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Newsletter Issue 15 Summer 2001 Av 5761 In This Edition.... Burning Bush Park or Shul Noah visits Wetlands Centre Next event - 12th August - River Clean-Up at Hammersmith
Shabbat Noach 19th October 2001 - coming soon - After the success of last year's event, we are delighted that we will be repeating
Shabbat Noah as the 'Environmental Awareness Shabbat' again this year on 19th/20th October. Please keep this day free, and look out for special leaflets and sermons at a synagogue near you! We also need help 'on the
ground' in synagogues on the day, such as putting out leaflets and 'spreading the word' over Kiddush. If you are able to assist, please let us know which shul you will be at, and we'll be in touch.
Car-Free and Care-Free This year's European car-free day falls on
Shabbat 22nd September. If you normally drive, what better day to give the car… and the planet a rest! If you don't normally drive on Shabbat, remember that car-free day continues until midnight ! In the UK, car-free
day is run by the ETA. See their web-site: www.eta.co.uk for details. 'Burning Bush' Campaign The Noah Project, together with
Jewish Environmentalists in the USA, is continuing to put pressure on President Bush to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. The treaty, signed by over 100 countries including the UK, limits the production
of harmful 'green-house' gases believed to contribute to global-warming. As the USA generates 25% of the world's greenhouse gases (which are produced -amongst other ways- when fuels such as oil and petrol are burned),
their signing of the agreement is vital to saving the planet. However, President Bush disputes that global warming is having this effect, being concerned instead about what he perceives as the potentially negative
effects on the US economy of signing the Protocol. One Jewish newspaper ridiculed our call for our supporters to email their concerns to president@whitehouse.gov. They questioned whether there was any point in
campaigning in this way - in their words a 'David and Goliath' task. Maybe they've forgotten who won that particular battle! There is a huge amount of activity on this within the Jewish Environmental movement within the
USA, working together with concerned groups from other faiths - a powerful voice in US politics. They even staged a voluntary 'blackout' on midsummer's night to show the effects of their government's energy policies. In
the words of Sharon Bloom, National Chair of the U.S.-based group COEJL (the Coalition on the Environment & Jewish Life): "In the last few months, the Jewish community has been dismayed by President Bush's
actions with respect to global warming — abandoning a pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and withdrawing the US from the Kyoto Protocol…. President Bush's approach to this urgent and historic
challenge is grossly inadequate. The President has not committed the US to the dramatic reductions in domestic emissions that are both necessary and possible. Instead, he is focusing attention on the need for more
research and making US action contingent upon the actions of developing nations — whose per capita emissions are a fraction of those of [people in] the US." We at the Noah Project urge you to email or write to
President Bush and tell him what you think. The views of every individual do count. Please let us know what response you get. Stop Esso: The battle against Bush's line on global warming is now also being fought where is hurts….
in the wallet! The Noah Project is supporting the campaign by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and others to boycott Esso petrol stations. According to Greenpeace, Esso gave more dollars to get George Bush into the
White House than any other oil company. Esso still denies that burning oil and other fossil fuels leads causes global warming. Greenpeace says that "Esso spent $7.9bn this year looking for new oil reserves, but not
one dollar on clean renewable energy". We are therefore also calling on our supporters to boycott Esso. You can read more about Esso at www.stopesso.com
Greenpeace are also concerned about Safeway supermarkets, whose own brand petrol comes from Esso. Tell Safeway to stop buying from Esso at feedback@safeway.co.uk
or call them on 01622 712 000. We'll keep you updated on how these various campaigns are progressing, and please let us know how you get on. The Park Versus The Synagogue by Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
I live in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem - a neighbourhood where the majority of the residents are Haredim - traditional Orthodox Jews. One evening, a young girl knocked on my door and asked me to sign a petition protesting a
proposed plan to build a synagogue in a small, local park. I've always considered myself somewhat of an environmentalist, but I hesitated to sign. After all, this is Jerusalem, and we're talking about a synagogue.
Should not its sanctity take precedence over trees and bushes? I told the girl that I needed to learn more about the issues before I could sign her petition and feeling very pious, I closed the door. To my surprise, I
later discovered that the petition drive was organised by the wife of one of the leading Rabbis of the community! Her campaign was successful; the park was spared. Although those wanting to build the synagogue had
offered to create a park in a new area, their opponents did not feel that the offer was realistic. In the end, the proponents of the synagogue were the ones who were forced to find another site. In conversations with a
number of Torah scholars, I was told that, according to their understanding of the halachah (Torah law), the rights of those using the park took precedence over the rights of those wanting to build the synagogue. The
people using the park had already established a claim, and the park was meeting a vital recreational need - one which contributed to the health and well-being of the residents. The scholars also pointed out that there
were other synagogues in Bayit Vegan, and those wanting to be independent of those synagogues had no right to do so at the expense of others. In fact, in Rabbi Aryeh Carmell's book about the social and spiritual goals
of the Torah's mitzvos - (precepts) he discusses the mitzva to design parks for the urban environment. He points out that an ancient example of an urban park can be found in the Torah's command to design open spaces
around the cities that belonged to the tribe of Levi (Numbers 35:2-5). According to the biblical commentator Rashi, part of these open spaces was to provide an atmosphere of beauty - a greenbelt around the cities -
therefore, no building was allowed in this designated area, and agricultural activity was also forbidden. Maimonides notes that these regulations applied not only to the cities belonging to the tribe of Levi, but to all
the tribes of Israel (Laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee Years, 13:5); thus, long before the development of modern parks, the Torah gave city residents access to the natural beauty of the countryside. Some of these
arguments were not new to me, and I wondered why I hesitated to sign that petition. Perhaps it's because I grew up with the western idea that Judaism is a religion, and therefore its activities are centred in a house of
worship. However the vocabulary of biblical Hebrew, has no word for "religion." The term does not appear in the Torah, because to the Torah, everything is religious. To set aside a part of life and call it
"religion" is the very negation of the holistic philosophy of the Torah, since it implies that there is a sphere of human activity from which God is excluded. This is not to deny the central role of the
synagogue, for within the synagogue - just as within the ancient Temple - is the ark containing the Torah - the Covenant at Sinai. We enter the synagogue not only to pray, but to renew our covenant with the Torah;
however, we leave the synagogue in order to apply the Torah to life. A park can therefore become an arena of Divine service, and in the unique case of Bayit Vegan, the Torah chooses a park over a synagogue. In this
spirit, the Torah is described as a "Tree of Life" (Proverbs 3:18), for the mitzvos of the Torah encompass all areas of our existence. Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen is the co-ordinator of Hazon - Our Universal
Vision:
www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN REPRODUCED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. The views expressed in this article are the view of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Noah Project.
Wetlands Centre Visit by Deborah Lang A sunny day in May so leap for the countryside? Well almost. The Noah Project ventured south of the Thames (on May 20th) to sample the delights of the Wildfowl and Wetlands
Trust (WWT) new Wetland Centre in Barnes. Built upon the visions of Sir Peter Scott, the Wetland Centre is sited on an old sewage works, using 11 million pounds from a housing development to convert the waste ground
into a fully functional reserve. The Centre holds duck and geese species from around the world, including the white-headed duck — a hot topic in the conservation world. This species is under threat due to cross-breeding
with the more common ruddy duck. There are also hides overlooking various watery areas where wild birds come in to feed and hang out. Among such birds seen during the outing were pintail, tufted duck, pochard,
great-crested grebe, lapwing, heron, swift, house martin, reed warbler and black-backed gull. Not bad for central(ish) London! The group was large and varied, united by a common interest in seeking out some wildlife in
the metropolis. For those who might be interested in visiting or finding out more about the Wetland Centre, there is an excellent website at www.wetlandcentre.org.uk
or you can phone them on 020 8409 4400. There is a restaurant, shop and regular exhibits by wildlife artists. And in addition to the hides and large observatory there is an exciting discovery centre where you can walk through a mangrove swamp. It is very easy to get to with good public transport links. The nearest tube station is Hammersmith. -Deborah is studying for an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation at UEA, Norwich.
The Noah Project, Thames 21 & The London Wildlife Trust present.. The Great Noah River Clean-Up! "The Greatest
Water-Clearance Project since the Parting of the Red Sea" on SUNDAY 12th AUGUST at 1:00 PM on the Thames at HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE (at the river end of Queen Caroline Street) -Do your bit for the Community, the River and
the Planet; -Meet other like-minded Jewish Environmentalists; -You Wellie Ought to Come Along (!) This event takes place during 'Marine Week',
which means... There will be a Beach Party and with lots of fun and educational activities for the kids as well as boat trips and water displays with the River Police and Fire Brigade. To take part in our River Clean up
(we'll provide Wellies & Gloves) please contact Janet on 020 7603 6472 or email us at info@noahproject.org.uk
Produced by: The Noah Project, PO Box 1828, London W10 5RT Telephone: 020 8747 9518 e-mail: info@noahproject.org.uk PATRONS: Aubrey Rose CBE., Rabbi Dr. Norman Solomon, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg SUPPORTING
ORGANISATIONS: Friends of the Earth, Global Action Plan (UK), Council of Reform & Liberal Rabbis, The Assembly of Masorti Synagogues, The United Synagogue The Noah Project is an independent, non-profit project, run
by volunteers and funded solely by donations Newsletter Editor: John Schlackman PREVIOUS ISSUE |
