JGEN - Recent Activity
FOOD TOUR AND CONFERENCE
In connection with its increasing focus on the subject of food and sustainability, the Heschel Center sponsored two events this November. A "Sustainable Food Tour" was conducted in conjunction with Hazon from November 15-19 ( see itinerary here) [1] for registered participants from North America from a variety of professional backgrounds who are interested in the subject of sustainable food production and consumption (see list of participants here [2]). The group visited and number of sites and heard from many speakers addressing the various issues connected with sustainable food production and consumption.
Immediately following the food tour, the Heschel Center and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies co-sponsored a conference, Food for Thought, on November 19 at the Tel Aviv Port. This conference included guest lectures, meals, panel discussions, and workshops. Click here to see the conference agenda [3]. An inspiring keynote lecture was presented by Ruth Ozeki, the award-winning filmmaker and novelist. Her first novel, My Year of Meats, published in 1998, received glowing reviews and several awards, as did her second novel, All Over Creation. A copy of her presentation can be found here. [4]
JGEN - Jewish Global Environmental Network
[5]
The Jewish Global Environmental Network [6]was formed in 2004, to develop partnerships and collaborative initiatives through which Jewish environmentalists in Israel and around the world work together toward a sustainable future for Israel.
According to the Jewish tradition, all Jews share responsibility for the Land of Israel. It is therefore natural and appropriate that Israeli environmentalism should be the concern not only of Israelis, but also of Jews the world over. As Israel’s environment becomes less and less viable – as pollution grows, as beachfronts and green spaces disappear, as public health threats multiply – the need for Diaspora and Israeli Jews to join together and protect the Promised Land from degradation and destruction has become imperative.
The environmental movement offers a unique and important address for the meeting of Israeli and Diaspora Jews. Environmentalists often see themselves as part of an international community. Joint Diaspora-Israel environmental initiatives can serve, therefore, as both a means and an end; a means to bringing together often marginally affiliated Jews in a common endeavor critical to the Jewish people; an end, because the future of the land of Israel as a sustainable ecological, and as a result, social and economic, landscape is dependent on immediate action.
Since its inception, JGEN, with limited budgets, has:
- Organized two environmental leadership trips [7] for American Jewish environmentalists, resulting in a host of cooperative ventures between Jewish-American and Israeli environmentalists.
- In cooperation with the Jewish Agency, instituted an internship program [8], allowing a dozen university-age students from abroad to work in Israeli environmental organizations.
- Hosted high-profile environmentalists on lecture tours in Israel, including: Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil. Jerome Paulson, United States government environmental health expert. and Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow, the Directors of the award-winning film Thirst, about privatization of water resources in Bolivia. Joshua Arnold, international sustainable building expert (see a film of his lecture online here [9]); Louis Fox, founding director of Free Range Studios [10], which has created ground-breaking and influential award-winning web-films such as The Meatrix [11] and The Story of Stuff [12].
- Created a Birthright program [13], which in spite of limited marketing resources, succeeded in bringing over a small group of highly motivated university students.
- Developed a website which serves as a portal for those interested in Israeli environmentalism.
- Began the incubation of joint project initiatives.
- Worked with the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative/Masorti in Jerusalem to educate people on Israel's current environmental issues, how Jewish communities can help, and how environmental protection and Judaism are intertwined .
- Assembled a "Sustainable Food Tour" that will be conducted in conjunction with Hazon from November 15-19 for registered participants from North America from a variety of professional backgrounds who are interested in the subject of sustainable food production and consumption.
For more information, please visit the JGEN site: jgenisrael.org [14]
JGEN is made possible by the generous support of The Nathan Cummings Foundation [15]