Posts in category "Blog"
Examining Durban: How Will the Last Climate-Change Talks Impact Jews, Israel and the World?
February 29, 2012
1 PM EST
The Green Zionist Alliance and COEJL: The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life will host a free webinar about the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 17/MOP 7) in Durban, South Africa, and what actions we can take going forward. What happened at the climate negotiations? How will Durban affect Israel? And how can we be involved as a Jewish community? Join the discussion about the recent U.N. Conference on Climate Change Conference in Durban. (more…)
A Drawer Full of Spandex
By Adam Arenstein
My transformation, from purchasing a bike to becoming a more capable rider.
Adam Arenstein and Erica Hymen, California Ride alumni and members of the 2012 California Ride Planning Committee
My decision to buy a hybrid bike two years ago was motivated by my desire to drive less and get outside more. I had visions of rolling down the street to get ice cream or cruising a few miles to the beach. “Serious cycling” was not a part of my plan. However, here I am two years later with a drawer full of spandex and other gear to go out on comfortable multi-hour rides. How did I get here? Hazon was my catalyst. (more…)
Jewish Community High School of the Bay California Ride Video Blog
Get to know the Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS) California Ride team in their wonderful video and slideshow from last year’s ride!
In 2010, the Jewish Community High School of the Bay established its first organic school garden. They have connected the garden to secular academic curricula and to all areas of Jewish life. JCHS strives to engage students, teachers and families in thinking about their food choices and strengthen their connections with nature. JCHS received a mini-grant to further establish the organic garden at their school as well as related programming. Learn more about how JCHS used their fundraising dollars. (more…)
CSA Season is Open: Let Food Justice Ring!
This past week, Trader Joe’s signed a Fair Food Agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. It was a key moment for for the food justice movement, and is a meaningful step towards creating a healthier and more sustainable world.
What a week of Tu B’Shvat [Round Up]
What a week of Tu B’Shvat it was! All over the country, Jews gathered in new and traditional ways to celebrate Tu B’Shvat. Here are a few highlights from celebrations on the East and West Coasts. If you did something great for Tu B’Shvat, tell us about it in the comments! (more…)
18th Annual Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education
The 18th Annual Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education and Shabbat Retreat (June 12 – 17, 2012) at Surprise Lake Camp in Cold Spring, New York is the premiere professional development opportunity for adults of all ages to explore experiential Jewish education, ecological sustainability, social justice, camping, gardening and environmental stewardship. Join nearly 200 other students, rabbis, camp counselors, activists, scientists, educators and more! Focus in one of four dynamic tracks: Camp and Wilderness, Organic Farming and Gardening Education, Eco-Arts and Community Education or Environmental Leadership and Organizing. (more…)
3rd Annual National Day of Unplugging
Co-sponsored by Hazon
Join Reboot in helping people around the world rejuvenate the ritual of Shabbat by signing on to sign off from technology for the 3rd annual National Day of Unplugging (NDU) on March 23rd-24th, 2012. Take the pledge to unplug and spread the word here: causes.com/unplug
The Home Grown Institute – Philadelphia – March 24-25
Bringing the Community Together to Strengthen Sustainable and Regenerative Practices
A project of Hazon’s friends.
By Sarah Gabriel, Managing Director, The Home Grown Institute
March 24-25, in NW Philadelphia (Chestnut Hill)
Matt Feldman, Home Grown presenter, instructs students and planners of The Home Grown Institute in the building and maintenance of Kenyan Top Bar beehives.
We hear a lot about “sustainable” these days. What does it really mean? Well, it turns out that the human race has gotten itself into a little pickle… We’ve been using natural resources way faster than the Earth produces them and in a way that is bad for our health. We have to figure o ut how to put on the brakes and clean up the mess. When I talk about “sustainable practice,” I like to boil it down to two things – our relationship to consumption and waste and our resilience in the face of adversity, disappointment and change. Important stuff, but I have to admit that for me, “sustainable” has a little bit of a feeling of limping along.
“I think there’s a connection”: Environmentalism and Jewish Identity
Sasha Lansky, student at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN and Hazon board member, recently spoke with Yiddish Book Center about her environmental activism and her Jewish identity.
Planting Seeds of Tikkun
This piece by Hazon Board Member Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein was originally delivered as a Shabbat sermon on February 4th at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale.
As I prepared to speak about Tu B’Shvat, I came upon the writings of Rav Tzadok HaKohen, a 19th century Chassidic Rebbe, through the lovely work of a scholar named Sarah Schneider. Humanity’s first sin, according to Rav Tzadok HaKohen, was Adam and Eve’s eating without the right intention. The Tree of Knowledge was not a tree, or a food or a thing at all. It was a way of eating. Rav Tzadok HaKohen teaches that whenever we mindlessly grab pleasure from the world, we fall spiritually, and it is as if we are eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
What does it mean to grab pleasure, Schneider asks? It means to become so distracted by the pleasure of consumption that we forget that we are receiving a gift from our Creator. We take the gifts and leave the Giver behind.
As a result of this first sin, the yeitzer hara (the inclinations to do bad) entered each of us and still challenges us constantly with obstacles as we strive to grow spiritually. Since our first sin was unholy eating, however, Schneider argues that only its opposite can rectify it. Everything that happens and has happened in our world moves us toward one goal: to learn to “eat” in holiness. The world’s temptations and distractions must not divert our attention from our Source, not even for a moment. (more…)
