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in
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Minding The
Environment

Through Hazon, Jewish Detroiters find a
roadmap to health and sustainability.

With a grant from
Hazon, Shaarey
Zedek purchased
an aeroponic grow
tower that churns
pounds of greens
every few weeks and
contributed to a tasty
Green Shabbat last
year on Tu b’Shevat.

KAREN COUF-COHEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

he Midrash in Kohelet
Rabbah teaches: “When
God created the first
man, He took him and showed
him all the trees of the Garden
of Eden and said to him, ‘See
My works, how beautiful and
praiseworthy they are. And
everything that I created, I cre-
ated it for you. Be careful not to
spoil or destroy My world — for
if you do, there will be nobody
after you to repair it.”
The connection of Jews to
the natural world is woven
throughout our texts and ritual
practice. Our holidays begin
and end at sundown. We pray
at sunrise. We have a tradition
of agricultural holidays, such as
Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.
So, it is not surprising that
Hazon, the Jewish nonprofit
inspiring healthier and more
sustainable communities since
its inception in 2000, is pro-
viding a pathway for Jewish
organizations, returning us to
our roots and building orga-
nizational capacity to lead the
Jewish movement to respond to
environmental change.
Hazon (which means
vision) is the brainchild of
Manchester-born visionary
Nigel Savage. With generous
gifts from the D. Dan and Betty
Kahn Foundation and the
William Davidson Foundation,
the Detroit office was opened
in 2015.

SEAL OF SUSTAINABILITY

Hazon launched its Seal of
Sustainability program in 2016,
which is both a badge of honor
and a commitment to engage
congregants and constituents
in environmental leadership. It
is conferred upon a cohort of
Jewish organizations who agree
to audit their practices, form
a green team and implement
three sustainability projects.
Hazon provides funding for
those projects. Many organiza-
tions want to engage in health-
ier, more humane and sustain-
able practices but don’t know
where to begin. The Hazon Seal
of Sustainability offers an orga-
nization a clearly defined road-
map to environmental health.
Thirteen Metro Detroit orga-
nizations have signed on to the
Seal of Sustainability program
since 2016, and they are hard
at work on a wide variety of
projects.
Clergy, educators and lay
leaders are clear that sustain-
ability connects with Jewish
values.

METRO DETROIT SEAL
OF SUSTAINABILITY SITES

• Adat Shalom Synagogue
• Hillel Day School
• Congregation Shaarey
Zedek
• Congregation Shir Tikvah
• Tamarack Camps
• Jewish Ferndale
• Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue
• Temple Beth El
• Congregation B’nai Moshe
• Kibbutz Detropia
• Temple Kol Ami
• Detroit Jews for Justice
• Repair the World

14

February 1 • 2018

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“Bal Tashchit, an ethical
principle in Jewish law, rooted
in Deuteronomy, means do not
destroy,” said Congregation
Shaarey Zedek’ s Rabbi Aaron
Starr during a recent sermon.
“So, I ask, what is the tipping
point in your life that encour-
ages you to take one more step
in fulfilling our obligation to
protect the world we live in?”
For Shaarey Zedek, that tip-
ping point came two years ago,
after Starr’s wife, Rebecca, was
invited to Hazon’s home in
the Connecticut Berkshires —
the Isabella Freedman Jewish
Retreat Center — to attend the
Hazon Food Conference, which
addresses food justice, Jewish
culture and our tradition’s con-
nection to the natural world.
The Starrs determined Shaarey
Zedek must do more.
Sue Salinger, managing
director of Detroit Hazon,
along with Brittany Feldman,
manager of Sustainability and
Outdoor Engagement, sup-
port 13 Jewish organizations in
Southeast Michigan, in a plural-
ity of settings and Jewish affilia-
tions, as they participate in the
Seal program.
“The people who work for
Hazon are very knowledgeable
… amazing things started to
happen once they got involved,”
said Jodi Gross, Adat Shalom’s
director of Adult Learning and
Youth Engagement. “The part-
nership is a really big piece.”
One of Adat Shalom’s Seal
goals was purchasing recycling
bins for all its classrooms,
which was made possible by a
grant from Hazon. After com-
pleting an energy audit, the
synagogue switched to LED
lights in its social hall, with
more changes in the works.

INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION

A recent Pew Research Center
Survey reports that more
Americans of all denomina-
tions, including Jews, describe
themselves as “spiritual but not
religious.” Yet, Hazon is buck-
ing the trend and bringing Jews
back into the fold by offering
opportunities to engage with
Judaism in new and meaning-
ful ways.
Many, who may have felt
forgotten and left out of other
Jewish spaces, now have a seat
at the table.
Cantor Rachel Gottlieb
Kalmowitz of Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township notes that
sometimes change is impera-
tive. She heads Temple Beth El’s

