Celebrate Jewish women environmentalists on Tu B'Shevat
Tonight is Tu B'Shevat, the "Jewish birthday for trees" that has become synonymous with Jewish environmentalism. In order to identify and honor Jewish women working in environmental activism, we are inviting you to put an environmentalist "On the Map." You can read more about that project here or watch this quick tutorial to get started. We also wanted to recognize the work of Jewcology, a new website launched in November, 2010.
Jewcology is an online community and resource portal for Jewish environmentalists around the world. It's founder, Evonne Marzouk, is featured on "Jewish Women in Environmental Activism" on jwa.org. We think Jewcology is doing amazing work. What's particularly exciting is that the community of environmentalists using the site is diverse and women are equally represented for the work they are doing to save our planet. Check out this recent video of 25 Jewish evironmentalists:
Evonne Marzouk recently blogged about the Tu B'Shevat seder, which My Jewish Learning describes as the modern incarnation of a 15th Century Kabbalistic ritual. Though I only recently learned about this tradition, it seems like a cross between Passover and Thanksgiving -- where we celebrate the environment and express our gratitude for the harvest (in particular, fruits of the new season) and even discuss environmental challenges and action. Marzouk's blog post is a great resource for anyone planning a Tu B'Shevat seder.
What are you doing to celebrate Tu B'Shevat? Are you holding a seder? Putting an environmentalist "On the Map?" What are your Tu B'Shevat traditions?