What have the Eco Judaism team been up to since the start of this year, and more importantly what have we as a community been doing to reduce our environmental footprint and to appreciate and support nature and biodiversity?
We began the Eco-Judaism year with the Tu b’Shvat Seder, the New Year for Trees in the Jewish calendar. While we were not responsible for organising this, we did invite members of the community to take part in volunteer tree planting at Caradoc Farm in Herefordshire. It was a pity that we had to cancel this project due to lack of support, but we now have good links and hope to organise another similar event later this year. We also talked with Atique Miah, the interfaith chaplain at Gloucestershire University, who was keen to work with us on a volunteering project, another useful link we hope to develop further.
Purim
For Purim, there was a shadow puppet competition and fancy dress competition. This was also an opportunity to recycle with a capital R and make use of old pieces of material, paper and card to create costumes and the shadow puppets with the aim of having a plastic-free Purim.
Passover
Leading up to Pesach/Passover, the Eco team encouraged community members to grow their own herbs and greens for the Seder plate (with information in Eco Corner of 4th March about mini-greenhouses) and also horseradish, which once planted in your garden or a pot will keep going year after year. In addition there is an excellent recipe for beetroot and horseradish sauce which can be eaten at any time of the year: Beetroot & horseradish purée and there is a good Polish recipe: Horseradish with Beets.
Finally, especially for newer members of the community a reminder that 3CLJC gained the national Eco-Judaism Silver Award in 2024. We have not rushed to work for the Gold Award, as the demands are quite challenging, especially for a small community, but at the same time, there is no purpose in having an award if that is unattainable, so perhaps, with help, this can be our goal for 2026-27.