The Charlotte Jewish News - January 2008 - Page 9
Environmental Maccabi for Tu B’Shevat
By Judy August
Everyone knows that when you
mix blue with yellow, you get
green. So, when the Jewish com
munity comes together to cele
brate Tu B’Shevat with a color
war - Environmental Maccabi —
our blue team and yellow team
will together make for a greener
environment.
This year, Tu B’Shevat falls on
January 22, which will be the
kickoff week for our community-
*wide celebration. Students, from
preschool on up, will receive their
team assignments in school that
week. Anyone else who wants to
participate may pick up an entry
form and team assignment at the
Levine JCC front desk, or in the
office of Temple Beth El or
Temple Israel.
Participants will select from a
list of activities, all relating to this
year’s environmental theme of
water - conserving it, appreciating
it, and keeping it clean. Students
will compete by completing the
activities to earn “leaves” for their
team’s tree, and helping environ
mentalism to flourish. Through
Environmental Maccabi, organiz
ers hope to teach the Jewish roots
of caring for our natural environ
ment, demonstrate simple
improvements we can make in our
everyday lives, and create fun,
meaningful Jewish memories.
Tu B’Shevat, literally meaning
the 15th of the month of Shevat, is
a holiday which demonstrates the
care with which we are to treat our
natural environment. The laws of
Judaism protect trees from being
harvested too young. Any tree
planted before the 15th of the
month of Shevat is considered a
year old on Tu B’Shevat, and then
aged a year every Tu B’Shevat
thereafter, until the fifth year when
the fruit is allowed to be eaten.
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You Are Not Alone
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Jewish women who are current
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For infonnation call Carol at 704-
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The Support Group is a service
of Shalom Bayit-NC (formerly
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end domestic abuse in Charlotte-
Mecklenburg’s Jewish communi
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bayit.org or visit our web at
www.shalombayit-nc.org. 4*
Who fi Your Wanny^
Yellow and blue make green! Rachel Kahn and Ben Petricoff invite you to
participate in the community Maccabi Tu B 'Shevat Color Wars to help
conserve and clean up our water.
For the past three years the
Charlotte Jewish community has
joined together in celebration of
Tu B’Shevat. In 2006 we created
an Environmental Festival and
raised the funds needed to imple
ment recycling at Shalom Park. In
2007 our activities led us out to
the carpool lines, where our anti
idling campaign helped teach
about air quality. Environmental
Maccabi should make our 2008
celebration the best to date. ^
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Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a
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