The Charlotte Jewish News - February 2006 - Page 8
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Tu B’Shevat Community Earth Day
Festival
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Come celebrate the First
Annual Tu B’Shevat Earth Day
Festival on February 12 on Main
Street in the Sandra and Leon
Levine Jewish Community Center
from 9 AM-3 PM. The Jewish
community will host this free
event open to all of Charlotte to
educate and inspire each of us on
the importance of protecting
nature for future generations.
Tu B’Shevat celebrates the
New Year of the Trees. On
Sunday, February 12, Shalom
Park will welcome Charlotte to
participate in the celebration by
presenting environmental interac
tive displays in the Sam Lemer
Center for Cultural Arts. Come
see for yourself a hybrid car,
worm composting, recycling tech
niques, water quality assessments,
energy saving strategies and how
to pack an environmentally
friendly lunch. Child friendly dis
plays and games will be offered
by the Temple Israel Religious
School to highlight the Jewish
texts on nature. Students at The
Charlotte Jewish Day School cre
ated a display that will explain the
specific mitzvot surrounding the
environment. Temple Beth El’s
Interfaith and Outreach group will
host a “name that fruit and nut
game.” Teen groups of our com
munity (USY, Hebrew High,
BBYO, and LIBERTY) will be
selling bagels, doughnuts, baked
goods, and coffee throughout the'
day in the main lobby of the
Levine JCC.
Learn about Israel and their
innovative approaches to enrich
ing the desert and urban environ
ments. Plant seeds, buy a tree and
even explore the concept of a Tu
B’Shevat seder. Then stay for the
Talent Show in the Weinberg
Senior Center at 1 PM. The entire
day will be packed with ideas and
activities for everyday practice
while highlighting centuries old
Jewish customs and modem
efforts to protect our environment.
Judy August, who is helping to
spearhead this event and is pas
sionate about recycling in our
community, explains, “Most peo
ple don’t realize that although
Mecklenburg County provides
recycling pickup for residential
units free of charge, a nonresiden-
tial organization such as ours must
pay the expensive ongoing cost if
we choose to recycle.” To address
this challenge, a new
Environmental Fund has been cre
ated to support recycling on this
campus. Donations to The
Foundation of Shalom Park -
Environmental Fund may be made
at the festival, or dropped off at
the Levine JCC front desk or the
temples at any time. As an added
incentive, an anonymous donor
within our community has
pledged to match all contributions
to the Environmental Fund up to
$10,000.
“Like all the festivals and holi
days, Tu B’Shevat is not just a cel
ebration but an occasion that
enjoins us to change. This festival
calls us to care about the environ
ment and to heal the world in
which we live,” explains Rabbi
Judy Schindler, the Tu B’Shevat
event organizer. “The traditions of
this day are varied as they are
beautiful and inspiring.”
An ancient custom in Israel
when a baby is bom is for the par
ents to plant a tree on Tu B’Shevat
following the child’s birth - a
cedar for a boy as it is tall and
upright, a cypress for a girl as it is
graceful and fragrant. During the
wedding ceremony, the branches
from the cypress and the cedar
make the chupah (wedding
canopy). Many people also partic
ipate in a Tu B’Shevat seder
which may include the drinking of
four cups of wine and sampling of
at least twelve fruits and nuts
associated with Israel or that are
mentioned in the Bible: carob,
dates, raisins or grapes, figs, cit
rons, apples, pears, pomegranates,
quinces, olives, almonds, walnuts
and pistachios. A modem tradition
of the diaspora includes buying a
tree each year to be planted in
Israel. The Jewish National Fund
(JNF) conducts reforestation proj
ects in which you can purchase
certificates for trees to be planted
in Israel in honor or memory of
family and friends through local
JNF and Hadassah offices. Rabbi
Murray Ezring of Temple Israel
said, “Tu B’Shevat and the stories
of Honi Hameagal teach us the
importance of caring for our plan
et. We cannot exist if the environ
ment is not healthy.” In the story,
Honi the Circle-Maker comes
across an old man planting carob
seeds. “You foolish man,” says
Honi, “those trees will take 70
years to mature. You’ll be dead
before you can partake of their
fmit.” The old man responds,
“Just as my ancestors planted
carob trees for me, I am planting
these for those that come after
me.”
“This festival is a real joining
together of our community for a
worthwhile purpose,” August
said. “The energy and creativity
from all of the different organiza
tions planning their contributions
to the festival ensure that it will be
a fun and interesting event not to
be missed.” Temple Beth El,
Temple Israel, Levine Jewish
Community Center, the Jewish
Federation of Greater Charlotte,
Charlotte Jewish Day School, and
the Levine-Sklut Judaic Library
and Resource Center are support
ing recycling at Shalom Park
through this event. Jewish Family
Services and members of the
Levine JCC Oasis Program are
supplying docents to welcome our
larger Charlotte community. The
Foundation of Shalom Park will
be an integral part of our recycling
efforts by managing the donations
and recycling processes going for
ward. Philip Berman, Executive
Director of the Levine JCC, sum
marized the importance of our
attention to recycling by saying,
“Shalom Park has united in an
effort to be as environmentally
sensitive as it can be and to
acknowledge our responsibility as
Jews and as citizens of our com
munity and the world to preserve
our environment for our chil
dren.” O
Israeli Folk Dance Workshop
Dany Benshalom teaching Israeli dancing.
Come join us for a special
evening with Dany
Benshalom, a well-known and
widely respected teacher
among the dance community
in Israel and the Western
Hemisphere. Dany has won
the love and respect of
dancers all over the world
with his excellent teaching
ability, his warn and friendly
personality, and his infinite
patience. The event will take place
Wednesday, February 15, from
6:30-9:30 PM at the Levine
Jewish Community Center in the
Large Dance Studio.
Purchase tickets at the door or
register by calling 704-366-5007.
JCC member - $12.00; non-mem
ber-$15.00.
For more information, call
Naomi Herndon 704-944-6735.