Rosh Hashana greeting from sustainable Israeli artist, Merav Feiglin
With the Jewish new year coming up in next week, some of us are thinking about green new year’s resolutions and lifestyle changes that we’d like to make. Whether it’s recycling more items or starting a compost heap, there’s no such thing as a small difference.
But what about greening your celebration of Rosh Hashanah? How can you make your celebratory meal or family gathering more sustainable? What about Rosh Hashana’s symbolic foods?
Gefilte Fish Without Harming a Single Fish:
“Gefilte Fish Without Harming a Single Fish” is the adorable name of a Rosh Hashanah cooking workshop being offered at City Tree (Tel Aviv’s oasis for all things green). Just like the title promises, the workshop teaches participants how to make a vegan version of the classic Rosh Hashanah dish and avoid all of the carbon emissions involved with eating meat or fish.
(And let’s be honest – a vegan version of Gefilte Fish is probably a lot more edible than the traditional kind.) Other items on their sustainable holiday menu include raw dried fruit kugel and fruit juice wine. Yum. The four hour workshop will be held this Friday (September 26) at 9am (contact Alon at [email protected] to sign up).
Sustainable Gifts For Your Loved Ones: Many families exchange small gifts during big holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Passover, and what better way to spread the sustainability bug than giving away a local, sustainably designed gift?
Whether its a wastepaper basket made from wasted paper or a purse made out of reused tires, your sustainable gifts will surely be the talk of the table.
Get There Sustainably: In addition to eating sustainably and gifting sustainably, try to make your journey to your holiday feast as green as possible. If public transportation is not an option, try greener private car options such as carbon neutral car rentals (courtesy of Avis) or Car2Go, a carsharing service in central Israel.
Please share your ideas for celebrating a sustainable Rosh Hashanah with us in the comments section below!
Read more about how we’ve celebrated other Jewish holidays in green, eco friendly ways:
Heschel Center’s Online Environmental Shavuot Webinar
Green Shavuot Activities (Because You’re Gonna Need a Break From All That Cheese)
A Happy, Sustainable Passover to All
Don’t Pass Up on Eco Camp This Passover
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
The name of the workshop gave me a good chuckle..Really adorable (and a great resource right before the Rosh Hashana cooking frenzy! – If only I had the time to make it out to Tel Aviv!)