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Jewish Environmental Service Projects
The Jewish principles of gemilut hasadim,
“acts of loving-kindness,” tikkun
olam, “mending the world,” and
avodah, which comprises work, prayer,
and service, signal Judaism’s commitment
to translating religious and moral ideals into
concrete actions. Many Jewish congregations and
organizations have translated these principles
as well as the ideal of “tilling and keeping”
the garden of creation into acts of environmental
stewardship and service to their communities.
The sorts of environmental service projects carried
out by Jewish congregations, schools, and other
organizations are varied:
- Developing their land to provide the surrounding
community with opportunities for gardening,
environmental education, enjoyment of nature,
and spiritual nurture;
- Neighborhood clean-ups;
- Restoration and improvement projects in city
state parks;
- Adopt-a-Stream projects;
- Collecting for recycling materials such as
plastic shopping bags cellular phones, or printer
cartridges.
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Such activities
not only protect and enhance the natural environment,
but can be ways of building up the human community,
as when community gardens are provided for refugees
and urban clean-up projects involve neighborhood
youth.
Jewish organizations provide examples, ideas,
and opportunities for involvement in environmental
service projects:
- The Hillel
Foundation Program Exchange includes a number
of examples of service projects by Hillel groups
on their campuses and in their communities.
- The Program
Bank on the website of the Coalition on
the Environment and Jewish Life includes many
examples of projects under its "Community Service"
category.
- There are a number of organizations working
to protect and restore Israel's
environment and promote ecologically sustainable
development paths.
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