JYCM In The Making
JYCM's Founding National Leadership Board Updates: Since our fifth full board meeting, we’ve been spending more time working in our individual teams (A&A, PR, and Comms) and building our executive board made up of the 12th graders in the movement. Our main project right now is planning the Chagim Campaign that we’re launching to connect environmentalism to the high holidays. Each team has been working hard to plan their sessions and we’re so excited that we had our first event on Tuesday the 25th! At the session, Aharon Varady from the Open Siddur Project taught Jewish texts related to climate change and T’shuvah, the practice of asking for forgiveness. Varady was followed by Melissa Hoffman of JIFA (Jewish Initiative For Animals), who guided participants through writing letters to congressional representatives to advocate for the Farm System Reform Bill. In the next few weeks,climatecurriculumpartnershipsexciting,eventse will continue to hold campaign events and begin presenting some of what we’ve been working on over the summer to the world. Join us this Friday, September 4th to welcome in Shabbat with JYCM co-founder Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein!
Image by JYCM Program Coordinator Haley Schusterman
Chagim Campaign Updates:
PR Team
Some members of the PR team are organizing the panel on teen climat activists. Members of the PR team are also revamping our curricul um toolkits to make sure content is ready for local JYCM KvutzotGroups. Finally, members of the PR team are reaching out to organizations for p artnerships.
Actions and Advocacy
The Actions and Advocacy team is thrilled to present two exc iting events during the Chagim Campaign. We will be partnering with our friends at Dayenu (another Jewish climate organization) to get out the vote for the upcoming election. We will also be moderating a panel discussion of leaders on environmental racism. We are looking forward to seeing you all there!
Comms Team
Since the campaign began, the JYCM Comms team has been working hard t o get the campaign off the ground, and making sure that our campaign pages are running smoothly. The Newsletter team has been creatin creating bi-monthly newsletters to be sent out throughout the campaign so you all can stay up to date on events and news. The JYCM Website Team has been developing a calendar page with all the Chagim Campaign Events, with dates, times, information and registration links. If you haven’t already, you can visit this page at: jewishyouthclimatemovement.org/calendar The JYCM Social Media team has been creating visuals to advertise our campaign, making sure that all of our followers are staying up to date with all of our campaign events. We also recently posted our full interview with Becky O’Brien, Director of Food and Climate at Hazon. You can watch the full interview here: youtu.be/oQ3yf1F5NH4
We are excited to be launching this campaign, and to connect with the broader Jewish community. Visit the campaign calendar to view and register for events.
Image by JYCM Executive Board Member Bella Weksler
Poem by Anonymous
I Hope It Was Enough
I hope this is good
I hope what managed to get done was enough
What we felt pushing for this way of life that we have now
I can’t begin to tell you how good it felt
Saying:
Climate justice
No more fossil fuels
A just transition
No gerrymandering
I hope we salvaged enough for you
So you and your family can live with clean air, water, land
So you can afford to live with a regular job
I really really hope we did enough
A Word From a Board Member
My name is Lila Horberg Decter and I live in Massachusetts. I joined JYCM because it brought two things together that I both care about. My Judaism is a strong part of my identity, but I'm also an environmentalist. In recent years it has come to my attentionn that we 're on a strict deadline for the climate crisis, so since then I've been trying to work on ways I can help the environment and take action. I've been a vegetarian my whole life but introducing my family to composting and cutting down on plastics are examples of how I've tried to change my behavior and the behavior of those around me. But I wanted to do something more and take action on a bigger scale, that's why I joined JYCM. So far JYCM has helped me learn a lot, not only in terms of the environment but also on things like how to communicate with large groups attention people or productively working with others my age on important issues. I've learned multiple social and organizing skills, but also gained a community of like-minded teens.
"Solidarity is the political version of love." - Melanie Kaye Kantrowitz
Spreading the Word
By telling other people about JYCM and similar organizations, more people can take part in the climate movement, moving us towards a brighter future.
For more information about JYCM and ways to get involved, visit our website and reach out: jycm@hazon.org
Image by Leadership Board Member Lila
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