JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

The Green Beanies Sponsors

COEJL

COEJL, founded in 1993, is one of the leading Jewish environmental organizations in the United States. We are dedicated to inspiring, educating and enabling the Jewish community to live sustainably, at home, at work, in our communal institutions and the public arena. We draw our motivation from Judaism’s sacred texts and traditions that convey our people’s age-old commitment to live as partners with all of God’s creation, and blend this inspiration with timely programs, projects and the most pressing of contemporary needs.

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin is the General Consultant for COEJL and Director of the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network (BJEN) at the Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center, which is dedicated to promoting environmental advocacy, ethics and behavior. She is immediate past Director of Jewish Life at the JCC of Greater Baltimore. Ordained in 1988 from the Jewish Theological Seminary, she served that institution in several capacities including special assistant to the Chancellor, Assistant Dean of the Rabbinical School, as well as two years as Visiting Lecturer in Theology. Currently, she serves on the Chancellor’s Rabbinic Advisory Council. In 1978, Rabbi Cardin co-founded the Jewish Women’s Resource Center, which is now part of the National Council of Jewish Women-NY Section. Rabbi Cardin also co-founded the National Center for Jewish Healing, and the New York Jewish Healing Center in the mid-1990’s. Rabbi Cardin serves on the Boards of Chana, a Jewish organization that assists the victims of domestic violence, Hillel of Towson University, the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the Irvine Nature Center and the Foundation for Spirituality and Medicine. For five years, Rabbi Cardin was the editor of Sh’ma: a journal of Jewish responsibility. She is the author of A Tapestry of Jewish Time: a spiritual guide to the holidays and lifecycles, and Tears of Sorrow, Seeds of Hope: a spiritual companion to infertility and pregnancy loss among other books, writings and articles.

Hazon

Hazon is Hebrew for "vision."  Hazon works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier more sustainable world for all.  Hazon is the largest dedicated environmental organization in the American Jewish community. We have three main program areas: 1) environmental outdoor adventure, particularly bike rides and hikes which raise funds for innovative environmental projects in the US and Israel; 2) the relationship between Jewish life and contemporary food issues-leading the way on the new Jewish food movement; and 3) support of the Israeli environmental movement.  Hazon was featured as one of only two Jewish organizations listed in the Sierra Club's June 2008 publication, "Faith in Action:  Communities of Faith Bring Hope for the Planet," the organization's first national report on the environmental engagement of communities of faith.  All of Hazon's programs enable Jewish people to make a difference in the world and reframe and renew Jewish life in the process.

Nigel Savage

Nigel Savage, originally from Manchester, England, founded Hazon in 2000. In his first careers he was an investment manager in the City of London, a founder of New Israel Fund in the UK, and executive producer of the independent movies Solitaire For 2 and Stiff Upper Lips.  He studied at Georgetown, Pardes, Yakar and the Hebrew  University. In the summer of 2000 Nigel led the first-ever Cross-USA Jewish Environmental Bike Ride – a 3,000 mile ride that ended at the White House and literally put Hazon on the map. Since then he’s played a key role in launching Hazon’s outdoor programs and, starting in 2004, its food programs. He has spoken and taught in a wide variety of settings, and he’s written for the Jerusalem Report, the Forward and the Jewish Week, among others. In November 2008 he was listed in the Forward 50 – an annual listing of America’s 50 most influential Jews. (Others on the list included Rahm Emanuel, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman – and food conference keynoter, Rabbi Morris Allen.)

Barbara Lerman-Golomb

Barbara Lerman-Golomb is the Director of Community Relations at Hazon. She is the former executive director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). Barbara trained as a Teva Learning Center experiential, environmental educator in 2000 which inspired her to create WOW (Wonders of the World) eco-focused workshops for children, earning her the name Barbara WOW. For the past ten years, she has been addressing groups on the connection between Judaism and the environment. Specifically, Barbara has been working to bring about awareness of global climate change and helping to "green" communities as a way to address this issue. Barbara originated the 2006 nationwide climate change campaign, "How Many Jews Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?" and was featured in Lilith Magazine as an "Eco-Revolutionary" in their Fall, 2007 issue. Barbara is an author, scriptwriter, speaker and designer of a wide variety of educational materials for the leading publishing and edutainment companies. She received a degree in Film/Television/Theatre from New York University and at 19 years old, made a public service film on the dangers of nuclear power. She began in the for-profit sector working for Nickelodeon, MTV, and the Movie Channel, but early on made the choice to focus her efforts on education, community service, and social justice. Barbara was a coordinator for the Million Mom March advocating for gun safety legislation and a former board member of the inter-religious environmental organization GreenFaith. She serves on the Hazon Board, the Union for Reform Judaism's Commission on Social Action and Northeast Camp Commission. Barbara lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Johnny Golomb, and two amazing daughters, Joie and Sophie.

The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center

The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut is the premier Jewish retreat center for the Jewish communities of New York and New England. It is also the only year-round, affordable getaway on the eastern seaboard where Jewish individuals of all ages can relax, meditate, engage in daily yoga, eat healthy kosher meals, learn with dynamic Jewish teachers, and celebrate Jewish holidays and other lifecycle events in a pluralistic, “socially progressive” Jewish environment. Nestled at the base of a forested ridge on 450 acres in the foothills of the southern Berkshires, the center has an outdoor pool and hot tub, a synagogue, a low ropes course, an arts and crafts room, and well-groomed trails that wind around the center’s two lakes and stretch into the adjacent forest. With the only known Jewish communally-owned organic farm in North America, Isabella Freedman also offers environmental education for children as well as programs that integrate Jewish spirituality and environmental activism for young adults.

Adam Berman

Adam Berman currently serves as the Executive Director of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, a spiritually vibrant, socially progressive, multigenerational retreat center and community in the Connecticut Berkshires. Adam is also the founder and director of ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship, a three month leadership training program for Jewish young adults that integrates Jewish learning and living with sustainable agriculture, green living skills, teaching and contemplative spiritual practice. For three years, Adam served as the Director of the Teva Learning Center. He holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A in Environmental Studies from Brown University.

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