Trees Are Good For You 3 Feb 2023 9:05 AM (2 years ago)
“For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people.” (Isaiah 65:22)
Dear Friends,
Tu BiShvat, the New Year for Trees, arrives this Sunday-Monday, February 5-6. The Tu BiShvat seder is a very special opportunity to find a few mid-winter moments of mindfulness, stillness, and awareness. It is an invitation to celebrate the holiness of our tree-neighbors, to appreciate their sanctity, and to notice our profound spiritual connection to and interdependence with all life on earth.
You can find a treasure of Tu BiShvat holiday resources, and several beautiful Tu BiShvat haggadot, on our website. And while we begin this February with a beautiful Tu BiShvat celebration, we are excited to share a major announcement with you later this month regarding our future as a new merged organization.
But for now, back to trees. A month ago, The Washington Post published an article entitled, “The happiest, least stressful, most meaningful jobs in America”. The author, Andrew Van Dam, worked with a team in order to analyze data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and then rank well-being by industry, looking at levels of happiness, meaning, and stress in each sector. Guess what industry scored at the very top? Agriculture & Forestry.
Then, they zoomed out to look at which activities—beyond work—rated the highest in these same three areas: happiness, meaning, and stress. Which activities scored highest? Religious & spiritual activities. So it is clearly important to rekindle, nourish, and sustain our connection to land, food, trees, and religion and spirituality.
But it gets better. Behind religion & spirituality, the second-highest ranked activities are exercise & recreation, another activity taking place outside. And what happens when the analysts looked at the data by location to find out where are the happiest places on earth? The winner: Place of worship. Second place: Outdoors.
Forestry forces you to work on a slower time scale. It pushes you to have a generational outlook.
“There’s a point where you are now planting trees that you are not going to see harvested,” [Leslie Boby, a forestor in Georgia] said. “It speaks to something larger than yourself. … Your work is living on, and someone else will benefit from your efforts in a tangible way.”
“People are mission-driven,” Boby told us. “They feel that this is an important thing they’re doing, even if the financial rewards are not nearly enough.”
If only there were some way to combine the top scorers here, to maximize our happiness and meaning while minimizing stress through the interweaving of food and agriculture, trees and forests, religion and spirituality…
We do not need the Bureau of Labor Statistics to appreciate Jewish tradition, but it’s certainly powerful to see how Tu BiShvat sits at the bullseye of what Americans need and want these days.
So wherever you are this weekend, our invitation is simple:
Go outside. Without your phone. Go for a long walk on the earth. Avoid concrete as much as possible. Breathe deeply. Find your favorite tree, or patch of woods, or forest. Breathe with the trees. Notice their length, their strength, their resilience. Sit for a while with your tree-neighbors, sit with them like you would sit with an elder, listen for their advice, notice their wisdom and the example they set for us all. Try sitting with them as if they were your fellow congregant, and together tap into the greater Tree of Life, surrounding us and enlivening us, outside and inside.
“Every part of the vegetable world is singing a song and bringing forth a secret of the divine mystery of creation.” -Rav Abraham Isaac Kook
From all of us at Hazon & Pearlstone, Happy Tu BiShvat!
Jakir ManelaChief Executive Officer
Celebrate Tu BiShvat with us! One night only events popping up in a town near you. 26 Jan 2023 7:46 AM (2 years ago)
JYCM New York Tu BiShvat Climate Justice Seder
Sunday, February 5 | 2:00pm – 4:00pm ET
Calling all New York area teens! Join us for a Climate Justice Seder, full of climate teachings, Jewish connections, and plenty of fruit.
Location: Central Synagogue, 652 Lexington Ave. New York, NY 10022, USA
Hazon Detroit Tu BiShvat Seder: Tending to the Land, Friendship, and Jewish Tree-dition
Sunday, February 5 | 5:00pm ET
Join Hazon Detroit, The Well, Repair the World: Detroit, and Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue to honor Tu BiShvat, the Jewish New Year of the trees! Root yourself in Jewish tradition as you nosh and sip your way through the newly updated 2023 Tu BiShvat Haggadah focused on climate, stewardship, and community connection. Community leaders and a special guest from The Greening of Detroit will lead us through the seder while adding wisdom from their respective organizations.
Location: Platform 18, 116 E 7th St. Royal Oak, MI 48067
A Jewish Response to Climate Change: A Briefing Conversation with Hazon
Tuesday, February 7 | 6:30 – 8:00pm ET
Join Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island as Hazon CEO Jakir Manela and Chief Development Officer Rachel Siegal highlight some of their recent work and discuss opportunities to work collaboratively as a Jewish community to address climate change in a meaningful way.
Location: 401 Elmgrove Ave. Providence RI
B’nai Israel The Downtown Synagogue of Baltimore, Tu BiShvat Seder
Sunday, February 5 | 6:30pm – 9:00pm ET
Join B’nai Israel/Jewish Museum of Maryland Campus for a Climate Justice Tu BiShvat seder! Partnering with BAYIT, Jewish Youth Climate Movement, Jews United for Justice, Hazon, and Moishe Pod Federal Hill.
Location: 27 Loyd St., Baltimore, MD 21202
Colorado Jewish Climate Summit: Action, Justice, Community
Sunday, February 5 | 10:00am – 3:15pm MT
Join participants from across Colorado for a day of study, inspiration, and community building. All teens programming during the Climate Summit is being organized by the Jewish Youth Climate Movement.
Location: Hebrew Educational Alliance, 3600 S Ivanhoe St. Denver, CO 80237
Brown – RISD Hillel Tu BiShvat Seder
Tuesday, February 7 | 8:30pm ET
Celebrate the “New Year of the Trees” with food, drink, and environmental advocacy!
Location: 80 Brown St. Providence, RI 02906
Hakhel Newsletter: December 2022 21 Dec 2022 9:04 AM (2 years ago)
Dear Hakhel Communities,
Happy Chanukah! We hope you are enjoying this Festival of Lights with your loved ones, in community, and that you are finding ways to grow and spread the light. What are some of the traditions your community has to mark this special time?
Hakhel has been busy spreading our own light of Jewish values such as tikkun olam (repairing the world) and peoplehood, including at two recent international gatherings, at Z3 in Palo Alto, California and at Hakhel Creative Gatherings in Johannesburg, South Africa. More information about each is below. We congratulate the organizers and participants in bringing these exciting projects to life for the benefit of their communities and the wider world.
In this week’s parsha, Miketz, Joseph interprets dreams, which saves Egypt from a famine. What dreams do you have about the future, both positive visions and fears, and what do you think they mean? Chanukah is the time of miracles – you never know when your dreams will come true!
Sincerely,
Deborah Fishman
Hakhel Network Manager
This month, Hakhel Network Manager Deborah Fishman sat down with Dani Rotstein from Jewish Majorca.
Tell us in a few words about your community and what is special about it.
Our community is unique in many ways. Most prominently, we are the only community that is home to Xuetes (Chuetas). These are the descendants of Crypto-Jews on the island of Mallorca who were forced to abandon their religion and convert to Christianity, all the while not having the same legal and social rights as their “pure-blooded” Christian neighbors. This resulted in the Xuetes marrying within themselves, keeping many of them Jewish throughout the centuries. We are also unique in that we are nondenominational with members from all around the globe who are Orthodox, Conservative, Masorti, Reform, progressive, secular, and everyone in between. Our community welcomes with open arms anyone who wants to join, and seeks to accommodate each person’s religious needs.
Tell us about your upcoming Chanukah program!
2022 Hanukkah in the Street: A Celebration is a historic event, as it is the first time that the local city authorities are sponsoring a Chanukah celebration in a public city square. The event is open to the Mallorquin community! The festival begins at 5pm with a momentous candle lighting. Our traditional Xueta rabbi is coming all the way from Israel to light the first candle with the entire (mostly Catholic) general public in a powerfully inclusive and open way. This will be followed by a special musical performance by a Klezmer band that is being flown in for the occasion. There will be eight different stations running activities and offering products, including a top local chef teaching how to make sufganiyot! All details here: https://limudmallorca.com/chanukkah/. The event is supported by the ROI Community Grassroots Events program.
What is Hakhel’s added value for your community? In what ways does being part of a global network benefit you?
The fact that we are part of a global community like Hakhel is incredibly inspiring. Just learning about the Creative Gatherings event that took place in South Africa a few weeks ago was inspiration enough to know that we could pull off a historic event like Hanukkah in the Street here in Mallorca Island. The same with Hakehillah in Seoul, South Korea. To be connected to other open and inclusive Jewish communities in parts of the world that are not necessarily known to the large Jewish populations makes us feel that we are not alone and allows us to connect and share best practices with one another.
What is one takeaway or lesson from your work that you would like to share?
Just. Keep. Gathering. When the pandemic hit and the local shul was closed, we went digital and created Sha-Zoom. We met weekly for Zoom Shabbat get-togethers and received more attendance online than we did in the synagogue. When we thought that another Limud conference would not be possible because it had been too long since our last, we went ahead with the plan and new people we had never met before showed up to help and volunteer. You never know what will happen when you bring people together either in a virtual or in-person space, but we MUST always try to gather. If we don’t, there is no opportunity for connecting to happen, where if you do then there is always a chance for SOMETHING to come from NOTHING.
Hakhel Creative Gatherings in South Africa
From November 28 – December 5, arts-focused Hakhel community leaders from Mexico, France, Austria, and the USA gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa, together with the local communities Creative Gatherings and 9th Street. Through the support of Hakhel and Shalom Corps, they volunteered at the Creative Arts Space, a former dump site in Freedom Park, Soweto that has become a safe place where children from the surrounding area come to learn art, sewing, crafts, music, dance, and engineering – a place where a community is creating something from nothing.
The Hakhel volunteers divided into different departments in order to be able to accommodate the more than 200 children that came out to participate – focusing on fashion design, music, visual arts, theater, and dance. Our intensive days of working with the kids culminated in a performance for the community that lasted 3 ½ hours!
Supplementing this volunteering, we engaged in cultural exploration and dialogue in a variety of settings around Johannesburg, including conversing and performing at an old age home; visiting the Apartheid Museum and Holocaust and Genocide Center; attending the Sawubona Music Jam; facilitation training; and visiting kosher restaurants in the local Jewish community. The bonding continued (and we even saw some wildlife!) when we went away for Shabbat to Dinokeng Game Reserve.
This trip was a transformative experience for those involved and the participants will surely take many lessons from the South African context back to their home community-building work.
Z3
A delegation of Hakhel community builders attended the Z3 conference in Palo Alto, CA, last weekend to join the conversation on the Israel-Diaspora relationship, Zionism, and Jewish peoplehood. This program is an extension of the sister community program and a partnership between the OFJCC Z3 project, the Varda Institute for Community Building and Hakhel.
The conference was the peak of a 3-day immersive seminar, where the group explored how such discussions are held in a local context, learned of Jewish institution’s approaches to these issues, learned community-building aspects that create the setting for such conversations, and discussed principles for holding such discussions in a way that builds and benefits the local community.
Following this weekend experience, the Varda Institute for community building will lead the development of a model for Z3-inspired events in Hakhel communities. The model will be piloted by members of the delegation in their local communities.
Our intention is to learn from those pilots and scale these experiences, offering them to all our Hakhel network members.
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Questions For Our Future 20 Dec 2022 12:56 PM (2 years ago)
Dear Friends,
What a year! In less than two weeks our merger will be legally official, so I’m reflecting these days on our past, present, and future.
A real highlight of this year for me was traveling to COP27 in Egypt with ten campus leaders of the Jewish Youth Climate Movement and ten Israeli youth leaders from Nitzana, an educational youth village in Israel’s Negev desert. Special thanks to JAFI and other investors for your support. These JYCM leaders are now speaking about their COP27 experience at events nationwide, and poised to grow our campus impact moving forward. So how do we maximize more youth leadership opportunities? And how can our COP28 delegation be an even greater catalyst for culture change and systemic change?
Another highlight came just a few days ago, when my family and I traveled to Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center for the Adva Reunion. My wife and I met at Isabella Freedman almost 20 years ago when she did the Adamah fellowship and I was a Teva educator, so we were overjoyed to reunite with over 140 Teva and Adamah alumni and their partners, spouses, and children. There are now almost 1,000 Adva alumni doing amazing things all across the country—as are alumni from Pearlstone, Eden Village, Urban Adamah, Wilderness Torah, GrowTorah, and other JOFEE programs who collectively embody a rapidly growing new generation of American Jewish leaders with profound potential. How do we make the most of this incredible potential, for the Jewish world and beyond?
2022 Adva Reunion group photo
The Jewish Youth Climate Movement is definitely on its way to actualizing its potential, growing nationwide in leaps and bounds, and starting to emerge on college campuses as well. And the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition is on its way too, already engaging over 145 member organizations committed to climate action and working with our Action team to form communities of practice and create and implement meaningful climate action plans across the Jewish world. Our momentum is palpable, and we are thrilled to announce that in 2023 we will be launching our second Hazon Community Impact Hub in Southern California! Stay tuned for more information on Hazon SoCal and our broader Impact Hub Strategy in the months ahead.
How do we capture this momentum AND strengthen our core at the same time? Our two core impact campuses are navigating post-pandemic recoveries at Pearlstone and Isabella Freedman, and our model Community Impact Hub in Detroit is also rebuilding with an awesome team and new multiyear vision. Far-reaching pandemic impacts and ongoing inflation create intense financial pressure on all our teammates, operations, and organizational activities. We have an amazing team confronting awesome opportunities alongside daunting challenges.
In a few days, on Shabbat Chanukah, we’ll be celebrating the bar mitzvah of our second-oldest son, Shama Nissim. There is nothing like the feeling of lighting Chanukah candles together as a family, with friends, and in community; and there is nothing like seeing a child step up and into their voice as a nascent young adult facing a strange new world. The cycles of life are real, and so is the power of community. We can find the strength to hold our children with love, to be real with them about the challenges we and they face. And we can also light candles together, and show them that there is no match for the light we shine in the darkness, together.
We need each other. So let’s come together to build the Jewish community and the world we believe in.
With so much gratitude for your support,
Sending you all love and light.
Happy Chanukah!
Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer
Hold the Center 14 Dec 2022 6:42 AM (2 years ago)
“I have often said that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children. It is faith put in action. It is the sober recognition that we pray not only with our lips but with our legs.” – Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock, Dec 6, 2022
Friends,
Over the past few months, I have been traveling and speaking to hundreds of Jewish leaders and institutions across the spectrum of Jewish life. Federations and summer camps, day schools and congregations, social service agencies, social justice organizations, Israeli & Arab & Muslim & multifaith partners, leaders of all Jewish denominations and yes, a variety political persuasions as well. In each conversation, leaders and institutions lean in to partner with us, in many cases representing their first steps in prioritizing climate and sustainability. Slowly but surely, we are building a broad and deep coalition–including and transcending our “base.” By engaging the mainstream Jewish world, we are inspiring and empowering a new network of allies and partners, multiplying our impact. Hazon leadership has lead or will lead discussions on sustainability and climate at the following conferences, November through January:
Meanwhile, the midterms (and the Georgia finale last week) presented stark choices, and voters responded, supporting leaders committed to democracy, reproductive rights, and the rule of law. Massive turnout seems to indicate that the American people recognize the threat and no longer take our participatory democracy for granted–because it’s more than just our opportunity and/or responsibility as citizens. As Senator Warnock said last Tuesday night, “I believe that democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea. The notion that each of us has within us a spark of the divine.” In Jewish tradition, this is the idea of B’tzelem Elohim, that every human being is made in the image of G!d. So every time we vote, every step we take towards social justice and climate justice, every time we speak out against antiSemitism, racism, and bigotry of all kinds, and every time we reach out to learn from and partner with someone who thinks and acts differently than we do–we enact this foundational Jewish teaching. For as Maryland’s first Black Governor, Wes Moore, teaches us in his book The Other Wes Moore, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” Only a fine line separates our experiences and perspectives from each other- and our ability to see and cross that bridge reflects the true measure of our empathy and humanity.
Of course, easier said than done. Do we actually affirm the humanity of election-deniers and climate-deniers? Do we try to listen to people with different priorities, who want different outcomes, based on different values? How do we transcend the vast cultural chasms to connect with and understand those with whom we most passionately disagree? It feels easier, cleaner, morally superior to refuse and avoid engaging with the other. But progress for all often emerges from practical compromises amongst opposing factions finding common ground.
That’s part of how climate progress is happening through the Inflation Reduction Act. First, many thousands of passionate, committed activists organized and mobilized millions of voters in order to elect candidates prepared to confront the climate crisis with the gravity and urgency it demands. And then there were months of listening and negotiating and compromise that eventually got it done. First we mobilize to maximize our power, and second we negotiate and compromise within our ecosystem. It’s the virtuous cycle of democracy and consensus-building. If only we can recapture its craft and not get pulled down by the hateful algorithms of social media, or become convinced that somehow we can win through insults and ridicule. It is time to reweave our social fabric, to rebuild our culture away from polarization and towards shared understanding.
There are many ways to orient to climate and sustainability as some of the most profound challenges and opportunities of our time, and to the role of the Jewish people in this moment in history. Our voice, our role, and our path–at Hazon, at Pearlstone, and across our movement–has been to defy the forces of polarization by building a movement that brings people together, built upon love rather than attack, upon hope rather than despair, upon deep inspiration and constructive action. Our path is to catalyze culture change and systemic change, and that path takes us into and through the center of our communities. Our role is to build a big tent, to stay true to our values while still open-minded and open-hearted. That path will spark change in Jewish communities everywhere, many of whom are only now starting this journey. So let us begin from where we stand- along with partners across many faith communities, cultures, and traditions. We will solve this crisis together, or not at all.
The people have spoken.
B’tzelem Elohim. ALL of us are holy.
Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer
Our mission at Hazon-Pearlstone is to lead a transformative movement deeply weaving sustainability into the fabric of Jewish life, in order to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable world for all. We connect people to the earth and to each other, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Immersive Retreats, Jewish Environmental Education, and Climate Action.
COP27, Mount Sinai, and Flora of Vanuatu 22 Nov 2022 1:43 PM (2 years ago)
Friends,
This year, thanks to support from the Jewish Agency for Israel and several supporting foundations, our first-ever Jewish Youth Climate Movement delegation traveled to COP27: ten Jewish climate activists from campuses across North America, and ten Israelis from the educational youth village, Nitzana. We were there alongside 35,000 participants from all over the world.
I was honored to speak about our work on Friday November 11th at a session called Faith Communities Leading on Climate–you can see the recording here. It was inspiring to connect with multifaith allies at that session and throughout the conference.
Jewish Youth Climate Movement delegates in Egypt attending COP27
Jakir Manela posing with Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power and Light, at COP27
I traveled with Nigel Savage (Hazon’s founder), Yossi Abramowitz (American-Israeli CEO of Energiya Global Capital and co-founder of the Arava Power Company), David Miron-Wapner (board chair of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development), and Sue Surkes (British-Israeli reporter for the Times of Israel). We drove to a small bedouin village at the foot of what locals believe to be Mount Sinai, or as it’s known in Arabic, Gebel Musa. We woke at 1:30am and spent the night hiking up the mountain, arriving at the summit just before dawn.
The Sinai wilderness is majestic and awe-inspiring, beautiful beyond words, and quite powerful to be on the summit alongside religious pilgrims from all over the world–America, Israel, Cameroon, Philippines, Korea, and beyond. There were many there who also came from COP27, seeking spiritual sustenance amidst the unending work of the fight against climate change. We conducted a climate repentance ceremony atop the mountain there, culminating in the smashing of tablets to evoke the sense of global outrage in the face of inaction from world leaders.
The holiest moment of our journey came on the walk down the mountain, when we met Flora Vano: community leader, social worker, and COP27 delegate from Vanuatu–a small Pacific Island nation existentially threatened by rising sea levels and climate disasters. Please meet Flora and hear her voice directly in this video.
After recording this video, this woman from across the world, who I just met, she just leaned into me and wept into my arms. And I did what anyone would do; I wept into her arms, too. And after a while we turned and walked down the mountain together, sharing stories about our kids, our communities, our hopes for the future and how we might work together to get there, somehow. I’ve never felt so viscerally connected to the life and death stakes of this crisis, and I hope you do, too. Learn more about Flora’s Women-Led Climate Resilience and Adaptation project, empowering Vanuatu women with the knowledge and networks to claim their place as galvanizing community leaders.
One of the bedrock principles in Jewish law and wisdom is pikuach nefesh- the overriding sanctity of life. How can we ever hope for Jewish values to live on if we do not stand up for the lives of Flora and her people on Vanuatu, and for other island communities, developing nations, and vulnerable populations hit hardest by climate disasters everywhere? How can we allow this to be? Jewish teachings do not allow it. Our Torah, our values, our ancestors call upon us to change.
COP27 ended with incremental progress: the establishment of a historic fund for Loss and Damage from climate disasters in places like Vanuatu. This is an important milestone–and a testament to Flora’s leadership and all those COP27 delegates from the hardest hit nations who refused to leave the conference until this Loss & Damage fund was established. But with so few other accomplishments emerging from the conference, there is now even greater need for more aggressive emission-cutting measures at every level of society: from the global level at COP28 next year (in the UAE), to the federal and municipal level in every country, to the local level: in every community, every culture, everywhere.
So what can you do about it?
Join the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition. Create and implement the most ambitious Climate Action Plan you can. Advocate for every Jewish community and organization to do the same.
Start a Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) chapter at your synagogue, day school, JCC, or Hillel. Empower emerging young Jewish leaders to activate powerful Jewish voices engaged with the most profound moral crisis of our time. We have 43 high school chapters nationwide, and growing… and a whole new phase of growth on college campuses about to begin.
Talk about the crisis, with Compassion and Conviction. Learn from an awesome panel of Jewish climate leaders: Amber Marcus-Blink, Bella Weksler, Janna Diamond and Yoni Stadlin (a JYCM high school leader, a JYCM Amitim college student recently returned from Hazon’s delegation to COP27, an Adamah alum and a Teva alum who happens to also be our Chief Program Officer).
And as we head into Thanksgiving, don’t forget to breathe. It’s true: war continues in Ukraine, mass shootings continue across America, and a global climate crisis threatens all of humanity. And yes, Thanksgiving itself is tied to a history of colonialism and genocide. We cannot deny the state of the world.
But, if we are lucky, we can slow down. We can spend a few days with our loved ones, enjoying each other’s company and giving thanks for all that we have. And we can look into the eyes of our family and friends, our children and grandchildren, and say “I love you. And just as my ancestors planted for me, so I plant for my children1. We are not giving up.”
When you sit down at your table, know that there is a growing global movement for justice and sustainability by your side, that a rising generation is going to lead us forward, that all of us are interconnected and interdependent and part of a story much longer and bigger than any one of us by ourselves. And with that knowledge, let us give thanks.
Hinei Ma Tov Umanayim, shevet achim gam yachad.
How good and pleasant it is to dwell together with family. Our human family. People and planet, together.
Wishing you and your family a happy and meaningful Thanksgiving!
Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer
Interested in learning more?
- Read “The New World: Envisioning Life After Climate Change”- by David Wallace Wells, for the New York Times Magazine
- Listen:
- The Ezra Klein Show:
- The Daily Sunday Read: What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay
Our mission at Hazon-Pearlstone is to lead a transformative movement deeply weaving sustainability into the fabric of Jewish life, in order to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable world for all. We connect people to the earth and to each other, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Immersive Retreats, Jewish Environmental Education, and Climate Action.
Hakhel Newsletter: November 2022 21 Nov 2022 9:30 AM (2 years ago)
Dear Hakhel Communities,
In this week’s parsha, we read the famous story of two brothers, Jacob and the elder Esau, sons of Isaac. Jacob convinces Esau to sell him his birthright in exchange for a pot of lentil stew, and under advisement from his mother, Rebecca, he tricks his father into believing that he is Esau by dressing in furs in order to resemble his hairy brother, thus gaining his father’s blessing for his firstborn.
Strife in families – never mind in communities! – rings quite realistically, from historically until the present day. We all have many types of people in our communities, from hunters and scholars, to mothers and fathers, and a whole range of emotions, from jealousy and rivalry to hate, loyalty and love, are present at any given moment. How do you accommodate the needs of such a parade of humanity in your own community? How do you solve conflicts that arise in the community, from minor grievances to those frightful moments where, as Esau did after this incident, members want to kill (figuratively and literally) each other?
The fact that these familiar and complicated community issues are discussed in the Torah may offer us a sense of being “seen” as community leaders and suggest compassion, towards our community members and towards ourselves as the stewards of the work of relationship-building. We may also be able to share stories and feel bolstered in our community-building work at several opportunities Hakhel is convening starting this coming month, including the Hakhel Creative Gatherings Trip to South Africa, the Z3 Delegation to Palo Alto, and the Hakhel Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition Community of Practice. Read more on them below. Wishing the participants good luck in your adventures!
Sincerely,
Deborah Fishman, Hakhel Network Manager
This month, Hakhel’s Network Manager Deborah Fishman sat down with Tamar Levi, shlicha (emissary) of Habonim Dror North America (HDNA), a progressive Labor Zionist youth movement. She is based in Philadelphia, USA. HDNA’s mission is to build a personal bond and commitment between North American Jewish youth and the State of Israel, and to create Jewish leaders who will actualize the principles of social justice, equality, peace, and coexistence in Israel and North America.
Tell us in a few words about your community and what is special about it.
Our community that is participating in Hakhel is made up of members and recent graduates of Habonim Dror North America, a youth movement that has been operating for over 90 years. One thing that makes it really unique is the way that our community impacts the larger Jewish community, in two ways. First, our members work for youth movement camps and activities, and so they help youth build Jewish identity from a young age. Second, members take their experience and apply it to becoming leaders in the Jewish community and to doing outreach and social justice activism. I think the emphasis on community that you experience as a child in the movement makes us unique. People are also strongly emotionally connected to our movement, as are people who grew up in our summer camps.
How is Judaism part of your community’s life and identity?
Trying to figure out how to make Judaism alive for young people is one of the specific missions of our community. Every time there’s a drop-down list and we have to choose our stream of Jewish practice, our community members say that the way they celebrate holidays and talk about Judaism and their connection doesn’t fit into any of the streams talked about in the American Jewish community. We celebrate Judaism culturally, not in the sense of “bagels-and-lox Jews,” but we are passionate about engaging with Jewish history, values, and ethics, plus like everybody else, we love a good Shabbat dinner.
As an example of our form of Judaism, our Vancouver community did a “Spook-ot” Halloween-Sukkot event, where they talked about being Jewish in the non-Jewish society around them. They connected Sukkot with the indigenous struggles in Canada. In this way, we bring elements of our world into life and understand them through a Jewish lens.
What is Hakhel’s added value for your community? In what ways does being part of a global network benefit you?
It’s really awesome for our members to see that there are other people that identify with their value sets and what’s important to them and to be part of an organization that’s focused on Jewish communal living. They are in their 20s, and for them to see multi-generational community and people older than them still invested in these values is really important to them – likewise for them to see communities in Israel. The more exposure they get to Hakhel communities can help them round out their own vision of where they’re going.
What is one takeaway or lesson from your work that you would like to share?
I think that people are really searching for community. They have a hard time figuring out how to navigate between individual desires and being part of a community. The population I work with wants community, but they aren’t always sure how much to invest in it, because it seems fleeting, especially in the world of COVID and climate change where nothing feels stable.
Community is 100% dependent on how much you put into it, but it’s hard to make that leap of investment when you’re young and without knowing where it’s going to go. So the biggest challenge is to build communities where people understand that the more they invest in it, the more it will make the community sustainable and long-lasting.
Hakhel Communities are invited to join the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition!
We are proud to announce that Hakhel will be convening a “Community of Practice” in the framework of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, a collective of Jewish community organizations who recognize the existential threat and moral urgency of climate change and are committed to taking action.
Your community is encouraged to register for the Hakhel Community of Practice of the Coalition. As Coalition members, you will be developing a Climate Action Plan, detailing climate actions taken to-date and outlining your goals for reducing your greenhouse gas emissions and mobilizing the broader Jewish community in climate action in the coming year. You will update and publicly share your Climate Action Plan annually.
The global climate crisis is an historic inflection point for our planet, our communities, and our people. Jewish tradition compels us to respond. With 140 communities in 36 countries across the globe, we are poised to have an impact in the movement. Over the past three weeks I hosted informational meetings, spread across time zones to hear from you about how this initiative can best serve your communities. With this feedback in hand our next step is to build our community of practice to launch in January 2024.
To learn more about this initiative, visit hazon.org/coalition. To sign up for the Hakhel Community of Practice, you or the appropriate contact from your community should fill out this form.
Israeli Election Zoom Meeting – Thursday, December 1 @ 2pm ET
Our communities from around the world are seeking an opportunity both to understand the Israeli election results better, and to voice their thoughts on the matter. Many are concerned about the impact the new government might have on the Israel-world Jewry relationship in general and on Israel engagement in Jewish communities around the world.
To meet this need, we would like to invite you to attend a special Zoom meeting that will take place on Thursday, December 1st, 9:00-10:00 PM in Israel, 2:00-3:00 PM ET. This program is open to all members of the Hakhel network, and we especially would love to see our Israeli friends in attendance. Your voice is important in this dialogue.
Please save the date and RSVP to moshe.samuels@hazon.org.
Ivritli
Many thanks to Hakhel for the opportunity to share our creation with you!
My name is Inbal, headmistress of “Ivritli,” an online Hebrew language school. I’m proud and excited to tell you that this is the 3rd year that the virtual gates of our school are open for students from all over the world!
As a mother to a child who was born in Barcelona, I am closely familiar with the need to learn and improve the Hebrew language for those who reside outside of Israel. Knowing the holidays and the Israeli culture is important to me. Therefore, alongside my business partner, Mila Dori, we established a school that will provide the best conditions to fulfill this goal.
Together with our pedagogical team we prepared original, creative and enjoyable programs for all ages and levels, as early as 3 years old to groups of adult learners.
We also have groups for those who do not speak Hebrew, groups that are designed to enrich the language, elementary reading, writing and diving into complex and rich texts. Each group embarks on a magical and fascinating journey, guided by our experienced teachers, to discover the depths of the Hebrew language. The subjects learned are custom design for the different age groups so the students always want to learn more and more. At the same time, students from all over the world are bonding with each other and the Hebrew language is associated with enjoyment and pleasure.
In addition to our classes, every month we uphold enrichment activities which make the student’s experience whole and build strong connections with the Israeli culture and the
Hebrew language. We celebrate the holidays together, watch plays, listen to stories and
music, cook together and we have sessions to practice Hebrew and more. All the activities are for Ivritli’s students, free of charge, and for all those who desire to take part.
Visit our website: www.ivritli.com. You are welcome to get to know us, our methods and our various programs. On the website you could sign up for a trial class, without any commitments. Those who are interested can book an online consultation session (via Zoom) with me, in which I’ll tell you about the school and if you want to, we could schedule a trial class. Just click here to book a session.
Visit our Facebook page and on Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/ivritli / @ivritli
We wish you a wonderful year, full of Israeli culture and boundless friendship!
Yours,
Inbal Gilad
Hakhel Creative Gatherings in South Africa
We are so excited that the Hakhel Creative Gatherings Trip is finally happening!
The program will run November 28 – December 5 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Through the support of Hakhel and the Shalom Corps, the gathering will include participants from the Hakhel network from all around the world, as well as local participants from South African communities, namely 9th Street and Creative Gatherings.
The content of the program will be a twofold approach of identity and cultural exploration as well as volunteering culminating in a performance showcase at the end of the program at the site where participants will be volunteering daily called the Creative Arts Space. This is a local arts community in Freedom Park, Soweto whose members turned a dumping ground into a safe space for community members and especially children to develop their craft in arts, music, engineering, science, etc.
Furthermore, throughout the tour participants will explore the South African context by visiting museums, the local Jewish community and ask reflective questions relating to Israel, diaspora relations, the environment and concepts such as the South African Rainbow Nation and the Israel Mosaic.
Hakhel wishes all the participants a meaningful experience!
Global Training Seminars
Over the last week, Hakhel joined forces with its global partners to run two exciting training seminars:
Z3
From December 8-11, representatives from Hakhel communities worldwide will gather in Palo Alto, California as a delegation in an inaugural partnership between Hakhel, The Varda Institute for Community Building, and Z3. Each of these organizations brings forth its specialty to enhance the experience of deep Jewish community building, with Israel-Diaspora relations and peoplehood as key factors in the community’s evolution.
The delegation will learn about the models, approaches, and methodologies of all three partner organizations, culminating in the Z3 conference on December 11. Members of the delegation will learn, share and discuss ways to bring the conversation about Israel-Diaspora connection and Zionism to Jewish communities worldwide, in a way that embeds community-building principles. With outtakes from the seminar and the Z3 conference, a model for Z3-inspired programs will be developed, strengthening the community’s shared identity and supporting its development. Hakhel communities will be invited to pilot such programs in their communities.
Ruderman Family Foundation Releases New Research Report on Jewish Community Engagement
The Ruderman Family Foundation recently released a new research report, “The American Jewish Community: Trends and Changes in Engagement and Perceptions.” The report is based on surveys conducted on American Jews in 2019 and 2021, regarding Jewish identity, community organizations and institutions, and Israel. The slides shown above are from a meeting presenting the results of the research. You will note that the Strategic Conclusions are quite relevant to the work of Hakhel, which engages unaffiliated young adults in a grassroots way. The research backs up our own observations in the field that community and its potential impact on Jewish identity is only growing in importance following the COVID pandemic and events of the last few years.
Click here for the full report.
Hazon Detroit: November 2022 10 Nov 2022 2:59 PM (2 years ago)
The Hebrew month of Cheshvan marks the beginning of the cycle of praying for rain, highlighting the ancient Jewish wisdom that we are dependent on the natural world around us. In Detroit, the remaining few leaves are joining a colorful array across the ground, providing nutrients back to the soil. During this rich time of transition, each leaf crunch beneath our feet and each sip of apple cider can be a humbling and empowering reminder of our need to leave our world better than we found it.
As we write, Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) teen leaders are joining leaders from around the world gathering now in Egypt at COP27, the UN conference on climate change. Read about Detroit native Naomi Parr and the delegation in the Jewish News! Our tradition teaches “You are not required to finish your work, yet neither are you permitted to desist from it” (Pirkei Avot). While we cannot complete the task alone, Hazon is at the forefront of a national effort to inspire and motivate the Jewish community on climate.
Attendees of the All Seal Site Gatherthing Pose for a Picture After at the end of the event
It was powerful to gather the Metro Detroit Seal of Sustainability community at the Fall Gathering! At our gathering, dedicated members of each organization had the opportunity to schmooze over a delicious spread from Soul Cafe, connect about our sustainability challenges and successes, learn about the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, and discuss how to integrate sustainability initiatives and programs into our diverse Jewish community.
We’re grateful for your partnership, and are inspired, energized and eager to build together in the year to come.
Get Involved!
Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) Michigan Teen Day of Climate Education and Action
Sunday, December 4, 12:30-4pm at Adat Shalom Synagogue
Hazon Detroit, in partnership with Hazon’s JYCM, is thrilled to be planning the first ever JYCM Michigan Teen Day of Climate Education and Action on December 4th, 2022.
This will be an immersive afternoon experience for Jewish high/middle schoolers in Michigan who are eager to come together in community to get involved with climate justice through a Jewish lens. Participants will have an action-filled and spiritually uplifting afternoon, with opportunities to connect with nature and each other, while learning about issues of climate justice and how to take action in their communities. Please join us for an afternoon of climate education, community building, and collective action.
- Who: Open to all Jewish teens in Michigan, 7th-12th grade
- When: Sunday, December 4th, 12:30-4:00 pm
- Where: Adat Shalom Synagogue (29901 Middlebelt Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334)
- Why: To give Michigan Jewish teens the opportunity to connect and have fun, learn about climate action, and take action to engage the community! Part of JYCM’s big goals and theory of change.
- Register here!
Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition (JCLC) Information Session
November 14 @ 2pm ET
Learn about Hazon’s newly launched network of 125+ Jewish organizations around the country who are stepping up on climate.
On Sept 15, Hazon launched the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, a More than 125 synagogues, JCC’s, federations, Hillels, summer camps and other Jewish organizations have signed up so far. Learn how your organization can benefit from the resources – including funding – that Hazon has to offer.
Advocacy + Partners Corner
Protect Air from Leaking Methane: Take Action with the Jewish Earth Alliance
As the year begins, we read the story of creation with its message about our responsibility to till and tend Earth. Click here to contact President Biden to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to publish strong rules to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
Take a Look Back
Earth Day at the J: Bus, Books & Beats!
Hazon partnered with JFamily for their environmentally-themed family event at the JCC, working together to cultivate the next generation of Jewish environmental leaders.
We enjoyed giving tours of the Topsy Turvy Bus, showcasing its unique design and energy sources. We set up a composting station with hands-on activities such as a waste sorting station, and getting up close and personal with worms in our compost bin. We also set up the bike blender for everyone to pedal out and sample human-powered smoothies!
Tree Planting with The Greening of Detroit
Hazon joined The Greening of Detroit and other volunteers for a morning of tree planting at Kemney Recreation Center in Detroit.
We learned about tree equity, proper planting techniques, and the critical benefits of trees and public parks in mitigating the impacts of climate destabilization. We had a great time meeting other folks in the Detroit community while getting our hands dirty! Interested in organizing a tree planting for your community? Email ari.cohen@hazon.org to coordinate a partnership planting.
Julia helps shovel a space to plant a new tree in the City of Detroit.
The Hazon Detroit team stands with our partners from the Greening of Detroit next to a tree they worked to plant together.
Reverse Tashlich with Tikkun HaYam and Plastic Oceans
We had a beautiful and impactful Reverse Tashlich event at Palmer Park in Detroit, in partnership with Tikkun HaYam and Plastic Oceans.
We started our afternoon walking the beautiful nature trails while picking up trash. We took time to create some Andy Goldsworthy inspired art projects using leaves from the forest floor. The group found a nice spot to practice the art of forest bathing, where we used our senses to connect with the earth and enjoy a nice meditative moment. We ended the afternoon by picking up trash in the park around Lake Frances and culminating the day with cider and donuts.
6 individuals are spread throughout a forested scene, not facing the camera. Yellow and brown trees extend beyond the top and sides of the image while brown soil and yellow fallen leaves create the foreground.
Attendees of Reverse Tashlich pose outdoors next to a pond and raise buckets they used to remove waste from the park.
Shomrei Adamah-Guardians of the Earth
Facing the Climate Crisis through Dialogue and Action Together
This past month, we connected with Temple Kol Ami teens and also learned about TKA’s Green Team’s environmental stewardship work.
We are continuing to share our Shomrei Adamah programming with different congregations across the metro Detroit area. This dynamic conversation can be a meaningful way for teens to connect with their Jewish identity. It fosters a space in which individuals can tap into connectedness and values that can sustain them in this work, while recognizing some psychological barriers to climate action.
Shomrei Adamah was created in partnership with Michigan Interfaith Power and Light. If you are interested in bringing this program to your congregation please email julia.cunnien@hazon.org for more information.
Seal of Sustainability Spotlight: Dor Hadash
Dor Hadash, in partnership with Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, hosted a Sukkot celebration at Eden Gardens on the Eastside of Detroit. folks used several species of foraged native plants to make their own “local Lulavim and Etrogim.”
Chava Knox, who maintains the garden, explained that Eden Gardens also serves as a community space in the neighborhood. Just as the sukkah is a temporary dwelling where people gather, Eden Gardens is a welcoming space for many individuals who gather throughout the year to plant, harvest, and share food, play on the playground, and come together for celebrations.
Attendees learned about several species of local plants and their significance in the ecosystem. Then folks used several species of foraged native plants to make their own “local Lulavim and Etrogim.” This included local willow, cattail, goldenrod, sumac, milkweed, crab apples, and pine cones. The Sukkah was decorated with local produce including apples, rainbow corn, pumpkins, and gourds, as well as paper crafts. Everyone shook their unique lulav and etrog in the Sukkah while saying the b’rachot, and enjoyed a story and some yummy treats, fulfilling several of the Sukkot mitzvot!
Kids and adults work together to decorate a nature filled sukkah
A light blue and white background is covered with multi-colored corn, a pair of small yellow and green gourds and a lulav made with local plants.
Limmud Michigan Recap
Hazon Detroit led a discussion using themes from our Shomrei Adamah (Guardians of the Earth) program, connecting our Jewish identity and wisdom to how we care for our Earth.
The Hazon Detroit team was delighted to facilitate a session this year at the Limmud Michigan Conference. Participants also had the opportunity to learn about the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition. We so enjoyed being in community with our many partners and the opportunity to learn from our friends and partners in various sessions throughout the afternoon.
Israel & the Diaspora: The View From a Bike 8 Nov 2022 12:11 PM (2 years ago)
Friends,
The last few weeks of travel have been intense and amazing. Over the next few weeks I’ll share stories and learnings from my journey.
I began in Chicago at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Living and working in the Baltimore Jewish community, I’ve developed a deep understanding and appreciation for Jewish federations, so it was with great excitement and gratitude that we led our own session at the GA featuring federation leaders from the Associated, UJA-NY, and Vancouver —all investing in climate and sustainability as an important aspect of their work. We also featured JFNA leadership in this arena as well as the Jewish Agency for Israel. Our goal is to grow federation partnerships nationwide—help us connect with your local federation leaders!
Then I flew to Israel, where I participated in the Arava Institute-Hazon Israel Ride, such a beautiful way to experience the country and support both our work and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, a global leader in the movement to build peaceful coexistence through environmental cooperation. I rode 180 miles over four days, including a beautiful Shabbat in Mitzpeh Ramon along the way. I was deeply moved by the beauty of the land and the loving community of riders. What a mechayeh- enlivening experience!
The ride took place in the days following an Israeli election that led to disturbing results for many of us concerned about Israel’s new governing coalition and whether they will uphold our Jewish values of pursuing justice, loving kindness, compassion, and loving the stranger. The Shalom Hartman Institute’s podcast, Identity/Crisis, did an outstanding episode delving into this moment; I highly recommend it. American Jewish organizations responded: read this to see statements from the full spectrum of American Jewry.
At Hazon-Pearlstone, we are committed to Jewish Peoplehood & Planethood, building Israel-Diaspora connections through Jewish environmental education and climate action. We are proud to welcome Israeli shlichim-educators to Pearlstone each year; we are proud of the amazing impact of the Israel Ride and the support we’ve provided for the Arava Institute over the past 20 years; and we are proud of our Hakhel network, building Jewish intentional communities across the Diaspora that connect with and learn from Israeli communities.
Amidst this challenge for Israel-Diaspora relations, I hope that somehow all the Israel Riders can convey to our friends and family the spirit of the ride: Never Give Up. Keep pedaling up that massive uphill climb in the Negev, and keep pedaling uphill to build pluralistic, shared society in Israel—and in America too. Many have been devastated by American injustice over the centuries, but giving up on America was never an option. On the contrary, leadership and activism surged in those moments of crisis, strengthening shared values and leading to progress. Israel-Diaspora relationships may indeed become more difficult moving forward, and that’s why our work is so important, now more than ever.
So it was against this backdrop that we just launched an awesome new partnership with JAFI, enabling ten college students—founders of the Jewish Youth Climate Movement—to spend a week with Israeli peers from Nitzana on an environmental/climate tour of Israel before traveling together to COP27 in Egypt. I’ll share more about that awesome leadership development experience in the weeks to come, but just one highlight for now: COP27 Shabbat dinner last Friday, November 11th. We hosted 70 people at Naama Blue Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, including the JYCM-Nitzana delegation and a powerhouse network of Israeli and diaspora Jewish climate leaders. We sang Shalom Aleichem outside, loud and proud, with our Egyptian hosts smiling and happy to welcome us. We made kiddush and hamotzi, we ate and drank, we debriefed our week at COP27, and we built relationships and inspiration for the hard, holy work ahead. Many said it was the highlight of their week.
We need a lot more Israel-Diaspora Shabbat dinners, young leadership delegations, and gatherings like this moving forward.
There’s been a beautiful tradition on Hazon bike rides, where a mini-Torah scroll is passed from one rider to another each day, carrying the Torah along for the journey. After the ride, the Torah was passed to me, and since then I carried it from Israel to Egypt, to COP27, and now back home. It is an awesome feeling–literally, full of awe–to carry a Torah wherever I go. And it’s the physical embodiment of a deeper truth: that in every generation, we carry Jewish tradition forward, and we make it our own. That journey and that Torah will be infinitely stronger when we travel together.
Like it says on the back of our Israel Ride bike jerseys: Ride as One.
Shabbat Shalom
Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer
Our mission at Hazon-Pearlstone is to lead a transformative movement deeply weaving sustainability into the fabric of Jewish life, in order to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable world for all. We connect people to the earth and to each other, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Immersive Retreats, Jewish Environmental Education, and Climate Action.
Raising Up Our Voices in the Midterm Elections 26 Oct 2022 10:56 AM (2 years ago)
Friends,
At Hazon-Pearlstone, we are dedicated to making the planet and the Jewish people more healthy and whole. Foundational to these efforts in the United States is a thriving democracy that responds to the people it represents. We are stronger as a nation when each voice is heard, and we are blessed with the opportunity to raise our voices with each election.
We are proud to support staff and our wider community in participating in fair and free elections. We do not endorse any particular party or candidate, and our commitment is undertaken in a spirit of nonpartisanship and seeks to promote free, fair, safe accessible elections.
This year Hazon-Pearlstone is partnering in the following ways to engage with voters on the values that matter most to us: creating a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable world for all.
Get Out the Vote (GOTV)
Hazon’s Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM) is co-hosting phone banks this fall, as part of Dayenu’s Chutzpah 2022 campaign to encourage Jewish climate-concerned voters to participate in the upcoming midterm elections. Join JYCM teen leaders on Tuesday November 1 from 6:30-8:30pm ET. Check out the full roster of phone-bank sessions here.
click here to sign up for the 11/1 phone banking session
Volunteering
Hazon-Pearlstone & JYCM have joined the Jewish Partnership for Democracy through A More Perfect Union to recruit, train, and deploy thousands of volunteers to ensure free, fair, safe, and accessible elections. They create a k’hilah k’doshah, a holy community, working together to support voters, combat misinformation, and ensure elections can run smoothly across the country. Please consider volunteering to protect and strengthen our democracy.
click here to become a volunteer
Feel free to forward this email to encourage your friends and family to join the effort, too!
As Lin Manuel Miranda writes in Hamilton, America is our “great unfinished symphony.” Let’s come together to blaze a just and sustainable path forward for our democratic society.
Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer
Our mission at Hazon-Pearlstone is to lead a transformative movement deeply weaving sustainability into the fabric of Jewish life, in order to create a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable world for all. We connect people to the earth and to each other, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Immersive Retreats, Jewish Environmental Education, and Climate Action.