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Jewish Education and the Environment
Jewish environmental education programs offer
new ways of connecting both young people and adults
with their religious heritage. Gardening, composting,
nature study, retreats, wilderness hikes, bike
rides, and other outdoor activities open new perspectives
on Torah teachings about God, humanity, and creation.
At the same time, Torah study gives students religious
grounds and ethical guidance for grappling with
contemporary ecological issues.
Settings for Jewish environmental education include
camps, retreat and conference centers, and outdoor
programs such as:
- Teva Learning Center, New York,
New York, a non-denominational Jewish Environmental
Education Institute whose programs combine ecology,
Jewish environmental ethics, and environmental
activism.
- Shalom Institute Camp and Conference
Center, Malibu, California, with the
Marla Bennett Israel Discovery Center and Garden,
an interactive hands-on learning center that
teaches about the history and ecology of Israel
as well as organic gardening and farming and
the relationship between Judaism and the environment.
- The Jewish Nature Center,
Milford, Pennsylvania, pioneers new ways of
making nature a partner in Jewish education,
develops curriculum integrating Jewish studies
and nature experiences, explores the application
of ancient Jewish ecological wisdom to contemporary
Jewish life and serves as a forum for Jewish
naturalists, environmentalists, educators and
students.
- Torah Treks explores the connections
between Jewish spirituality and the experience
of wilderness through a variety of backcountry
adventures such as hiking, camping, kayaking,
and skiing.
- Hazon (Hebrew for "vision") seeks to
foster a vision of a renewed, inclusive, passionate,
and creative Jewish community rooted in tradition
and engaged with the world through outdoor and
environmental education programs, including
environmental bike rides in the U.S.
and Israel.
- Teva Adventures combines
outdoor environmental, and adventure education
with Jewish programming to rekindle the integral
link between the natural world and Judaism,
to the benefit of both.
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Programs for training Jewish environmental leaders
include:
- The Mark and Sharon Bloome Jewish Environmental Leadership Institute is held each year by COEJL for Jewish and
environmental professionals, lay leaders, community
organizers, activists and students who want
to learn more about Judaism and the environment
and to organize environmental action and advocacy
in their communities.
- Eight
Jewish educators, rabbis, and environmental
activists went on a Jewish sea kayaking expedition
in Alaska,
sponsored by COEJL, the Nathan Cummings Foundation,
and the Inside Passages Project. Read Barbara Lerman-Golomb's reflections
on this trip in the Summer
2002 COEJL newsletter.
- Jewish Global Environmental Network
(JGEN) develops partnerships and projects
through which Jewish environmental leaders in
Israel
and around the world can work together toward
a sustainable future for Israel.
- Teva Learning Center also runs
trainings for teachers, counselors, and other
leaders and educators.
The Coalition
for the Advancement of Jewish Education
sponsors an annual conference on Alternatives
in Jewish Education that frequently includes sessions
on environmental education.
The environment is a priority social justice
area for Weinberg Tzedek Hillel, an international
public service effort that engages Jewish students
in bringing about meaningful social change. The
project is sponsored by Hillel: The Foundation
for Jewish Campus Life. The Hillel website contains a "Program Exchange"
listing environmental programs undertaken by Jewish
students, ranging from gardening with the homeless
to camping trips to neighborhood beautification
projects to harvesting sweet potatoes at a community
farm. Also on the website are resources such as "Ten
Steps Towards Greening
Your Hillel," "Ten Steps Towards Greening Your
Residence Hall," and environmental programming
suggestions.
Read "Environmentalism
gains a foothold in Jewish Education" from
J. The Jewish News Weekly.
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