This week at Aish Center, we’re celebrating Jewcology week! In the lead-up to our Downtown Jewcology Shabbat dinner (this week!), and the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, we want to take time to learn about, celebrate and actualize positive and sustainable environmental practices. We’re lucky to have some really awesome people guest blogging for us this week, to tell us about the wonderful and important work they do.
Without further ado, our third guest blogger…

Evonne Marzouk

Hi!  I’m Evonne Marzouk, the founder and executive director of Canfei Nesharim: Sustainable Living Inspired by Torah.  For the last ten years, Canfei Nesharim has been helping Jews discover the relevance of our tradition to one modern challenge: protecting the environment.  Our aim is to learn Jewish traditional wisdom at a deep level, share this messages widely in the Jewish community, and empower leaders around the world who are bringing Jewish environmental education to their own communities.  In addition to our Torah learning resources, we also empower these leaders through leadership training and our web-based social media portal for Jewish environmentalists, Jewcology.com.

Next week, we will conclude a Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment.  For our Year of Learning, we’ve gathered the most important lessons in the Torah about protecting the environment.  The eighteen topics have included a wide range of lessons, from food and waste to energy and species biodiversity, from prayer to Shabbat.  It’s been a great year!

Also next week, in honor of Tu b’Shevat, we’ll begin a new year – a Year of Action in the Jewish community on the environment.  We’re going to be focusing on reducing food waste and saving energy, and we’ll also be offering a web-based calculator where you can track your actions and see the actions of the entire participating community.  The Aish Center will be participating in our Year of Action and sharing some of our lessons and actions during the course of the year!

Canfei Nesharim also has some great holiday materials connecting the environment to the Jewish year, and we even have a Torah teaching about the environment for every Torah portion!  This Tu b’Shevat you can learn more about Trees, Torah and the Environment – and get a wealth of resources for planning your own Tu b’Shevat Seder in our Tu b’Shevat section.

The Jewcology community is a diverse global community of Jewish environmentalists who are sharing resources and connecting.  To learn more about our Jewcology community, watch our fun video!

Happy Tu b’Shevat!

This week at Aish Center, we’re celebrating Jewcology week! In the lead-up to our Downtown Jewcology Shabbat dinner (this week!), and the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, we want to take time to learn about, celebrate and actualize positive and sustainable environmental practices. We’re lucky to have some really awesome people guest blogging for us this week, to tell us about the wonderful and important work they do.
Without further ado, our second guest blogger…

Uri Laio shows off his wares.

Hi, I’m Uri Laio, owner and operator of Brassica and Brine. I make food with lots of bacteria in it (otherwise known as fermented food). Why? Because we can’t live without symbiotic bacteria (for every human cell in our body, we have about 10 beneficial bacterial cells) and one of the best ways to get more of these bacteria is through food.

My company is based in Los Angeles, CA. Some of our bacteria-rich products include kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, and dill pickles. All of our ingredients are organic, and all of our produce is grown locally in California. We do not use vinegar in our products—rather, we use an Old World method called lacto-fermentation. It is a living process where those aforementioned beneficial bacteria create their own “vinegar”, called lactic acid.

I fell in love with fermentation while participating in the Adamah Jewish Environmental Fellowship in 2008. Traditional fermented foods have a living, bright flavor which I had never tasted before, and which vinegar can’t replicate. I also experienced noticeable sudden health benefits from eating those foods, including benefits to my digestive and immune systems. I wanted to share these flavorful and healing foods with the world, and so Brassica and Brine was born.

As a Jew, and especially as a Lubavitcher chossid, I am especially proud of the foods I make. I know that I’m using fair and sustainable business practices and creating healing foods that are improving lives.

Thank you, Uri! Register for the Jewcology Shabbat Dinner here.