Hazon Educational Library: Teens

In Judaism, treating animals with respect and kindness is very important. Some of our most important biblical heroes, like Jacob and Moses, were shepherds who treated their animals with love and care. Rebecca was known for her significant kindness to animals. Use a combination of recycled and natural materials to make a take-home bird feeder for your local feathered friends!

Developing ritual objects can bring a depth of meaning into our lives. Create your own blended Havdalah spices to bring home in its own sachet. Learn about different herbs and spices and how they connect to the world around us!

This source sheet is a dive into Jewish tradition's commentary on prohibitions against wanton waste, environmental stewardship, responsibility for community members in need, and responses to hunger and surplus. We hope that it serves to mobilize Jewish communities to act on climate change and food injustice by reducing food waste, keeping it out of landfills, and transforming it to reduce food insecurity.

This program introduces participants to natural tie dyes, introduces the concept of tchelet, and is meant to help participants enhance their observation skills by considering what natural materials could lend themselves to different colored dyes.

Explore the landscape and tune into your spirituality by engaging with nature and self through song and silence.

This program is a text study with an accompanying nature walk. The text study dives into the environmental teachings within the full text, and the night-time nature walk uses the Shema for inspiration to open our ears to nature and the divine.

Based on the bestselling book by Jonathan Safran Foer, the film Eating Animals is an urgent, eye-opening look at the environmental, economic, and public health consequences of factory farming.  Hazon created this discussion guide to be used by Jewish communities after screenings to explore the intersection of Judaism, food, and animal welfare, and start a conversation about, well, eating animals.

Food for Thought is is a 130-page sourcebook that draws on a range of texts from within and beyond Jewish traditions to explore a range of topics relating to Jews and food. Food for Thought is designed to encourage participants to think critically about the food that they eat and the ways their food choices affect the health of their community and the planet.

This program is an interactive color exploration through natural dyeing. Participants will learn about the symbolism and holiness associated with certain colors in Judaism, specifically the blue of tekhelet that is found in Tzitzit. They will also learn how to harvest and use different parts of plants to create their own dye and take home a self-dyed bookmark.