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Health & Fitness

Temple Jeremiah welcomes internationally renowned environmentalist Alex Cicelsky

In furtherance of its active participation in the GreenFaith Certification Program, which is part of the nation’s first interfaith environmental certification process for houses of worship, and in honor of Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, Temple Jeremiah is proud to welcome Alex Cicelsky, a founding member of Kibbutz Lotan, one of two Reform Kibbutzim in Israel. He will be speaking at Temple Jeremiah, 937 Happ Road, Northfield, on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

Kibbutz Lotan was founded in 1983 by Israeli and American youth who built a profit-sharing community based on pluralistic, egalitarian and creative Jewish values while protecting the environment. The kibbutz’s Center for Creative Ecology is an environmental education, research and conservation institution. The Center offers academic programs in conjunction with UMass Amherst and certification courses in Permaculture - Sustainable Design and Training. The Center’s facilities include an educational, interactive park for organic and urban agriculture, natural building and solar energy demonstrations as well as the super energy efficient EcoCampus – a unique neighborhood constructed from earth plastered straw bales.

Cicelsky is a senior staff member and founder of the Center. A native of New York State, he studied international agriculture at Cornel University's school of Agriculture and Life Sciences and graduated, following establishment of Kibbutz Lotan, from the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment with a degree in Soil and Water Sciences and Environmental Quality in Agriculture. He lectures on numerous subjects dealing with sustainable design and environmental ethics at universities, churches, and synagogues and at professional seminars worldwide.

Cicelsky will speak about the history of Kibbutz Lotan, the innovative environmental and greening work of the kibbutz, Reform Judaism in Israel, and much more. The cost is $10 and includes a light dinner.

The GreenFaith program is designed to help churches, synagogues, mosques and temples earn recognition as environmental leaders by carrying out over two dozen environmental activities over two years. Temple Jeremiah is proud to continue its involvement in the program and to raise environmental awareness in the community.

Temple Jeremiah is a Reform Jewish congregational family whose mission is to foster and invigorate a love for worship, study of Torah, and acts of Tikkun Olam in a caring community that embraces diversity in its membership. It is dedicated to lifelong Jewish education, tzedakah, and social justice.

For more information about Temple Jeremiah, its GreenFaith initiative, or the program with Cicelsky, please contact Lia at 847.441.5760 or lia@templejeremiah.org.

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