JEWISH ENVIRONMENTAL INITATIVE

JEI MEETING NOTICE AND UPDATES
September 6, 2002
 

    Shalom and Happy New Year to all of you!

    The next meeting of the Jewish Environmental Initiative will be Wednesday, September 18, at noon at Hillel, 6300 Forsyth.  Our agenda will include updates on our October 5 and 6 events, treeplantings, and the Interfaith Climate and Energy Change Campaign, as well as discussions of follow-up to the October 6 conference and the composition of JEI.

    Below is an e-mail that is being sent to representatives from organizations andcongregations coming to the October 6 conference.  We hope that all JEI members will attend-- it will definitely be an exciting event.

    October will be a very busy month for JEI!!  You will shortly be receiving a mailing with more
information on our “Judaism and the Environment” weekend October 5 and 6, but for now, please mark your calendar for the following events:

Saturday night, October 5, 7:30pm, Steve’s Room at the JCC: An evening with Rabbi Fred
Scherlinder Dobb, discussing Judaism and the environment.  Free.  JEI members are encouraged to
attend, and bring friends and family!  (Rabbi Dobb is especially good with young people!)  Havdalah
service followed by entertaining and informative discussion.

Sunday, October 6, 9:30-3:15, Jewish Federation Kopolow Building: JEI Conference on
Judaism and the Environment.  JEI members are encouraged to attend.  A $10 registration fee includes light breakfast and kosher vegetarian lunch.

Sunday, October 20, 3:00p.m. Tree-planting in Ruth Park Woods, University City.  Co-sponsored
with Interfaith Partnership.  Details to follow soon.

Sunday, October 27, 1:00p.m. Tree-planting in Kennedy Woods, Forest Park.  Details to follow soon.
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E-MAIL NOTICE TO REPRESENTATIVES TO JUDIASM AND THE ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE: 

  As you prepare for Rosh Hashanah 5763, we just wanted to give you the latest on our plans for the Judaism and the Environment conference on Sunday, October 6 and the event with Rabbi Dobb the night before (just one month away!).  We are looking forward to your participation and hope you can bring colleagues along to both events as detailed below.  There are several items to report on:

SUNDAY CONFERENCE

    We have assembled an excellent agenda with an impressive list of speakers for Sunday’s conference.
We believe it will provide helpful, tangible information for congregations, organizations, and interested individuals.  Your input at our July 1 planning meeting and in subsequent e-mails and phone calls was very valuable to us.

AGENDA:

9:00-9:30 REGISTRATION, COFFEE

9:30-9:40 INTRODUCTION

9:40-10:30 RABBI DOBB-- A look at the history, tradition, and Text that links Judaism and the environment

10:30-10:40  Break

10:40-11:50 PANEL DISCUSSION:Living Jewishly and sustainably.
 Rabbi Dobb, Moderator
 FRANK LORBERBAUM-- resource utilization
 DAVID ROBERTS-- food
 STEFANIE ZELKIND-- other environmentally friendly ways to live everyday

12:00-1:15 LUNCH— Working session with the goal of brainstorming and listing ideas.

1:15-1:45 REPORTS BACK TO FULL GROUP-- Ben Senturia, Moderator

1:45-2:45 PANEL DISCUSSION: Jewish Environmental Activism

 MAXINE LIPELES-- Example of a community/group project
 DAN BERG--The power of the individual: the difference one person’s activism can make
 STEFANIE ZELKIND--A national view—successful projects around the country
 BEN SENTURIA-- Bringing it all together; “making it work for you”

2:45-3:15 WRAP-UP—David Roberts, Moderator--Where do we go from here and how?  March, 2003 and beyond.

    PLEASE NOTE: At the conference we will provide coffee, juice and rolls in the morning as well as a kosher vegetarian lunch, all served with environmentally friendly plates, cups, etc.   To help us cover the cost of the day, there will be a $10 registration and meal charge for the conference.  No one will be turned away because of an inability to pay, and if the fee is a problem for any reason, please contact us to arrange for a confidential “scholarship.”

    We would very much like to have two or three people from each congregation or
organization.  As we have discussed before, please make every effort to find at least one
other person from your group to join you at the conference.  If you can recruit two others,
even better!  All we ask is that you let us know in advance.  There will be a registration form
in the mailing you will be receiving next week.

 SATURDAY NIGHT DISCUSSION

     We are planning a fun, informative, participatory evening with Rabbi Dobb on Saturday night, October 5, starting with a Havdalah service at 7:30.  It is free and open to the whole Jewish community, and will be in Steve’s Room at the JCC

    In the mailing you will be receiving will be a flyer for this event.  We also plan to mail the flyer to
rabbis, congregations, organizations, Social Action Committee chairs, and other lists that are available, but we would appreciate your help in distributing the flyer as widely as you can, posting at
congregations, etc.

    Rabbi Dobb is especially great with young people and it would be great if you could encourage young people, such as youth groups and religious school classes, to attend.

     As we have discussed before, we would like to have 10 or more people from each
congregation attend.  Your help in getting a good turn-out from your group is important!

E-MAIL PUBLICITY

    In a follow-up e-mail you will get a short invitation to the Saturday night discussion.  Please forward this on to any e-mail lists you feel would be appropriate.  (Such as social action committees,
organization boards, youth groups, brother- and sisterhoods, chavurot, etc.)

    Thank you again for your help in recruiting attendees for Saturday night and Sunday.  Look for your mailing by late next week.  Please call or e-mail us if you have any questions!

 L’SHANAH TOVAH !

--- David Roberts, Chair
   Steve Sorkin, Consultant to JCRC
--- jeistl@mindspring.com
    432-0020, ext. 3919
 

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