The kabbalistic Tu B’Shvat Seder is such a special Jewish ritual, a mid-winter invitation to slow down, to cultivate mindfulness and connection. Together we open four doorways into four worlds, we meditatively drink wine and eat tree fruits as we journey through these worlds of action, emotion, mind, and spirit.  We do all this to bring ourselves into resonance and connection with trees—and not just the earthly trees, but the greater tree, the Tree of Life—Etz Chayim. 

And never have we needed this spiritual technology more than now, as we face such an overwhelming climate crisis on every level—physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. 

But of course, maybe the metaphor is a problem.  Maybe we get carried away with the symbolism and forget about the first principles of Tu B’Shvat, the pshat of it all.  Because, brace yourselves: Tu B’Shvat did not originate as the Jewish day of eco-mystical environmentalist climate action.  What?!  I know I know.  So let’s start from the beginning. 

There’s an argument in the Talmud Yerushalmi, where one opinion says that by the fifteenth of Shevat most of the rains have already fallen, so that fruits begin to emerge. Another opinion says that while all the fruits that grew until this day are mainly a product of the rains from the previous year, the fruits produced from this day onward are essentially a product of the rains of the new year.  So this date determines in which year we count the tree harvest, which then impacts our tithes of terumah and maaser, the first fruit offerings of bikkurim, our restraint in orlah for the first three years of the tree’s life, and yes, it also impacts the mother of all Jewish agricultural traditions: shmita, the sabbatical year.  Surely you didn’t think a Hazon CEO could speak on Shabbat and not mention shmita, did you? 

So while the Tu B’Shvat seder offers us a beautiful spiritual paradigm, let’s remember the day’s foundation is about accountability, it’s about parnasa and gashmius, and really, it’s about food justice.   

Tzedek.  Justice.  Food Justice is a broadly used term these days.  And so is Climate Justice.  Justice is the precursor, the prerequisite, the dawn of Redemption—and these concepts come alive in this week’s parsha, Beshalach, and the moment of Shirat Hayam, the song of the sea—the centerpiece of this parsha and arguably the oldest poetic cornerstone of the whole Exodus narrative.  What happened there in that moment, when our people were truly free?  I imagine a sense of shock mixed with jubilation and redemption, a sense that anything is possible.  A miracle.  I bet lots of people in this room could tell stories of miracles in our own lives.   

I remember my father telling me as a very young child—maybe 5 years old—that almost all of his parents’ families—our ancestors—were murdered in the Shoah in Poland.  My legal name is Jeremy K Manela, but my Hebrew name is Jakir, named after my great-grandfather, Jakir Kompel.  That Jakir died in the gas chambers at Birkenau.  My grandparents, Saul and Lonia, somehow survived, and found each other in a Displaced Persons camp after the war. With support from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, they came to America, arriving first here at Ellis Island and then were welcomed into the Pittsburgh Jewish community where they began a new life. I think about what they went through, how far they came, what they did for my dad, what he and my mom did for me, and the blessings I can now pass on to our four boys growing up amidst the rolling hills and farmland surrounding Pearlstone, immersed in joyous Shabbat and holiday celebrations…and it all feels pretty miraculous.  I draw strength, hope, and faith from that ancestry.   

But I never realized how relevant that would be to this work, until about a decade ago, when I invited a good friend of mine, Seth Shames, to speak at an event aimed at empowering Jewish community members to lead sustainability initiatives at synagogues, JCCs, and elsewhere across the Jewish world.  Seth and I are fellow Teva and Adamah alumni; we became close during our days together on the holy ground of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center—and then he went on to become a global leader in agroecology, working for an international NGO called EcoAgriculture Partners, focused on sustainable development—which gave him the opportunity to attend many UN climate and biodiversity conferences over the years.  Seth said something that day which shook me to my core, and which I have remembered ever since.  Someone asked him, what can the Jews uniquely contribute to the fight against climate change?  So I’m thinking—great question, tell them about shmita!  Or Tu B’Shvat, or Shilooach Haken, or any number of other things.  And Seth says:

“Well, you know, Jewish history taught us what it means to live through trauma, to be resilient, to find joy and hope and meaning even in the darkest hours.  And the world really needs that capacity, now, and for decades to come.” 

Dead silence filled the room.  But he’s right. 

That resilience goes all the way back to our years of slavery in Egypt, which somehow we survived, and then one day found ourselves freed, on the shores of the Red Sea.  Sometimes it feels to me—and I can tell you from my work with teenagers and college students and young adults, it definitely feels this way to many, many young Jews across the country—it feels like we are holding up an impossible burden, a hopeless effort against an inevitable climate collapse, fighting against several hundred years of exponential environmental destruction catalyzed since the industrial revolution, and at least a hundred years ahead of us before any potential light at the end of the tunnel.   

And yet.  And yet the Israelites called out, and their voices were heard.  And one day they found themselves freed, on the shores of the Red Sea.  So to read parshat Beshalach through our lens, to try on the emotional exuberance, freedom, and redemption of Shirat Hayam, is actually profoundly deep medicine for today’s younger generations who are so profoundly impacted by Climate Change Anxiety & Grief these days.  It’s an image of the impossible, the miraculous, the hope it almost hurts to feel—that someday humanity will be free of this nightmare.  Someday, please G!d, there will come a time, if we help make it so, when our descendants will be able to shout and dance and sing with gratitude, not because we’ve brought moshiach, but because we have finally found our way free from the all-encompassing climate crisis that weighs so heavy on us today.   

We know great progress is possible: cities have cleaned up their polluted rivers, countries have changed collaboratively to heal the ozone, we’ve been able to reduce smog, invent new clean energy sources, we’ve even rewilded natural spaces all over the world.  American Bald Eagles, once endangered, are now increasingly common.  All of these challenges and solutions pale in comparison to what we now face, but as we’ll read in the book of Esther next month, Mordechai says to her, “who knows, perhaps you were chosen for just such a time as this?”  And as Chaim Weitzman, the first President of Israel, said:

“Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them.”  

When the Israelites come out of the Red Sea, and the Egyptians drown, they knew there was no going back.  And that’s true for us as well—as my friend and teacher, Jim Farley of the Leichtag Foundation taught me, we must see ourselves as if we are like the Israelites in this parsha, but not in the sense of redemption.  Rather, we must accept that we have many years and decades of wandering ahead of us, journeying through the unknown, uncertain wilderness of climate upheaval as this century unfolds.  

So will that journey in the years ahead be an experience of Exile, or Redemption? My Rabbi and teacher, and Hazon’s new Director of Jewish Learning, Rabbi Petahya Lichtenstein, taught me that Exile, Galut, is also (גולה) Gola, which is just one alef short of Geula (גאולה), Redemption.  So what’s the difference there?  How do we transform an experience of abandonment and hopelessness, to a redeemed experience of shleimut-wholeness and justice.  It’s the aleph, the unity, the spirit, the One.  Redemption may be the opposite of exile, but those opposites make up the rhythm of life, the oneness imminent in the interconnectedness of ecology, the dynamism that makes life worth living.  

So it is fully within our power to navigate the years ahead—albeit through a period of great climate crisis and tumult—as an era headed towards redemption rather than exile.  And to do that we must summon the full capacity of the Jewish people.  Our brilliance and creativity, our iconoclasm and rebelliousness, our power and strategic influence, our wealth, our might, our heart and soul, our love, our Torah, our resilience. We need all of it, and we need all of us.  Jewish Peoplehood & Planethood.  K’ish echad b’lev echad, like one person with one heart. 

But that doesn’t mean we’re all going to take the same path to get there.  The midrash teaches us that the Israelites passed through the splitting of the sea, not in one highway but in 12 distinct paths—one for each tribe.  And not all on equal paths, but in concentric semi circles- meaning that some traveled a shorter and more direct route, while others took a lot longer to get there.  Yeah—that sounds pretty right on for where we’re at.  People have very different approaches to this moment.  So we need a big tent to invite everyone into the journey so that we can move forward together. 

That’s why we’ve launched the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, mobilizing Jewish organizations everywhere to craft their own Climate Action Plans and release them to the public—and of course, implement them as well!  That’s how we have the largest and most influential organizations in Jewish life already signed on and working with us to mobilize their massive networks to engage so far almost 170 organizations in this work, well on our way to our goal of 500 or even 1000 organizations over the course of this shmita cycle, representing unprecedented environmental mobilization across the Jewish world. 

That’s why the Jewish Youth Climate Movement is growing in leaps and bounds, now with over 50 chapters nationwide engaging teens in Jewish environmental education, community building, and climate action—and that’s why those self-empowered teens are now creating our new network of college campus initiatives nationwide, in deep partnership with Hillel.  That’s why we took 10 of those campus leaders to Israel to meet their peer climate activists there, and then back to Egypt (a few years after Shirat Hayam) for COP27, the United Nations Climate Conference.  And that’s why we’re going to bring another group to COP28 this year in the United Arab Emirates. 

When I was in Egypt in November for COP27, I traveled to Mount Sinai with Nigel and several other amazing Jewish environmental leaders. We awoke at 1:30am and spent the night hiking up the mountain, arriving at the summit just before dawn, where we met religious pilgrims from all over the world–America, Israel, Cameroon, Philippines, Korea, and beyond. Many were there for COP27, seeking spiritual sustenance amidst the unending work of the fight against climate change.   

I will never forget Flora Vano, who I met on our walk down the mountain.  She is a community leader, social worker, and COP27 delegate from Vanuatu–a small Pacific Island nation existentially threatened by rising sea levels and climate disasters. Flora and her community are living through climate trauma every day, every week, every month, every year.  We filmed her recording a climate testimony for us to share with our constituents nationwide, and then after she had poured her heart out, this woman from across the world, who I had just met, she just leaned into me and wept into my arms. And of course, I wept into her arms too. And then we each took a deep breath, and began walking down the mountain together, talking about our kids, our communities, our ancestral traumas and our current traumas, our hopes for the future, and how we might work together to get there someday. I wondered that day about what it might look like for Jewish communities to step into partnership with Pacific Island nations like Vanuatu, to support them as they navigate the existential threat of Climate Exile, to witness them, to see them, to offer our love and support, come what may.  I haven’t proposed this to any community yet, but on this Shabbat I wonder if Darchei Noam might be the Nachshon here, to mobilize Jewish community and the Jewish spirit to be of service at this crossroads in history.   

Because this is about moving forward together.  This is about Redemption.  For people and planet, adam and adamah.  And that’s why we’re changing our name, to be announced in just a few weeks, that we’ll no longer be called Hazon.  We’ll now be…Adamah, cultivating vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the earth. 

This Tu B’Shvat, our staff and volunteers and teens and campus leaders are activating dozens of Tu B’Shvat seders and events all across the country, last night we lead a seder at Harvard Hillel as well.  Wherever you are tomorrow night, may we pray together for this Tu B’Shvat to be a time of healing, of coming together, of humility, and of redemption: that we should not simply see ourselves as “Masters” or “Stewards” of Creation, but that we see ourselves as the youngest sibling of all the rocks, plants, and animals—so that we look up to and learn from trees not as our tools, but as our elders.   

And in that spirit, may we find the path to redemption. 

Tu B’Shvat Sameach.  Happy New Year. 

Jakir Manela
Chief Executive Officer

This dvar torah was originally written and delivered on February 4, 2023 in honor of Tu B’Shvat at Congregation Darchei Noam in New York City.

The post An Era for Redemption appeared first on Adamah.

Another early start Thursday finds us in a van at dawn rumbling dutifully along pitted dirt roads to the Mango orchard for a final round of tree trimming on Kibbutz Ravid.

The cloud of travel fatigue the first two days would soon give way to a beautiful sunrise as we approach rows of bare mango trees, dormant still but showing the earliest signs of buds.

Our morning conversations in the orchard meander across every possible topic as we leapfrog from tree to tree, hacking away branches to let light through the canopy for the coming season. The project is satisfying as we start to feel some comfort with the tools and flow. The only challenge was our boots still wet from the day before; they gathered the clay soil and scattered leaves and sticks to form something like the bricks of Mitzraim, constant scraping required to lighten the load. We know that as a group we could be faster, Farmer Marina encourages us as we go with various version of Yalla!

After a full morning of work, it was lunch-shower-go time. We cleaned up, packed up and circled up for some final thoughts on the land connection that made our stay at Kibbutz Ravid both challenging and special. The connection with Israel was more than an idea at this point in the trip, it was real, as real as the mud caked to our shoes, pants, and shirts for the foreseeable future. It felt good to have done something so tangible to contribute, even in a small way, to future harvests.

The afternoon was another day unto itself. Our eventual destination was Haifa, but first two stops along the way for meetings with communities to better understand the range of experiences across Israel in the wake of October 7. Our first stop was a grand hotel in Nazareth where 200 members of a displaced Israeli Arab community (evacuated from the Northern border) were staying for the foreseeable future. Over coffee, we learned about how the community was impacted by their displacement, and how leaders in this community were navigating relentless hurdles.

Our final stop in the early evening was to Nof Hagalil and the Urban Kibbutz Mishol. Around couches and tea, we learned about the history and development of this innovative community, and ongoing efforts of this Kibbutz to bridge divides in their local community in a time of true challenge and tension. A really inspiring conversation to round out a day of conversation.

The post Hakhel Israel Resilience Trip – January 2024: The Journey Continues appeared first on Adamah.

Today we’ve officially started the program and with full intensity!

Last night we arrived at Kibbutz Ravid to meet the rest of the participants and organizers, we shared a tasty dinner and were told what was going to happen during the upcoming days. In the group there are people from the US, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Chile.

Today we woke up at 6 am to start our first day as volunteers and a little before seven we were already on the fields; we trimmed and clipped mango trees to get them ready for the next season, making sure they all got the light they need and creating the conditions for them to bloom. By noon it was quite hot outside and we stopped for a well deserved lunch. It was fun and interesting; none of us is skilled in agricultural work but we could do it and felt useful.

After lunch we had a fruitful discussion with Lee Hacham, who came to us all the way from Akko to discuss aspects of the current situation in Israel. We learned about the IDF’s ethics policies and how those tensions are addressed during times of war.

After some very much needed rest we ended up the day with a poike and a bonfire where we summed up the day. Looking forward to tomorrow!

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One such hero is Jakir Manela, CEO of Adamah — the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America. Jakir oversees Adamah’s work and mission, which is to cultivate vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the Earth, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Jewish Environmental Education, Immersive Retreats, and Climate Action.

Jakir trained as a Teva educator in 2004, established Kayam Farm at Pearlstone in 2006, and served as the Executive Director of Pearlstone and as a Hazon board member from 2012-2021. In 2022, he became the CEO of Hazon-Pearlstone, leading the merger into Adamah. Like so many, he is deeply inspired by Adamah’s amazing team and holy work happening every day. I got a chance to ask Jakir about his impactful work:

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi: How did you get interested in working on climate issues?

Jakir Manela: At the University of Wisconsin, I founded a student group for Jewish students at Hillel who were interested in fusing their Jewish identity and their environmental leadership. I was the first undergraduate college student on the national board of Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), providing me with an opportunity to network with adults who were devoting their lives to this work. I read The End of Nature by Bill McKibbon and it really sparked my interest in these issues.

I had great mentors and teachers at the University of Wisconsin, including Professor Cal Dewitt, who taught a course on environmental science that for me was life changing.

Is this connected to your Jewish involvement and identity? If so, in what way?

For me, as a grandson of Holocaust survivors, everything about the choices I make in my life are informed by that legacy. I see the great resilience of our people and I’m inspired to build a sustainable world that is worthy of my family’s legacy and a world I’m proud to hand down to my children and future generations- for me that is the essence of being Jewish.

What have been some of your biggest successes?

Successfully implementing the merger between Hazon and Pearlstone – the two leading Jewish sustainability organizations in North America. This was a daunting and exciting opportunity and I am really happy to say that the merger, and now Adamah, are going really well. Our company cultures are blending smoothly, we are doing great work, and we are hiring many new staff which is great as we reemerge from Covid.

Recruitment and convening of Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition: getting CEOs on the major Jewish communal organizations to really move on climate action.

What are your thoughts on Israel?

We believe that in order to build a more sustainable future rooted in Jewish wisdom, we need to work on our partnership with Israel. This embodies our commitment to Jewish peoplehood and planethood, and was our belief before October 7… and is needed now more than ever.

Beyond the marches, the speeches, and the statements, Adamah continues to build strong ties between American Jewish and Israeli environmentalists and peacebuilders.

Pearlstone, Adamah’s headquarters, is the proud host site of the only Jewish environmental shaliach (year-round Israeli Jewish educator) in North America. For almost ten years, we have hosted Israeli educators on our staff who infuse Israel connection into everything we do, with gratitude to our partners at The Associated and The Jewish Agency for Israel. We hope to replicate this shlichut in other Community Impact Hubs in the years ahead, bringing more Israelis into authentic human relationships with our staff and participants all across the country.

Pearlstone hosted our first annual Israeli Families Weekend in November, which quickly sold out in just four days. We aim to host more respite retreats at Isabella Freedman in the months ahead for Israelis, college students, and rabbis. There is a deep visceral need right now for loving Jewish communal space, and we are committed to meeting this need.

We are working with the USDA, Israeli Consulate, Israeli food and agriculture organizations, and others regarding the emerging food security crisis on Israeli farms, where thousands of volunteers are needed in the months ahead. We are in touch with our staff, alumni, friends, and partners in Israel to assist in mobilizing a response to this critical challenge.

Building on Hazon’s 20+ years of running immersive programs and bike rides in Israel, Adamah is proud to continue supporting the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and their groundbreaking work in peacebuilding through environmental cooperation. Located at Kibbutz Keturah in the Arava Desert, the institute is dedicated to preparing the future leaders of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and around the world to cooperatively solve the regional and global challenges of our time.

Hakhel, the Jewish Intentional Community Network powered by Adamah and inspired by the Israeli intentional communities’ movement, grows and supports peer-led Jewish communities all across the Jewish Diaspora. These budding communities learn from each other and from Israel’s communitarian culture. It was that culture which was so vividly on display over the past 6+ months of pro-democracy protests all over the country, and now that same movement has immediately, powerfully pivoted to crisis response during this war.

Can you tell us about something that you find exciting about what you are doing and where and how others can help?

One way that organizations can help is by joining the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, which is a group of Jewish organizations – from Federations, to major organizations, to synagogues – that have committed to taking climate action. Members of the Coalition are eligible to apply for our Climate Action Fund.

Adamah on Campus, which is close to my heart because that’s really where I started – as a student activist. We have expanded to 50+ campus kvutzot and are always looking to get on more campuses. Young people are integral to the success of the climate movement and the health of the planet.

High schoolers can start a Jewish Youth Climate Movement chapter to work with their peers to take climate action.

What is your advice for other people who are just getting their start on climate issues?

Working on climate issues can take a toll: emotionally, spiritually, and can even be physically exhausting as well. It’s important to have a restorative practice to find the energy and stamina to keep chipping away at such a big problem.

Where should folks begin? We offer someone for everyone at Adamah!

• Teens: Jewish Youth Climate Movement
• College students: Adamah on Campus
• Non-Profit orgs: Join the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition
• Teachers/Parents: Teva program for Jewish Day School students
• Our retreat centers at Pearlstone in Maryland and Isabella Freedman in the Berkshires are a great place to learn about and experience all that Adamah has to offer. From immersive holiday retreats, to farm education, our campuses offer people an opportunity to experience sustainable living rooting in Jewish wisdom.

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In this moment of deep pain for our people, I have been given the opportunity to write about an event that 9th Street held for our community of multidisciplinary artists here in Johannesburg. I’ll also share what I got out of the event. I hope it helps you in some way.

After 7 October, all kinds of messages reverberated on the 9th Street WhatsApp group. In response, the 9th Street leaders quickly initiated an event. People clearly needed to talk in person. Those who showed real interest in the event became the organisers. We also reached out to the Jozi Partnership Minyan, another intentional community here that runs Shabbat and Festival services. Someone offered their home. We picked a date. Sooner was better than later, we all agreed. We offered it to those in our communities, but we also cast our nets wider and invited friends and family who don’t usually join us. As organisers who were feeling vulnerable ourselves, we made a point that the event should not take up much time or energy to plan and execute. People could just come and hang out. We marketed it as a moment to eat, drink, talk, sing and just be together. We got takeaway pizzas, cooldrinks and wine. One of us brought some sheet music. We allowed people to come and go as they pleased.

On the day, about 30 of us gathered at the heritage home of Renee and Ron Mendelow. Their garden is especially large and idyllic. There were many new faces. As the African sunset cast its light and shadow around us, our children played outdoors. As we ate and drank, people spoke in small groups, huddled closely together. The discussions were about 7 October, the war, philosophical concerns, spiritual questions, and just ordinary every-day things. Some people were emotional, some clear-headed, others distant and distracted. As night fell, some of us moved to the stoep to sing Jewish songs and psalms for peace and hope. After the singing, we discussed how important it was to lean into each other.  The Mendelow family agreed we could do this again at their home soon. For most of us, it was a very important moment of stillness and of processing. It was medicinal.

After the event, I began to make sense of my overwhelming feelings. I had been crying a lot, and after the event I cried some more. What is happening is so awful, so messy and complicated and getting more and more difficult to navigate by the day. But it’s perhaps especially difficult for us here in South Africa. Our government has sided with the Palestinians, as they have expressed, because they were freedom fighters during apartheid and see themselves in the struggle narrative of the Palestinian people. This is at the expense of Jewish South Africans. Our president has not reached out to a grieving Jewish South African community. If he cared to bother, he would struggle to find one of us here who hasn’t been personally affected by 7 October. Two South Africans were killed. In this environment, I asked myself, how do we speak up for ourselves as Jews. But by far the biggest ah-ha moment for me that day came from the most unlikely of places, a Venus Flytrap.

Renee Mendelow, the host of our event, has a nursery of carnivorous plants. During the event, she called my children and me to her nursery. She generously gave my kids their own Venus Flytraps. She told us about these fascinating plants and how to look after them. I only knew them from their bad reputation; they eat bugs with their spikey traps. I was surprised to find out that they need a lot of special care. They need rain or sterilised water, not just ordinary tap water. They need full sun. They need their water to be poured into a saucer underneath them, not from the top. If you put your finger in one of their traps, either on purpose or by mistake, the whole plant exerts tremendous energy to close, and when it gets no food in return, it can die. I could see my daughter was repulsed by her gift. I’m proud to say she sensitively hid this from Renee. But now she cannot stop asking questions about it and both children check in on their special plants every day.

Why am I telling you about the Venus Flytraps? Because I think these carnivorous plants are such a brilliant metaphor for the Jewish people. Just as the plant embodies the genetic ability to adapt, so too the Jewish people have shown time and again we too can adapt and are resilient. Also, when I think of this plant as a metaphor for our people, it helps me to ask difficult questions.

Just like the plant requires special care, what special care do we need right now? Just as the plants reach up to the sun, how do we stand up for ourselves and for our people?

The plant doesn’t close its trap for all bugs. I discovered yesterday, an ant is too small for the plant and not worth the effort to close. So too for us, is it worth fighting every social media battle? And how do we recognise that we do have spikes and we do kill bugs? Jewish people have ugly, nasty bits. Israel is now at war. War is a nasty business. Even though Israel never asked for this war, still innocent Palestinian citizens are being killed every day by Israel’s hand. Then I ask, does this plant merely embody survival of the fittest, or is its survival also hinged on the relationship between itself, the bugs it eats and its being in the right environment? Is this a metaphor for the relationship between Jewish Israelis, Palestinians, and others in the environment of the Middle East? How do we make sure no one sticks their finger in us again, like Hamas did, with the intention to kill us? How do we stop ourselves from accidentally sticking our own fingers in and hurting ourselves? There are a few ideas I have for this one but I’ll let you come up with your own. And lastly, how do we give our children the necessary lessons and tools to care for the plant, to carry our people forward? These are very hard questions to ask now and even harder to answer. But as sensitive and caring Jewish community builders, I know we are the right people to ask and hopefully we can find the answers, together.

I would encourage all intentional community members to find still moments together with your people. To just be together. It doesn’t have to be grand or fancy. It doesn’t have to be so deep or meticulously planned. Whatever it is will provide a special moment for the group and for each person. Maybe you will even find your own Venus Flytrap.

Through community, I hope that each of you may be able to process all this mess with deep self-reflection, strength in yourselves and compassion for others.

The post Inspiration from the 9th Street Community in Johannesburg appeared first on Adamah.

This program is part of Hakhel’s partnership with Z3, named for the third paradigm of Zionism that we find ourselves in today. With the first paradigm having been the work to establish the State, and the second where Israel and the Diaspora were in an unequal relationship (in terms of ideology, finances, politics, etc.), today Z3 works on the principle that the Diaspora and Israel are both important centers of Judaism, and we must work together on this basis to realize our collective potential as a People.

Hakhel and Z3’s partnership is enabling Z3’s new model of Jewish engagement for the 21st century to be applied in practice to Jewish intentional communities in the Diaspora, out of our two organization’s common belief that elevating the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jews is of critical importance to the flourishing of our People. 

From Thursday night through Shabbat, the group worked together to learn about North American Israel-Diaspora community-building, both through meeting with outside guests such as professors at Stanford University, and through workshopping ideas and developing relationships with one another. Then, on Sunday, the group participated in the Z3 conference, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC which models how Zionism can evolve and how our communities can come together for meaningful discussions about the Diaspora and Israel. Following this program, these representatives are returning home to implement a Z3 project in their local communities. 

While participating representatives hailed from a wide range of Hakhel communities – from kibbutz-style co-housing to arts & culture-focused to the young adult communities of alumni of a youth movement – they found that connecting with others engaged in the work of intentional community-building was a meaningful way to alleviate some of the loneliness (and at times even burnout) of being a community leader, and to find new inspiration and ideas. This is the power – and the fun! – of the Hakhel network!

Hakhel communities all have Israel engagement as one core pillar for the content of their community life and programming. In this extremely challenging time, considering the terrible atrocities that happened in Israel, subsequent war, and the rampant strife, intimidation and alienation around those who support Israel, and Jews in general, in the Diaspora, this opportunity sought to provide community representatives with inspiration, connection, and the support of peer community leaders around the issue of Israel engagement, now more critical than ever.

Hakhel hopes other regions may likewise benefit from our creating similar experiences around the Hakhel-Z3 partnership, as well as through learning from and potentially applying the Z3 projects being created by these North American Hakhel communities to their own community contexts.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Deborah Fishman at deborah.fishman@adamah.org.

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Housed under the Adamah umbrella, Hakhel is a global incubator and network of Jewish intentional communities. It amplifies and strengthens new expressions of grassroots Jewish communities throughout the world, supporting them in becoming self-sustained, resilient, and rooted in Jewish wisdom, Israel engagement, and environmental awareness. Our 120 grassroots communities, like many of us, are holding a fierce duality these days: grieving and yet – hopeful, figuring out how to move forward swiftly in the direction of the current goals at hand. It is clear to us that supporting our Hakhel communities and network is a priority now more than ever.  

We firmly believe that the way we respond and act within our communities during times of crisis holds profound significance. It not only reveals our individual and collective character but also showcases our collective potential for growth and resilience in the aftermath. We know that your attention is divided across many channels right now, and we are thankful to be sharing with you our work in these tumultuous times. 

CURRENT LANDSCAPE 

Since October 7^th, this communal work has become our lighthouse. For individual communities, we’re mentoring leaders to overcome current challenges: how to maintain collective connectedness while feeling isolated, concerns about anti-Semitic sentiments, and strategies for alleviating top-heavy leadership roles. 

When possible, the Hakhel team is seeking to meet up with communities, knowing that in-person connection is irreplaceable. Additionally, we’re creating online vibrant spaces for communities to come together and share. We’ve held multiple processing sessions to reflect, ask, and support each other. We had a meaningful gathering with intentional community members from Israel to share their stories of resilience and hope. We hosted a seasoned educator to provide historical context for the current war and have a pipeline of other experts to address challenges that our communities raise. We also partnered with the Varda Institute for Community Building to train our team on community building in crisis, to inform our work on the ground.    

Our North American communities will gather in-person around the Z3 conference, a Palo Alto Oshman Family JCC initiative that aims to strengthen the cohesion of Jewish local communities and their connection to Israel. The intended outcome is for Hakhel leaders to return home and implement a local Z3 project, leveraging this unique moment in Jewish history and promoting Jewish peoplehood. We also are planning Chanukah offerings to engage and inspire our communities – and their local programming. (To stay informed as things unfold, please do join our newsletter here.)  

LOOKING AHEAD 

As we move further into the Jewish month of Cheshvan, it is our responsibility to bring the sacred into the mundane and to keep our eyes on the glowing Chanukah candles on the near horizon. The darkness is real, thick, and disorienting – and we will move through it together – just as Jewish communities around the world have done for generations before us and will do for generations to come. After all, we have only just begun. 

Yours Truly,

Aharon, Ariel, and Michal 

The post Adapting to the Crisis at Hand: Hakhel in the Field appeared first on Adamah.

The numbers will be out of date by the time you read this.

But, as of now,  – Sunday afternoon, 8.30pm-ish,  – more than 700 are dead. More than 700 people. Almost all of them murdered in their homes, or in their little communities – men, women, little children, babies, old people.  Or soldiers and police, trying to defend those communities. Killed, mostly, one-by-one. Shot, randomly, for the accident of living their lives in the south of Israel, or serving to defend this country.  (Not a few of them, by the way, living there because they had left their homes in northern Gaza when Israel withdrew fifteen years ago.)

Aharon Ariel Lavi – whom many of you will know; who has led Adamah’s Hakhel program since its beginning – lives 2 km from Gaza. His wife and kids are ok, physically at least. But he spent yesterday tending the injured. Today he went north to join his army unit in the Golan.

The schools are closed and the streets are quiet. What’s App groups are filling with people volunteering to help. Everyone here is one degree of separation. The twentysomethings have been called up, and most of the thirtysomethings also. I’m renting an apt from dear friends, and they have four daughters and two sons. All six boys – the two sons, the four sons-in-law – have been called up. Another friend has four out of five kids called up – three in intense units, which is to say risking their lives in the coming hours and days. Someone told me yesterday about someone who had been called up in the morning – and was dead by the evening. And all these young mothers, coping alone with kids, illness, food,  – fear.

In all of this, I see a tragic classification underway here right now.

Those mourning the dead – that’s one group. Grieving, intensely, for the more than seven hundred people who’ve been murdered. The funerals will soon start. The stories are starting to be told.­ Someone taking food to their nephew – both his parents killed. People killed outside their home, defending a child. And so on.

Those fearing for kids who have gone off to serve, some of whom will die – that is a second group. Hundreds of thousands of people, fearing for their kids and grandkids, their friends, their siblings, their husbands. The soldiers leave their phones on the base, so the parents have no idea where they are, if they’re ok, if they’re not.

And then the third group… those who don’t know where their kids are.

It is not just kids – many people have been kidnapped to Gaza. It will be some while until there is clarity on all the details. But from the sukkot desert rave alone, at least dozens of young people are missing.

Can we even begin to get our heads around this?

Where are these young people right now? In what condition? Treated how?
Terrified, for sure.  And with what prospect of ever again seeing freedom?

And their families? Their friends and families?

The level of grief and shock that kicked in today was at a whole new level. People’s voices cracking in conversation. Tears, many tears. A sense of indescribable shock.

As a friend pointed out to me, this is an almost epigenetic trauma.  The scale of the bloodshed, the determination to kill people, simply because they are Israelis, simply because they are Jews… it is hard to fathom.

And – yes – for sure there will be a reckoning. But it is too early for that, right now, here.

For me…  personally I’m fine. I’m ok. I’m not personally endangered. No-one in my immediate family has been hurt.

But in a wider sense… I am in grief, deep grief – the utter impossibility of that situation, the grief, the absence of an end-game…. The families.

And of course, it is a tragedy for the Palestinians too. I do feel for Israeli Palestinian friends whom I have more in common with (by far) than with Jewish extremists. (Including Tareq Abu Hamed, from the Arava Institute, whom I had breakfast with last week, and texted with today. He and they remain a beacon of hope in all this.) I feel for Palestinians in the West Bank who don’t want all this. For that matter I feel for the (however few?) Palestinians in Gaza who surely don’t want this – and for the Iranian people, also, oppressed by their own evil regime.

But mostly, today – forgive me – I feel simply for Israel (including its non-Jewish citizens), and for the Jewish people. This is a shiva – a mass shiva. If you’re in the US or the UK or elsewhere, treat it as such. A catastrophe that happened to neighbors, or friends of friends, close cousins or distant cousins. Reach out if you can. Read the news. Yes, give money, but even more, just have empathy. Try to imagine what this is like. Don’t try to solve this. Don’t retreat into politics and formulas and left and right. Be human. And whenever you feel able, it will be time to visit and to offer support in person.

For now, from me: I’m wracked by grief, but feeling deeply part of this country and this people. Grateful  – despite everything – to be part of a generation blessed not to be impotent; to suffer awful setbacks, but to have the resources to bounce back.

And most of all: love to those whose family members have been kidnapped. My heart goes out to you. I send love. I send a hug. May your kids, your parents, your siblings – may they be ok.

Nigel

If you want to reach me, best is What’s App +1 917 742 9979 / nigel.s.savage@gmail.com

The post Jerusalem. 8 Oct 2023 | 24 Tishrei 5784  appeared first on Adamah.

CEO Jakir Manela announced the news in an email on March 2. The boards of Pearlstone, the Reisterstown-based retreat center and outdoor education site, and of Hazon, a New York-based Jewish environmental organization, first voted to merge 20 months ago.

Adamah’s mission is “to cultivate vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the Earth, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Jewish environmental education, immersive retreats and climate action,” according to a press release.

The merger, originally announced in July 2021, will allow the two organizations to pool their resources and maximize the impact and reach of their programming. Pearlstone’s Reisterstown campus will serve as the headquarters of Adamah. The campus will continue to host immersion and education programs and will also remain an agency of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore. Adamah will also have a campus at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut. In addition, Adamah has a Community Impact Hub in Detroit, as well as plans to launch additional hubs in Southern California and elsewhere by the end of this year.

Hazon and Pearlstone have been the leading organizations in Jewish environmental education and immersive retreats and sustainability action initiatives for 20 years. The demand and need for that work has never been greater. And there’s an opportunity now to take the impact to the next level in response to a really dramatic increase in demand from local communities in Baltimore and communities across the country.

Jakir Manela, CEO, Adamah

As a result of the merger, the Pearlstone campus will have access to Hazon’s national funding. The Associated’s Centennial Campaign has raised over $14 million for the space, according to Manela, allowing the Reisterstown campus to build and improve facilities.

With increased national attention, Adamah will also be able to steward more local chapters of the Jewish Youth Climate Movement created by Hazon, which has grown to over 50 chapters nationwide.

Adamah is working to expand JYCM, led mostly by high schoolers, to college campuses.

Adamah will also be able to take advantage of Pearlstone’s blueprint of community-based programming and support to expand Baltimore’s Green Loan Fund, which has given about $800,000 to 20 Jewish organizations in the area for them to invest in solar energy and improved HVAC and lighting systems.

“The reason it makes sense is that these institutions are saving money on their utility bills, which then they repay the loan, but they’re also significantly lowering their carbon footprint,” Manela said of the Green Loan Fund.

The merger gives Adamah an opportunity to transform the program into a national climate loan fund, available to any of the 180 members of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition nationwide. Adamah convened this coalition of Jewish organizations to commit to action on climate change.

The merger comes at a pivotal moment in a worldwide and secular conversation about climate change, and Judaism is one way to guide this conversation, according to Josh Fidler, nominating chair of the national board and Pearlstone founding board chair.

“Twenty years of practice at both Hazon and at Pearlstone show how impactful our agenda is for both individuals and entities of all colors, shapes and sizes, and the urgency of the moment. Living Judaism, Jewish values, have a great deal to say about our place in the Earth’s cycle.”

 Josh Fidler, nominating chair of the national board and Pearlstone founding board chair

The organization’s name, Adamah, speaks to this idea, as it connects the Hebrew words “adam” (man) with “adamah” (earth) to emphasize the connection between “people and planet,” according to Manela’s email.

When Pearlstone was founded in 2001, the Pearlstone family was interested in being able to “provide superior immersive experiences for a very broad cross section of Jewish community,” Fidler said. Though immersive experiences are Pearlstone’s bread and butter, the mission of the organization allows it to remain nimble and adapt to changing interests, now primarily led by youth.

Fidler is developing an idea for a Zoom chavurah, gathering grandchildren and their elders to exchange ideas and educate on climate change and other issues of the day across generations.

Pearlstone’s strengths and what makes its model appealing to nationwide organizations, Manela believes, is its ability to balance community values and interests with powerful backing from The Associated and other Jewish legacy organizations. Adamah’s ultimate goal is to emulate this blueprint and make it accessible and adaptable for Jewish organizations all over the country.

“We’re a software generator,” Fidler said. “We hope to provide programming that can be adopted, literally globally, based on the tried-and-true immersion experiences that have worked so well at Pearlstone and at Hazon.”

Gift a Tree

Pearlstone | 5425 Mt. Gilead Rd, Reisterstown, MD 21136
410.500.5417 | info@pearlstonecenter.org

The post With Merger Complete, Pearlstone and Hazon Now Named Adamah appeared first on Adamah.

“It has been 20 months since the Hazon and Pearlstone boards voted to merge, and since then we have been hard at work building a new team, culture, and strategy,” wrote Jakir Manela, CEO of Pearlstone and Hazon, in an email to supporters. “Our mission is to cultivate vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the earth, catalyzing culture change and systemic change through Jewish environmental education, climate action, and immersive retreats. Together we’ve built upon the strong foundations of both organizations, and also begun to create something new.

“And yesterday [Mar. 1] we received the wonderful news that our legal merger is now complete! Amidst this inflection point — as Jews, as Americans, and as human beings on planet earth — we are grateful and excited to embrace our new identity.”

Manela wrote that Adamah — the Hebrew word for Earth — will operate out of Pearlstone’s campus at 5425 Mount Gilead Rd. and Hazon’s Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut. He wrote that the organization will also maintain a “Community Impact Hub” in Detroit, and will create new hubs in Southern California and elsewhere later this year.

“In Jewish communities across North America, and beyond, Adamah will build upon the powerful legacies of Hazon and Pearlstone in order to take our impact to a new level, inspiring and empowering tens of thousands of participants and hundreds of organizational partners each year,” Manela wrote.

The mission of Adamah, he wrote, is to forge “the deep connection between people and planet, adam and adamah. Every day, we inspire and empower people to feel that connection, activate Jewish identity, build inclusive community, and work towards a more sustainable future. We are the link between our ancestors and our descendants, and we feel called to respond to today’s crises with the full power of the Jewish spirit.”

The post Pearlstone and Hazon Finalize Merger and Forge New Identity as Adamah appeared first on Adamah.

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. 

The post Hakhel Newsletter: December 2022 appeared first on Adamah.

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.  

The post Hakhel Newsletter: November 2022 appeared first on Adamah.