When her vegan summer camp counselor explained to a fifteen-year-old Rachel how the dairy industry pollutes the groundwater in poor rural communities and causes global warming, there was no turning back. Her green fire lit, Rachel became increasingly passionate about the relationship between human societies and the natural environment, particularly about the systemic injustices associated with environmental degradation.
After snagging a B.A. in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of Maryland, where she wrote an undergraduate thesis on water injustice in Israel/Palestine and South Africa, Rachel was awarded the New Israel Fund/Shatil’s Rabbi Richard J. Israel Social Justice Fellowship to come and spread the green gospel in Israel for the 2009-2010 academic year. She currently interns for Friends of the Earth Middle East in their Tel Aviv office.
When Rachel is not having anxiety about her ecological footprint, carbon and otherwise, she can be found in hot pursuit of the best vegetarian food Tel Aviv has to offer. She also blogs about her experience as an NIF fellow and environmentalist in Israel at organichummus.wordpress.com.
Rachel can be reached at rachelbergstein (at) gmail (dot) com.
The first time I entered Zendegi, a natural and organic clothing shop in Tel Aviv’s historic Neve Tzedek neighborhood, a particularly unique pair of boots caught my eye. I picked up the boots to take a closer look, but quickly…
A variety of healthy, homemade, organic spreads and olives at Cafe Louise in Haifa. Israel has no shortage of organic cuisine. From LovEAT café in Tel Aviv to Mizpe Hayamim in the Galilee and Negev Nectars in the south, this…
Need another reason to eat organic? Or at least pesticide-free? In a study to be published this month, Israeli researchers examining the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in the Wadi Ara communities in northern Israel found an unusually high prevalence of…
The Templar palace ruins in Akko (Acre), one of the sites where a geo-archaeological study was carried out. New research finds that short-term rising and falling of sea levels may not say much about global warming patterns. Rising sea level,…
The current border wall between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. According to experts, a new underground wall will cause serious damage to Gaza’s Coastal Aquifer. The Coastal Aquifer, the main freshwater resource for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, has…
Green Prophet reported awhile back on the Dinah Project, an Israeli-based site that, among other things, gives women tips on how to “green” their sex lives. Today, Sisters, a five year-old, woman-owned, woman-run chain of Tel Aviv sex shops, is…
On a recent trip to Istanbul, Turkey I found myself in a tree-hugger’s wonderland amidst the bustling labyrinth of the Grand Bazaar. In the heart of this Middle Eastern market, Abdulla Natural Products boasts a wide variety throws, blankets, covers,…
In Israel, kibbutzim (once-socialist agricultural collectives) have risen as a hotbed of environmental activity. Green Prophet has covered Kibbutz Ein Shemer, which holds environmental education seminars in their state-of-the-art greenhouse, and Kibbutz Lotan, which hosts the Center for Creative Ecology,…
This past weekend I traveled to historic Madaba, Jordan at the first Middle East Green Bloggers Conference. Among this inspiring collection of environmental writers, professionals, and activists, I’ve just met a trio of Jordanian young innovators bringing a special variety…
Last night, Israel’s NGO delegation to the Copenhagen climate talks kicked off a week of activism with a very special Channukah candle-lighting. Delegates gathered in City Hall Square of the city to publicly light the Channukah menorah, but with a…
