In keeping with our Jewish value of protecting the environment, we will be celebrating Tu BiShvat, the Jewish New Year of Trees, with a special focus on climate change. During the observance of Tu BiShvat, as we sip wine and taste a variety of fruits and nuts, we are reminded of our living partnership with the environment and the Earth. Climate change threatens this partnership — and all of us. While all living beings face the increasing challenges of climate change, communities of color, and those of less means, experience its most dramatic and deleterious effects.
Tu biShvat is the perfect time to acknowledge that we cannot take the Earth and its gifts for granted. And it is also the perfect time to discuss what actions we, individually and collectively, can take to achieve environmental justice to protect the Earth so that it will continue to sustain life for future generations.
Our Seder will begin at 5:00 PM., followed by a vegetarian buffet dinner. In addition to our Seder, our special guest, congregant, and City Councilmember, Lincoln Restler, will give us his perspective on climate and the environment. Councilmember Restler has been instrumental in the City Council’s climate initiatives and is the only member to publish a Climate Action Roadmap for his district, the 33rd, which includes BHS. Lincoln will also address what we, as individuals, families, and as a community, can do to help protect our planet for generations to come. It’s our hope that this Seder will be a first step in an ongoing conversation about how we can act together to fight against climate change and for environmental justice.
Please note that there is no charge for students attending in-person or for members Zooming in.
Join the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue Preschool in celebrating the birthday of the trees. There will be live music, fun, and more!