Jewish Environmentalists Green the Slingshot 50!
Congratulations to the following Jewish environmental organizations who were recognized on the 2012-13 Slingshot List of the 50 Most Innovative Jewish Organizations in North America! The organizations listed are also a part of the Green Hevra, a collaborative effort of 16 major Jewish environmental organizations, working together to increase coordination across the Jewish environmental movement. Here are the Green Hevra organizations recognized by Slingshot: Eden Village Camp Eden Village Camp was selected by Slingshot because we are bringing Judaism to life in a way that is uniquely impactful. Our campers and staff actually live in an immersive Jewish environmental community where values from the Torah are transformed into bold actions that speak to today’s most pressing questions. Eden Village is the only Jewish camp in the world that has caring for the earth as a foundational value. Mission: Rooted in the Jewish vision of creating a more environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually connected world, Eden Village Camp fosters an incredible summer experience for our campers that empowers them to promote a vibrant future for themselves, their communities, and our planet. Jewcology Jewcology was selected by Slingshot because it is utilizing innovative social media tools to strengthen coordination across the Jewish environmental movement. Evaluators also considered Jewcology a potential model for collaboration in other sectors in the Jewish community. Jewcology is proud to be a catalyst and partner for the recent field-building in the Jewish environmental world. Mission: Jewcology is building a multi-denominational, multi-generational, regionally diverse community of Jewish environmental activists, who are learning from one another and from an expanding set of Jewish-environmental resources, how to educate their communities about our Jewish responsibility to protect the environment. Jewish Farm School With a nod to like-minded Slingshot organizations, one evaluator definitively states, “The Jewish Farm School has done innovative and pioneering work. Others have now copied them, but it is still the standard.” Mission: The Jewish Farm School teaches about contemporary food and ecological issues through innovative, skill-based Jewish agricultural education. Driven by Jewish traditions, we address the injustices embedded in today’s mainstream food systems and work to create greater access to sustainably grown foods that promote both ecological and social well being. Hazon (Slingshot Standard Bearer) Hazon has been at the forefront of putting sustainability on the agenda of the Jewish community and the wider world. We effect change in the world in three ways: Transformative Experiences: Our programs directly touch lives in powerful ways; Thought-Leadership: Writing, speaking, teaching, and advocacy; and Capacity-Building: Supporting great people and projects in North America and Israel. Our programs are having a greater impact each year as more and more people become concerned with personal and environmental health issues and issues of food safety and sustainability. Mission: Hazon works to create healthier and more sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond. The Pearlstone Center The farm at the Pearlstone Center is the original prototype success model of a locally-based Jewish green center providing outdoor Jewish eco-agricultural experiential education to a local community. The farm at the Pearlstone Center is a pioneering organization in the Jewish food and Jewish farming movements, and is consequently a leader in the Jewish environmental movement in general. Our entrepreneurial approach has enabled us to establish a Jewish green center serving the Baltimore Jewish community with great success, demonstrating a model and paving the way for other community-based Jewish green centers to establish themselves elsewhere around the country. Our focus on applying and teaching ancient Jewish agricultural laws is unparalleled anywhere in North America, and even farmers and scholars in Israel have contacted us due to our unique pluralistic commitment to Jewish agricultural learning. Mission: The Pearlstone Center ignites Jewish passion. Our retreat center, farm, and programs enable and inspire vibrant Jewish life. Engaging Jewish, faith-based, and non-sectarian organizations, individuals, and families, Pearlstone serves all ages and backgrounds throughout Baltimore, the Chesapeake region, and beyond. Urban Adamah Urban Adamah is a community organic farm and Jewish environmental education center located in Berkeley, CA. Each spring, summer, and fall, we select twelve to fourteen Urban Adamah Fellows to operate the farm and participate in a three-month residential leadership program that integrates organic farming, direct social justice work, and progressive Jewish living and learning. As part of the experience, fellows teach visitors to the farm about sustainable agriculture and are placed in internships with local anti-poverty and food security organizations.All produce grown on our farm is distributed to members of the community in need, primarily through local food banks and our own Free Food Farm Stand. Mission: Urban Adamah uses the tools of sustainable agriculture, Jewish tradition, mindfulness and social action to build just, compassionate and sustainable communities Wilderness Torah Wilderness Torah is driven by a mission to awaken ancient earth-based Jewish traditions and to foster multi-generational community aligned with the cycles of nature and the cycles of our lives. Wilderness Torah has developed a cycle of land-based festivals to celebrate our holidays in their original land-based context, and has developed groundbreaking nature-based rites of passage experiences, including B’naiture, a nature-based B’nai Mitzvah Nature Mentorship program. Furthermore, Wilderness Torah is developing a community-building model that empowers its participants through shared leadership and community investment opportunities. As Slingshot stated, “Wilderness Torah is the long awaited missing piece in the lives of many Jews who feel connected to the environmental movement but do not find relevancy in traditional Jewish observance.” Mission: Wilderness Torah awakens and celebrates the earth-based traditions of Judaism to nourish the connections between self, community, earth, and Spirit. Mazel tov to all the Jewish environmental groups featured in Slingshot! Let’s continue our efforts to Green the Slingshot 50 in the coming years!
