Hazon Educational Library: Teens

From the Jewish Climate Network: We are asking our community to place an ice block beside the Seder plate and open up a conversation about climate change this year, while linking it to the fundamental themes of Pesach. The ice block represents the rapidly melting ice caps and sheets throughout the world caused by human activity. As the ice block shvitzes on our Seder table, we are reminded that time isrunning out for action. It becomes a physical prompt to ask questions, much like the other Seder table objects prompt questions. To support these questions the JCN has created a printable Ice Block Challenge guide that can be incorporated into Seder night.

A Sukkot resource packet with everything you need to shake sustainable, local lulavim. Filled with relevant educational materials, practical shaking and assembly instructions, and accessible spiritual and environmental insights. Created for the Metro Detroit community.

The smell test game is a way to open yourself up to the world of scents. Do you remember a time when you smelled something and it brought you back to another place? It is taught in our tradition that the sense of smell was the least changed after we left the Garden of Eden. What is a smell that reminds you of home? What is a smell that you reminds you of a Jewish holiday?

Microgreens are mini versions of regular vegetables. The shoots are harvested at a young age, before they grow into fully matured plants. They have a wonderful flavor and are richer in nutrition than their larger counterparts. Best of all, microgreens are fun and easy to grow!

There are many options to preserve each season's harvest, including canning, vinegar pickling, drying, blanching and freezing. This particular activity teaches lacto-fermentation pickling - an easy, fun and extremely health-friendly method of food preservation. Participants will take home a jar of their own and in a few days will be able to eat their own pickles!

Life has the vitality to continue on and on - even with just a cotton ball, a plastic bag, and a seed - the plant will grow into a small wearable garden. Seed necklaces are a very simple activity to do outside or in a classroom. In a week or so, participants will be able to watch their seeds sprout and grow. The seeds can then either by planted or fed to animals in the garden.

As we learn from our tradition, we have a responsibility to care for the trees we have and to plan trees for the future. Recycled papermaking is a way of making new paper without needing to harvest more trees.

Nature provides beautiful materials which we can create art with. Together we will create lasting art by making leaf rubbings and leaf art. Know that each leaf is different and beauty can be found in each and every leaf. In our Amidah prayer, we give thanks for the miracles that are with us every day.

Betzalel's Workshop involves creating and working with ritual objects from local, organic, ethically sourced, and recycled materials, participants will learn both the centrality of environmental responsibility to Jewish life, as well as a sense of ownership and pride over their participation in Jewish ritual. We feel that, by creating the basic object of a ritual, with all its flaws, character, and uniqueness, children are drawn closer to ritual. By creating an alternative to mass-produced, store-bought Judaica, we create an avenue towards creative, participatory Judaism.