Camp Newman, one of the Union for Reform Judaism’s 13 summer camps, has created Kibbutz Yarok, an eco-friendly Kibbutz, on its campgrounds. Kibbutz Yarok, located in Santa Rosa, California, now has the opportunity to receive a grant through Hazon – but to win, it needs your votes!
To vote, visit Hazon’s California Ride Grants Voting page and scroll down to the “Camp Newman-Swig, Kibbutz Yarok” box to vote. As of this morning, Kibbutz Yarok is ranked in first place! Voting closes at the end of the day tomorrow, when the top 10 organizations with the most votes will be eligible to receive grants from the Hazon California Ride.
At Kibbutz Yarok, more than 2,000 Jewish campers yearly learn
to connect Judaism and Jewish values to their environment by working in
an organic garden, where they’re taught sustainable practices like
composting, water conservation, and farming techniques. Campers also
grow their own herbs and vegetables mentioned in the Torah and learn to
care for food-producing animals; the food and vegetables culled on
Kibbutz Yarok are then served to the entire camp. Campers also engineer
and construct energy-efficient mud huts, made entirely of recycled
materials or materials of the earth.
Grants this year – including funds from Hazon, if Camp Newman wins –
will allow Kibbutz Yarok to make use of a small lake, teaching campers
first-hand about solar energy and lighting, as well as to enhance and
enlarge the organic garden and complete construction of a prayer site
overlooking the lake. Voting is easy and will help ensure that Jewish campers learn the importance of l’avod v l’shomreh, “to till and to tend” the land (Genesis 2:15).
Be sure to check out the other projects up for grants, too, because
Kibbutz Yarok is in good company. Among the other nominees are:
- Kibbutz Lotan, the model
for Kibbutz Yarok. Kibbutz Lotan’s Green Apprenticeship Scholarship
Fund in Israel trains young professionals in environmental and
sustainable practices and community-building.
-
Peninsula Temple Beth El‘s
Temple Community Garden. This Reform synagogue in San Mateo,
California, hopes to raise environmental awareness by building a
community garden and compost area that brings the congregation’s
different groups together to share in the responsibility of tending to
it. -
Uri L’Tzedek’s Tav HaYosher,
or Ethical Seal. This free service offered to kosher restaurants and
the kosher community ensures workers’ rights to adequate pay and a safe
working environment.
Photo credit: jweekly.com