GREENING SYNAGOGUES RESOURCES

Youth Groups

Whether you’re a youth group participant, an adult who sits on the synagogue’s youth committee, an adviser or clergyperson, or just an interested observer, know that youth groups are a great place for environmental consciousness and action. If anything, previous generations have messed up the planet and risked the functioning of its systems, and it’s up to today’s younger folks to clean it up and restore its integrity. This is no small feat, but with the energy and optimism and idealism found in most Jewish youth groups, “im tirtzu, ein zo agadah” -- if you will it, it is no dream (Theodor Herzl).

Most major youth movements -- NFTY, USY, NCSY, Noar Hadash, Young Judaea, Habonim-Dror, BBYO, and so on -- have booklets, program banks, and extensive web resources; search each other’s, as well as your own, for good ideas. A few basic ideas might include:

• Lead eco-themed services/tefillot, just for your youth group or led by you for the whole congregation.
• Go on a field trip to a local nature center, park, wetland, forest, etc.
• Take a Torah Hike! Have different people prepare and share by looking up “trees” or “birds” or “weather” in Jewish thought. One great resource is Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, by Matt Biers-Ariel, Deborah Newbrun, and Michal Fox Smart (NY: Behrman House, 2000).
• Staff a “l’dor vador - protect future generations” booth, with environmental information, at a synagogue program fair, or other activity (even a Purim carnival!).
• Lead an activity that raises consciousness and funds at the same time -- a bake sale is the old-fashioned equivalent, but click here for a great example of an edgier and more relevant program: selling compact fluorescent bulbs!