July / august 2006:

Hot environmentalism



Earth - Hot Environment | The Torah assigns the Jewish people many responsibilities, not least of which is the role of guardian of the earth. As the heat rises, both figuratively and literally, on environmental issues in the U.S. and Israel, Jewish groups across the denominational rift, like the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life and the Green Zionist Alliance, are working to put environmental concerns at the forefront of the Jewish political agenda. Environmental change begins at home, however, and a surge of interest in the subject during the last few years has led groups such as GreenFaith and Synagogue 3000 to launch campaigns to make synagogues more eco-friendly, while others such as Hazon, the Teva Learning Center, and Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo are offering outdoor educational experiences for Jewish youth, integrating Torah learning with environmental studies. Other phenomena like “eco-kashrut,” which aims to raise “consumer consciousness” about the environmental impact of our food choices, and Tu B’shvat seders, a nearly-lost Kabbalistic ritual celebrating our relationship to the earth, are becoming evermore common in Jewish communities around the globe.

Who Killed the Electric Car? - Hot Documentary | Wondering why you’re paying so much for gas this summer? Blame General Motors. Critics are already calling the new documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? this summer’s March of the Penguins. While not as furry or family friendly (and, sorry folks, there’s no plush toy tie-ins), this film is sure to become another blockbuster documentary. Ten years ago, electric cars (costing only about 60 cents a gallon to operate) could be seen all over California’s highways. But now the cars are being sent to the scrap metal yard. This documentary tells the chilling true story of how General Motors and the oil industry conspired to crush the electric car to keep Americans dependent on oil. The absolutely riveting film is a must see for any Jew with tikkun olam (repairing the world) on their mind.

Hazon - Hot Organization | Hazon creates programs designed to promote environmental awareness through a Jewish lens. But these Jewish environmentalists also have a sense of humor. After actor/singer/cancer survivor Mandy Patinkin (above) participated in and adored their Arava Institute Ride, Hazon posted his short video endorsement on their website, recorded by Patinkin in character as his famously accented swashbuckler from the hit movie The Princess Bride: “This is Inigo Montoya,” Patinkin intoned in a voice half-Spanish swordsman and half-IDF general, “and if I don’t see you at Hazon’s 2006 Environmental Bike Ride, prepare to die.”

Known primarily for their Jewish environmental bike rides (in the United States and in Israel) and Tuv Ha’Aretz: Hazon’s Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program, an organic food co-op, Hazon had another video hit earlier this year. Annually, the organization co-sponsors a Purim spiel in Manhattan, employing writing talent and performers from The Daily Show and various other comedy venues. This year’s show yielded a short commercial parody titled “Jewish Girls Gone Wild.” The clip, featuring fully clothed women in a spoof of the cheesy come-hithers of late-night commercials for phone sex hotlines, brought thousands of porn-Googling internet users to the Hazon website, perhaps transforming a primal urge into an awareness of primary environmental urgency.


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