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Liability issues around community sustainable agriculture
I am trying to cover all bases as I prepare a proposal for a crowdsourcing/crowdfunding approach to land rehabilitation at a synagogue and community center in Thornhill, Ontario Canada Have any of you come across any insurance liability issues/objections to the creation of a food growing garden? Have you seen any liability differences If the garden is - on public property (behind a firehouse) or private property (synagogue, church, ...
Educating Teens About Environmental Issues (CJN November 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" article appeared inthe Canadian Jewish News November 3, 2011 During the time surrounding the High Holiday period, I had the opportunity to speak to Grade 8 Science classes at a number of the Toronto Jewish Day Schools. My talks are generally drawn from materials I have access to as a result of being trained by Al Gore as a Climate Reality Project volunteer presenter. Recently, Mr. Gore hosted a 24 hour ...
Israeli Winery Conserves Water (CJN October 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" article appeared inthe Canadian Jewish News on October 6, 2011 I recently had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Alex Haruni, the owner of the Dalton Winery. While in Toronto, Alex was promoting the sales of the kosher wines Dalton produces in the Upper Galilee. While we were talking, Alex was monitoring the progress of his grape harvest back in Israel. What I found interesting is how the Dalton Winery ...
Community open to New Ideas (CJN September 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" column appeared in the Canadian Jewish News, September 8, 2011 How does a community come together to look at new ideas and decide which ones to make a small investment in and see if they will succeed? The GTA Jewish community brought forward 78 proposals to the UJA Federation’s SixPoints Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund. Sixty individuals pooled their financial resources and business planning skills to ...
Seniors and Environmental Issues (CJN August 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" article appeared in the Canadian Jewish News on August 11, 2011 The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to a ‘New Vision of Aging for Canada’ promoting social change that will bring financial security, equitable access to health care and freedom from discrimination. Their mandate is to promote and protect the interests, rights and ...
Intern at Israeli Green Companies (CJN July 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" column appeared in the canadian Jewish News on July 7, 2011 Once a year, Moses Znaimer convenes the Ideacity conference in Toronto. This year, the focus was the concept that the rate of cultural and economic progress depends on the rate at which ideas are having sex. The idea was first proposed by Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist. Saul Singer, co-author of the book Startup Nation: the Story of ...
Recycled Paper (CJN June 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" article originally appeared in the Canadian Jewsih News June 10, 2011 Recycle, reduce, reuse. Last month, my column discussed the challenge of recycling of paper on which Jewish holy words are written. This month, we will focus on some key considerations to help you make sustainable choices about what paper you use as well as how you use, and eventually reuse, that paper. The three actions mentioned above&md...
Take Care Reproducing Documents (CJN May 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" column originally appeared in the Canadian Jewish News May 12, 2011 We are now in “sphirat ha-omer,” the count-up to Shavuot—the time of the giving of our Torah. Our study and transmission of our Written and Oral Laws ("Torah Shebichtav" and "Torah Sheba'al Peh," respectively) has benefitted from technological advancement. We are known as the “People of the ...
Schools Measure Footprints (CJN April 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" column originally appeared in the Canadian Jewish News, April 14, 2011 Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education program for kindergarten to Grade 12. Developed and run by school boards,the program allows students to acquire ecological literacy and learn about practices that will make them environmentally responsible citizens. In addition, Ontario EcoSchools helps to improve operations within school buildi...
Energy Conservation in Israel (CJN March 2011)
This "Sustainable Jew" column originally appeared in the Canadian Jewish News March 17, 2011 I was recently in Israel to represent the company I am currently on contract with, and to speak at a renewable energy conference in Eilat, co sponsored by the UJA Federation of Toronto. As part of a delegation, put together by Canada's National Research Council, I wanted to understand the current Israeli state of mind with respect to ...
Synagogues Reduce Energy Costs (CJN February 2011)
This article originally appeared in the Canadian Jewish News on February 17, 2011 What role should a synagogue play in helping its members live a more sustainable existence? Should a synagogue lead by example or just respond to the requirements of their boards and their members. Are we dealing with a business decision or a spiritual imperative? Rabbi Voss-Altman of Temple B’nai Tikvah in Calgary was one of the first in the Canadian Reform ...
Reducing Toronto’s Environmental Footprint (CJN Janaury 2011)
This article originally appeared in the Canadian Jewish News on January 20, 2011 In 1975, Mark Mietkowitz and I were co-councilors at Camp Massad, near Torrence Ontario and a year apart at the Community Hebrew Academy in Toronto. I could not have imagined that 36 years later we would be columnists in the Canadian Jewish News. Mark’s recent columns touched on various aspects of water in Israel, and the innovations that Israeli entrepren...
What does it mean to be a “Sustainable Jew” (CJN Sept 2010)
This column was originally published in the Canadian Jewish News - September 22, 2010 Have you ever thought of Sukkot as a holiday which celebrates the Sustainable Jew In ancient Israel, Sukkot had a major agricultural focus. The celebration was a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest and the blessings of nature in the year that had passed. Today, Sukkot is a Jewish Festival where we step out of the comfort of our own homes, and enter temporary ...
