ways
Relationship with Israel has become a source of tension in many parts of contemporary Jewish life. We’re here to help. Since 2003, Hazon has been actively involved in seeking both to influence Israel for good and to strengthen Israel-diaspora relationships. We believe in encouraging siach (conversation) among environmental and social justice leaders in Israel and the United States, and in providing thoughtful and profound experiences that help Americans to understand Israel more deeply, and to be inspired by extraordinary change-makers in the fields of sustainability, food, and community-building.
Since 2003, we have taken more than 1,500 people to Israel through our Israel Ride, Israel Sustainable Food Tours, Intentional Communities Tour, Siach, and other programs. We bring Israelis and American Jews closer together at a time when the Israel-diaspora relationship is increasingly strained, connecting them through sustainability, food, community, and social justice.
Hazon strengthens Israel/diaspora relations with Israel-related programs and through our partnerships with the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, the Heschel Center for Sustainability, and other organizations.
Read our Israel blog for our latest reflections.
Get Involved!
- Send a team to the Arava Institute Hazon Israel Ride, the premier cycling experience in Israel. Learn about ecological challenges and peace-building as you explore Israel by bike.
- Talk to us about creating a Sustainable Israel Tour for your community – we have done five such tours in the last seven years, and participants have overwhelmingly loved the experience.
- Bring Israeli leaders to your community to teach about Israel through the prism of food, the environment and intentional community – we can provide speakers and ideas.
The Israel Ride: Cycling for Peace, Partnership, & the Environment, is a five-day cycling journey, allowing you to experience the beauty and challenges of the Israeli landscape in a whole new way. Learn more, or contact info@israelride.org.Israel Ride
Jewish Intentional Communities Initiative
Creating a space where we can all join together to help spark the next stage of our communal journey
As Jews, we are rediscovering our roots in intentional community. From our ancient nomadic wandering through the desert, to the shtetls of Eastern Europe, to today’s short term young adult programs like Adamah and Avodah, intentional community has been a core part of the Jewish experience. For the past several years, Hazon, Isabella Freedman, and the Pearlstone Center, with generous support from UJA-Federation of New York, have been thinking together about what it means to live in and create Jewish intentional communities, and have fostered thought leadership in the field through the annual Jewish Intentional Communities Conference. Now we are excited to be expanding the scope of our programming beyond the pilot program.
For any questions or to learn more, please contact us at hakhel@hazon.org.
Siach
Every day, hundreds of Jewish environment and social justice activists work tirelessly to make the world a more just and sustainable place.
We talk of Tikkun Olam, highlighting the Jewish People’s responsibility to the entire world. We use phrases like “Think global, act local.” We speak the language of globalization, raising awareness about the realities of a ‘flat’ world in which the clothing we wear were produced by sweatshops in far-off countries, in which one nation’s environmental policies effect the quality of life in a different continent, in which the internet brings the suffering of people thousands of miles away into our own homes.
And yet, few, if any, opportunities exist for global conversations among these activists.
The world is getting smaller and yet the miles – geographical, cultural, political, and otherwise – separating Jewish environment and social justice activists in Jerusalem from those in New York or London don’t seem to be getting any shorter.
All the while, we are missing precious opportunities for sharing information and best practices, we are duplicating efforts instead of maximizing them, and failing to articulate global visions for Jewishly-inspired social change – visions that have the power to inspire and galvanize the international Jewish community and the world at large.
Why have these kinds of conversations so rarely happened? What is the significance of having Jewishly-rich conversations? Can we move beyond the geographical, cultural, and political differences that divide us to work towards a common purpose and, if so, how? What can we learn from colleagues and organizations half-way across the globe? What models of successful international collaboration already exist?
These are the kinds of questions that Siach: An Environment and Social Justice Conversation is seeking to explore. Ultimately, the Siach network aims to create:
- Conversation: an open dialogue about points of similarity and difference facing Jewish environment and social justice activists from around the world, and a nuanced understanding of Jewish Peoplehood and Israel engagement with those for whom the pursuit of social and environmental justice is a defining characteristic of their identities
- Connection: meaningful, long-term relationships among Jewish environment and social justice activists
- Cooperation: ongoing, year-long collaboration and partnership
For any questions or to learn more, please contact hakhel@hazon.org.
