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Register for Jewcology Leadership Training!

As a Jewish environmentalist, are you seeking to inspire environmental change in local or national Jewish communities? Looking for ways to move people that do not always share the same views as you? Jewcology, the new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community, is pleased to offer a special new in-person leadership training opportunity which will empower us to engage those who are not already involved in environmental action, and in so doing, raise the level of environmental engagement across the Jewish community. In this full-day ...

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Moving the Jewish Community Beyond Tu B’Shvat on Environmental Issues

As a freelance Jewish environmental educator, the 2 weeks surrounding Tu B’shvat might be considered my high holidays. This year I will be teaching in 4 cities, 3 synagogues, and 11 supplemental and day schools in just that window. Yet in the two months following I only have a few random teaching engagements. While those of us in the Jewish environmental field have moved beyond just Tu B’shvat as the core of our work, the remainder of the Jewish world continues to see this one day as their only opportunity to teach Jewish environmental values. So here ...

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Ideas for creating an informative & transformative Tu B’Shvat Seder.

As the Tu B’Shvat holiday quickly approaches, I am scrambling to prepare my 6th grade class to lead the annual Tu B’Shvat Seder. This involves a combination of general study on Jewish attitudes towards trees, as well as teaching many specifics such as what blessings to say on each fruit and how to group fruits according to their ‘type.’ As this will be my sixth year leading this seder, I have developed a seder structure that works well for our particular situation. Rather than having a ‘sit-down’ seder (similar to a ...

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Question of the Week #7

Rachel Cohen of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism asks Jewcology's question of the week.

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Reflections on an Environmental Meeting

Tonight the Silver Spring Sustainability Circle presented us with a tutorial on how to put on a Tu B'shvat Seder. What is it that is so appealing about using our own and the world's resources in a way that enhances, elevates and renews the land instead of destroying, sapping, and demeaning it? I think it's the same kind of satisfaction and enjoyment that comes from, say, learning to bake a cake, to ride a bike, solve a math problem, or make a friend -- the feeling that I've figured out how to get it right, how to gain from the world by putting ...

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California Grows!

California Grows! I recently attended the Hazon Food Conference in Sonoma, CA. There, I met numerous others who are working with gardens of all stripes; urban, suburban, rural, educational, communal, and private. I want to highlight a few of the interesting garden or farm projects in California. By sharing these projectsI hope others can learn about what they are doing to engage their communities in environmental and food learning. First, the Urban Adamah in Berkeley. My understanding of the Urban Adamah is that there are fellows who live ...

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Get up to 25 Free Haggadot – Jewcology Special! Deadline Tuesday.

Organizing a Tu b'Shevat Seder? Wishing for some beautiful haggadot to share with your community? Until Tuesday, January 11, Canfei Nesharim is offering up to 25 free haggadot for Tu b'Shevat 5771, in our Jewcology special. Simply "follow" Canfei Nesharim on Jewcology, then send us a message via Jewcology with your mailing details - how many you'd like (up to 25) and where the materials should be sent. Orders will be sent out to arrive in time for Tu b’Shevat (by January 19). Chag Tu b'Shevat Sameach!

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Post 02: Building a Movement from the Ground Up

This post is part of an ongoing discussion about involving young people in environmental activities. This post in the Building a Movement (BAM) series focuses on the idea of young people spending a year or more after high school connecting with the environment. In my last BAM post I discussed some of the options that face observant Jewish young people when they finish high school: going to college, getting a job, going to learn in a school that focuses only on Jewish studies, and so on. For some teenagers, these are not really good options. There are a ...

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Get up to 25 Free Haggadot – Social Media Special!

Canfei Nesharim is offering up to 25 free haggadot for Tu b'Shevat 5771, in our social media special. Simply "like" Canfei Nesharim on facebook and post details of how many haggadot and in what city they will be used. For example "25-Baltimore." We'll contact you via facebook to get your mailing details. Deadline is today: Friday, January 7!

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Looking for a few good Jewish environmentalists…

The Jewcology video is almost ready (and looking great!), but we need just a couple more people to submit videos on a quick turnaround (videos need to be in by the end of the weekend). Can you help? If so, please send us a message and we'll get you all the details.

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Tu B’Shvat Seder

Wednesday, January 19 at 7:30 pm, at the JCC in Manhattan, sponsored by Hazon!

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Honey From the Rock: The Torah’s Deep Ecology

Time is running out to avoid disaster. This is the refrain that emerges from even a cursory glance at the media’s portrayal of such pressing issues as global climate change, world peace, and economics. In an ever rapidly changing world, in which it seems we have very little control and very little understanding of how we arrived here, disaster seems all but a foregone conclusion. It is unfortunate that the global narrative that is being woven, for the most part, lacks a comprehensive framework within which to take steps to avoid the doom and gloom scenar...

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An Unexpected Connection

What do Jerusalem and Charlottesville, Virginia have in common? Each has a highly successful pedestrian mall designed by Lawrence Halpin. Jerusalem has Rechov Ben-Yehudah (Ben Yehudah Street). Charlottesville has the Downtown Mall. You might be wondering what the significance of all this is, but all that will get cleared up momentarily. Pedestrian malls as well as highways, rail lines, suburbs, and cities are all human artifacts. Designed by landscape architects, architects, and urban planners, these spaces at their best are a reflection of the culture and ...

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Advertise on Jewcology!

Would you like to advertise your products or organization on Jewcology? Please see our fee schedule attached.

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Question of the Week #6

Rabbi Shawn Zevit, Director of Congregational Services, Outreach and Tikkun Olam at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, asks Jewcology's 6th Question of the Week.

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Environment Art Contest

BabagaNewz.com is teaming up with Jewcology.com to spread the word about Jewish environmentalism. Teach your students what Judaism has to say about preserving our environment using the lesson plan provided, then have students create artwork—print or multimedia—based on a relevant Jewish text of their choice. (See www.babaganewz.com/envirocontest for a list of appropriate Jewish texts.) Your students could: · See their artwork featured on BabagaNewz.com · Receive a water-powered alarm clock if they’re one of ...

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Environmental Tip of the Week

http://environmentaltip.blogspot.com/ I just started this blog. When I headed the Environmental Club at Stern, I sent such tips by email weekly. Feel free to copy and use what I have here for personal or educational purposes, just please give me proper credit.

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How to Organize a Successful Tu b’Shevat Seder

Tu b'Shevat is coming! This year it falls on January 19-20. In my role as executive director of Canfei Nesharim: Sustainable Living Inspired by Torah, I've been organizing and hosting Tu b'Shevat seders all around the world over the last ten years, including interesting model seders at different times and places: in August in Vermont (CAJE), for example, and in December in California (Hazon Food Conference). The Tu b'Shevat Seder is a fun experience for children and adults, and can be adapted to different timeframes and levels of Jewish/environ...

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Post 01: Building a Movement from the Ground Up

This post is part of an ongoing discussion about involving young people in environmental activities. This first post in the Building a Movement (BAM) series focuses on choices young people have when they graduate from high school. Teenage Angst I had a radio show that I co-hosted for several years called the Jewish Activist Network. One of the topics we kept revisting was the issue of so-called "Yeshiva Drop-Outs". "Yeshiva Drop-Outs" are teenagers who come from observant families and are attending, or had attended, ...

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Support Jewcology at Year-End!

We've gotten a great start this year with Jewcology. But there is much more to do! Will you help us make 2011 a banner year by making a tax-deductible donation of $10, $18, or $36 to support our upcoming efforts? Funds will be used for enhanced technology, additional programs, and promotion. Thanks for your support! Support Jewcology

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