Posts in category "Newsletters"

Hazon sends out weekly newsletters to keep you in the loop on events, updates, great stories, and happenings from our friends! Not receiving our newsletters? Join our mailing list.

[Newsletter May 23, 2013]The Power & Potential of Jewish Retreats

May 23rd, 2013

“This place opened my mind to what healthy, vibrant, connected, spiritual Jewish community can look like. It made me hopeful about my own life, spiritually and otherwise.“
- Isabella Freedman retreat participant

 

 

What if your vacation was not only fun and relaxing, but also inspiring, enriching, and connected you and your family to an eco-conscious and diverse Jewish community? What if Jewish retreats can anchor a 21st century Jewish community in communal values and vision that go beyond denominations and local communities, forming a wide network of people whose lives have been transformed by their retreat experiences, who themselves become forces for transformation in the world?

Hazon’s merger with Isabella Freedman will provide you with an opportunity to access a variety of retreat opportunities in one of the most enchanting and inspiring places in the world. This Jewish retreat center in the Connecticut Berkshires, which has been living Hazon’s values for many years, will soon be ours to call home. Isabella Freedman also comes with an array of programs that invite you to engage spiritually, ecologically, and creatively with a Judaism in which you can find meaning in your own way, through your own passions and interests.

This summer, there are over a dozen ways to join Hazon’s Isabella Freedman community. And for every retreat, people fly, drive, train, and bus to the pilgrimage destination that is this most beautiful and special place. We invite you to join us at our new home, Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, for retreats that include:

[Image]Teva Seminar June 4 – 7
The annual Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education is the premiere professional development opportunity for adults of all ages to explore Jewish environmental education, environmental sustainability, camping, gardening, or simply enjoying nature with others.

[Image]Elat Chayyim Living Laboratory & Shabbat June 17 – 23
Join us for a week dedicated to continuing the experiment in renewing Jewish spirituality. 5 Labs, 1 Community – renewing Jewish spirituality through yoga, prayer, meditation, text study, and social action. Presented in partnership with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal.

[Image]Judaism & Baseball June 28 – 30
Excitement is in the air as the manager has handed in his card announcing the starting line-up for the summer’s 2nd annual “Judaism & Baseball” retreat. If last year’s home run performance is any indication, fans will be in for the time of their lives! Presented in partnership with JewishMajorLeaguers.org and theNational Museum of American Jewish History.

[Image]Elat Chayyim ArtFest June 30 – July 3
Hands-On Jewish Art Festival! Celebrating and highlighting the vibrant infusion of creativity and artistic engagement in a diverse, eco-conscious Jewish community. Presented in partnership withThe Jewish Daily Forward, LABA House of Study, Jewish Art Now,Jewish Art Salon, Art Kibbutz NYC, and Meta-Phys Ed Performance Collaborative.

[Image]Torah Yoga July 22 – 28
Experience the wonder of Torah study and the groundedness of yoga practice with Diane Bloomfield, whose teachings spring forth from her own deep learning in Jerusalem. Through the study of Jewish teachings and the practice of select yoga postures, we will dive into the inner world of body, mind, heart, and soul. Presented in partnership with JCC Manhattan.

[Image]Adamah Farm Vacations July 29 – August 1, August 19 – 23
Join us for a summer vacation in the Berkshires that is affordable, family-friendly, and eco-conscious! The Adamah Farm allows you to spend quality time with yourself and your loved ones in an easy to get to place that is far from the fast-paced world. Hourly childcare is available by request for an additional fee.

[Image]Mikvah: Immersion in Collaborative Judaism August 14-18
Every participant is a volunteer-leader. Lead a workshop, a song, a prayer service, or a conversation, teach a text, share a skill, or lead a dance, a hike, or a yoga class. Pluralistic, inclusive, diverse community: everyone is welcome, all religious practices will be supported. Gift-economy fee structure: pay what you can, and pay it forward for others. Presented in partnership with Limmud NY.

We strive to ensure access to retreats for everyone. Need-based Financial Aid is available for each retreat.

More than just retreats, Isabella Freedman is home to several Jewish spiritual and environmental programs:

 

 
 

 

See All Retreats at Isabella Freedman

Newsletters

[Newsletter May 09, 2013] An Extraordinary Weekend

May 9th, 2013

In this email:

 

AN EXTRAORDINARY WEEKEND AND TWO-DAY BIKE RIDE

The Community

Celebrate Shabbat and recharge for the Jewish New Year at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center

Make new friends and rekindle old connections

The Ride

Enjoy two days of cycling with routes for riders of all levels

Fully supported with bike mechanics, rest stops,
luggage transport, and farm-to-table kosher food

The Cause

Support innovative farm, food, environmental, and educational programs, such as Adamah and Teva

REGISTER AT HAZON.ORG/NYRIDE

Spring low prices end in two weeks,
register before May 20th for the best rate!

 

Farm & Garden with the Jewish Farm School!

[Image]I have participated in and taught at eight of the last nine Teva Seminars (I only missed last year because I had just gotten married). As both a learner and an educator, it is one of the most inspiring gatherings of the year. People of all ages, from many different backgrounds, and working in a wide range of settings, all come together to explore the connections between Judaism and the environment, and how we can transform the world through innovation and education.

-Nati Passow, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Jewish Farm School

Nati is a writer, carpenter, and educator living in Philadelphia. From 2005 to 2007, Nati ran an award-winning garden construction program for the Urban Nutrition Initiative at University City High School. Over the last several years, Nati has led service-learning trips in the developing world for American Jewish World Service, and in the US for Jewish Funds for Justice. He enjoyed two fall seasons at the Teva Learning Center, and has continued to work for Teva as a curriculum writer. Nati has studied sustainable building design and natural building, and is a certified Permaculture designer. He holds a B.A. in Religion and Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and was a recipient of the Joshua Venture Group Fellowship for Jewish Social Entrepreneurs.

Significant scholarships are available for participants in the Farm & Garden track at the Teva Seminar!

Featured Jewish Farm School Classes at the Teva Seminar:

  • Farm to Table: Pickling and Cheese-making
  • Introduction to Permaculture Design
  • Spiral Dynamics: The Ecology of the Jewish Calendar
  • The Giving Tree: How to Care for and Utilize Fruit Trees in Your Jewish Educational Community Throughout the Year
  • Mechayei HaMeitim: Understanding the magic and science of Compost

The Jewish Farm School teaches about contemporary food and environmental issues through innovative trainings and skill-based Jewish agricultural education. It is driven by traditions of using food and agriculture as tools for social justice and spiritual mindfulness. Through its programs, the Jewish Farm School addresses the injustices embedded in today’s mainstream food systems and works to create greater access to sustainably grown foods, produced from a consciousness of both ecological and social well-being.

The Farm and Garden Track at the Teva seminar will provide training in the the skills, knowledge, and Judaic background needed to start a Jewish agricultural project in your community. Explore the fields, gardens, greenhouses, pastures, and farm animals of Isabella Freedman’s Adamah program (a Jewish farming apprenticeship), and learn how to facilitate Jewish gardening activities and do-it-yourself food projects for all ages. You will also study ancient and contemporary texts exploring themes of food justice, Jewish agricultural laws, and sustainability. Whether you are an experienced gardener looking to add an educational component to your work, or if you are a novice looking to dive into the world of Jewish agricultural education, this track will give you the skills you need and connect you to a vibrant community of like-minded educators.

Learn More…

 

 

Intergeneration Jewish Survey

Hazon is participating in a new intergenerational survey of the American Jewish community. The researchers’ goal is to stimulate new conversations about engaging people more actively in Jewish life. The research targets all four adult generational groups (Millennials, Gen X-ers, Boomers and WWII/Greatest).

Click here to add your input before the survey closes on May 20th!

Learn More…

What Are You Doing for Shavuot?

Shavuot: This Year’s Revelation

[Image]Join us for a Shavuot filled with all night learning, and ecstatic prayer during a sunrise Shacharit. Adamah Foods will be serving a First Fruits Farm-to-Feast Kiddush, there will be a Pilgrimage Parade with costumes and goats, and a midnight hike to the top of the mountain!

Featuring kosher artisanal cheese and cheesecake, and one-on-one spiritual direction opportunities, this year’s Shavuot retreat at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center continues to be a space for deep teachings that renew Jewish spirituality. Families are welcome -Camp Teva will be providing Torah and outdoor fun for kids!

May 14 – 17, 2013
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Falls Village

Learn More and Register

Shavuos on the Farm

[Image]Stay up all night eating good food, making friends, watching the stars and learning Torah.

Don’t miss Shavuos at Yiddish Farm!

No Yiddish knowledge required.
Registration closes on May 10.

Want a $30 discount? Get a group of 5 people to make up a discount code and plug it in on the registration form before the10th of May. $30 will automatically be deducted from registrants who use a discount code that 5 or more people share.

May 14-16
$180

Learn More and Register

Newsletters

Two Inspiring Experiments, and Four Stars

Apr 25th, 2013

New York
Thursday, April 25th, 2013 / 30th day of the Omer

Dear All,

I just got back from a fascinating and inspiring trip to the West Coast, in which I spent time with our Bay Area staff, finished the first draft of our forthcoming Shmita materials, and visited not one, but two of the most profoundly exciting experiments in Jewish life in the whole country.

The first was in San Diego, visiting the Leichtag Foundation’s Paul Ecke Ranch. It’s a 67-acre plot in the middle of San Diego’s North County, and they have an incredible vision for its future (including their new Jewish Food Justice Fellowship.

Then I spent Earth Day with Adam Berman in the East Bay, meeting the current crop of Urban Adamahniks and visiting what (I trust and hope; and Adam believes and intends) will be the new permanent home of Urban Adamah – a beautifully-sized and well-located site in West Berkeley.

These two new projects are deeply significant, because so much of post-emancipation Jewish life involved a kind of privatization – the classic idea that we would be Jewish in our homes, but simply citizens in public space; variously French, Germans, Brits, and ultimately Americans, “of the Mosaic persuasion”. It was a compromise that was intended to offer civic tolerance, but too frequently in its wake it engendered anti-semitism, and in critical ways narrowed the frame of Jewishness.

Places like Paul Ecke Ranch and Urban Adamah – and like Brandeis Bardin Institute in LA, the Pearlstone Center in Baltimore, and the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in CT – are vital because of the opportunity they afford for what I think of as 360-degree Jewish life. Each of these places bears the possibility, not only of touching people’s lives in profound ways, but also of creating bubbles in space and time that enable new expressions of Jewish life to evolve.

Speaking of bubbles in time: it was great also to be in Seattle, where our Cross-USA Ride kicks-off on June 16th. You’re warmly invited to ride across the USA with us this summer – or just part of it.

Finally: we just received two phenomenal pieces of news:

First: Charity Navigator, America’s largest and most-utilized independent evaluator of charities, has just awarded Hazon the prestigious 4-star rating for good governance, sound fiscal management, and commitment to accountability and transparency. (To put this in perspective: if you type “Jewish” into Charity Navigator’s site, you get 263 hits – and 213 of those don’t have four stars.) This is a significant external endorsement and it reflects hard work and high standards on the part of both our board and our staff.

Secondly, and partly linked to Charity Navigator’s 4-star rating: a family foundation has just offered us a new matching grant. New or increased gifts will be matched, by them, up to a total of $50,000. So if you’ve never supported us in the past, or decide now to increase your gift to us – your gift (or the increase over the previous year) will help us to earn that extra $50,000.

As per the grant we received recently from The Samuel Bronfman Foundation’s Second Stage Fund, you can read my reflections as part of a series on eJewish Philanthropy.

Finally: that match applies also to our Benefit, which takes place next Tuesday, and which promises to be an amazing evening. We will be honoring Richard Dale, Nili Simhai, Saul Kaiserman, and Mira Schwartz. I hope to see you there.

Thank you, and Shabbat shalom,

 

 

 

 

Nigel Savage
Executive Director, Hazon

 

Israel Ride Early Bird Registration Ends April 30th!

[Image]Experience Israel like never before: from the seat of your bike. Join over 75 people who have registered for the Arava Institute Hazon Israel Ride. Register now for only $399 and we’ll see you in Jerusalem in October! This special price ends on April 30th.

Bike Israel. For Yourself. For the Environment.
For Peace.

Learn More…

Torah of Food Weekend Retreat

[Image]Join us the weekend after Shavuot for a Hazon Food Conference-inspired weekend that will fill up your senses with the first fruits of the season, and the finest fruits of Torah learning. With guest chefs, rabbis, and educators to guide us, we’ll delve into the world of food in the Torah, and the Torah of food in the world. Programming will include text study, farm tours, cooking demos, permaculture workshops, and lively Shabbat services.

Learn More | Register

 

 

 

 

Hazon Food Festival: Rocky Mountain Region: Three Days Away!

 

[Image]
 

The Hazon Food Festival: Rocky Mountain Region is ONE week away! April 28th will be a day of learning, celebration, and hands-on doing at the intersection of food, the environment, and Jewish tradition.  Early bird registration ends Friday ($50/$25). Tickets available Saturday and at the door ($75).

The Food Festival has many exciting programs that will encompass contemporary Jewish life and our sustainable food movement in Colorado and the nation. From hands-on workshops to in-depth panel discussions, the programming is packed with amazing eye-opening experiences to write home about!

Panels range from topics on “Farm to Table: Meeting Your Meat” where you can learn how to shecht (ritually slaughter) meat to “Creating a Just and Sustainable Food System in Our Community: Ways to Take Action!” that will encourage participants to get involved in making food just at a local level.

9:00 am – 5:00 pm
April 28, 2013
Denver Jewish Day School

Learn More | Register

 

Behar 2013: Bringing Shmita To Your Community

[Image]The parsha (weekly Torah reading) of Behar, which literally means ‘On the Mountain,’ introduces the detailed, visionary teachings of Shmita. As we continue to delve into the process of reacquainting ourselves with the Shmita tradition, we are very excited to use the opportunity of Parshat Behar as an annual mark, as a reminder, and as a guide. This year, the parsha of Behar is read on the Shabbat of May 3-4. In the week leading up to and following this occasion, join Jewish communities all over the country in a decentralized, local, grassroots movement to celebrate the visionary teachings of the Sabbatical Year and bring these values to life. We hope your community will join us!

Behar | Behar Events in Your Area

reIMAGINE Society: Behar in the Bay Area

[Image]The parsha (weekly Torah reading) of Behar, which literally means ‘On the Mountain,’ introduces the detailed, visionary teachings of Shmita. As we continue to deepen into the process of re-acquainting ourselves with the Shmita tradition, we are very excited to use the opportunity of Parshat Behar as an annual mark, as a reminder, and as a guide.

On Sunday, May 5th, Hazon is proud to present a day of Shmita-related activities in Berkeley and San Francisco. From 1:00 – 5:00 pm, we will be hosting a skillshare and swap meet at the Urban Adamah farm. Then, at 5:00 pm, herbalist Jolie Lonner Egert will lead an edible and medicinal plant walk in Golden Gate Park. We hope you’ll join us!

1:00 – 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 5th, 2013
Urban Adamah Farm
1050 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
Behar in the Bay | Behar Info

Become a JCarrot Writer Today

[Image]Jew and the Carrot, Hazon’s blog in partnership with the Jewish Daily Forward, is the homepage of the Jewish Food Movement. With articles ranging from food justice to shabbat meals to new twists on Jewish classics and everything in between, there is a place for omnivores and vegans, kosher-keepers and pork lovers to share their stories. If you’ve bitten into something delicious (or not so delicious), take the opportunity to share it with the JCarrot community! To become a JCarrot writer email liz.traison@hazon.org.

JCarrot

 

Newsletters, Nigel

[Newsletter February 21, 2012] – A Rose by Any Other Name…

Feb 21st, 2013

Denver, CO
21st February 2013 / Ta’anit esther 5773

Dear All,

Today’s the minor fast day that leads us to Purim. Not for the only time in Jewish tradition, abstinence and excess are paired. I can’t help feeling that the rabbis had a keen sense of balance, quite separate from the nominal reasons given for the fasts adjacent to the feasts (cf, exhibits 2 & 3: the fast of the first born and seder night; rosh hashanah and the fast of gedaliah). I’m struck that, as elsewhere in contemporary society, we retain affection –and observance – for the feast, whilst the numbers who observe the fast are far fewer. Part of the complex challenge of unlearning some of the behaviors that in our day are both normative but also unhealthy – for us, and/or for the wider world we live in – lies in restoring balance, of different sorts. And I note this, by the way, because I struggle with this, not because I’ve figured out how to get to balance.

In the last three days I’ve been in Denver and Boulder, meeting with stakeholders in Hazon and in the wider community. Part of this is about the steady drip-drip of year-round work, which is growing strongly here, thinking about Jewish tradition and sustainability in new and profound ways. There are four Jewish CSAs here, and six communities who have used Hazon’s Food Audit to start to develop new food policies in their institutions. Both the Ekar farm and Ramah Outdoor Adventure are entering their fourth years, each doing powerful, significant and important work.

Part of this is about the lead up to Hazon’s Food Festival. Last year we successfully piloted a one-day Jewish Food Festival here, with the intention and the belief that within a decade or two, every major Jewish community should have its own Jewish Food Festival, no differently (well, differently, but similarly) to the Jewish Film Festivals and the Jewish Book Weeks. This year our Food Festival here takes place on Sunday April 28th; we’re launching San Francisco on Sunday March 17th; and we’ll be doing our first one in Philadelphia in the fall. Plus the Boston Jewish Food Conference, founded by Leora Mallach and Becca Weaver, on March 3rd, and Michael Leventhal‘s Gefiltefest in London on May 3rd. By 2014 we’ll launch also in Palo Alto and New York. The Jewish Food Festivals bring the energy and range of our multi-day Food Conferences directly into a community, bringing people together across difference, igniting a range of conversations, inspiring respect both for food and Jewish tradition, and leading ultimately – we hope and intend – to a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and one that plays a role in creating more sustainable food systems for all.

[Image]Which leads me to food labeling, and the bill announced yesterday by Jared Polis, the congressman for Boulder, and the short but strong speech that Becky O’Brien, Hazon’s director in Boulder, gave yesterday.

You can read Congressman Polis’s announcement about the Bill, and Becky’s commentsas well.

Labeling doesn’t guarantee transparency in food systems. Recent weeks have seen horsemeat sold in the UK; and today’s NY Times reminds us – again – that you may be eating a different fish than the one you were told you were eating. But labeling is a vital first step in enabling us to make prudent and moral choices in what we eat. It’s not a coincidence that the sessions we do ahead of an animal schecting are titled “lifting the cellophane veil.”

So on this minor fast day, I commend the many people, working in so many ways, to strengthen food systems in this country. As we fast – if we fast – today , and as we celebrate Purim and perhaps overindulge on Saturday night and Sunday morning, and as we start to get rid of our chometz for pesach, may we be blessed to play some role, however small, in renewing Jewish life, and creating a more sustainable world for all.

Shabbat shalom,

 

Nigel Savage

Why We Ride: Sustainable Holiday Resources

[Image]For over 2000 years, we have been adapting and evolving traditions that help us celebrate the holidays of the Jewish calendar. On Passover, we break the middle matzah, on Rosh Hashanah, we dip apples in honey, and on Shabbat, we sanctify the day with a glass of wine or grape juice. In the 21st century, how can we make our celebrations healthier and more sustainable? What ways can we incorporate new food sensibilities into the celebration of our sacred days?

Fundraising from the New York Ride supports the creation of Healthy and Sustainable Holiday Resources. These tools help individuals, families, and institutions think about sustainable issues which relate to the cycle of Jewish holidays throughout the year. These include tips on how to make your celebration healthier and more sustainable, ways to relate to the agricultural roots of our harvest holidays, and ideas, questions, and text to spark conversation around your table.

 

Prices for the New York Ride are rising on Monday! Register now and get the lowest rate of the season. Join us over Labor Day Weekend for an inspirational Shabbat retreat, and a great two-day ride through the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley. For more information visit hazon.org/nyride

 

Learn More…

 

Why We Ride: Sustainable Holiday Resources

[Image]For over 2000 years, we have been adapting and evolving traditions that help us celebrate the holidays of the Jewish calendar. On Passover, we break the middle matzah, on Rosh Hashanah, we dip apples in honey, and on Shabbat, we sanctify the day with a glass of wine or grape juice. In the 21st century, how can we make our celebrations healthier and more sustainable? What ways can we incorporate new food sensibilities into the celebration of our sacred days?

Fundraising from the Golden Gate Ride supports the creation of Healthy and Sustainable Holiday Resources. These tools help individuals, families, and institutions think about sustainable issues which relate to the cycle of Jewish holidays throughout the year. These include tips on how to make your celebration healthier and more sustainable, ways to relate to the agricultural roots of our harvest holidays, and ideas, questions, and text to spark conversation around your table.

 

Prices for the Golden Gate Ride are rising on Monday! Join us over Memorial Day Weekend for an inspirational Shabbat retreat, and a great two-day ride along the edge of Tomales Bay and Point Reyes National Seashore, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and into San Francisco. For more information visithazon.org/goldengateride

 

Freedom Food: Passover Delights
for the Whole Family

[Image]Learn to prepare delicious, kid-friendly Passover treats. Parents will learn essential tips and cooking techniques that will help them learn special ways to spice up snack time while babies and toddlers play in the kids “kitchen”. Then everyone will come together for a delicious snack! Childcare will be provided during the class, while parents learn new skills in the kitchen.

Sunday, March 3 10:00-11:30 am
Congregation Beth Elohim
Garfield Place and 8th Ave., in Brooklyn

Sunday, March 10 3:00-4:30 pm
14th Street Y
14th Street between 1st and 2nd Ave., in Lower Manhattan

Learn More…

God’s Green Earth: The Jewish Environmental Movement at Home and Abroad

Learn about the values that inform the Jewish Environmental Movement from two of the most dynamic, experienced leaders in the movement: Nigel Savage, founder and director of Hazon, and Michelle Levine of the American Society for the Preservation of Nature is Israel.

Wednesday, February 20
7:00 p.m.
Congregation Har HaShem
3950 Baseline Road, Boulder, CO.

Learn More…

Riding in the 5 Boro Bike Tour?

Join the Hazon team to ride as a group, leaving from the Hazon office! Forward David Rendsburg your name, registration number, date of birth, and email address by March 1st.

 

Hazon Jewish Food Festival at the JCCSF:
Keynote Speaker, Vivien Straus

[Image]Join us for the closing keynote presentation by Vivien Straus at the Hazon Jewish Food Festival at the JCCSF on Sunday March 17 at 4:15pm. A true pioneer of the new Jewish Food Movement, Vivien Straus of the Straus organic dairy family will tell the tale of how a Jew became a farmer, of her family’s activism, and give an update on the state of dairying in the Bay Area today.

Registration for the Hazon Jewish Food Festival is $36 and includes full-day access to workshops and a lunch by 12 Tribes.

10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday March 17 2013
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Learn More…

Get Discounted Gear and Support the Hazon Ride!

[Image]In conjunction with some riders on this year’s AIDS LifeCycle, Hazon will be hosting a free Happy Hour/Discounted Shopping event at the Bryant Street Sports Basement in San Francisco. Get 10% off all your gear needs, with an additional 10% of your purchase going to support Hazon and LifeCycle! Come schmooze with other riders, get some great deals, and learn about riding for a cause!

Learn More…

From Our Friends

Passover in the Desert: Rediscovering Village

[Image]What if you could experience your own Exodus, instead of simply recounting it around the dinner table? What if you could rediscover the essence of village life as you move from your own experience of slavery into freedom, using the expansive desert as your guide?

Learn More… | Register

 

Newsletters

Hazon Newsletter [2/14/2013] – Purim, Household Junk, and the Journey to Freedom

Feb 14th, 2013

Purim, Household Junk, and the Journey to Freedom

As kids we think of Purim, Pesach, and Shavuot as very separate holidays. Purim is hamantaschen and fancy dress; Pesach is Seder night and eating matzah; Shavuot is something to do with receiving the Torah and eating cheesecake.

But properly understood I think the three holidays are more deeply connected than we realize. The key to understanding them is Seder night, the central fulcrum around which this season turns. Tu b’Shvat is 8 weeks before; Purim is 4 weeks before; Shavuot is 7 weeks later. Seder night is the night that we ourselves move from slavery to freedom. Our springtime journey to freedom begins with tu b’Shvat – the reminder of new beginnings, new life and new possibility.

Which leads us to Purim.

The Purim story looks like it’s really anarchic: there’s no mention of G!d (the only book of the tenach of which this is so); we get drunk, we cross-dress. But it turns out that there is a hidden order to the Purim story. At its heart, Purim says to us: things may not be as we think they are; we may not be who we think we are. Purim at springtime, therefore, comes to shake us up, to loosen our sense of certainty, to disconnect our deeper self from the masks and identities that reveal and obscure us. And that’s how it leads to seder night and freedom. On the night that Purim goes out: that’s the time to start to get rid of your chametz. The key to truly being free on Seder night, our tradition suggests, is to spend four weeks getting rid of our chametz.

And that’s not just the breadcrumbs in our kitchen, it’s also the crap in our attics and our basements and our garages, the things that litter up our homes and our heads, the chametz that we watch, the additives we put in our bodies, and so on.

I’ll say more in a future email about the two freedoms of Pesach and Shavuot, and the relation between them. But this email comes to you today because – just like preparing for the Shmita year long before it arrives, just like getting ready for Shabbat on a Monday or Tuesday – I wanted to give you time to get ready for Purim and Pesach.

I certainly hope that you have a great Purim and dress up and eat hamantaschen and read the Megillah and feed the poor and give gifts and and get drunk – certainly you should do all that. But, as well as all that, go ahead and plan right now, a week on Sunday night, to start to get rid of the chametz in your home and in your body.

If you want to use this period to lighten the load on your body, I recommend two very wise books:

- Hale Sofia Schatz & Shira Shaiman’s ‘If The Buddha Came To Dinner‘

- Alejandro Junger’s ‘Clean‘

And if you want to remove some of the clutter in your home in an interesting way, check out Yerdle, a new initiative from Adam Werbach, and introduced to me by Jessica Haller. It’s a way to accelerate the gift economy – and reduce our chametz. Go ahead and register at Yerdle and see what you’d like to give away.

Wishing you a Shabbat shalom, an early happy Purim, and a spring season of lightness and wellness,

 

Nigel Savage
Executive Director, Hazon

Why I Ride: Kim Burnham

[Image]I am riding in the Cross-USA Ride this summer. My grandfather died of diabetes. My uncle lost his leg to the disease shared by 18 million Americans. Avoiding their footsteps at age 55, I rode with Hazon in the 2012 New York Ride. I found such a great sense of community and empowerment that I signed up to cycle across the country this summer.

When I am not busy training, I use my PhD in Integrative Medicine and Matrix Energetics training to help people feel, focus and move better. I am also an author, and write about the beauty I see. I deeply appreciate my eyesight because when I was 28, I was told I might go blind. Fortunately, my vision is better than ever and I love sharing the solutions I have found. My partner, Vicki Carmona, will be cycling with Hazon for one week in the middle.

Ride with Kim this summer on the Cross-USA Ride – join for a week, a month, or the whole summer. Find out more this week at one of our sessions on our mid-west tour!

Learn More…

Highlights of the Israel Sustainable Food Tour

[Image]“It was wonderful to get beyond the “tourist” view of Israel and experience people in their homes, kibbutzim and work places. That really made a difference. It was also incredible to have a trip explore issues that are so important to me and see them expressed in Israel.”
Larry – New York, NY

Explore the issues that are defining the sustainable food movement in Israel. Meet with key players, and taste the movement first hand.

  • Hit the ground gleaning produce for Leket – Table to Table, and learn about issues of food insecurity.
  • Meet with activists who are pushing sustainability issues into the mainstream: Yossi Wolfson of the Zangvil Center, Bakker Arwawdy of the Galilee Society, and Miki Haimovitch of the Israeli Meatless Mondays Campaign.
  • Explore the range of the Israeli agricultural economy. Meet with representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Faculty of the Hebrew University to discuss policy and cutting edge technology, and learn from Abbie Rosner, an expert on traditional foodways that have survived from the bible to today.

Join us May 22-27, 2013 in Israel!

Learn More…

Hazon Jewish Food Festival at the JCCSF:
More sessions announced!

[Image]Have you seen the hearty lineup of workshops? Check out the tasty opportunities to connect with food, sustainability and Jewish traditions at the Hazon Jewish Food Festival at the JCCSF. You won’t want to miss Maggid Jhos Singer’s “Judaism in a Bottle: The Life and Times of Manischewitz Wine”, Alix Wall’s “Kale for Carnivores”, or Rebecca Ets-Hokin’s “The Jewish Life of Bees”. See the full list of presenters and workshop titles athazon.org/foodfestival.

Sunday, March 17 2013
10:00am – 5:00pm
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Learn More…

God’s Green Earth: The Jewish Environmental Movement at Home and Abroad

Learn about the values that inform the Jewish Environmental Movement from two of the most dynamic, experienced leaders in the movement: Nigel Savage, founder and director of Hazon, and Michelle Levine of the American Society for the Preservation of Nature is Israel.

Wednesday, February 20
7:00 p.m.
Congregation Har HaShem
3950 Baseline Road, Boulder, CO.

Learn More…

Teach and Learn with Teva

[Image]It’s hard to believe we’re nearing springtime, with more light and more growth in our near future. We are already planning our program schedule for our upcoming Teva Seminar, June 4 – 7, at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. We are currently inviting proposals from Seminar participants who are interested in teaching one to two classes. In order to build a deeper community of learners and teachers all together, we are no longer accepting one-day participants and educators.

Dealine for Course Proposals: February 26, 2013

Learn More…

From Our Friends

Love, Hate, & the Jewish State 2.0

[Image]Hazon is proud to be a Dialogue Supporter for the New Israel Fund’s upcoming ‘Love, Hate, & the Jewish State 2.0’ event in San Francisco. ‘Love, Hate, and the Jewish State’ is a civil dialogue for Jews in their 20s and 30s to share personal experiences about Israel and social justice. We are creating a space where authentic discourse and diverse opinions are welcome. You get to own the discussion. Share your story. Leave the boxing gloves at home.

February 21, 2013 – 7:00-10:00 PM; Swedish American Hall – 2174 Market Street – San Francisco; $5 – Space is limited; A 21+ event

Learn More…

 

Newsletters

An Exception to the Rule

Feb 7th, 2013

This piece is by Shae Selix, intern at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. Hazon partners with The Arava Institute for the Israel Ride, raising money for students who wish learn about environmental research and peace-building.

Through my Masa scholarship, I have had the privilege to work for the past three and a half months at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura. Like many Masa students, I have been able to see the beauty of Israel, from the acacia trees in the Negev, to the mystical waters in the Dead Sea, to the Jerusalem stone in the capital. I feel that my experience may be particularly unique because at the Arava Institute I have had the opportunity to experience how Jews and Arabs have the potential to not only live peacefully together in Israel, but also become great friends.

Of course, due to the timing of my stay, I have also seen that this is not always the case. Only weeks ago, the State of Israel was in armed conflict with Gaza. At the Institute, we all had to watch together as Israel was again in the spotlight of the world stage, and hopes of peace in the Middle East seemed even further set back. For many new residents of Israel, this surely represented a first opportunity to witness the tragedy of the conflict here in person.

Keep Reading…

If Not Now Society 2013 Inductions

[Image]Save the Date!

Please join us as Hazon & Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center jointly present the 2nd annual “If Now NowSociety” induction event, honoring Richard Dale, Nili Simhai, Saul Kaiserman, Mira Schwartz

April 30th 2013, 6pm
Central Synagogue

Learn More…

Torah of Food Registration Now Open!

[Image]Join us the weekend after Shavuot to fill up your senses with the first fruits of the season, and the finest fruits of Torah learning. With guest chefs, rabbis, and educators to guide us, we’ll delve into the world of food in the Torah, and the Torah of food in the world. Programming will include text study, farm tours, cooking demos, permaculture workshops and lively Shabbat services.

Register before April 19 and save $25!

Friday, May 17 – Sunday, May 19, 2013
Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, CT

Learn More… | Register

Upper West Side Bike Lane Extension Approved

[Image]This past week the local Community Board approved an extension of the Columbus Avenue protected bike lane, to be installed later this summer. Many thanks to the Hazon supporters who helped make this project a reality over the past years.

Learn More…

Sweet & Savory Hamentaschen for a Topsy Turvy Holiday

[Image]With Purim just around the corner, join us in preparing delicious, kid-friendly hamentaschen, both traditionally sweet and flavorfully savory. Childcare will be provided during the class, while parents learn new skills in the kitchen.

10:00-11:30 am
Sunday, February 10
Congregation Beth Elohim
Garfield Place and 8th Ave. in Brooklyn

Learn More…

Hazon is Hiring!

[Image]Hazon is currently hiring a new development associate. For more information on this and other job opportunities with Hazon and our partners in the Jewish Environment Community, check out our Opportunities page!

Learn More…

Pearlstone Center’s 5th Annual Beit Midrash: Sacred Sustainable Rhythms of the Jewish Calendar

[Image]How does the Jewish calendar provide a spiritual, land-based rhythm for Jewish living? How do we apply Jewish agricultural values on land, in the classroom, and throughout society?

Join an intergenerational, pluralistic community of Jewish farmers, rabbis, educators, students and families from across the country for an inspiring weekend of learning, growth, and celebration.

Friday-Sunday, February 15-17
Location: Pearlstone Center- Reisterstown, MD

Learn More…

From Our Friends

Forward on Climate February 17th in DC

[Image]Join United for Action, 350.org, Sierra Club, and hundreds of other groups for the Largest Rally in History for a Stable Climate.

Multiple busses are leaving from Manhattan and Brooklyn at 7PM on February 17.

 

 

Learn More… | Bus Info

Jewish Food Justice Fellowship

[Image]The Jewish Food Justice Fellowship (JFJF) is a pilot professional development oriented program designed and implemented by the Leichtag Foundation in San Diego’s North County coastal region to support vibrant Jewish life in North County and to combat poverty and increase food access and self-sufficiency. The program will focus on food justice, agricultural sustainability and Jewish community engagement.

Deadline is February 10th

Apply

Eco-Israel Spring Semester

[Image]Eco-Israel participants embrace permaculture and sustainable living through 5 months of living and working on an organic farm in central Israel. Students get hands-on experience in farming, gardening, medicinal herbs, composting, natural building and much much more. The Eco-Israel curriculum is designed to help participants develop a deep, personal, land-based relationship with the Land of Israel, its diverse cultures, and inspiring landscapes

Learn More…

Amir Farming Fellowship

[Image]Amir is currently seeking applicants to the Amir Farming Fellowship for Summer 2013! “Amir Farmers” spend the summer at one of our partner camps, building gardens and running greening projects with campers. The Amir Training Seminar in the last week of May prepares Farmers for their summer-long journey in social action, environmental education, and organic gardening.

Learn More…

Newsletters

[Hazon Newsletter 1/10/2013] – Ancient Land, Modern Flavor

Jan 10th, 2013

Ancient Land, Modern Flavor

[Image]

This Memorial Day Weekend (May 22-27), in partnership with the Heschel Sustainability Center, Hazon is thrilled to be running our third Israel Sustainable Food Tour.

This exciting program is a unique way for North American Jews who are passionate about sustainable food to experience the rapidly developing field of sustainable food in Israel. Visit farms, markets, and food producers off the typical tourist map, and meet with the leaders of innovative projects on the forefront of the burgeoning Israeli sustainable food movement. It is also an important opportunity for Israeli activists to meet like-minded counterparts from abroad, and hear about your experiences, successes, challenges, insights and inspiration.

The emphasis in this tour is on the social and environmental aspects of sustainable food from farm to fork. We will explore obstacles and opportunities regarding Israeli and Arab agriculture and food issues, the promise of the growing the organic agriculture market in Israel and other cutting edge issues. And we will also eat extraordinarily well, sampling the rich array of local, multi-ethnic, indigenous, fusion, and other cuisines, that make up Israeli foodways.

On the Tour, we will visit some of these impressive projects, as well as explore key issues, meet central players in the sustainable food scene, and more:

  • Get your hands dirty and harvest leftover crops for Leket – Table to Table.
  • Dine in delicious restaurants and meet innovative chefs like Moshe Basson of Eucalyptus Restaurant and The Eretz Yisraeli Kitchen.
  • Visit food growers and producers across the country, from dairies, to olive orchards, to microbreweries and wineries.
  • Take an insider’s tour and taste of Machaneh Yehuda, the storied open air shuk in Jerusalem.
  • Meet with change makers and activists, like Miki Haimovitz, initiator of Israel’s new high-profile national Meatless Mondays campaign, and Bakker Awawdy, Director of the Galilee Society, Israel’s leading Arab health and environment advocacy agency.

    Learn more about these issues and their impact on Israeli society and governmental policy in this JCarrot article by Alon Tal, chairman of Israel’s Green Movement.

    Learn More…

 

Cross-USA Ride Prices Rising!

[Image]A route is set, Jewish communities are excited to host us and the most amazing kosher sustainable food you will ever experience is just 154 days away! Join Hazon on the Cross-USA Ride from June 13 – August 18, 2013. Register for full country, half country or smaller segments of the ride. Register now before prices rise on January 18, 2013.

Learn More…

Pinot & Pomegranate: Wine and Cheese and Trees

[Image]Join us in Brooklyn for a rocking party to celebrate Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish New Year for the trees. Enjoy four delicious desserts (from Adamah foods), four cups of wine, and activities that connect to the themes of the holiday. Featuring live music by Pitom.

Saturday, January 26th
8:00-11:00pm

Roulette Intermedium, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn

$18 in advance / $25 at the door

Learn More…

Tree B’Earth Day at Isabella Freedman

Friday, January 25 – Sunday, January 27, 2013
at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in the Connecticut Berkshires[Image]

Give thanks for the birthday of the trees and the Jewish Earth Day with the many branches of the Jewish environmental movement. Join activists, rabbis, leaders, and educators to contemplate and celebrate our interconnectedness with trees and the natural world.

Tree-mendous highlights include:

  • Romemu-style (Renewal) services with Shir Yaakov
  • Orthodox services with Rabbi Greg Wall

All-inclusive rates start at just $228 per person and include farm-to-table Shabbat meals, an elaborate seder with four cups of wine, lodging, diverse learning and celebration, multiple prayer options, yoga classes, guided hikes on our beautiful trails, and more.

Learn More…

Torah Yoga at Isabella Freedman

[Image]Experience the wonder of Torah study and the groundedness of yoga practice with Diane Bloomfield, who will integrate Iyengar yoga practice with teachings from the Sfat Emet. No previous Torah study or yoga practice is required. Register by January 13th and save 10%.

Learn More…

Opportunities From Our Friends

Camp Tawonga Farm to Fork: Eco-Quest

Entering grades 9 through 11, June 16 – July 5, 2013

Volunteering at local farms, backpacking, rafting, three days at Camp Tawonga
This is adventure travel like none other – you pick the music, you set the menus, and you put together your own totally out-of-the-box Jewish experiences. Like a road trip with a dozen friends, Quest is the perfect balance of thrill time and chill time. As an “Eco-Quest”, this program augments the Quest experience with lots of fun work on various Northern California farms and experiential group learning about the food system. For more info visit www.tawonga.org.

Learn More…

Pearlstone Center’s 5th Annual Beit Midrash: Sacred Sustainable Rhythms of the Jewish Calendar

[Image]How does the Jewish calendar provide a spiritual, land-based rhythm for Jewish living?
How do we apply Jewish agricultural values on land, in the classroom, and throughout society?

Join an intergenerational, pluralistic community of Jewish farmers, rabbis, educators, students and families from across the country for an inspiring weekend of learning, growth, and celebration.

Friday-Sunday, February 15-17

Location: Pearlstone Center- Reisterstown, MD

Learn More…

Beyond Bubbie: Tales from the Kitchen

[Image]What happens when you mix savory storytelling and nectarous nosh with a splash of schnapps? A performance dedicated to food, family recipes and the stories that link them together.

Join MC David Sax (Save the Deli) as the stories overflow like your Bubbie’s boiling chicken soup. Raconteurs include Mo Rocca (My Grandmother’s Ravioli, CBS Sunday Morning & Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!), Carla Hall (The Chew, Top Chef & Cooking with Love), Joan Nathan (New York Times Contributor and cookbook author), Jack Dell (Katz’s Deli) & others.

Learn More… | Tickets

Shmita in Chicago

In celebration of the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., the KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation Social Justice Committee presents their fourth annual MLK Food Justice and Sustainability Weekend Program, “Shmita: Food Security and Sustainable Design in the Sabbatical Year and Beyond.”

January 18-20, 2013
KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation Chicago, IL

Learn More…

 

 

Newsletters

Tu B’Shvat Reflections

Jan 4th, 2013

In This Email

Tu B’Shvat Reflections

You can trace the recent history of Tu B’Shvat seders like branches on a tree. The first one I went to, in London in 1986, was hosted by Bonna Haberman and Shmuel Browns, mentors to me and many others in the renewal of Jewish ritual. I made my own seder the following Tu B’Shvat, and I’ve made or attended one every year since. Seders, like trees, grow branches, and the branches sprout fruit in all directions.

The roots of Tu B’Shvat stretch back to the beginnings of organized Jewish life. We learn from the Mishnah (Tractate Rosh Hashanah) that “the New Year of the Trees” divided the tithing of one year’s crop from the next—the end and start of the tax year, so to speak. After the expulsion from the Land of Israel, Tu B’Shvat went underground, like a seed, ungerminated, lying beneath the soil of Jewish thought and life.

Continue reading “Deeper Roots, Wider Branches”, by Nigel Savage, originally published in the Jerusalem Report

NEW! Hazon Tu B’Shvat Haggadah

[Image]The new 2013 Hazon Tu B’Shvat Hagaddah is designed to help you think about your responsibility towards the natural world on four different levels: physical space, community, world and spirituality. Each section of the Haggadah offers texts, questions and activities to spark conversation around your seder table related to one of these four levels of responsibility.

Download the Hazon Tu B’Shvat Hagaddah here

Find recipes, songs, sustainability tips, and more at www.hazon.org/tubshvat

Learn More…

Tree B’Earth Day at Isabella Freedman

Friday, January 25 – Sunday, January 27, 2013 at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in the Connecticut Berkshires[Image]

Give thanks for the birthday of the trees and the Jewish Earth Day with the many branches of the Jewish environmental movement. Join activists, rabbis, leaders, and educators to contemplate and celebrate our interconnectedness with trees and the natural world.

Tree-mendous highlights include:

  • Romemu-style (Renewal) services with Shir Yaakov
  • Orthodox services with Rabbi Greg Wall

All-inclusive rates start at just $228 per person and include farm-to-table Shabbat meals, an elaborate seder with four cups of wine, lodging, diverse learning and celebration, multiple prayer options, yoga classes, guided hikes on our beautiful trails, and more.

Learn More

Opportunities From Our Friends

Tu B’Shvat in the Redwoods with Wilderness Torah

[Image]In the tradition of the Tsfat mystics, Wilderness Torah will gather in the forest to create an experiential Tu B’Shvat seder that connects us to the trees and the elements. Everyone will delight in the fruit of the trees,p’ri ha-etz, and celebrate the season together through the five senses, song, meditation, and Tu B’Shvat teachings.

Sunday, January 27th, 2013, 10 am to 3 pm, Redwood Regional Park, Skyline Gate, Oakland, CA

Learn More…

AVODAH Applications Open

[Image]Lead, learn and live. Join AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. Applications are officially open for AVODAH, a prestigious one-year program combining work for justice, leadership development, Jewish learning, and community building. Learn about AVODAHand how to spend the next year fighting poverty in one of our four cities around the country! Watch this video and start your application at www.avodah.net/apply. Application deadline is February 11th, 2013.

Learn More…

 

Newsletters

It’s Been A Great Two Weeks…

Dec 13th, 2012

New York
December 13th 2012 / 5th day of Chanukah 5773

Dear All,

Since our beginning in 2000, Hazon has worked to use a range of new modalities – the outdoors, food, the environment – to renew Jewish life and to create a better world for all. Mini-grants from our Rides help to raise money and awareness — we’ve given away over $2 million since 2000. Our annual Hazon Food Conference (seephotos from our most recent conference) helps us do this by networking and supporting people who are doing great work all over the country. And our merger with the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center — which we announced last week to very positive reviews from across the Jewish community – will enable us to grow our impact and reach.

And we’re now thrilled to announce that we’re working with the Jim Joseph Foundation, Leichtag Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, UJA-Federation of New York, and Rose Community Foundation of Denver, to conduct research exploring how participation in immersive Jewish food, environmental, and outdoor education programs influences individuals’ Jewish growth and leads to increased Jewish involvement.

This project is the first of its kind in our field, and is exciting in that it gives us the opportunity to identify and document, in a real way, a/ what is going on in the movement and b/ the impact that Jewish food, outdoor and environmental education is having on individuals and communities. The widest goal is to provide actionable recommendations to the Jewish philanthropic community about how to use this work to strengthen Jewish life in America over the next ten years and beyond – and to help the Jewish community play a serious role in creating a more sustainable world for all.

We encourage you to learn more about the research project, and also in due course to be in touch; over the next few months we’ll be reaching out in different ways to gather information. We’ll particularly be interested in learning about what events or experiences have changed your life; how you first heard about those experiences; what consequences they have had in your life; and what you, or your institution, need for you to grow and flourish in the future. If you have thoughts or ideas, please be in touch. (We’re opening up a new mailbox – research@hazon.org – and if you have ideas, suggestions, experiences or questions that you want to share, please feel free to start to send them there. But let me add: we’re in the final stages of selecting an external research house to work with; we’ll follow-up in 2013 with more information on what’s happening.)

Finally: thank you to the many of you – individuals, foundations and federations – who have given us donations or new grants in the last few weeks. It’s the end of the year; we are doing good and important work; if you feel inclined to support us, it would be a great mitzvah. Click here to make a donation…

Wishing you a happy Hanukkah, a merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy, peaceful and sustainable new year,

Nigel Savage
Executive Director, Hazon

Newsletters, Nigel

[Newsletter] November 1- Hurricane Thoughts and Volunteer Opportunities

Nov 1st, 2012

Ways to Help

Beit She’an, Israel

November 1st 2012 / 16th Cheshvan 5773

Dear All,

Both for the East Coast as a whole, and for us as an organization, this has been a week of improvisation in the wake of Hurricane Sandy – and we’re hardly out of the thick of it yet.  With Lower Manhattan – including our office building – having been flooded and power out (according to a neighbor, Maiden Lane “basically was the East River”). The New York staff are working from laptops and coffee shops, volunteering where they can. They have been home, with and without power, with and without kids, doing what they can. Overall, I’m struck by the incredible spirit of generosity and community that has taken over New York as those more fortunate help out those in need.

As I write, the US death toll from Hurricane Sandy is now at 75 people. More than 6,000 New Yorkers are at shelters instead of their homes. The cost in terms of destruction, of homes and buildings, is obviously enormous.

One of those buildings is at Isabella Freedman in Connecticut, where a 100-year old tree crushed the roof of the main building.  Click here to see the beautiful email that David Weisberg just sent out to the Isabella Freedman list.

As awful as it is, I hope that this hurricane will mark a turning point in how, as a society, we react to climate change. It should now be clearer that there are actually two quite distinct sorts of changes that we need to make. The second of the two is the obligation we owe to future generations. Reducing the amount of carbon and methane that we emit will not make any difference to the weather in the next two decades, and perhaps longer. But from a generational perspective it will make a difference. If historians a century hence are able to write: the world’s response to climate change was “too little, too late” until Hurricane Sandy finally triggered real change, then this Hurricane will ultimately have done some good. I hope and trust that the next President of the USA will be someone who acknowledges the reality of climate change and leads the country in a new direction.

The other sort of change is what’s known as “adaptation.” We will need to re-organize our societies to adjust to the new world in which we live. I’m writing this from Israel, where the post-Succot rains have – again – not come. I was very impressed when I heard President Shimon Peres talk last year about why you don’t see Jaffa oranges any more in England or the US. The reason is that, as he put it, “exporting oranges is like exporting water” (because growing oranges requires a huge amount of water for irrigation). Israel took the decision not to spend valuable water in a way that made no strategic sense for the country. There are a slew of decisions like this that we will have to think about in coming years.

I’m writing this from Beit She’an, at the end of the second day of our Israel Ride. Beit She’an has spectacularly well-preserved ruins – evidence of multiple civilizations who have lived in this place over the last 7,000 years.  In response to an event of this magnitude, Hazon seems impossibly tiny in the work that we do. But we are playing a significant role, together with many friends and partners, in seeking to rally the Jewish community, and to support leaders in Israel and the middle east, to think about sustainability in significant ways.

The Hazon staff have compiled some suggestions for what you can do, how you can help.  I would add, the impulse to help after disasters like this is a powerful testament to our humanity, and whether you can donate time, money, listen to a friend or family member tell their story, let your political leaders know how you’d like to see them respond – your actions are well-placed.

Kol tuv, Shabbat shalom

 

 

 

 

Nigel Savage
Executive Director, Hazon

Ways to Help
Ways to Help 

 

  Volunteer Opportunities

 

As well as offering direct help for those who’ve been hurt by this storm, if you would like to be a stakeholder in Hazon’s ongoing work to foster a more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and most sustainable world for all, please support us.

Newsletters, Uncategorized
Page 1 of 612345»...Last »