Furrows in the Desert in Turkana, Kenya

JPost.com 

 'Furrows in the Desert', a project in which KKL-JNF is partner in Kenya, is teaching the Turkana people how to support themselves through sustainable Israeli agriculture, enabling them to independently attain food security in a harsh semi-arid region.

Five Years after the Fire, the Carmel is Green Again

 JPost.com

The great Carmel fire in 2010 killed 44 people and destroyed 2,500 hectares worth of forested areas with millions of trees. Five years after the disaster, the color green has returned to the forest.

On November 29, 2015, KKL-JNF arranged a tour for journalists, so they could see how the color green has returned to the forest, hear about the rehabilitation projects led by KKL-JNF, observe the precautions undertaken for dealing with future wildfires, and meet the communities that live on the Carmel and the KKL-JNF representatives responsible for the forest.

“It’s amazing to see how the entire area has gone back to being green, especially in those areas managed by KKL-JNF,” said Yiftah Harhol, KKL-JNF Director of the Northern Region, in his opening greetings.

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Op-Ed: Israel, a ‘green’ pioneer, is now falling short

By Yosef I. Abramowitz for JTA

LE BOURGET, France (JTA) — There is a Jewish blessing when one is in the rare presence of a national leader. But what is the blessing when the single largest gathering of world leaders in history — 150 in one day — come together outside Paris with soaring rhetoric and promises to fight the devastating effects of climate change?

Paris is guarded and mourning weeks after the deadly Nov. 13 terror attacks that killed 130, and yet the city was twinkling and alive as it plays host to this historic global climate summit. The gathering is a marathon negotiation against a ticking carbon clock, whose alarm went off a decade ago and yet only now the wary hand of humanity seeks to hit the pause button. Among the diverse crowd of tens of thousands, I am, as far as I can see, the only one wearing a kippah — knitted and green, proud to be on the official Israeli delegation of more than 50 people. Yet I’m ashamed that my instinct is to curse — not to bless — many of the leaders parading to the podium.

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Let it shine: Israel hypes solar at Paris talks

50-strong Israeli delegation to UN Climate Change Conference in Paris to show how blue and white tech can lower emissions

By Melanie Lidman for The Times of Israel

Israel hopes to highlight its green technology expertise, with an emphasis on solar energy, as a major solution to global warming at the United Nations Climate Change talks in Paris on November 30, according to a member of the delegation.

The purpose of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) is to get all 166 UN member countries to sign a binding agreement that will keep global warming below an increase of two degrees Celsius over the next century. A global increase of two degrees is considered a tipping point that will lead to widespread environmental disasters. Hundreds of leaders will gather in Paris for the 11-day summit to try to hammer out a deal capping emissions for all countries and looking for creative solutions to halt the warming of the planet.

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Living an Environmentally Conscious Jewish Life

By Rabbi Fred Dobb for MyJewishLearning.com    

The Jewish spiritual tradition offers ways to think and act in harmony with nature and for the benefit of the environment.

The created world is both bountiful and fragile. A Jewish environmental activist suggests that treating it with respect and care should be an integral part of our living out the Jewish concepts of Torah (instruction/learning), avodah (service/worship/work), and gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness).

“O child of Adam, when you return to Nature, on that day you shall open your eyes… You shall know that you have returned to yourself, for in hiding from Nature, you hid from yourself… And you will recognize on that day…you must renew everything: your food and your drink, your dress and your home, the character of your work and the way that you learn — everything.”

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Can Miami Beach Survive Global Warming?

by David Kamp for Vanity Fair

Miami real estate is booming as never before—but rising sea levels driven by global warming might mean a major bust. The mayor, climate scientists, and other experts tackle the dilemma.

I. Paddling Home

In the summer of 2013, one of the leading candidates in Miami Beach’s mayoral race, a businessman named Philip Levine, released a TV commercial that showed him kayaking his way home through traffic in a Paddington hat and a plastic poncho, accompanied by his boxer, Earl, who was kitted out in a life jacket. “In some parts of the world,” Levine said in the spot, “going around the city by boat is pretty cool. Like Venice. But in Miami Beach, when it rains, it floods. That’s got to stop. Because I’m just not sure how much more of this Earl and I can take.”

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10 Teachings on Judaism and the Environment

Rabbi Lawrence Troster For The Blog/Huffington Post

1. God created the universe.

This is the most fundamental concept of Judaism. Its implications are that only God has absolute ownership over Creation (Gen. 1-2, Psalm 24:1, I Chron. 29:10-16). Thus, Judaism's worldview is theocentric not anthropocentric. The environmental implications are that humans must realize that they do not have unrestricted freedom to misuse Creation, as it does not belong to them. Everything we own, everything we use ultimately belongs to God. Even our own selves belong to God. As a prayer in the High Holiday liturgy proclaims, "The soul is Yours and the body is your handiwork." As we are "sojourners with You, mere transients like our ancestors; our days on earth are like a shadow..." (I Chronicles 29:15), we must always consider our use of Creation with a view to the larger good in both time (responsibility to future generations) and space (others on this world). We must also think beyond our own species to that of all Creation.

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Health Ministry: Comparison of processed meats’ dangers to smoking was exaggerated

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH for JPost.com

While processed meats were put by the WHO in the same category as smoking, the ministry said "it is not at all as dangerous at the same level as tobacco."

The Health Ministry has issued a statement disagreeing with the World Health Organization that claimed eating processed meat was “as dangerous as smoking.”

While processed meats were put by the WHO in the same category as smoking, the ministry said “it is not at all as dangerous at the same level as tobacco. As a single factor, smoking contributes significantly to the risk of lung cancer and other types of cancer [and cardiovascular diseases]. Compared to that, processed meat is a much more modest risk factor.”

The ministry re-issued on Tuesday its guidelines stating that smoking was “much more dangerous” than eating such meat -- hot dogs, pastrami, bacon and other meat with chemicals or meat that has undergone smoking. While very undesirable, such a diet  promotes the risk for colorectal, pancreatic, prostate, stomach and breast cancer, the ministry said.

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greenXchange at EXPO Milano

KKL-JNF’s greenXchange program brings young Israeli and German environmental professionals together to explore various ecological projects and to make a global impact.

By KKL-JNF for JPost.com

During September 7-10, greenXchange alumni and new participants visited Expo in Milan, where they got to see the Israel Pavilion and the KKL-JNF compound. 

According to Liri Eitan Drai, the head of the program on behalf of KKL-JNF Israel, “Expo Milan is extremely relevant to the fields that the greenXchangers specialize in. It provided an excellent platform for them to see KKL-JNF in a global perspective, to meet representatives from other countries and to discuss the possibility of future collaborations. We also took advantage of the time between the lectures and meetings to talk about plans for the future and how to intensify cooperation with KKL-JNF.”

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From Africa to China, How Israel Helps Quench the Developing World's Thirst

The untold story of Israeli hydrodiplomacy, from the 1950s until now.

Seth M. Siegel for Mosaic

In November 1898, Theodor Herzl arranged a meeting with the German emperor, Wilhelm II, to obtain help in creating a Jewish state in the land of Israel. In their conversation, the Kaiser praised the work of the Zionist pioneers, telling Herzl that, above all else, “water and shade trees” would restore the land to its ancient glory. Four years later, Herzl had a lead character in his political tract-cum-novel Altneuland (“Old-New Land”) say of Jewish settlement in Palestine: “This country needs nothing but water and shade to have a great future.” Another character predicts that the water engineers of the Jewish homeland will be its heroes.

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First Tree after Shmita Year Planted by Bavarian Agriculture Minister

By KKL-JNF for JPost.com

On September 16, the day after Rosh Hashanah, Bavarian Minister of Agriculture and Forest Management Mr. Helmut Brunner planted an olive tree near the Kennedy Memorial in the Judean Hills.

The tree was the first to be planted directly in the ground following the Jewish Year 5775, which was a fallow (shmita) year.

“This symbolic tree planting is not only in honor of cooperation between Israel and Germany in the past, but also a symbol of future cooperation between our two countries,” said Mr. Helmut Brunner, Minister of Agriculture and Forest Management of the State of Bavaria, before planting an olive tree in Peace Forest on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Minister Brunner was visiting Israel together with a delegation of about 20 members of parliament from all parties, researchers, economic experts and ministry officials. During their visit, the Bavarian delegation will be studying Israeli achievements in irrigating rural areas and eco/agri tourism, along with other fields of activity.

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New microbrew made from Boston river water — with Israeli tech

By Penny Schwartz for JTA

BOSTON (JTA) — An Israeli-founded water purification company has teamed up with Boston-based Harpoon Brewery to channel the once-famously polluted Charles River into a new beer.

Desalitech, which started in Israel seven years ago and then moved to Boston, is using its patented technology to provide water for Harpoon’s Charles River Pale Ale. The limited-edition beer is on tap this week at Boston’s HUBweek, a weeklong science and art festival.

Desalitech president Nadav Efraty said helping to produce the beer is part of his company’s mission to better the environment.

“Water scarcity is a global challenge that affects millions across the world – we are proud to be a Massachusetts company that is providing solutions and making an impact here in the U.S. and beyond,” he said in a statement.

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Jewish Eco Seminars

jewishecoseminars.com

Jewish Eco Seminars is proud to feature a wealth of new Jewish environmental teachings.
ShiloFrom food, energy and waste to consumerism, Shabbat and prayer, the materials cover eighteen topics on Judaism and ecology. Each of the 18 topics includes a short article (800 words) with a brief overview of the topic for blogs and articles; a long article (2000-2500 words) for in-depth study of the topic; a study guide with Hebrew/English sources and discussion questions for chavruta study or group learning, a podcast with a teaching on this topic; and a short video for sharing.

The materials were developed by Canfei Nesharim in partnership with Jewcology.com and released as a “Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment.”  The director of Jewish Eco Seminars, Rabbi Yonatan Neril, worked with Canfei Nesharim on a consulting basis in developing the materials on all eighteen topics.

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Sukkot & The Environment: Texts for Study

From COEJL

Texts for study and discussion. 1. “You shall celebrate the festival of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors of the field.” Exodus 23:16 2. “You shall take the fruit of the goodly tree, palm branch, foliage of the leafy tree, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before your God for seven days.” Leviticus 23:40 3. “You shall live in sukkahs seven days; all citizens of Yisrael shall live in huts; in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in huts when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the Lord your God.” Leviticus 23:42,43 4. “Hang tapestries, nuts, almond, peaches, pomegranates, branches of grapes, vines, fine meal, wreaths of ears of corn” (on your Sukkah) Talmud Betzah 30b 5.

Continue reading.http://www.coejl.org/resources/sukkot-the-environment-texts-for-study/

The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

Check out Jvillage’s High Holiday+    page.

Sandstorm is Israel’s worst since before ’48

(JTA) — Israel’s ongoing sandstorm is the worst since before the founding of the state in 1948, according to the Israeli Environmental Protection Ministry.

The sandstorm blanketing the region, which began Tuesday and was expected to continue through the weekend, has released the highest concentration of dust particles in more than 65 years, the Times of Israel reported Friday.

The sandstorm has affected large swaths of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Cyprus, and in Israel has led to record electricity consumption and air pollution highs. The previous electricity consumption record was set in August during a heatwave.

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 The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

New Bio-filters Purify Surface Runoff Water for Reuse

By KKL-JNF for JPost.com

Two new bio-filter facilities established by KKL-JNF in Ramla and Bat Yam demonstrated their efficiency during Israel’s recent rainstorms.

 The bio-filters are designed to enable surface runoff water to be collected, purified via environmentally friendly physical and biological methods, and then channeled into the aquifers as clean water. These new bio-filters join an older one that has been operating successfully in Kfar Sava for a number of years.

Two hundred million cubic meters of rainwater go to waste in Israel every year. They are washed down to the coast, where they pollute the beaches, the sea and marine life. The innovative bio-filter project is designed to allow this rainwater to be utilized in order to avoid pollution and prevent groundwater levels from dropping further

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Could NeoTop’s water spheres save California?

Israeli state-of-the-art modular cover system decreases evaporation of reservoirs and saves precious water while preserving quality.

By Viva Sarah Press for Israel21c

The hypnotic video footage of millions of black plastic “shade balls” rolling into Los Angeles’s reservoirs has mesmerized the world.

It has also sparked a tidal wave of interest in NeoTop Water Systems, an Israeli startup that has scientifically proven that its patented spheres – designed to be job-specific as opposed to the balls California has so far deployed — decrease evaporation of reservoirs, save precious water and reduce growth of algae to preserve a healthy ecosystem.

The Israeli company’s second-generation product is set to be unveiled at the upcoming WATEC Israel 2015 international exhibition of water technologies, October 13-15 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds.

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Chinese Delegation Tours Negev Agriculture and Forestry

By KKL-JNF for Jpost

A delegation from China visiting Israel toured the Negev with KKL-JNF personnel to learn from KKL-JNF's experience in agriculture in arid regions, combating desertification and soil and water technology.

On their tour in Israel, the Chinese delegation got acquainted with KKL-JNF's diverse projects in these fields and encountered landscapes and people all over the country.

 “I have no doubt that we can learn a lot from Israeli know-how,” said Mr. Wang Shuwen, the head of delegation and the Deputy Secretary General of the Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology (SEE).

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Israeli Solar Warms Up

The country has embraced technological innovation—except in renewable energy. Is that finally changing?

By Daniel Gross for Slate

In late July, workers flipped the switch on a large-scale solar field—a 40-megawatt plant covering 134 acres. They hooked it up to the grid in the desert and began delivering emission-free power. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about this event. Given the rampant growth of solar around the world, this kind of thing happens almost daily, and large solar arrays can now be planned and built in a matter of months.

But this one took six years to come to fruition. And its location is unique. The field, a joint venture of Arava Power and a subsidiary of Électricité de France, is the first utility-scale solar plant to be built in Israel.

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Champions of Change: People of Faith Acting on Climate, Honored by White House

Posted by Angela Barranco on July 22, 2015 - whitehouse.gov/blog

On Monday, I was pleased to be able to welcome twelve people of faith as they were honored as White House “Champions of Change” for their efforts in protecting our environment and communities from the effects of climate change. These Champions have demonstrated clear leadership across the United States and around the world through their grassroots efforts to green their communities and educate others on the moral and social justice implications of climate change.

The Champions shared personal reflections on their efforts in advance of the event:

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Israeli Startup Breeds Protein-Rich Edible Insects To End World Hunger

By Luke Tress, The Times of Israel, on nocamels.com

Millions of people suffer from lack of protein, which is especially dangerous for children – and with the world population set to grow significantly in the coming years, mankind needs more, and cheaper, sources of protein.

Problem solved, believes Dror Tamir. According to Tamir, his company can provide a healthy, cheap alternative source of protein to the millions of children who lack other sources. His plan, he believes, will improve their health, give their families food security and jobs, and help the environment. How? With bugs. “We are growing edible insects for humans,” Tamir said.

His company, Steak TzarTzar – the word means cricket — which he founded with Ben Friedman and Chanan Aviv, aims to be the first to farm edible insects, using high-tech methods to quickly grow them in an organized manner, under sanitary conditions.

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Thank This Jew For Inventing Drip Irrigation

By Abby Sher for Jewniverse

On these hottest days of summer – especially when parts of our country are rationing water – we should thank late Israeli engineer Simcha Blass for helping farmers figure out how to best harness the water they do have.

Blass revolutionized drip irrigation in the early 1930’s, pretty haphazardly. As the story goes, Blass saw a big tree growing seemingly without water. When he dug into the soil, he found an onion-shaped pocket of underground water feeding the tree’s roots. Each drop of water was being stored and sucked out as needed.

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Israeli Researchers Working on Innovative Project to End Global Water Shortage

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University, Technion, Hebrew University, and Australia’s Monash University are working to develop “water sensitive cities

By: Maayan Jaffe, JNS.org, in ShalomLife.com

California headlines this month scream “water shortage”—but the shortage is not limited to the western United States. According to a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, while the demand for freshwater resources is increasing, the supply remains constant and many regions are starting to feel the pressure. The report states that water managers in 40 of 50 states expect water shortages in some portion of their states within the next 10 years.

Amid this grave prognosis, a new Israeli research project might make the Jewish state an important part of the solution.

In what is arguably one of the most innovative water research consortiums to date, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Australia’s Monash University are working to develop “water sensitive cities.” The description for the project, which is funded by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), says that water sensitive cities adopt and combine decentralized and centralized water management solutions to deliver water security. The data gathered from the project may be used to support development of urban master plans in cities in Israel and around the world.

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Why Dangerous Sinkholes Keep Appearing Along the Dead Sea

by Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer, LiveScience

For millennia, the salty, mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea have drawn visitors and health pilgrims to its shores. But in recent years, gaping chasms have been opening up without warning along its banks, posing a threat to such visitors and tourism in general.

Nestled between Israel and the Palestinian territories to the west, and Jordan to the east, the Dead Sea is famous for is extreme salinity (34 percent salt, almost 10 times as salty as the ocean), and for having the lowest elevation on Earth, at 1,407 feet (429 meters) below sea level.

But for the past few decades, the sea has been shrinking rapidly, due to the diversion of water from the Jordan River (which feeds the Dead Sea) and mineral mining from its waters in the south. The water's surface is currently receding by about 3 feet (1 m) per year, according to Hanan Ginat, a geologist at the Dead Sea and Arava Research Center, which runs under the auspices of Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

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Colony Collapse: Catskills Bungalows Hit By Zoning

Venerable Jewish vacation spots to be replaced by upscale housing

By Jas Chana for The Scroll in Tablet Magazine

The Catskills bungalow colonies that have played host for countless Jewish vacationers for decades are now becoming extinct. On Monday, the Times Herald-Record reported that new zoning regulations in Sullivan County, NY, updated last October, have encouraged developers to replace the bungalow colonies with “new year-round summer homes, townhouses and modulars.” This is partly because the old bungalows no longer meet state building codes. For example, the Times Herald-Record reports that the bungalows were built on “stilts or cinder block piers” not actual foundations. The re-zoning is also a decided attempt to reduce clutter and restore the open countryside that has been destroyed by the sheer number of bungalows scattered across the county.
“Those towns have updated their zoning laws to create less density by specifically prohibiting bungalow colonies,” reports the Times Herald-Record. Those towns include Sullivan County’s largest—Thompson, Bethel, Liberty, Mamakating and Fallsburg.”

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Israeli scientist makes better sesame seed, wins award

Using ancient breeding techniques and cutting-edge genetic markers, Dr. Zvi Peleg is improving the crop yield of this exasperating plant, and its nutritional value as well.

By Ruth Schuster for Haaretz

Sesame seeds are enormously popular but they have been a frustrating crop for farmers for thousands of years: the plant is hardy enough but its yields are low. Now a scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed methods to improve sesame crop yields while improving the seeds' nutritional quality too. In recognition of his work, Dr. Zvi Peleg has been awarded the Kaye Innovation Award for 2015.

Peleg's basic technique is as ancient as agriculture itself: selective breeding. You pick promising plants and cultivate and breed them while junking the inferior ones. But choosing which sesame plants to breed and which to throw out is based on cutting-edge genetic marker technology, Peleg explains to Haaretz.

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Agrolan Develops Portable Pollution Monitor

Israel’s Agrolan Ltd. has unveiled a new mobile device that can measure air pollution. This is a groundbreaking development since until now only huge machines – which obviously must be kept stationary – could detect minute contaminants in the air. Now people will be able to take pollution monitors with them wherever they go.

The Golan Heights based Agrolan engages in the development of products that improve the environment. It has begun to market the first air pollution gauge of its kind in Israel. It is only slightly larger than a mobile phone and with it people can easily measure the amount of fine particulate matter suspended in the air at any point. The display has 6 background colors which highlight various pollution levels and with it pollution can be detected both indoors and outside.

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