Teva is the Hebrew word for nature.
Hazon is an American nonprofit organization based in New York City that seeks to "create new vision" in the Jewish community through outdoor and environmental education. It was founded in 2000 by its British-born CEO Nigel Savage. The organization claims to be America's "largest faith-based environmental organization". Hazon's advisory board of directors is chaired by Ruth Messinger.
Magen Tzedek, originally known as Hekhsher Tzedek, is a complementary certification for kosher food produced in the United States in a way that meets Jewish Halakhic (legal) standards for workers, consumers, animals, and the environment, as understood by Conservative Judaism. Magen Tzedek certification is not a kashrut certification which certifies that food is kosher in that it meets certain requirements regarding ingredients of food and technical methods of animal slaughter, but an ethical certification complementary to conventional kosher certification.
Richard Chess is an American poet. He spent most of his childhood and youth in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He is the author of four books of poetry, Love Nailed to the Doorpost (2017), Third Temple (2007), Chair in the Desert (2000) and Tekiah (1994). His poems have appeared in many journals as well as several anthologies, including Best American Spiritual Writing 2005 and Telling and Remembering: A Century of American-Jewish Poetry. He is a regular contributor to "Good Letters", the blog hosted by the magazine Image.
Judaism and environmentalism intersect on many levels. The natural world plays a central role in Jewish law, literature, liturgy, and other practices. Within the arena of Jewish thought, beliefs vary widely about the human relationship to the environment. Movements such as Eco-Kashrut and celebrations like Tu BiShvat reflect environmental values, and modern Jewish environmentalism has grown, especially in North America, since the 1970s.
Renewal is a 2008 feature-length documentary film about religious-environmental activists. Directed and produced by American filmmakers Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller, the film includes eight stories that represent the growing religious-environmental movement. Each story is set in a different religious-tradition, addressing a different environmental concern. Renewal began airing on public television stations in the United States in April 2009.
The Hazon Food Conference is an annual meeting of farmers, culinary experts, global citizens, business, community and Jewish leaders to focus on contemporary food issues and exchange ideas on improving health and sustainability in communities throughout the world. The event is produced by the New York-based Jewish nonprofit organization, Hazon.
The Teva Learning Alliance is a Jewish-based environmental education 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that teaches about Judaism and the environment at Jewish day schools, summer camps and Hebrew schools. It is the only full-time year-round program providing innovative, experiential Jewish and nature-based education.
Eden Village Camp is a co-ed Jewish sleep-away organic farm camp in Putnam Valley, New York. It is a non-profit sustainable-living "farm-to-table" camp founded by Yoni Stadlin and Vivian Lehrer, located on 248 acres (100 ha) touching the Appalachian Trail, 50 miles north of New York City.
Tza'ar ba'alei chayim, literally "suffering of living creatures", is a Jewish commandment which bans causing animals unnecessary suffering. This concept is not clearly enunciated in the written Torah, but was accepted by the Talmud as being a biblical mandate. It is linked in the Talmud from the biblical law requiring people to assist in unloading burdens from animals.
The Jewish Farm School (JFS) is an environmental education non-profit founded by Nati Passow, Simcha Schwartz, Robert Friedman, Rachel Tali Kaplan and Shemariah Blum-Evitts in 2005. The organization's mission is to "practice and promote sustainable agriculture and to support food systems rooted in justice and Jewish traditions." The school educates participants through farm-based service learning experiences, practical skills trainings, Jewish text study, and outreach and consulting. JFS runs a variety of sustainability-themed and farm-based programs with the help of Rabbi and Director of Programs Jacob Fine. It also oversees the Farm at Eden Village Camp in Putnam Valley, New York.
Rosh Hashanah L'Ma'sar Behemah or Rosh Hashanah LaBehemah is one of the four New Year's day festivals in the Jewish calendar as indicated in the Mishnah. During the time of the Temple, this was a day on which shepherds determined which of their mature animals were to be tithed. According to the first opinion, the day coincides with Rosh Chodesh Elul, the New Moon for the month of Elul, exactly one month before Rosh Hashanah. However, the halacha follows the second opinion that the day coincides with Rosh Hashanah itself.
Jewish vegetarianism is a commitment to vegetarianism that is connected to Judaism, Jewish ethics or Jewish identity. Jewish vegetarians often cite Jewish principles regarding animal welfare, environmental ethics, moral character, and health as reasons for adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Nehirim was a national community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) Jews, families, students and allies that was founded in 2004. The organization ceased operations at the end of 2015.
Aytzim, formerly the Green Zionist Alliance (GZA), is a New York–based Jewish environmental organization that is a U.S.-registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity. A grassroots all-volunteer organization, Aytzim is active in the United States, Canada and Israel. The organization is a former member of the American Zionist Movement and has worked in partnership with Ameinu, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), Hazon, Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, Interfaith Oceans, GreenFaith, Mercaz/Masorti, the National Religious Coalition on Creation Care, and the Jewish National Fund (JNF)—although Aytzim has long criticized JNF for not prioritizing sustainability and environmental justice in its actions. Aytzim's work at the nexus of Judaism, environmentalism and Zionism has courted controversy from both Jewish and non-Jewish groups.
Darshan is an American Jewish alternative hip hop group from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 2008, the group primarily consists of rapper Eprhyme and singer-songwriters Shir Yaakov and Basya Schechter. Its debut album, Deeper and Higher, was released in 2015, followed by a second album, Raza, in 2017.
Eshel is a nonprofit organization in the United States and Canada that creates community and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) Jews and their families in Orthodox Jewish communities. Eshel provides education and advocacy, a speaker's bureau, community gatherings, and a social network for individuals and institutions. It was founded in 2010 to provide hope and a future for LGBTQ+ Jews excluded from Orthodox and Torah observant communities.
Phyllis Ocean Berman is the founder of the Riverside Language Program in New York City for adult immigrants and refugees. Opening in 1979, she traveled from her home in West Mount Airy, Philadelphia via Amtrak to the school in New York City so that newly arrived immigrants could receive an intensive English-language education. She was its director until her retirement in 2016. She is a teacher and prayer leader in the Jewish Renewal movement as well as a political activist who writes about and has been arrested for non-violently protesting for immigrant rights.
The Kohenet Institute, also known as the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, was an American Jewish neopagan organization that trained women to be Jewish spiritual leaders. The institute was founded in November 2005 by Rabbi Jill Hammer and Holly Taya Shere. It held its first training program August 14–20, 2006, at the Elat Chayyim Retreat Center in Accord, New York. In July 2009, the institute ordained for the first time 11 women as kohanot (priestesses). As of early 2021 the institute had graduated almost 100 women as priestesses. Ordination required the completion of a three-year training and program including 13 paths which explored different "female archetypes". Amidst conflict between leadership, the Institute closed in 2023.
Nigel Savage is a British environmental activist and founder of Jewish environmental nonprofit organisation Hazon. Beginning his career working in finance, in 2000 he founded Hazon and was CEO until its merger with the Pearlstone Retreat Center in 2021. He has been named twice as one of the Forward 50, and was a founder of Limmud NY. One of Savage's initiatives to help Jews live more sustainably include the Seal of Sustainability for Jewish institutions. He also named and catalysed the JOFEE movement, including the JOFEE Fellows program.
