Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Promoting Vegetarianism During Chanukah
2. Will the World Address Factory Farming and Climate Change?
3. Review of Roberta Kalechofsky’s Shabbat Cook Book
4. My Letter to the Editor Sent to the NY Times
5. World Peace Diet Intensive Study Seminar Scheduled
6. Recent Environmental and Vegetarian-Related Items About Israel
7. Dietary Impacts on Individuals and the Global Community
8. Wonderful New Group Relates Judaism and Ecology
9. Green Zionist Alliance Schedules Chanukah Party/Meeting for December 5, 2010 in NYC/More From GZA
10. Dvar Torah: We Must be Active To Obtain a Better, Vegan World
11. Israel’s Worst Drought in History Continues/Chief Rabbis Call for Special Prayers for Rain
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Promoting Vegetarianism During Chanukah
Happy Chanukah everyone! The 8-day holiday of lights begins Wednesday evening (December1) after sundown.
Please see my article on “Chanukah and Vegetarianism” and other Chanukah material in the holidays section at JewishVeg.com. And please use the material to help spread the Jewish Vegetarian message.
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2. Will the World Address Factory Farming and Climate Change?
Forwarded message:
Why the Cancun COP 16 Climate Summit Should Take Animal Agriculture Seriously
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mia MacDonald, Brighter Green
Email: macdonald@brightergreen.org
NEW YORK —As delegates gather in Cancún, Mexico for the next round of global climate talks, one topic isn’t likely to be on the agenda: the intensive system of rearing animals known as factory farming. However, as New York–based public policy “action” tank Brighter Green argues in a series of newly-published policy papers, the conference (and the planet) ignore factory farming and the rapid spread of intensive animal agriculture at its peril.
Climate-warming greenhouse gases (GHGs) are generated at every stage of livestock production. Approximately 60 billion animals are used in food production each year. As the global farmed animal population increases, and with it the number of intensive facilities (factory farms and feedlots), GHG emissions will rise exponentially, too.
Brighter Green’s research focuses on four countries: Brazil, China, Ethiopia, and India.
Brazil, China, and India are all emerging economic and climate powers, and each is a crucial force shaping 21st century animal agriculture. Ethiopia, although far from a fast-food nation, is Africa’s largest producer and exporter of livestock.
In all four countries, a growing share of national resources like water, grain, land, forests, and climate “space” are being directed to the meat and dairy industries. This is coming at a considerable cost, not only to the global climate, but to food security, ecological sustainability, livelihoods, equity, animal welfare, and public health at the country level.
Produced as part of Brighter Green’s Food Policy and Equity Program the policy papers, along with two-page policy briefs and short documentary videos, focus on four nations at various stages of economic development and intensification of animal agriculture:
· Cattle, Soyanization, and Climate Change: Brazil’s Agricultural Revolution (PDF)
· Skillful Means: The Challenges of China’s Encounter with Factory Farming (PDF)
· Climate, Food Security, & Growth: Ethiopia’s Complex Relationship with Livestock (PDF)
· Veg or Non-Veg? India at the Crossroads (policy brief/PDF)
Brazil, an agricultural powerhouse, is the dominant global exporter of beef and chicken, and a lead exporter of soy for farmed animal feed. The Amazon rainforest and Brazil's savannah, the Cerrado, both of which have vast stores of carbon dioxide, are centers of large-scale cattle ranching and commodity crop production; deforestation rates rise with global demand for meat and feed. China has committed to increasing its production of pork and expanding meat exports, even as domestic food prices rise and animal agriculture has become a major source of serious water pollution.
In India, the egg and poultry sectors are rapidly industrializing. As they do, demands for feed grain and water from the livestock sector are growing, while, at the same time, India contends with high levels of child malnutrition and strains on land and water supplies. Ethiopia, at a very different level of development, is nonetheless looking to produce more meat and dairy products for export, although food security for its fast-growing population remains elusive; soil erosion and land degradation are extensive. At the same time, all four countries are experiencing the effects of climate change—more frequent drought and floods; higher temperatures; and increasingly erratic weather patterns. (See below for summaries of each paper.)
“The rapid globalization of the livestock industry, particularly the use of intensive systems of production, ought to be high on the international climate agenda,” says Brighter Green’s executive director and lead author Mia MacDonald. “Continuing to marginalize this issue means forfeiting a crucial opportunity to reduce global GHGs and create a more sustainable, equitable, humane, and climate-compatible food system. Countries in the global South, set to be most affected by global warming, have an opportunity to lead in a new direction—with multiple benefits for their people, their environments, and the global climate.
Approximately 18 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stem from the livestock industry, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. A more recent estimate by current and former World Bank environmental specialists puts livestock’s share of GHGs much higher, at 51 percent of the global total.
“The questions raised in and by Brighter Green’s policy papers—and in the short video documentaries that accompany each of them—are ones that all countries face, whether their economies are emerging or developed,” MacDonald adds. “How should we use the finite natural resources upon which all societies depend in a sustainable and equitable manner? How best might governments balance the vital needs of human beings and societies to develop their capabilities and gain security against hunger and thirst in a global marketplace dominated by cash crops, commodities, and the relentless flow of capital?”
MacDonald continues: “What are our responsibilities to mitigate the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change on those whose technological and societal capacities are most constrained and who stand to be most negatively impacted by altered weather patterns? Finally, and no less importantly, what are our responsibilities to the planet’s other animals, in Cancún and beyond?”
To view or download the policy papers, policy briefs, and videos, all produced as part of Brighter Green’s please visit Brighter Green’s website.
To read more about Brighter Green’s work, visit: www.brightergreen.org.
Brighter Green is a New York-based non-profit action tank that works to transform public policy and dialogue on the environment, animals, and sustainability, both globally and locally, with a particular focus on equity and rights.
SNIP
Mia MacDonald
Executive Director
Brighter Green
www.brightergreen.org
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3. Review of Roberta Kalechofsky’s Shabbat Cook Book
http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/literary_guides/top_jewish_chefs_back_kitchen
Top Jewish Chefs, Back In The Kitchen
Amy Spiro, Editorial Assistant
Tuesday, November 16, 2010, Jewish Week
. . .
Those looking to combine their religious rituals with food activism should pick up “The Shabbat Vegetarian Cookbook,” (Micah, September) by Roberta Kalechofsky and Roberta Schiff. The book is packed with over 150 vegan recipes, from stuffed cabbage with squash to crockpot goulash and curry mango baked tofu.
Kalechofsky, who didn’t want the word “vegan” to make anyone “feel intimidated,” argues that recipes and dishes without animal products are ideally suited to Shabbat cooking. “These foods are wonderful to eat for Shabbat, because most of them can be cooked Friday morning – and vegetarian dishes keep very well,” said Kalechofsky, “unlike meat which has to be reheated.”
Keeping a vegetarian diet, and trying dishes from the book like linguini with Moroccan lentil sauce or spicy black beans and sweet potatoes, can also have an added benefit for religious Jews. “A lot of my Jewish friends who are observant, frankly kicked up their heels and said, ‘I feel as if I’ve been liberated from the kitchen for the first time in my life,’” said Kalechofsky. “I don’t need two sets of pots, or two sinks and two dishwashers… Vegetarianism simplifies cooking for Jews — aside from what it does for the environment, and aside from what it does for animals.”
While the international food activist community is promoting ‘Meatless Mondays’ to encourage people to give up meat for at least one day a week, Kalechofsky sees Shabbat as ideal for once-a-week vegetarianism.
“Jews, actually, if you go back to biblical times, did not eat meat on the Shabbat,” said Kalechofsky. “Jews really have the longest conversation about the ethics of diet of probably any people in the world today. … We should be at the forefront of this movement.”
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4. My Letter to the Editor Sent to the NY Times
RE: “To Fight Climate Change, Clear the Air” (November 27, 2010 article)
While many good ideas for reducing Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are given, one major one is omitted: educating people on the importance of shifting to plant-based diets. A 2006 UN Food and Agricultural Organization report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” indicated that animal-based agriculture emits more GHGs (in CO2 equivalents) than all the cars. Ships, planes and all other forms of transportation worldwide combined. And a November/December 2009 cover article by two environmentalists in World Watch magazine “Livestock and Climate Change” argued that the livestock sector is responsible for at least 51 percent of all human-induced GHGs. So a shift away from the consumption of animal products would greatly reduce climate change threats, and have the further advantages of improving human health, reducing the widespread abuses of animals and also reducing other environmental threats, including rapid species extinction, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion and depletion and water pollution.
Very truly yours,
Richard H. Schwartz (Ph.D)
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5. World Peace Diet Intensive Study Seminar Scheduled
Forwarded message from Author Will Tuttle:
[I have read this book several times and think that it is a marvelous work – very readable and informative,]
World Peace Diet intensive study tele-seminar
Richard,
We're entering the Holiday Season, an excellent time to go deeper with the message of compassion and health, and I'm excited to announce a special WPD study program that I will be teaching in December, and it's open to everyone.
Coordinated by Steve Prussack, a vegan radio host, I'll be presenting a four-week World Peace Diet intensive study tele-seminar on Thursday evenings, December 2, 9, 16, and 23. It will feature a full hour of instruction followed by 15-30 minutes of Q & A and discussion.
[Last] Wednesday, November 24, Steve and I [hosted] a special preview call, in which I'll be explaining what we'll be discussing and covering during this 4-week World Peace Diet mastery program.
PS – [Since you are receiving this after November 24, please register anyway so that we can send you information on listening to the recording of it later at your convenience.
I hope you'll join us for this Wednesday's call; here's the link to sign up for it:
http://www.worldpeacemastery.com/previewcall/
As you'll see, I'm also planning on presenting the first-ever online version of the World Peace Diet Facilitator Training starting on January 27, 2011, which will run for 8 weeks and lead to certification as a WPD facilitator. If you have interest in this opportunity to study in depth the principles of the WPD with me through phone or computer connection, I recommend joining us on Wednesday for the preview call to find out more about this upcoming Facilitator Training program also.
We will be covering everything vegan -- nutrition, wellness, spirituality, effective advocacy, healthy relationships, sexuality, cultural transformation, and political, religious, and socio-economic renewal and evolution.
Please join us and contribute to this important discussion and to the imperative awakening of our culture from the indoctrinated trance of disconnectedness and violence to the beauty and interconnectedness of all life. Food is key!
A positive future beckons - thanks for being part of its creation! Here's the link again:
http://www.worldpeacemastery.com/previewcall/
Yours for a world of peace and freedom for all,
Will
Dr. Will Tuttle
Author, The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
http://worldpeacediet.org
http://worldpeacemastery.com
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6. Recent Environmental and Vegetarian-Related Items About Israel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/news.aspx/140770
a. Israel Shares Desalinization Expertise with Jordan and PA
by Elad Benari
Thirty participants from Jordan and the Palestinian Authority completed a week-long seminar on the topic of desalination earlier this month, according to a report posted on the International Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly industry website on Saturday. The seminar was conducted by IDE Technologies, an Israeli company which is internationally recognized as a pioneer and leader in the delivery of sophisticated water solutions.
Desalination is a process by which undrinkable salt water is filtered to catch the salts and other particles suspended in the fluid, making the water drinkable.
Israel is considered a world leader in water recycling and has advanced in desalination and recycling water in recent years. According to statistics released earlier this year, Israel recycles 70 per cent of its waste water and sewage.
IDE’s desalination seminar was organized in cooperation with the Israeli Water Authority, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Middle East Desalination Research Centre and the Centre for International Agricultural Development Cooperation in Israel. It was held in Kibbutz Shefayim in central Israel, and was designed to introduce the participants to modern desalination technologies and to train them in the correct design, operation and maintenance of water desalination plants.
The seminar covered topics in both thermal and seawater reverse-osmosis membrane desalination and offered participants practical instruction regarding the operation and maintenance of large and complex desalination plants. Participants also visited the desalination plant in Ashkelon which IDE designed and built.
A desalination plant was dedicated last May in Hadera. The largest of its kind in the world and the third largest in Israel, the plant uses reverse osmosis technology, which means the sea water does not have to be heated, as is done in larger plants in the world that are less environmentally friendly. The entire process of desalinating the water takes 35 minutes from the time it enters pipelines in the sea.
The mammoth plant covers more than 18 acres and actually is two facilities that can operate independently from each other. Together, they can provide 127 cubic million liters, or 33 million gallons a year.
Another desalination plant was approved by the Israeli government in June and will be constructed south of Tel Aviv by Sorek Desalination Ltd. It is expected to produce 150 million cubic meters of water each year, and the capacity will eventually be upped to 300 million cubic meters a year, making the plant one of the world's largest. The government plans to desalinate 750 million cubic meters per year by 2020.
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b. Israeli Defense forces Efforts Toward a Greener Environment
http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk
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c. Israel Develops New Vegan Substitutes For Meat
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140825
Thanks to Rabbi Dovid Sears, author and JVNA advisor, for sending this link to us.
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7. Dietary Impacts on Individuals and the Global Community
Forwarded message:
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/60032/you-and-the-global-community-are-what-you-eat/
You — and the global community — are what you eat
by Jocelyn Berger
Like Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” and NBC newscaster Brian Williams in the recent video Judd Apatow made for American Jewish World Service, I am motivated by tradition.
Jocelyn Berger
Tradition is why I love food. Tradition is why I believe in social justice. For some Jews, tradition comes from text and law. For others, it’s a cultural practice passed down from elders. Either way, food and justice form two central tenets of Judaism — and among today’s young Jewish adults, they have united as a significant force.
Growing up in a Conservative family that kept kosher, I understood kashrut as one of those rituals that Jews perform simply out of a sense of tradition or obligation — a mitzvah ben adam l’makom (commandment between a person and the Divine).
Without obvious worldly significance, mitzvot of this kind are often difficult to grasp. In attempting to fulfill the letter of the law, sometimes we lose sight of a broader purpose for the practice. To that end, recent controversies in the kosher food industry have indicated a need to reassess what actually makes kosher kosher.
Investigations in 2008 at Iowa-based Agriprocessors, formerly the largest glatt kosher meatpacking facility in the United States, revealed grotesque, inhumane treatment of animals; unjust, illegal treatment of workers; and extensive food safety and environmental violations.
Currently, New York Satmar–owned Flaum Appetizing, another kosher food distributor, is refusing to fulfill court-ordered payments of approximately $300,000 in back wages to their largely immigrant workforce, many of whom were fired after complaining about their low (if not completely lacking) wages, long hours and cruel treatment.
Sure, these companies produced technically “kosher” foods. But besides teaching us not to mix milk and meat, doesn’t Judaism also teach us ethics of justice, humanity, compassion and simple decency?
Observing strict legal obligations of kashrut in a vacuum that fails to incorporate the underlying values of Judaism has created a situation considered untenable by many American Jews. As the prophet Isaiah said, “Your hands are stained with crime — Wash yourselves clean … Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice” (Isaiah 1: 15-17).
Given today’s globalized world, industrialized food system, environmental and economic crises, and numerous other problems, I believe it is time to evolve our understanding of kashrut to be a mitzvah ben adam l’chavero (a commandment between person and community) — and I have reason to believe I’m not alone.
Here in the Bay Area, it is implicitly understood that the food system is broken, and this is reflected in our individual choices of alternatives to conventional options. Increasingly, people are starting to ask deeper questions: What does food justice really mean? Why and how is the food system broken? What can we do about it?
In an attempt to answer these fundamental questions, Pursue developed a new series titled “Chewing on Food Justice.” It was created in conjunction with our partners at the Progressive Jewish Alliance and Hazon.
This four-part program has explored various aspects within the food justice conversation: workers’ rights (“Fruits of Our Labor” in August); environmental impact (“Mind Your Agri-Business” in September) and food sovereignty (“Got Access?” in October). Through this series, we hope to equip a broad cohort of young Jews with the information and tools they need to move toward collective action.
The series concludes Tuesday, Nov. 30 with “Is Kosher, Kosher?” — where we’ll consider the Jewish take on food justice issues. Have we stayed true to the spirit of our dietary laws? Are we living up to the standards of our tradition? If not, why? And how can we better express our values?
Unlike the extreme cases of Agriprocessors and Flaum, luckily, some Jews have espoused forms of kashrut that do incorporate social justice, perhaps per Isaiah’s suggestion.
Both the Conservative and Reform movements have come out with new guidelines for ethically produced kosher food. Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization, is spreading its very successful Tav HaYosher (ethical seal) across the country, certifying kosher restaurants that honor basic labor and safety standards (three Oakland business have received the seal: Amba, the Grand Bakery and
Oakland Kosher Foods).
Yes, Jewish vegetarianism and farming are practically the hottest things since the iPhone4.
The more we understand the complexities of the food system — the myriad interconnections between immigration, domestic farm policy, foreign aid, environment regulations, global trade agreements, urban poverty, the paradox of hunger and obesity, and much more — the more we realize that our food choices impact far more than just our own bodies.
How and what I eat is not just about following divine ritual. It is about acting with responsibility and care for the greater global community.
Incorporating kashrut as one element of an entire, coherent system of tzedek (justice) can transform it from a mitzvah ben adam l’makom (between a person and the Divine) to a mitzvah ben adam l’chavero (between a person and community).
I believe tzedek is one of the best offerings of the Jewish tradition. That and some really good food.
Jocelyn Berger is the Bay Area program officer for Pursue: Action for a Just World, a project of American Jewish World Service and Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps. Contact her at jocelyn@pursueaction.org.
“Chewing on Food Justice: Is Kosher, Kosher?” is scheduled for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30 at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., S.F. $15 with dinner by Amba (pre-registration required), $5 program only. Information:
http://www.kosherkosher.eventbrite.com or http://www.pursueaction.org.
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8. Wonderful New Group Relates Judaism and Ecology
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3991503,00.html
[Please visit this web site, and help spread the Jewish vegetarian message there. There is not much so far on Jewish teachings on vegetarianism.]
Ecology activism and Jewish world
Young Jewish innovators unveil first international collaboration promoting Jewish environmental awareness and action
Ynetnews
What happens when you mix young innovative Jews with ecology? Jewcology.com! This transformational web portal, which was launched Monday, promotes and advances Jewish environmental awareness and action to the international Jewish community.
Led by Evonne Marzouk, the DC-based founder and executive director of Canfei Nesharim, 19 Jewish environmentalists – all members of ROI Community for Young Jewish Innovators - collaborated in creating this unique portal, which tackles environmental issues through Jewish tradition.
"Jewcology is the first internet portal of its kind," says Efrat’s Baruch Rock, a member of Jewcology.com’s international team and a rabbinical student at Ohr Torah Stone’s Joseph and Gwendolyn Straus Rabbinical Seminary. "Born out of the recognition that by sharing our resources we can accomplish so much more, Jewcology is the go-to place for Jewish environmentalists and lay-people.”
Noga Zohar, a Jewcology.com team member from Beersheba who is executive director of Shvuat ha-Adamah/Earth's Promise, emphasizes how the collaboration makes everyone feel both part of, and a contributor to, a movement for change. "Jewcology is an amazing platform for organizations like ours to share some of the daily wonders and struggles in creating a sustainable future in the middle of the desert city of Beersheba."
“This is the first comprehensive web-based address for the entire Jewish environmental community, enabling environmental activists to interact, learn from one another and leverage that knowledge to protect the environment and build a more sustainable world,” said Marzouk, who was featured as an up and coming leader in the 2009 New York Jewish Week's "36 under 36". “By empowering Jewish environmentalists, Jewcology.com will help the entire Jewish community understand the relevance of Jewish tradition to modern challenges.”
The Jewcology.com team includes Teva Ivri in Israel, activists from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, Miami, San Francisco, Charlottesville, New Jersey and Vancouver, as well as Shanghai, China and Santiago, Chile. They met through the ROI Community global network created by Jewish philanthropist Lynn Schusterman, and were able to realize the vision thanks to a $50,000 ROI Innovation Fund grant.
“Jewcology.com is ROI’s largest collaborative initiative,” said ROI Director Justin Korda. “It underscores the power of the global network of young Jewish innovators we’ve been nurturing since 2006. Jewcology.com gets environmental activists to leverage their knowledge in order to sensitize, educate and activate Jewish communities to safeguard the environment.”
Mobilizing action
The site boasts content from Jewish environmental organizations like COEJL; Green Zionist Alliance; Hazon; Jewish Farm School; Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF); Kayam at Pearlstone; NeoHasid.org; The Shalom Center; and Teva Learning Center. To date, over 50 Jewish environmental activists and organizations have uploaded more than 300 resources. Topics include vegetarianism, water, energy, agriculture, trees, food, and recycling; Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashana and Shavuot; and, mitzvot such as Bal Tashchit (do not waste) and Tzaar Baalei Chaim (proper treatment of animals). The materials – in English, Hebrew and Spanish - are intended for a wide range of audiences, from children to lay leaders and rabbis. Resources include synagogue projects, Jewish teachings, awareness activities, and art projects.
Jewcology.com will feature daily blog posts on a wide range of Jewish environmental topics by its international team, as well as Torah teachings with an environmental message from leading Modern Orthodox Israeli Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petach Tikva Hesder Yeshiva, among others.
Jewcology.comJewcology is also partnering with On1Foot, the American Jewish World Service’s online database of Jewish texts on social justice, to create custom source sheets and discussion questions on environmental texts.
Beyond the virtual, Jewcology.com will hold regional leadership training summits for Jewish environmentalists. In March 2011, in Los Angeles, Jewcology.com will partner with Netiya: the LA Jewish Coalition on Food, Environment and Social Justice, and in Baltimore with Kayam, a farm at the Pearlstone Retreat Center. In June, Jewcology.com will join forces with the Teva Learning Center at its conference in upstate New York.
The site is already garnering praise in the Jewish world. According to Rabbi David Saperstein, director and counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, “Using Jewcology.com, Jewish environmentalists around the world can empower each other as they work locally to engage their students, rabbis, and communities. It has the potential to be a game-changing tool in the ongoing effort to inform the Jewish community about our mandate to protect the environment and mobilize action on critical energy and environmental issues.”
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Message I received from the director of Jewcology Evonne Marzouk:
Dear Richard, I encourage you to sign up and share the good work of the JVNA
on Jewcology!
Best
Evonne
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9. Green Zionist Alliance Schedules Chanukah Party/Meeting for December 5, 2010 in NYC/More From GZA
Join the GZA and Greenpoint Shul for our Green Chanukah Celebration!
Also participate in the GZA's general-membership meeting!
Enjoy tasty latkes and sufganiot!
Play competitive dreidel!
Learn about energy issues in Israel!
Make Chanukah arts and crafts -- for kids or for the kid in you!
And all GZA members who have paid their dues for the current secular calendar year can participate in the Green Zionist Alliance general-membership meeting! (Contact us for a call-in number if you can't attend in person.) Not yet a member? Joining is fast and easy -- join today!
The party is for everyone!
When: Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010 at 3 p.m.
Where: Greenpoint Shul (Congregation Ahavas Israel),
108 Noble St.,
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Cost: Optional donation to the Greenpoint Shul's Go Green Fund.
Click here for more details about the Green Chanukah Celebration!
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Chanukah: The Holiday of Energy Conservation
Chanukah isn't just our Festival of Lights -- it's our Holiday of Energy Conservation. And the Maccabees are the answer to climate change.
Continue reading by clicking here.
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New website for Jewish environmentalists
The Green Zionist Alliance is proud to be a charter partner in Jewcology, a new web portal for Jewish environmentalists and educational resources about the environment. Jewcology creates a common space where Jewish environmentalists from around the world can network, collaborate and share resources. On Jewcology, you can search for a wide range of Jewish environmental resources, upload and share your own content, create your own blog, find people in your area, and create and join public and private communities on topics of common interest, including the GZA page!
Click here to visit Jewcology!
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Featured book: Love God, Heal Earth: 21 Leading Religious Voices Speak Out on Our Sacred Duty to Protect the Environment, by the Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham
"If we have learned anything from the earth, it's that all life is connected. Faith has often stood in opposition to this organic vision of life by emphasizing our differences, seeking to divide rather than unite. 'Love God, Heal Earth' now opens up a vision of the future where we discover that all faith traditions celebrate a connection to creation. Given the enormous environmental challenges we face, we need hope now more than ever. This book delivers that hope by demonstrating how faith communities share a common vision of caring for the earth. It's about time we focus on what we share in common rather than where we differ." -- Scott L. Denman
Click here to buy "Love God, Heal Earth: 21 Leading Religious Voices Speak Out on Our Sacred Duty to Protect the Environment"
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This Chanukah, give the gift of membership in the Green Zionist Alliance!
The Green Zionist Alliance is comprised of hundreds of individuals and organizations who are dedicated to the preservation of Israel's environment.
As an alliance, membership and partnership are essential to our mission. It allows us to show the Jewish community how many people truly care about Israel's environment, it provides us with a means of communication within our movement, and it raises much needed funds to allow the organization to operate.
The great work we do is made possible in part through generous donations. All donations of $18 or more qualify you for individual membership for the current secular year. Please donate today and become a member!
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10. Dvar Torah: We Must be Active To Obtain a Better, Vegan World
The following dvar Torah is by JVNA advisor and rabbinical student David Bookbinder.
Please visit his web site (http://judeovegan.blogspot.com/ for more divrei Torah and other material on Jewish teachings related to veganism.
26 November 2010
Parshat Vayeshev
http://judeovegan.blogspot.com/2010/11/parshat-vayeshev.html
For this week I am simply posting and building on a dvar Torah by the founder of the rabbinical school that (amirtz Hashem) I will be attending next fall, Yeshivat Chovovei Torah: Parshat Vayeshev.
What Rabbi Avi Weiss describes so succinctly and eloquently is the need for action. By being passive, we do not help the world at all. Outside of this parsha in which action versus passivity is subtly mentioned in Joseph's interpretation of his fellow prisoners' dreams there are a quite a few glaring examples throughout all of Torah. In order:
The Flood: God tells Noah to build an ark to save the remnant of humanity and the animals. Why in the world why God need Noah to spend way too much time and energy to build a big boat? He's GOD! He can simply save everyone and everything that needs to be saved on His own! But He teaches us two lessons: Noah building this big boat give everybody the opportunity to see what is going on and repent and secondly that human action in required in order to save the planet. It is only through a partnership with God that we are able to achieve what we want.
Sdom and Amora: God tells Abraham He will destroy the two cities and Abraham fights to save everyone on account of the righteous (even though he only ends up saving the righteous). Again, multiple lessons: One is that God wants us to be involved in the the saving of the world. God has and is infinite knowledge, He knows there are only Lot and his family to save, but he wants Abraham to be involved. Secondly, one could say that the cities being saved (theoretically) on account of the righteous could be a metaphor for those who step up and actively perform God's will. By being active a small proportion of people can be responsible for a large amount of change.
Moshe and the Reed Sea: While standing at the sea waiting for God's salvation, Moshe cries out to God to save them. He responds: "What? You want I should do something mister leader? Take your staff and get busy!!" (liberally translated of course). What do we learn? BE ACTIVE!! You have to step up and get stuff done in order for God to partner up with you.
If I have not made myself clear: PROTEST! LOBBY! ACTIVELY GRASSROOT!! The only way that we can affect real change is by doing something. How do we stop cruelty to animals, abuse of water and land, climate change, etc.? We become Vegan. How do we globally stop these problems? We talk about being Vegan and attempt to spread the word that Veganism is not only a way to help alleviate many of the world's problems but that it also exemplifies many Jewish values and concerns. The only way to make change happen is if we get up and do something.
May we all take this Shabbat and upcoming holiday of Chanukah (which exemplifies standing up and fighting for what is right) to think about what we can do in our lives (re: vegan or otherwise) to be an active participant with God and not just a passive bystander. Shabbat Shalom!
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11. Israel’s Worst Drought in History Continues/Chief Rabbis Call for Special Prayers for Rain
The Israel chief Rabbinate has requested people fast on Monday for rain in Israel.
See the letters & Tefilat Geshamim from the Chief Rabbinate on the OU website
http://images.ou.org/files/Letter_ChiefRabbiIsrael_English.pdf
http://images.ou.org/files/Letter_ChiefRabbiIsrael_Hebrew.pdf
http://images.ou.org/files/tefillah_al_geshamim.pdf
B”SD
15 Kislev, 5771
Dear Rabbi Eliezer Sheffer - May God protect him and strengthen him:
Wishing you life, peace and all good things,
I request from his eminence to use his connections abroad and to publicize the facts concerning the day of fasting and prayer which will take place, may it be God’s will, on Monday the 22nd of Kislev 5771, due to the severe drought which
has befallen us in the Land of Israel many years. We must gather and shout out to the Creator of the universe to have mercy and compassion on his people Israel, and His Mercies are abundant.
May we attach the prayers that will be recited on the day of “Hakhel,” and in addition it should be instructed that anyone who can fast should do so and take upon himself a fast day Mincha prayer on Sunday. If he cannot fast an entire day, he should at least fast until Chatzot/midday.
The Almighty will not reject our plea, for He does not turn away the prayers of the many.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, shall have compassion and mercy on our people and on the Land of our Forefathers with salvation and mercy.
Fast Day for Rain Monday
Reported: 14:19 PM - Nov/28/10
In light of the continuing drought in Israel, Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yonah Metzger have declared Monday as a second day of prayer and repentance, in which Israelis will be asked to fast and hold special prayers for rain. The Chief Rabbis called on everyone who is able to fast on Monday. Individuals who plan to fast should accept the fast upon themselves when praying Mincha on Sunday. The fast will begin at dawn Monday, and end at sunset.
The Chief Rabbis will participate in special prayers at the Kotel on Monday afternoon at 3:30 PM, and they called on those unable to get to the Kotel to hold prayers of repentance in their local synagogues. A similar day of fasting and prayer was held several weeks ago.
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** Fair Use Notice **
The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of vegetarian, environmental, nutritional, health, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for educational or research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal, technical or medical advice.
November 30, 2010
November 24, 2010
11/22/2010 JVNA Online Newsletter
Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
2. Happy Thanksgiving
3. First Ever Global Grassroots Action to Draw Attention to Connection Between Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
4. Worst Drought in Israel’s History Continuing/Jews, Muslims and Christians Pray for Rain
5. Important Veg Movie to Open This Spring
6. Jewish Environmental/Social Justice Event Scheduled
7. Humane Society of the US Releases Undercover Video Exposing Abuses of Hens
8. Israeli Pressure Group Anonymous for Animal Rights Reveals Battery Cage Conditions ahead of Parliamentary Vote
9. Home of JVNA Advisor and Animal Rights Activist Rina Deych Vandalized
10. Action Alert: Lease Support Effort to get Delegates to the UN Cancun Climate Conference to Go Vegan
11. Positive Energy Initiatives in Israel
12. Famous Jewish Musician Matisyahu a Vegan?
13. Hitler Was Not a Vegetarian
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
=========================
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
Chanukah beginning on Wednesday evening, December 1 this year. Please take a look at the articles about Chanukah in the holidays section at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz and let me know if you have any suggestions for improvements. Please feel free to forward the articles to local Jewish publications and others who might be interested. And please consider using that article as a basis of a letter to the editor, a call to a talk show and for talking points with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Thanks.
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2. Happy Thanksgiving
Promoting a Gentle Thanksgiving This Year
Thanks to author, professor and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for sending the message below to us:
This is the time to spread the word about alternatives regarding Thanksgiving (Thursday the 25th this year):
Gentle Thanksgiving
http://www.gentlethanksgiving.org
---------------------------------------------------------------
Eco-Eating: Eating as if the Earth Matters
www.brook.com/veg
The Vegetarian Mitzvah
www.brook.com/jveg
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3. First Ever Global Grassroots Action to Draw Attention to Connection Between Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
I have been actively involved in this effort. Please spread the message widely.
Dear friends and supporters of the Veg Climate Alliance,
on November 29th, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico will start. Veg Climate Alliance, In Defense of Animals, Farm Animal Rights Movement, Anima Naturalis and A-Well-Fed World partnered to organize an international grassroots campaign to alert the delegates and the world at large that a change to a veg diet is needed to stop climate change.
The campaign website:
http://greenyourplate.org/
On or around December 4th, there will a Global Day of Action on which the Cancun Declaration on Livestock and Climate Change will be read in public places all over the world.
Please refer to the call to action:
http://greenyourplate.org/call-to-action/
Here also the one of Farm Animal Rights Movement:
http://biteglobalwarming.org/Alerts/VegClimateAction10.html
Besides, we are organizing an international blogging carnival:
http://greenyourplate.org/get-involved/
Our Mexican campaigners from Anima Naturalis (www.animanaturalis.org ) will also organize local events in different Mexican cities, including the distribution of vegan food, and they are in urgent need of financial support.
If you would like to learn more about the local campaigns or join or support them, please get in touch with Gerardo and Israel directly:
Israel: israelt@animanaturalis.org (Spanish and some English)
Gerardo: animaleslibertarios@hotmail.com (English and Spanish)
The Mexican campaign, Plato Verde, Planeta Verde, is also on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1473783250096&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=156525304377513
We would also be happy if your organization could endorse the Cancun Declaration using the online contact form to give it more weight, if you have not done so yet:
http://greenyourplate.org/the-cancun-declaration/
We very much appreciate your support for the campaign for the benefit of our planet! Donations will be solely used for the campaign. None of them will go to Veg Climate Alliance directly, as we are non-monetary and intend to remain so.
Let us all work together for a bright veg future of our planet and a better life for both animals and humans!
Warm regards,
Carolin
on behalf of the Veg Climate Alliance
www.vegclimatealliance.org">http://www.vegclimatealliance.org">www.vegclimatealliance.org
and the Green Your Plate, Green Your Planet Campaign
www.greenyourplate.org
-------------------------------------
http://biteglobalwarming.org/Alerts/VegClimateAction10.html
Green Your Plate, Green Your Planet- Call To Action
Please join Farm Animal Rights Movement as we team with the Veg Climate Alliance, In Defense of Animals, A Well-Fed World, and AnimaNaturalis for the first ever Global Grassroots Action to draw attention to the connection between animal agriculture and climate change. This call to action coincides with the U.N. Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, November 29 – December 10, 2010.
Join the Action In Your City!
We are encouraging activists to take action during this period by publicly reading our Declaration on Meat Consumption and Climate Change. All you need to do is go to a symbolic public location, such as a capital building, courthouse, or office of a government environmental agency, with the declaration in hand. Read the declaration through a bullhorn or microphone for the public to hear, and make sure to take pictures and/or video!
The coalition will provide you with media tips, additional event ideas, event materials, and our declaration to read when you register your event by emailing Hope@idausa.org. The international day of action is December 4th, 2010, and this is the ideal day to hold your event (however, any time between Nov. 29 and Dec. 10, 2010 will work). We plan to have dozens of events all over the world. You can be part of this empowering grassroots action to help move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
With irreversible climate disruption becoming more of a reality every day, the need to push for replacing livestock products with more sustainable alternatives is essential for all life on Earth. Numerous experts from UN agencies have assessed the livestock sector as being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector. Your action will help ensure that policies for reducing livestock are included in official discussions at Cancun!
Pressed for Time? You Can Still Help!
The coalition will be supporting activities and activists in Cancun during the UN Climate Conference, including demonstrations, presentations, artistic performances and advertisements. Please support our efforts with a generous donation.
If you are interested in organizing an event, please contact Hope Bohanec, Hope@idausa.org or 415-448-0058. Please forward this message to others who might be interested in organizing an event.
Thank You,
Michael A. Weber Campaign Consultant - Veg Climate Alliance Program Director - Farm Animal Rights Movement Michael@farmusa.org
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4. Worst Drought in Israel’s History Continuing/Jews, Muslims and Christians Pray for Rain
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=195209
Praying hard to make the rain fall
By ARIEH O’SULLIVAN THE MEDIA LINE
11/14/2010 01:07
My posting in response to the article:
This drought and the many others around the world, plus the severe heat waves, as 2010 is on track to be the warmest year in history, plus the severe storms, floods and wildfires should be wake up calls to the need to address climate change. Many are in denial about this, but there is a strong scientific consensus that climate change is a major threat, largely caused by human activities, as indicated by MANY peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals and statements by scientific academies all over the world. Israel should take the lead as a "light unto the nations."
--------------------------------------------
Message from an Israeli friend of a friend:
Do you love us ? Really ? Then why aren't you golusniks praying for rain for us, as is being done daily in nearly every shul, all over this country ! Speak to your Rabbi about it - it's in the siddur, right after sh'ma koleinu in the daily sh'moneh esrei. We need the rain very badly - so, do your part.
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5. Important Veg Movie to Open This Spring
“Forks Over Knives” argues that many diseases can be prevented, and sometimes reversed, with plant-based diets.
http://forksoverknives.com/
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6. Jewish Environmental/Social Justice Event Scheduled
Siach: An Environment and Social Justice Conversation May 12-15, 2011 Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center Falls Village, Connecticut
Apply Now
Siach: An Environment and Social Justice Conversation will launch a global network of experienced Jewish environment and social justice professionals, as well as highly dedicated lay leaders, from Israel, North America, and Europe to connect and collaborate upon a shared passion and commitment to Tzedek and Tikkun Olam.
This global network will be anchored in a series of conferences rotating around the globe, the first to take place on May 12-15, 2011 at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut and the second to take place in May 2012 in Israel. Approximately 120 participants, roughly 40% from Israel, 40% from North America, and 20% from Europe, will attend the first conference.
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7. Humane Society of the US Releases Undercover Video Exposing Abuses of Hens
I'm in Houston today for a press conference to release the results of HSUS’s latest undercover investigation into the dark world of cage confinement systems in the egg industry. This year alone, we've now gone undercover and exposed the three largest egg producers in the nation, underscoring the need to ban cages and move the egg industry toward a cage-free future. Please forward this new investigation around.
Speaking of battery cages, if you want to see some really cool work our friends in Israel are doing on the topic, click here.
And while we're talking about HSUS investigations, you may recall our case at a Vermont slaughter plant last year. Not only is the plant still shut down, but the owner of the plant just plead guilty to criminal cruelty and was sentenced not only to fines and community service, but also never to work in animal agribusiness again. Another employee of the plant still faces felony and misdemeanor cruelty charges.
Finally, if you missed The Daily Show's awesome segment on Missouri Prop B, it's hysterical and a must-watch.
Paul Shapiro Senior Director, Factory Farming Campaign The Humane Society of the United States 301-721-6432 -- http://twitter.com/pshapiro
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8. Israeli Pressure Group Anonymous for Animal Rights Reveals Battery Cage Conditions ahead of Parliamentary Vote
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/09/israel-webcam-battery-hens
A worker feeds chickens at a poultry farm in Beijing. Activists in Israel have set up a hidden webcam televising the plight of caged chickens at one Israeli farm Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images
Three hens confined to a small wire coop in a battery farm in central Israel have become the stars of a 24-hour web-feed aimed at drawing attention to the plight of caged chickens ahead of a key parliamentary vote tomorrow.
The chickens, who barely have room to move inside their 40cm x 33cm x 45cm cage, are forced to peck for food through wire mesh.
Activists from Anonymous for Animal Rights, a Tel Aviv-based pressure group, installed a hidden camera in a covert operation at an unidentified chicken farm in central Israel.
"We had to use small yet reliable equipment that could transmit continuously from the chicken coop to a PC hidden in its vicinity," said one activist involved in the operation. "Today, in the free-flowing era of the internet, one cannot hide such things any more."
The camera was well concealed, according to Chen Morad, who is running the campaign for Anonymous. "We know they are looking for it," she said.
"Most people have no idea how hens are held. On cartons you see picture of hens in meadows in the sunshine, very happy. But in reality they are kept in cages unable to spread their wings or stand up. We want people to know what these animals are going through."
A Knesset (parliamentary) committee will vote tomorrow on whether battery cages should be banned in Israel. "We hope that the MPs watch the live broadcast before the vote," said Morad.
Traffic to the site was so heavy that it crashed repeatedly today.
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9. Home of JVNA Advisor and Animal Rights Activist Rina Deych Vandalized
Forwarded message from Rina:
** Brooklyn Home of Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos Member Vandalized With Oil-Based Red Paint **
Karen Davis, of United Poultry Concerns, several others, and I started a group (an offshoot of UPC) in June of 2010, called the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos: http://endchickensaskaporos.com/
In September we had a successful rally in Crown Heights, and participated in the rescue of 103 chickens. We also held a vigil the night the actual slaughtering took place (right out in the open).
Donny Moss of Blinders filmed our efforts during all three events, and will be putting together a film on the subject.
Since September, I have displayed our banner on my home in Boro Park, Brooklyn. Last Saturday night (11/13), at about 11PM someone vandalized my home, defacing our banner and throwing bright red oil-based paint all over my front door and porch.
Here are the photos of the damage:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=296528&id=507833688
There is also a video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rd5MOii8iE
What is worse than the property damage is that my son and I have asthma. That night, I had an attack from the toxic fumes of the paint seeping into the house and just narrowly avoided a trip to the emergency room.
Of added concern is we have 11 cats, a dog, an iguana, and two parrots inside, as well as a feral cat colony of 8 outside, and I feared the fumes would harm them. About 9 AM yesterday, one of my cats started panting heavily and was crying out in pain. I rushed him to the vet, where he had a thorough exam, blood work, and chest and abdominal x-rays. After $480, they could not figure out what was wrong. Fortunately, he got better after receiving a steroid injection.
The vet did not rule out the possibility that it may have been caused by the fumes.
The night it happened, I reported it to the police, who (according to a detective I spoke with at the 66th precinct), closed out the case before even referring it to the detectives' unit.
The bottom line is: There are better ways to express one's dissatisfaction with someone's beliefs than throwing paint on their house.
Freedom of speech is legal. Vandalism is not.
Rina Deych, RN
Founding Member
Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos
[I am sure everyone will join JVNA in expressing shock at this horrible act of vandalism and in expressing support for Rina and wishing her to have only good news from now on.]
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10. Action Alert: Lease Support Effort to get Delegates to the UN Cancun Climate Conference to Go Vegan
Forwarded message:
Von: stephen_ma_tw stephen.ma.tw@gmail.com
An: animal_net@yahoogroups.com
Gesendet: Mittwoch, den 17. November 2010, 12:59:16 Uhr
Betreff: [animal_net] Meat free COP16 - ask delegates to go vegan during COP16 in Cancun,Mexico
Dear friends!
With the UNFCCC climate change summit (COP16 in Cancun) just a few short weeks away, a campaign has been launched to encourage delegates to go vegan during the event. The aim is to highlight that the number one cause of global warming is animal agriculture and all nations involved at COP16 need to remember this during the negotiations.
So please go to www.MeatFreeCOP16.org and send a letter to the delegates and the organizers of COP16 asking them to provide only plant based meals at this years UNFCCC summit.
Don't forget to spread this campaign to everyone you know!
For official reports & findings please visit: http://meatfreecop16.org/solutions/
http://meatfreecop16.org English
http://meatfreecop16.org/espanol Español
Thank You!
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11. Positive Energy Initiatives in Israel
Israel pioneering in Electric Cars
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140717
Israel Working to Reduce Dependence on Oil
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/?p=6070
Thanks to Rabbi Dovid Sears, JVNA advisor and author of “The Vision of Eden: Vegetarianism and Animal Welfare in Jewish Law and Mysticism,” for forwarding these links.
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12. Famous Jewish Musician Matisyahu a Vegan?
Forwarded article:
http://heebnvegan.blogspot.com/2010/04/four-questions-matisyahu.html
Last week, Matisyahu tweeted that he had gone vegan. I'd heard rumors that he was vegetarian, but once and for all, I needed to get to the bottom of the story. I am very pleased to post an interview with the one and only Matisyahu so that he can explain things for himself.
I've been following Matisyahu since the Shake Off the Dust ... Arise days, when I saw him sing and beatbox at a Chabad house's Shabbat dinner. Matisyahu has since gone on to mega-stardom, including having his song "One Day" be an anthem for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I think the novelty of seeing a Hassidic reggae singer is gone for a lot of people because so much time has passed since the live version of "King Without a Crown" was a radio hit. Matisyahu is still out there making heartfelt music and inspiring Jewish kids (and plenty of other people) to rock out.
Here he is in his own words.
1) I was excited to read your tweet that you've gone vegan. What led you to go vegan?
I'm not exactly vegan, not religously like keeping kosher at least. I stopped eating chicken and red meat 'cause I just figured it would be more healthy. I figured it would be more ideal to stay away from eating animals, from having meat sitting and digesting in my gut, like if I ate more plants and greens, intuitively, that seems more holy and more natural. I started thinking back on kapparos, which is the closest I ever came to an actual chicken, and how the Israeli kids were kicking around the cages and [the] noises the chickens were making before being slaughtered, and bringing my kids there to take part in the ritual, the blood, the dirty chicken feet, the sh*t everywhere. Something always kind of freaked me out about it. Then I started to really let myself think about what I am eating, i.e., that's it's actually these animals. I felt so far removed from the animals that I am actually ingesting, it just doesn't seem to me like the way it is supposed to be. I tried that for about a month and felt more conscious and clean. I noticed I was eating a lot of dairy and fish. I figured that dairy is pretty fattening, and fish these days has a lot of mercury. Also, there is a concept in chassidut of not over-indulging and keeping your desires in check, so I figured it wouldn't be so bad all around if I could eventually cut that stuff out as well. I read a couple of pamphlets on the mistreatment of milking cows, getting eggs from chickens, etc., and that pretty much sealed the deal. I haven't had any dairy in a couple months, I have eggs if they're cage-free and a couple bites of of wild salmon here and there. That's pretty much the story.
2) To what extent does Judaism inform your decision to be vegan?
I feel that while it is relatively normal to follow the ins and outs of Judaism with all its rules and regulations, especially when it comes to food, we often miss the big picture. The main idea is to be conscious of what we put in our bodies, to be healthy, to not partake in the karma of mistreating or disrespecting anything that is a part of this world, especially living creatures, etc. While I felt this way for some time, it was only recently that I was able to get past my own habits and such and to make a move, to do something, which as far as I understand, [in] Judaism is what it's all about. Action.
3) As a touring musician, do you find that it's easier to be a kashrut-observant meat-eater or vegan on the road?
Both are not simple but actually quite easy and simple when it comes down to it. It just takes preparation and not being overly attached to food. Sometimes you might have to have a protien bar and an apple for 6 hours on a plane ride instead of abusing yourself with the food everyone else is eating. It's really not the end of the world. Almost all vegan food is kosher, so it is pretty doable.
4) Several years ago, Heeb Magazine (which heebnvegan is not affiliated with) noted that Burger King tried to recruit you for an ad and have you say something along the lines of "I can't eat this, but you should" while holding a cheeseburger. Is this true, and what was your reasoning in saying no?
I believe it is sort of true, although I don't remember the exact details. The reason for saying no is pretty obvious on many levels, but mainly, cheeseburgers? Come on.
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13. Hitler Was Not a Vegetarian
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/hitler.html
Thanks to JVNA advisor and author Dan Brook for forwarding this link to us.
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=========================
** Fair Use Notice **
The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of vegetarian, environmental, nutritional, health, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for educational or research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal, technical or medical advice.
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
2. Happy Thanksgiving
3. First Ever Global Grassroots Action to Draw Attention to Connection Between Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
4. Worst Drought in Israel’s History Continuing/Jews, Muslims and Christians Pray for Rain
5. Important Veg Movie to Open This Spring
6. Jewish Environmental/Social Justice Event Scheduled
7. Humane Society of the US Releases Undercover Video Exposing Abuses of Hens
8. Israeli Pressure Group Anonymous for Animal Rights Reveals Battery Cage Conditions ahead of Parliamentary Vote
9. Home of JVNA Advisor and Animal Rights Activist Rina Deych Vandalized
10. Action Alert: Lease Support Effort to get Delegates to the UN Cancun Climate Conference to Go Vegan
11. Positive Energy Initiatives in Israel
12. Famous Jewish Musician Matisyahu a Vegan?
13. Hitler Was Not a Vegetarian
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
=========================
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
Chanukah beginning on Wednesday evening, December 1 this year. Please take a look at the articles about Chanukah in the holidays section at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz and let me know if you have any suggestions for improvements. Please feel free to forward the articles to local Jewish publications and others who might be interested. And please consider using that article as a basis of a letter to the editor, a call to a talk show and for talking points with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Thanks.
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=========================
2. Happy Thanksgiving
Promoting a Gentle Thanksgiving This Year
Thanks to author, professor and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for sending the message below to us:
This is the time to spread the word about alternatives regarding Thanksgiving (Thursday the 25th this year):
Gentle Thanksgiving
http://www.gentlethanksgiving.org
---------------------------------------------------------------
Eco-Eating: Eating as if the Earth Matters
www.brook.com/veg
The Vegetarian Mitzvah
www.brook.com/jveg
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=========================
3. First Ever Global Grassroots Action to Draw Attention to Connection Between Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
I have been actively involved in this effort. Please spread the message widely.
Dear friends and supporters of the Veg Climate Alliance,
on November 29th, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico will start. Veg Climate Alliance, In Defense of Animals, Farm Animal Rights Movement, Anima Naturalis and A-Well-Fed World partnered to organize an international grassroots campaign to alert the delegates and the world at large that a change to a veg diet is needed to stop climate change.
The campaign website:
http://greenyourplate.org/
On or around December 4th, there will a Global Day of Action on which the Cancun Declaration on Livestock and Climate Change will be read in public places all over the world.
Please refer to the call to action:
http://greenyourplate.org/call-to-action/
Here also the one of Farm Animal Rights Movement:
http://biteglobalwarming.org/Alerts/VegClimateAction10.html
Besides, we are organizing an international blogging carnival:
http://greenyourplate.org/get-involved/
Our Mexican campaigners from Anima Naturalis (www.animanaturalis.org ) will also organize local events in different Mexican cities, including the distribution of vegan food, and they are in urgent need of financial support.
If you would like to learn more about the local campaigns or join or support them, please get in touch with Gerardo and Israel directly:
Israel: israelt@animanaturalis.org (Spanish and some English)
Gerardo: animaleslibertarios@hotmail.com (English and Spanish)
The Mexican campaign, Plato Verde, Planeta Verde, is also on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1473783250096&sk=messages#!/group.php?gid=156525304377513
We would also be happy if your organization could endorse the Cancun Declaration using the online contact form to give it more weight, if you have not done so yet:
http://greenyourplate.org/the-cancun-declaration/
We very much appreciate your support for the campaign for the benefit of our planet! Donations will be solely used for the campaign. None of them will go to Veg Climate Alliance directly, as we are non-monetary and intend to remain so.
Let us all work together for a bright veg future of our planet and a better life for both animals and humans!
Warm regards,
Carolin
on behalf of the Veg Climate Alliance
www.vegclimatealliance.org">http://www.vegclimatealliance.org">www.vegclimatealliance.org
and the Green Your Plate, Green Your Planet Campaign
www.greenyourplate.org
-------------------------------------
http://biteglobalwarming.org/Alerts/VegClimateAction10.html
Green Your Plate, Green Your Planet- Call To Action
Please join Farm Animal Rights Movement as we team with the Veg Climate Alliance, In Defense of Animals, A Well-Fed World, and AnimaNaturalis for the first ever Global Grassroots Action to draw attention to the connection between animal agriculture and climate change. This call to action coincides with the U.N. Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, November 29 – December 10, 2010.
Join the Action In Your City!
We are encouraging activists to take action during this period by publicly reading our Declaration on Meat Consumption and Climate Change. All you need to do is go to a symbolic public location, such as a capital building, courthouse, or office of a government environmental agency, with the declaration in hand. Read the declaration through a bullhorn or microphone for the public to hear, and make sure to take pictures and/or video!
The coalition will provide you with media tips, additional event ideas, event materials, and our declaration to read when you register your event by emailing Hope@idausa.org. The international day of action is December 4th, 2010, and this is the ideal day to hold your event (however, any time between Nov. 29 and Dec. 10, 2010 will work). We plan to have dozens of events all over the world. You can be part of this empowering grassroots action to help move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
With irreversible climate disruption becoming more of a reality every day, the need to push for replacing livestock products with more sustainable alternatives is essential for all life on Earth. Numerous experts from UN agencies have assessed the livestock sector as being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector. Your action will help ensure that policies for reducing livestock are included in official discussions at Cancun!
Pressed for Time? You Can Still Help!
The coalition will be supporting activities and activists in Cancun during the UN Climate Conference, including demonstrations, presentations, artistic performances and advertisements. Please support our efforts with a generous donation.
If you are interested in organizing an event, please contact Hope Bohanec, Hope@idausa.org or 415-448-0058. Please forward this message to others who might be interested in organizing an event.
Thank You,
Michael A. Weber Campaign Consultant - Veg Climate Alliance Program Director - Farm Animal Rights Movement Michael@farmusa.org
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4. Worst Drought in Israel’s History Continuing/Jews, Muslims and Christians Pray for Rain
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=195209
Praying hard to make the rain fall
By ARIEH O’SULLIVAN THE MEDIA LINE
11/14/2010 01:07
My posting in response to the article:
This drought and the many others around the world, plus the severe heat waves, as 2010 is on track to be the warmest year in history, plus the severe storms, floods and wildfires should be wake up calls to the need to address climate change. Many are in denial about this, but there is a strong scientific consensus that climate change is a major threat, largely caused by human activities, as indicated by MANY peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals and statements by scientific academies all over the world. Israel should take the lead as a "light unto the nations."
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Message from an Israeli friend of a friend:
Do you love us ? Really ? Then why aren't you golusniks praying for rain for us, as is being done daily in nearly every shul, all over this country ! Speak to your Rabbi about it - it's in the siddur, right after sh'ma koleinu in the daily sh'moneh esrei. We need the rain very badly - so, do your part.
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5. Important Veg Movie to Open This Spring
“Forks Over Knives” argues that many diseases can be prevented, and sometimes reversed, with plant-based diets.
http://forksoverknives.com/
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6. Jewish Environmental/Social Justice Event Scheduled
Siach: An Environment and Social Justice Conversation May 12-15, 2011 Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center Falls Village, Connecticut
Apply Now
Siach: An Environment and Social Justice Conversation will launch a global network of experienced Jewish environment and social justice professionals, as well as highly dedicated lay leaders, from Israel, North America, and Europe to connect and collaborate upon a shared passion and commitment to Tzedek and Tikkun Olam.
This global network will be anchored in a series of conferences rotating around the globe, the first to take place on May 12-15, 2011 at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut and the second to take place in May 2012 in Israel. Approximately 120 participants, roughly 40% from Israel, 40% from North America, and 20% from Europe, will attend the first conference.
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7. Humane Society of the US Releases Undercover Video Exposing Abuses of Hens
I'm in Houston today for a press conference to release the results of HSUS’s latest undercover investigation into the dark world of cage confinement systems in the egg industry. This year alone, we've now gone undercover and exposed the three largest egg producers in the nation, underscoring the need to ban cages and move the egg industry toward a cage-free future. Please forward this new investigation around.
Speaking of battery cages, if you want to see some really cool work our friends in Israel are doing on the topic, click here.
And while we're talking about HSUS investigations, you may recall our case at a Vermont slaughter plant last year. Not only is the plant still shut down, but the owner of the plant just plead guilty to criminal cruelty and was sentenced not only to fines and community service, but also never to work in animal agribusiness again. Another employee of the plant still faces felony and misdemeanor cruelty charges.
Finally, if you missed The Daily Show's awesome segment on Missouri Prop B, it's hysterical and a must-watch.
Paul Shapiro Senior Director, Factory Farming Campaign The Humane Society of the United States 301-721-6432 -- http://twitter.com/pshapiro
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8. Israeli Pressure Group Anonymous for Animal Rights Reveals Battery Cage Conditions ahead of Parliamentary Vote
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/09/israel-webcam-battery-hens
A worker feeds chickens at a poultry farm in Beijing. Activists in Israel have set up a hidden webcam televising the plight of caged chickens at one Israeli farm Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images
Three hens confined to a small wire coop in a battery farm in central Israel have become the stars of a 24-hour web-feed aimed at drawing attention to the plight of caged chickens ahead of a key parliamentary vote tomorrow.
The chickens, who barely have room to move inside their 40cm x 33cm x 45cm cage, are forced to peck for food through wire mesh.
Activists from Anonymous for Animal Rights, a Tel Aviv-based pressure group, installed a hidden camera in a covert operation at an unidentified chicken farm in central Israel.
"We had to use small yet reliable equipment that could transmit continuously from the chicken coop to a PC hidden in its vicinity," said one activist involved in the operation. "Today, in the free-flowing era of the internet, one cannot hide such things any more."
The camera was well concealed, according to Chen Morad, who is running the campaign for Anonymous. "We know they are looking for it," she said.
"Most people have no idea how hens are held. On cartons you see picture of hens in meadows in the sunshine, very happy. But in reality they are kept in cages unable to spread their wings or stand up. We want people to know what these animals are going through."
A Knesset (parliamentary) committee will vote tomorrow on whether battery cages should be banned in Israel. "We hope that the MPs watch the live broadcast before the vote," said Morad.
Traffic to the site was so heavy that it crashed repeatedly today.
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9. Home of JVNA Advisor and Animal Rights Activist Rina Deych Vandalized
Forwarded message from Rina:
** Brooklyn Home of Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos Member Vandalized With Oil-Based Red Paint **
Karen Davis, of United Poultry Concerns, several others, and I started a group (an offshoot of UPC) in June of 2010, called the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos: http://endchickensaskaporos.com/
In September we had a successful rally in Crown Heights, and participated in the rescue of 103 chickens. We also held a vigil the night the actual slaughtering took place (right out in the open).
Donny Moss of Blinders filmed our efforts during all three events, and will be putting together a film on the subject.
Since September, I have displayed our banner on my home in Boro Park, Brooklyn. Last Saturday night (11/13), at about 11PM someone vandalized my home, defacing our banner and throwing bright red oil-based paint all over my front door and porch.
Here are the photos of the damage:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=296528&id=507833688
There is also a video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rd5MOii8iE
What is worse than the property damage is that my son and I have asthma. That night, I had an attack from the toxic fumes of the paint seeping into the house and just narrowly avoided a trip to the emergency room.
Of added concern is we have 11 cats, a dog, an iguana, and two parrots inside, as well as a feral cat colony of 8 outside, and I feared the fumes would harm them. About 9 AM yesterday, one of my cats started panting heavily and was crying out in pain. I rushed him to the vet, where he had a thorough exam, blood work, and chest and abdominal x-rays. After $480, they could not figure out what was wrong. Fortunately, he got better after receiving a steroid injection.
The vet did not rule out the possibility that it may have been caused by the fumes.
The night it happened, I reported it to the police, who (according to a detective I spoke with at the 66th precinct), closed out the case before even referring it to the detectives' unit.
The bottom line is: There are better ways to express one's dissatisfaction with someone's beliefs than throwing paint on their house.
Freedom of speech is legal. Vandalism is not.
Rina Deych, RN
Founding Member
Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos
[I am sure everyone will join JVNA in expressing shock at this horrible act of vandalism and in expressing support for Rina and wishing her to have only good news from now on.]
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10. Action Alert: Lease Support Effort to get Delegates to the UN Cancun Climate Conference to Go Vegan
Forwarded message:
Von: stephen_ma_tw stephen.ma.tw@gmail.com
An: animal_net@yahoogroups.com
Gesendet: Mittwoch, den 17. November 2010, 12:59:16 Uhr
Betreff: [animal_net] Meat free COP16 - ask delegates to go vegan during COP16 in Cancun,Mexico
Dear friends!
With the UNFCCC climate change summit (COP16 in Cancun) just a few short weeks away, a campaign has been launched to encourage delegates to go vegan during the event. The aim is to highlight that the number one cause of global warming is animal agriculture and all nations involved at COP16 need to remember this during the negotiations.
So please go to www.MeatFreeCOP16.org and send a letter to the delegates and the organizers of COP16 asking them to provide only plant based meals at this years UNFCCC summit.
Don't forget to spread this campaign to everyone you know!
For official reports & findings please visit: http://meatfreecop16.org/solutions/
http://meatfreecop16.org English
http://meatfreecop16.org/espanol Español
Thank You!
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11. Positive Energy Initiatives in Israel
Israel pioneering in Electric Cars
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140717
Israel Working to Reduce Dependence on Oil
http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/?p=6070
Thanks to Rabbi Dovid Sears, JVNA advisor and author of “The Vision of Eden: Vegetarianism and Animal Welfare in Jewish Law and Mysticism,” for forwarding these links.
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12. Famous Jewish Musician Matisyahu a Vegan?
Forwarded article:
http://heebnvegan.blogspot.com/2010/04/four-questions-matisyahu.html
Last week, Matisyahu tweeted that he had gone vegan. I'd heard rumors that he was vegetarian, but once and for all, I needed to get to the bottom of the story. I am very pleased to post an interview with the one and only Matisyahu so that he can explain things for himself.
I've been following Matisyahu since the Shake Off the Dust ... Arise days, when I saw him sing and beatbox at a Chabad house's Shabbat dinner. Matisyahu has since gone on to mega-stardom, including having his song "One Day" be an anthem for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I think the novelty of seeing a Hassidic reggae singer is gone for a lot of people because so much time has passed since the live version of "King Without a Crown" was a radio hit. Matisyahu is still out there making heartfelt music and inspiring Jewish kids (and plenty of other people) to rock out.
Here he is in his own words.
1) I was excited to read your tweet that you've gone vegan. What led you to go vegan?
I'm not exactly vegan, not religously like keeping kosher at least. I stopped eating chicken and red meat 'cause I just figured it would be more healthy. I figured it would be more ideal to stay away from eating animals, from having meat sitting and digesting in my gut, like if I ate more plants and greens, intuitively, that seems more holy and more natural. I started thinking back on kapparos, which is the closest I ever came to an actual chicken, and how the Israeli kids were kicking around the cages and [the] noises the chickens were making before being slaughtered, and bringing my kids there to take part in the ritual, the blood, the dirty chicken feet, the sh*t everywhere. Something always kind of freaked me out about it. Then I started to really let myself think about what I am eating, i.e., that's it's actually these animals. I felt so far removed from the animals that I am actually ingesting, it just doesn't seem to me like the way it is supposed to be. I tried that for about a month and felt more conscious and clean. I noticed I was eating a lot of dairy and fish. I figured that dairy is pretty fattening, and fish these days has a lot of mercury. Also, there is a concept in chassidut of not over-indulging and keeping your desires in check, so I figured it wouldn't be so bad all around if I could eventually cut that stuff out as well. I read a couple of pamphlets on the mistreatment of milking cows, getting eggs from chickens, etc., and that pretty much sealed the deal. I haven't had any dairy in a couple months, I have eggs if they're cage-free and a couple bites of of wild salmon here and there. That's pretty much the story.
2) To what extent does Judaism inform your decision to be vegan?
I feel that while it is relatively normal to follow the ins and outs of Judaism with all its rules and regulations, especially when it comes to food, we often miss the big picture. The main idea is to be conscious of what we put in our bodies, to be healthy, to not partake in the karma of mistreating or disrespecting anything that is a part of this world, especially living creatures, etc. While I felt this way for some time, it was only recently that I was able to get past my own habits and such and to make a move, to do something, which as far as I understand, [in] Judaism is what it's all about. Action.
3) As a touring musician, do you find that it's easier to be a kashrut-observant meat-eater or vegan on the road?
Both are not simple but actually quite easy and simple when it comes down to it. It just takes preparation and not being overly attached to food. Sometimes you might have to have a protien bar and an apple for 6 hours on a plane ride instead of abusing yourself with the food everyone else is eating. It's really not the end of the world. Almost all vegan food is kosher, so it is pretty doable.
4) Several years ago, Heeb Magazine (which heebnvegan is not affiliated with) noted that Burger King tried to recruit you for an ad and have you say something along the lines of "I can't eat this, but you should" while holding a cheeseburger. Is this true, and what was your reasoning in saying no?
I believe it is sort of true, although I don't remember the exact details. The reason for saying no is pretty obvious on many levels, but mainly, cheeseburgers? Come on.
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13. Hitler Was Not a Vegetarian
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/hitler.html
Thanks to JVNA advisor and author Dan Brook for forwarding this link to us.
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The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of vegetarian, environmental, nutritional, health, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for educational or research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal, technical or medical advice.
November 11, 2010
11/08/2010 JVNA Online Newsletter
Shalom everyone,
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
2. Israel and the Palestine Authority Declare War … Against Climate Change
3. Responding to the Midterm U.S. Election Results Re Climate Change and Other
Environmental Issues
3a. Climate Scientists Plan to Challenge Climate Deniers
4. Working With “Republicans for Environmental Protection”
5. Efforts to Get the Connections Between Animal-Based Agriculture and Climate Change Onto the World’s Agenda
6. Links to Many Hebrew and English Animal Rights Web Sites
7. Conservative Movement Promoting Greener Jewish Responses
8. Seeking Volunteers/Getting Our Messages Out More Effectively
9. Israeli University-Based Environmental Group to Extend Its Activities to the Broader Israeli Community
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
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1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
With Chanukah beginning on Wednesday evening, December 1 this year, I plan to send out my article “Chanukah and Vegetarianism” widely.
Please take a look at the article in the holidays section at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz and let me know if you have any suggestions for improvements. Please feel free to forward the article to others who might be interested. And please consider using that article as a basis of a letter to the editor, a call to a talk show and for talking points with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Thanks.
A sample letter is below:
Dear Editor:
I hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of the beautiful and spiritually meaningful holiday of Chanukah this year by making it a time to begin applying Judaism's highest moral values and teachings in response to climate change and other current environmental crises. One way to do this is by moving toward a vegetarian diet.
Chanukah commemorates the miracle of the oil that was enough for only one day, but miraculously lasted for eight days. A switch to vegetarianism on the part of the world's people could result in another great miracle: the end of the scandal of world hunger, which results in the death of an estimated 20 million people annually, while over a third of the world's grain is fed to
animals destined for slaughter.
The miracle of the oil brings the use of fuel and other resources into focus, and vegetarian diets make resources go much further, since far less water, fuel, land, pesticides, fertilizer, and other agricultural resources are required for plant-based diets than for animal-centered diets. Besides moving our imperiled planet to a more sustainable path, a switch toward vegetarian diets would greatly benefit the health of individuals and would sharply reduce the present mistreatment of billions of farmed animals. It would also help revitalize Judaism by showing the relevance of our eternal values to current critical issues.
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2. Israel and the Palestine Authority Declare War … Against Climate Change
Israel and the Palestine Authority Declare War … Against Climate Change
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41930
[Great to see this example of cooperation.]
ENN Environmental News Network
From: Susan Kraemer, Green Prophet
Published October 27, 2010 09:25 AM
Many thanks to author and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for forwarding this link to us.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are among 15 Mediterranean nations who have just signed a historic agreement to work together to combat the effects of climate change, one month ahead of the next United Nations conference on climate change, meeting at Cancun in November.
The Mediterranean Climate Change Initiative was inaugurated by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to develop common Mediterranean positions on climate change and was signed by the prime ministers or top environmental officials of 15 countries who agree that climate change threatens their way of life as peoples of the Mediterranean.
Most remarkable of all, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed on to the initiative. Signatories included a wide assortment of countries: EU members like France, Spain, Italy, and Greece; Eastern European countries like Turkey, Croatia, Romania and Macedonia, and Middle Eastern countries, like Libya, Syria and Egypt. The declaration called for contributing to the emergence of low carbon,
resource efficient and climate resilient economies.
Israel’s president had committed the nation to reduce carbon emissions 20% by 2020 at Copenhagen last year. To achieve the reduction in carbon, Israel’s state-owned electricity company the IEC (Israel Electric Corporation) which supplies nearly all of the electricity for both states, would need to supply a higher percentage of the total electricity (about 12,000 megawatts) that currently powers the two tiny states – with clean energy.
A few solar CSP, solar PV and wind farms would make an enormous reduction quickly, given that the total electricity used is relatively small. Both Israel and Palestine are acutely aware of their vulnerability to climate change, which is expected to make water resources even more scarce for what is already the most water-stressed highly populated area in the world.
The region faces a potential 4 degree rise in average temperatures and a 70% drop in precipitation. Sea level rise is expected to further contaminate nearby aquifers such as the coastal aquifer of Gaza that provides water to 1.5 million Palestinians. The annual decrease in rainfall is already raising farm prices for fruits and vegetables, and creating a two-tiered class system for water: those who can afford to pay, and those who can’t.
One diplomat at the meeting said “It is a new way of doing diplomacy because all these countries have a lot of problems to deal with — economic crises, political instability and other issues — and the conflicts between them. However, they sat around the same table realizing that they all face the same threat to their culture and their way of life.”
To a US observer like me, it seems remarkable that all of these nations, let alone Israel and Palestine can agree on something that has become so contentious here in the United States that one entire party here (the Republicans) not only will not agree to any reductions in fossil fuel dependence to address the catastrophic climate destabilization problems created – but won’t even admit that there is any problem to address.
So congratulations to Israel and Palestine on your declaration of war.
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3. Responding to the Midterm U.S. Election Results Re Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues
Two forwarded articles below. The first considers the outlook for climate-related actions in the U.S. congress, and the second one outlines a plan of action to get climate change onto the nation’s agenda. Comments and suggestions welcome as always. Thanks.
Outlook for Action on Climate Change and other Environmental Issues in the New Congress Not Good
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/business/energy-environment/04enviro.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Following last night’s election, over 100 freshmen Republicans will take their seats in the 112th Congress. These GOPers come from disparate backgrounds, but they are united by their adherence to the extreme wing of conservative ideology.
A new ThinkProgress investigation has found that the incoming GOP freshman class is rife with legislators who not only oppose climate change legislation, but deny that manmade global warming even exists. They are pushing not just to end birthright citizenship, but also demand that the United States reduce the number of legal immigrants.
Here is a snapshot of the GOP Class of 2010’s extremism:
ENVIRONMENT
- 50% deny the existence of manmade climate change
- 86% are opposed
to any climate change legislation that increases government revenue
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Future Hope column, November 7, 2010
What Now?
By Ted Glick
"We need to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people, combined with thousands participating in strategic nonviolent civil disobedience, behind a message and a program that is popular, not narrow, and which targets the oil and coal companies, the for-profit health care industry, the too-big-to-fail greedy and criminal bankers, the military-industrial complex--in short, the powerful monied interests.
. ."
* * * * * *
The results of the November 2 elections, overall, were very sobering. It wasn't just the Tea Party and Republican victories in House and Senate seats but their striking successes in gubernatorial and state house and senate races. One analysis that I saw said that, after the redrawing of electoral district boundaries over the next two years by much more heavily Republican state governments, the Democrats will need to win the equivalent of 15-20 more seats to retake the House than is true right now.
Of course, the Democrats had overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress and control of the White House for two years, and there were serious flaws in much of what they produced and some things that weren't accomplished at all, like decent climate legislation, action to match the need as far as unemployment and mortgage foreclosures, immigrant rights legislation, serious action against criminal bankers, a reduction of the military budget and labor law reform.
Is it too much to hope that the election results will lead many, many more progressives to realize that it's time--it's past time--to stop expecting that the Democratic Party is going to provide the solutions we need? Or, at least, that the Dems will ever stand up to the corporate powers-that-be without strong and visible, massive grassroots pressure? Will a critical mass of us see and act upon the fact that the economic/climate/
social/political catastrophes that we are in and facing will never be solved absent a powerful, unified, independent, visible, grassroots-based, progressive political movement?
In a Future Hope column many years ago I wrote about what I saw as the three absolute prerequisites if we were to have any hope of transformative change in the USA.
One is the existence of thousands and thousands of community-based and workplace-based organizations all over the country. These organizations would be--are being--led by and accountable to and take action on the key issues of low-income, working-class, disenfranchised and/or decent people in all kinds of communities and workplaces.
Second, we need something similar to, with some key differences, the Rainbow Coalition movement of the 1980’s, a "third force" alternative to the Democrats and Republicans which supports candidates for office who are part of and connected to the various social and popular movements of the people. One difference is that it has to be more independent, more consciously involve third party supporters as well as progressive Democrats. Another is that it can't be built around the personal charisma of one person. It needs a leadership, not just a leader.
Third, we need something like what we saw in this country, and the world, from 1999 to 2001 with the global justice movement that challenged the World Trade Organization, the IMF, the World Bank and similar institutions. Beginning in the USA in Seattle, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets as part of legal marches and as part of mass civil disobedience actions, mainly nonviolent, over and over again during this time. It was still a rising force when the 9/11/2001 Al Qaeda attacks stopped it and diverted much of its energy into the Iraq anti-war movement.
My sense of what is the priority task, not the only one but the priority, following the elections is to consciously forge a broad progressive alliance to plan for and organize a massive "street heat" set of actions in D.C. and elsewhere in 2011, possibly in the spring but no later than the early fall.
We need to shift the political dynamic in the country. This is what the Tea Party--they were then the "tea baggers"--did with their September 12th, 2009 demonstration at the U.S. Capitol.
We need to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people, combined with thousands participating in strategic nonviolent civil disobedience, united behind a message and a program that is popular, not narrow, and which targets the oil and coal companies, the for-profit health care industry, the too-big-to-fail greedy and criminal bankers, the war profiteers--in short, the powerful monied interests who have hijacked our democracy and are pulling the strings behind the Tea Party, the Republican Party and powerful sections of the Democratic Party.
That's what I see as the most important thing to be done right now.
I welcome constructive criticisms and response.
Ted Glick's past writings and other information can be found at http://www.tedglick.com.
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3a. Climate Scientists Plan to Challenge Climate Deniers
Scientists Plan to Challenge Climate Deniers
Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times November 8, 2010
Intro: "The American Geophysical Union plans to announce Monday that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. The effort is a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions."
READ MORE:
http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/49-49/3870-scientists-plan-to-challenge-climate-deniers
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4. Working With “Republicans for Environmental Protection”
While, as indicated before, almost all Republican politicians seem to be in denial about climate change, there is a wonderful group “Republicans for Environmental Protection” that is promoting positive responses to climate change and other environmental threats. I have been in touch with their dedicated president, urging him to issue a statement and/or take some other action to help get climate change onto the midterm electoral agenda. He is sympathetic and supportive, but so far has not been able to make major progress in getting Republican politicians to support legislation to combat climate change.. Please visit their web site http://www.repamerica.org/
Then please contact their president (Rob Sisson: rsisson@rep.org; commend him and REP for their environmental positions, and urge him to help get climate change to be an issue for the next congress. This has the potential of making a major difference, since so many Republicans are in denial on what should be a major issue.
Some of REP’s very good material on climate change and other environmental issues can be found at the following web sites:
http://www.rep.org/opinions/op-eds/141.html
http://climateconservative.org/Audio_Podcast_interview_with_George_Shultz_July_19_2010.mp3
http://www.rep.org/climate_presentation.html
www.climateconservative.org
http://www.rep.org/C.E.P.Quarterly_spring09.pdf (God’s Climate Plan)
Their website has hundreds of pieces, published all around the country. Below is the link to an article about the denial of Republican politicians about climate change:
Republican Candidates in Denial About Climate Change
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/28/102803/gop-senate-candidates-among-global.html
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5. Efforts to Get the Connections Between Animal-Based Agriculture and Climate
Change Onto the World’s Agenda
In addition to being president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, I am also director of “Veg Climate Alliance.” In that position, as the message below indicates, I am working with other veg and animal rights groups to try to increase awareness worldwide of the major contribution of animal-based agriculture to climate change. Please help spread the word about this and also please consider organizing an event, as suggested in the message below.
Thanks.
Green Your Plate, Green Your Planet- Call To Action
Please join the Veg Climate Alliance, In Defense of Animals, Farm Animal Rights Movement, A Well-Fed World, and AnimaNaturalis, an unprecedented coalition of vegetarian and animal rights groups, for the first ever Global Grassroots Action to draw attention to the connection of animal agriculture to climate change.
This call to action coincides with the U.N. Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, November 29 – December 10, 2010.
Join the Action In Your City!
We are encouraging activists to take action during this period by publicly reading our Declaration on Meat Consumption and Climate Change. (http://vegclimatealliance.org/)
All you need to do is go to a symbolic public location, such as a capital building, courthouse, or office of a government environmental agency with the declaration in hand. Read the declaration through a bullhorn or microphone for the public to hear, and make sure to take pictures and/or video!
The coalition will provide you with media tips, additional event ideas, leafleting materials, and our declaration to read when you register your event by emailing hope@idausa.org. The international day of action is December 4th, 2010, and this is the ideal day to hold your event (however, any time between Nov. 29 and Dec. 10, 2010 will work). We plan to have dozens of events all over the world. You can be part of this empowering grassroots action to help move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
With irreversible climate disruption becoming more of a reality every day, the need to push for replacing livestock products with more sustainable alternatives is essential for all life on Earth. Numerous experts from UN agencies have assessed the livestock sector as being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector.
Your action will help ensure that policies for reducing livestock are included in official discussions at Cancun!
Pressed for Time? You Can Still Help!
The coalition will be supporting activities and activists in Cancun during the UN Climate Conference, including demonstrations, presentations, artistic performances and advertisements. Please support our efforts with a generous donation. (https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Donation2?df_id=2380&2380.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=a05w9c37f1.app245b)
If you are interested in organizing an event, please contact Hope Bohanec, hope@idausa.org or 415-448-0058. Please forward this message to others who might be interested in organizing an event. Thanks!
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=========================
6. Links to Many Hebrew and English Animal Rights Web Sites
http://www.animal-tv.org/html/english/links.html#1
Thanks to author, professor and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for sending us this link.
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=========================
7. Conservative Movement Promoting Greener Jewish Responses
Forwarded article:
Conservative movement launches ‘green’ initiative November 2, 2010
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/11/02/2741540/conservative-movement-
launches-greening-initiative
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- The Conservative movement has launched a movement-wide
environmental initiative. Called the Sustainable Synagogues Initiative, the project seeks to provide resources to encourage Conservative institutions to adopt “green” policies.
The initiative is a joint project of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which have joined the interfaith environmental coalition GreenFaith in what the latter’s leadership calls “the most comprehensive, denomination-wide effort on the environment we’ve ever seen.”
The initiative will unfold over three years, beginning in December with the release of the first resource focusing on energy conservation and renewable energy. Two free resources will be issued each year to help congregations and households address environmental concerns.
Materials will be provided to help congregations incorporate environmental practices into their daily functioning and educational curricula, as well as giving tips to individuals to use at home.
Later this fall, a yearlong webinar hosted by the Jewish National Fund will teach synagogues about water and energy conservation. A select number of Conservative synagogues and leaders will be offered scholarships to the GreenFaith Certification and Fellowship program, a multi-faith religious-
environmental education and training program.
The Sustainable Synagogues Initiative grew out of conversations between Rabbi Charles Simon of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs and Rabbi Lawrence Troster of GreenFaith in Israel in 2008.
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=========================
8. Seeking Volunteers/Getting Our Messages Out More Effectively
As I have often stated, we have truth, morality, justice and other positive values on our side, but we do not have the resources we need to get our messages out as much as we would like. We are willing to engage in respectful dialogues on “Should Jews Be Vegetarians?” but the establishment continues to duck the issues. And, with the increasing reports about climate-related events and about connections of animal-based diets to climate change, it is more and more important that people realize that a major shift to vegetarianism is essential to help shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
So, please help spread the Jewish and general vegetarian messages as much as you can.
· Make people aware of the many articles and other material at the JVNA web site JewishVeg.com, including my over 140 articles and 25 podcasts of my talks and interviews at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz.
· Inform people that our acclaimed, award-winning documentary “Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the world” can be seen at ASacredDuty.com. If possible arrange for a showing of the documentary.
· Write letters to editors and call in to talk shows.
· Speak to your friends, neighbors, family, co-workers and others.
In addition, we could use volunteers to help spread our message. What would be especially valuable would be to compile email lists of Jewish publications, rabbis, synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish and health-related blogs. If you can help with this, please let me know. Many thanks.
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=========================
9. Israeli University-Based Environmental Group to Extend Its Activities to the Broader Israeli Community
Message from Green Course Director Gil Ya’acov:
Dear Friends,
I hope everything is well with you. We have some important news to tell you, which relates to our strategic direction, and though these decisions have not been fully formalized, I thought that, as one of our supporters, it is important to bring you up to speed.
In the past few years Green Course has emerged as Israel's leading platform for environmental activism, with thousands of student-volunteers raising their voices in campuses throughout the country. Alongside that, however, we have experienced a tremendous rise in non-campus interest in activism, among members of the general public engaging in our campus-initiated activities.
This trend provided the opportunity for us to better understand the implications and opportunities of the rise of Israeli environmental awareness, and so we began an intense organizational evaluation and re-thinking process, involving all levels of the organization: student chapter directors, board members and staff, as well as external consultants.? Our goal was to reevaluate Green Course's orientation, in order to ensure maximum impact.
Our discussions centered around 2 major changes that have occurred in Israeli society in recent years:?
1. A significant increase in environmental awareness among the general public. This has been reflected not only in the substantial increase in the number of non-students contacting Green Course out of a desire to promote environmental issues, but also in an increase in public discussion and published “green” news items in the media. In our eyes, this rise in awareness holds great potential in as long as it is translated into meaningful, proactive, public pressure on decision makers.
2. Decision makers and various leading corporations, on the other hand – both on the national and local levels – speak often of, or even commit to, “green”
issues, though they all too often leave these issues without following through with their commitments in actuality.? These undeniable trends have led us to conclude that there is a substantial need to expand Green Course's activities beyond the campuses and into the general public. To that end, Green Course has designated the next year as a “transition period” to change our focus from a campus-only orientation, to a student-led public movement.
In no way does this enlarged focus mean that we will lose sight of our campus roots. Rather, Green Course aims to leverage its outreach and continue nourishing students as the next generation of environmental leaders in Israel.
In parallel, however, we have decided that over the next year, we will be actively inviting the public to be involved in our campaigns. Our goal is to provide an effective framework for the wider public to increase public pressure on decision makers and bring about real change pertaining to issues of social-environmental concern.
We believe that the conditions for this change are ideal for a number of reasons: First, Green Course is already positioned and recognized as the leading environmental activist organization in Israel, and many of our current activities already receive public support.? Secondly, Green Course’s unique national outreach enables us leverage our presence in cities where other environmental organizations are weak – for example in Sderot and Rehovot.
On the practical level, in addition to our target population, these changes are expected to be expressed in an organizational shift to geographically based Chapters in selected areas. In turning to the public, we have also decided to begin with our close circle – by re-engaging our alumni. As many of them today are into their careers and family lives, they usually are not prone to volunteer, but can provide a significant potential boost to our organizational capacity by providing other resources.
One of the first steps we have taken in this direction has been to change our title from "Green Course – Students for the Environment" to "Green Course -
Leading Activism for the Environment".
I look forward to sharing with you more on this soon, and to inform you on how all this is impacting our leadership training program and campaigns. In the meantime, I am eager to hear your thoughts and insights about our directions.
Please feel free to contact me at gil@green.org.il.
Looking forward to a meaningful and impactful year,
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The material on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes. It may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of vegetarian, environmental, nutritional, health, economic, social justice and human rights issues etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for educational or research purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The information on this site does not constitute legal, technical or medical advice.
This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
2. Israel and the Palestine Authority Declare War … Against Climate Change
3. Responding to the Midterm U.S. Election Results Re Climate Change and Other
Environmental Issues
3a. Climate Scientists Plan to Challenge Climate Deniers
4. Working With “Republicans for Environmental Protection”
5. Efforts to Get the Connections Between Animal-Based Agriculture and Climate Change Onto the World’s Agenda
6. Links to Many Hebrew and English Animal Rights Web Sites
7. Conservative Movement Promoting Greener Jewish Responses
8. Seeking Volunteers/Getting Our Messages Out More Effectively
9. Israeli University-Based Environmental Group to Extend Its Activities to the Broader Israeli Community
Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.
[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]
Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.
As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks,
Richard
=========================
1. Chanukah and Vegetarianism
With Chanukah beginning on Wednesday evening, December 1 this year, I plan to send out my article “Chanukah and Vegetarianism” widely.
Please take a look at the article in the holidays section at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz and let me know if you have any suggestions for improvements. Please feel free to forward the article to others who might be interested. And please consider using that article as a basis of a letter to the editor, a call to a talk show and for talking points with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Thanks.
A sample letter is below:
Dear Editor:
I hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of the beautiful and spiritually meaningful holiday of Chanukah this year by making it a time to begin applying Judaism's highest moral values and teachings in response to climate change and other current environmental crises. One way to do this is by moving toward a vegetarian diet.
Chanukah commemorates the miracle of the oil that was enough for only one day, but miraculously lasted for eight days. A switch to vegetarianism on the part of the world's people could result in another great miracle: the end of the scandal of world hunger, which results in the death of an estimated 20 million people annually, while over a third of the world's grain is fed to
animals destined for slaughter.
The miracle of the oil brings the use of fuel and other resources into focus, and vegetarian diets make resources go much further, since far less water, fuel, land, pesticides, fertilizer, and other agricultural resources are required for plant-based diets than for animal-centered diets. Besides moving our imperiled planet to a more sustainable path, a switch toward vegetarian diets would greatly benefit the health of individuals and would sharply reduce the present mistreatment of billions of farmed animals. It would also help revitalize Judaism by showing the relevance of our eternal values to current critical issues.
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=========================
2. Israel and the Palestine Authority Declare War … Against Climate Change
Israel and the Palestine Authority Declare War … Against Climate Change
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41930
[Great to see this example of cooperation.]
ENN Environmental News Network
From: Susan Kraemer, Green Prophet
Published October 27, 2010 09:25 AM
Many thanks to author and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for forwarding this link to us.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are among 15 Mediterranean nations who have just signed a historic agreement to work together to combat the effects of climate change, one month ahead of the next United Nations conference on climate change, meeting at Cancun in November.
The Mediterranean Climate Change Initiative was inaugurated by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to develop common Mediterranean positions on climate change and was signed by the prime ministers or top environmental officials of 15 countries who agree that climate change threatens their way of life as peoples of the Mediterranean.
Most remarkable of all, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed on to the initiative. Signatories included a wide assortment of countries: EU members like France, Spain, Italy, and Greece; Eastern European countries like Turkey, Croatia, Romania and Macedonia, and Middle Eastern countries, like Libya, Syria and Egypt. The declaration called for contributing to the emergence of low carbon,
resource efficient and climate resilient economies.
Israel’s president had committed the nation to reduce carbon emissions 20% by 2020 at Copenhagen last year. To achieve the reduction in carbon, Israel’s state-owned electricity company the IEC (Israel Electric Corporation) which supplies nearly all of the electricity for both states, would need to supply a higher percentage of the total electricity (about 12,000 megawatts) that currently powers the two tiny states – with clean energy.
A few solar CSP, solar PV and wind farms would make an enormous reduction quickly, given that the total electricity used is relatively small. Both Israel and Palestine are acutely aware of their vulnerability to climate change, which is expected to make water resources even more scarce for what is already the most water-stressed highly populated area in the world.
The region faces a potential 4 degree rise in average temperatures and a 70% drop in precipitation. Sea level rise is expected to further contaminate nearby aquifers such as the coastal aquifer of Gaza that provides water to 1.5 million Palestinians. The annual decrease in rainfall is already raising farm prices for fruits and vegetables, and creating a two-tiered class system for water: those who can afford to pay, and those who can’t.
One diplomat at the meeting said “It is a new way of doing diplomacy because all these countries have a lot of problems to deal with — economic crises, political instability and other issues — and the conflicts between them. However, they sat around the same table realizing that they all face the same threat to their culture and their way of life.”
To a US observer like me, it seems remarkable that all of these nations, let alone Israel and Palestine can agree on something that has become so contentious here in the United States that one entire party here (the Republicans) not only will not agree to any reductions in fossil fuel dependence to address the catastrophic climate destabilization problems created – but won’t even admit that there is any problem to address.
So congratulations to Israel and Palestine on your declaration of war.
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3. Responding to the Midterm U.S. Election Results Re Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues
Two forwarded articles below. The first considers the outlook for climate-related actions in the U.S. congress, and the second one outlines a plan of action to get climate change onto the nation’s agenda. Comments and suggestions welcome as always. Thanks.
Outlook for Action on Climate Change and other Environmental Issues in the New Congress Not Good
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/business/energy-environment/04enviro.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Following last night’s election, over 100 freshmen Republicans will take their seats in the 112th Congress. These GOPers come from disparate backgrounds, but they are united by their adherence to the extreme wing of conservative ideology.
A new ThinkProgress investigation has found that the incoming GOP freshman class is rife with legislators who not only oppose climate change legislation, but deny that manmade global warming even exists. They are pushing not just to end birthright citizenship, but also demand that the United States reduce the number of legal immigrants.
Here is a snapshot of the GOP Class of 2010’s extremism:
ENVIRONMENT
- 50% deny the existence of manmade climate change
- 86% are opposed
to any climate change legislation that increases government revenue
------------------------------------------------------
Future Hope column, November 7, 2010
What Now?
By Ted Glick
"We need to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people, combined with thousands participating in strategic nonviolent civil disobedience, behind a message and a program that is popular, not narrow, and which targets the oil and coal companies, the for-profit health care industry, the too-big-to-fail greedy and criminal bankers, the military-industrial complex--in short, the powerful monied interests.
. ."
* * * * * *
The results of the November 2 elections, overall, were very sobering. It wasn't just the Tea Party and Republican victories in House and Senate seats but their striking successes in gubernatorial and state house and senate races. One analysis that I saw said that, after the redrawing of electoral district boundaries over the next two years by much more heavily Republican state governments, the Democrats will need to win the equivalent of 15-20 more seats to retake the House than is true right now.
Of course, the Democrats had overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress and control of the White House for two years, and there were serious flaws in much of what they produced and some things that weren't accomplished at all, like decent climate legislation, action to match the need as far as unemployment and mortgage foreclosures, immigrant rights legislation, serious action against criminal bankers, a reduction of the military budget and labor law reform.
Is it too much to hope that the election results will lead many, many more progressives to realize that it's time--it's past time--to stop expecting that the Democratic Party is going to provide the solutions we need? Or, at least, that the Dems will ever stand up to the corporate powers-that-be without strong and visible, massive grassroots pressure? Will a critical mass of us see and act upon the fact that the economic/climate/
social/political catastrophes that we are in and facing will never be solved absent a powerful, unified, independent, visible, grassroots-based, progressive political movement?
In a Future Hope column many years ago I wrote about what I saw as the three absolute prerequisites if we were to have any hope of transformative change in the USA.
One is the existence of thousands and thousands of community-based and workplace-based organizations all over the country. These organizations would be--are being--led by and accountable to and take action on the key issues of low-income, working-class, disenfranchised and/or decent people in all kinds of communities and workplaces.
Second, we need something similar to, with some key differences, the Rainbow Coalition movement of the 1980’s, a "third force" alternative to the Democrats and Republicans which supports candidates for office who are part of and connected to the various social and popular movements of the people. One difference is that it has to be more independent, more consciously involve third party supporters as well as progressive Democrats. Another is that it can't be built around the personal charisma of one person. It needs a leadership, not just a leader.
Third, we need something like what we saw in this country, and the world, from 1999 to 2001 with the global justice movement that challenged the World Trade Organization, the IMF, the World Bank and similar institutions. Beginning in the USA in Seattle, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets as part of legal marches and as part of mass civil disobedience actions, mainly nonviolent, over and over again during this time. It was still a rising force when the 9/11/2001 Al Qaeda attacks stopped it and diverted much of its energy into the Iraq anti-war movement.
My sense of what is the priority task, not the only one but the priority, following the elections is to consciously forge a broad progressive alliance to plan for and organize a massive "street heat" set of actions in D.C. and elsewhere in 2011, possibly in the spring but no later than the early fall.
We need to shift the political dynamic in the country. This is what the Tea Party--they were then the "tea baggers"--did with their September 12th, 2009 demonstration at the U.S. Capitol.
We need to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people, combined with thousands participating in strategic nonviolent civil disobedience, united behind a message and a program that is popular, not narrow, and which targets the oil and coal companies, the for-profit health care industry, the too-big-to-fail greedy and criminal bankers, the war profiteers--in short, the powerful monied interests who have hijacked our democracy and are pulling the strings behind the Tea Party, the Republican Party and powerful sections of the Democratic Party.
That's what I see as the most important thing to be done right now.
I welcome constructive criticisms and response.
Ted Glick's past writings and other information can be found at http://www.tedglick.com.
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=========================
3a. Climate Scientists Plan to Challenge Climate Deniers
Scientists Plan to Challenge Climate Deniers
Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times November 8, 2010
Intro: "The American Geophysical Union plans to announce Monday that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. The effort is a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions."
READ MORE:
http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/49-49/3870-scientists-plan-to-challenge-climate-deniers
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=========================
4. Working With “Republicans for Environmental Protection”
While, as indicated before, almost all Republican politicians seem to be in denial about climate change, there is a wonderful group “Republicans for Environmental Protection” that is promoting positive responses to climate change and other environmental threats. I have been in touch with their dedicated president, urging him to issue a statement and/or take some other action to help get climate change onto the midterm electoral agenda. He is sympathetic and supportive, but so far has not been able to make major progress in getting Republican politicians to support legislation to combat climate change.. Please visit their web site http://www.repamerica.org/
Then please contact their president (Rob Sisson: rsisson@rep.org; commend him and REP for their environmental positions, and urge him to help get climate change to be an issue for the next congress. This has the potential of making a major difference, since so many Republicans are in denial on what should be a major issue.
Some of REP’s very good material on climate change and other environmental issues can be found at the following web sites:
http://www.rep.org/opinions/op-eds/141.html
http://climateconservative.org/Audio_Podcast_interview_with_George_Shultz_July_19_2010.mp3
http://www.rep.org/climate_presentation.html
www.climateconservative.org
http://www.rep.org/C.E.P.Quarterly_spring09.pdf (God’s Climate Plan)
Their website has hundreds of pieces, published all around the country. Below is the link to an article about the denial of Republican politicians about climate change:
Republican Candidates in Denial About Climate Change
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/28/102803/gop-senate-candidates-among-global.html
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=========================
5. Efforts to Get the Connections Between Animal-Based Agriculture and Climate
Change Onto the World’s Agenda
In addition to being president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, I am also director of “Veg Climate Alliance.” In that position, as the message below indicates, I am working with other veg and animal rights groups to try to increase awareness worldwide of the major contribution of animal-based agriculture to climate change. Please help spread the word about this and also please consider organizing an event, as suggested in the message below.
Thanks.
Green Your Plate, Green Your Planet- Call To Action
Please join the Veg Climate Alliance, In Defense of Animals, Farm Animal Rights Movement, A Well-Fed World, and AnimaNaturalis, an unprecedented coalition of vegetarian and animal rights groups, for the first ever Global Grassroots Action to draw attention to the connection of animal agriculture to climate change.
This call to action coincides with the U.N. Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, November 29 – December 10, 2010.
Join the Action In Your City!
We are encouraging activists to take action during this period by publicly reading our Declaration on Meat Consumption and Climate Change. (http://vegclimatealliance.org/)
All you need to do is go to a symbolic public location, such as a capital building, courthouse, or office of a government environmental agency with the declaration in hand. Read the declaration through a bullhorn or microphone for the public to hear, and make sure to take pictures and/or video!
The coalition will provide you with media tips, additional event ideas, leafleting materials, and our declaration to read when you register your event by emailing hope@idausa.org. The international day of action is December 4th, 2010, and this is the ideal day to hold your event (however, any time between Nov. 29 and Dec. 10, 2010 will work). We plan to have dozens of events all over the world. You can be part of this empowering grassroots action to help move our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
With irreversible climate disruption becoming more of a reality every day, the need to push for replacing livestock products with more sustainable alternatives is essential for all life on Earth. Numerous experts from UN agencies have assessed the livestock sector as being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector.
Your action will help ensure that policies for reducing livestock are included in official discussions at Cancun!
Pressed for Time? You Can Still Help!
The coalition will be supporting activities and activists in Cancun during the UN Climate Conference, including demonstrations, presentations, artistic performances and advertisements. Please support our efforts with a generous donation. (https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Donation2?df_id=2380&2380.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=a05w9c37f1.app245b)
If you are interested in organizing an event, please contact Hope Bohanec, hope@idausa.org or 415-448-0058. Please forward this message to others who might be interested in organizing an event. Thanks!
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=========================
6. Links to Many Hebrew and English Animal Rights Web Sites
http://www.animal-tv.org/html/english/links.html#1
Thanks to author, professor and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for sending us this link.
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=========================
7. Conservative Movement Promoting Greener Jewish Responses
Forwarded article:
Conservative movement launches ‘green’ initiative November 2, 2010
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/11/02/2741540/conservative-movement-
launches-greening-initiative
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- The Conservative movement has launched a movement-wide
environmental initiative. Called the Sustainable Synagogues Initiative, the project seeks to provide resources to encourage Conservative institutions to adopt “green” policies.
The initiative is a joint project of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which have joined the interfaith environmental coalition GreenFaith in what the latter’s leadership calls “the most comprehensive, denomination-wide effort on the environment we’ve ever seen.”
The initiative will unfold over three years, beginning in December with the release of the first resource focusing on energy conservation and renewable energy. Two free resources will be issued each year to help congregations and households address environmental concerns.
Materials will be provided to help congregations incorporate environmental practices into their daily functioning and educational curricula, as well as giving tips to individuals to use at home.
Later this fall, a yearlong webinar hosted by the Jewish National Fund will teach synagogues about water and energy conservation. A select number of Conservative synagogues and leaders will be offered scholarships to the GreenFaith Certification and Fellowship program, a multi-faith religious-
environmental education and training program.
The Sustainable Synagogues Initiative grew out of conversations between Rabbi Charles Simon of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs and Rabbi Lawrence Troster of GreenFaith in Israel in 2008.
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=========================
8. Seeking Volunteers/Getting Our Messages Out More Effectively
As I have often stated, we have truth, morality, justice and other positive values on our side, but we do not have the resources we need to get our messages out as much as we would like. We are willing to engage in respectful dialogues on “Should Jews Be Vegetarians?” but the establishment continues to duck the issues. And, with the increasing reports about climate-related events and about connections of animal-based diets to climate change, it is more and more important that people realize that a major shift to vegetarianism is essential to help shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
So, please help spread the Jewish and general vegetarian messages as much as you can.
· Make people aware of the many articles and other material at the JVNA web site JewishVeg.com, including my over 140 articles and 25 podcasts of my talks and interviews at JewishVeg.com/Schwartz.
· Inform people that our acclaimed, award-winning documentary “Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the world” can be seen at ASacredDuty.com. If possible arrange for a showing of the documentary.
· Write letters to editors and call in to talk shows.
· Speak to your friends, neighbors, family, co-workers and others.
In addition, we could use volunteers to help spread our message. What would be especially valuable would be to compile email lists of Jewish publications, rabbis, synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish and health-related blogs. If you can help with this, please let me know. Many thanks.
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=========================
9. Israeli University-Based Environmental Group to Extend Its Activities to the Broader Israeli Community
Message from Green Course Director Gil Ya’acov:
Dear Friends,
I hope everything is well with you. We have some important news to tell you, which relates to our strategic direction, and though these decisions have not been fully formalized, I thought that, as one of our supporters, it is important to bring you up to speed.
In the past few years Green Course has emerged as Israel's leading platform for environmental activism, with thousands of student-volunteers raising their voices in campuses throughout the country. Alongside that, however, we have experienced a tremendous rise in non-campus interest in activism, among members of the general public engaging in our campus-initiated activities.
This trend provided the opportunity for us to better understand the implications and opportunities of the rise of Israeli environmental awareness, and so we began an intense organizational evaluation and re-thinking process, involving all levels of the organization: student chapter directors, board members and staff, as well as external consultants.? Our goal was to reevaluate Green Course's orientation, in order to ensure maximum impact.
Our discussions centered around 2 major changes that have occurred in Israeli society in recent years:?
1. A significant increase in environmental awareness among the general public. This has been reflected not only in the substantial increase in the number of non-students contacting Green Course out of a desire to promote environmental issues, but also in an increase in public discussion and published “green” news items in the media. In our eyes, this rise in awareness holds great potential in as long as it is translated into meaningful, proactive, public pressure on decision makers.
2. Decision makers and various leading corporations, on the other hand – both on the national and local levels – speak often of, or even commit to, “green”
issues, though they all too often leave these issues without following through with their commitments in actuality.? These undeniable trends have led us to conclude that there is a substantial need to expand Green Course's activities beyond the campuses and into the general public. To that end, Green Course has designated the next year as a “transition period” to change our focus from a campus-only orientation, to a student-led public movement.
In no way does this enlarged focus mean that we will lose sight of our campus roots. Rather, Green Course aims to leverage its outreach and continue nourishing students as the next generation of environmental leaders in Israel.
In parallel, however, we have decided that over the next year, we will be actively inviting the public to be involved in our campaigns. Our goal is to provide an effective framework for the wider public to increase public pressure on decision makers and bring about real change pertaining to issues of social-environmental concern.
We believe that the conditions for this change are ideal for a number of reasons: First, Green Course is already positioned and recognized as the leading environmental activist organization in Israel, and many of our current activities already receive public support.? Secondly, Green Course’s unique national outreach enables us leverage our presence in cities where other environmental organizations are weak – for example in Sderot and Rehovot.
On the practical level, in addition to our target population, these changes are expected to be expressed in an organizational shift to geographically based Chapters in selected areas. In turning to the public, we have also decided to begin with our close circle – by re-engaging our alumni. As many of them today are into their careers and family lives, they usually are not prone to volunteer, but can provide a significant potential boost to our organizational capacity by providing other resources.
One of the first steps we have taken in this direction has been to change our title from "Green Course – Students for the Environment" to "Green Course -
Leading Activism for the Environment".
I look forward to sharing with you more on this soon, and to inform you on how all this is impacting our leadership training program and campaigns. In the meantime, I am eager to hear your thoughts and insights about our directions.
Please feel free to contact me at gil@green.org.il.
Looking forward to a meaningful and impactful year,
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