Judaism+&+Ecology

=Judaism & Ecology Unit Homepage=

As you all know, Tu Bish'vat is the Jewish New Year of the Trees/ראש השנה לאלנות. With the coming of this festival every year, we concentrate on two major ideas and actions: the greening of the land of Israel and Judaism's laws that focus on protection of the environment. Typically, as a festival approaches, I provide you with a packet with a selection of texts, which we study together, in order to learn more about celebration that is upon us. For Tu Bish'vat this year, we are going to change our process.

Judaism has a rich tradition of teaching on the subjects of ecology and environmental protection. Going back as far as the TaNaKH, our tradition has commanded all of humanity to take control of preserving and protecting the Earth, and making the environment better for the generations that will live on it long after we are gone. For our Tu Bish'vat unit this year, Grade 7 students will become the teachers of the class on the subject of Judaism and Ecology.

ASSIGNMENT:
Each Grade 7 student will be responsible for finding ONE teaching on the subject of Judaism and Ecology. There are several on-line resources that are available for you to use to locate and select your teaching. __No two students in the same class will be permitted to use the same text.__ However, this is NOT an exercise in speed. Not only will you have to find a teaching, but you will also have to evaluate it and the source from which it came, explain what it means and why you specifically chose that text (personal connection), and then present the teaching to the class in a short presentation. **BEFORE YOU MAKE A FINAL DECISION ON YOUR TEXT, PLEASE SHARE AND CHECK IT WITH RABBI BELLAS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS SELECTED IT.**

1) **Research Texts** With your school laptop, conduct some on-line research on the topic of Judaism and Ecology/Judaism and the Environment. Browse through your results thoughtfully and select a teaching from Jewish tradition that offers insight into how human beings are instructed to treat the Earth and the environment.

2) **Evaluate the Texts and Their Sources** Once you have a few worthy options before you, thoughtfully consider them on the following grounds: a. Does this teaching provide a meaningful message about Judaism and the environment? b. Do I find something in the teaching that is meaningful to me PERSONALLY? c. Does the source of this teaching (where I found it on-line) seem reliable enough that I can trust using it for this assignment? d. Will I be able to present/teach/explain this text to my fellow classmates in a SHORT classroom presentation?

3) **Select YOUR Teaching** After you have completed all of the tasks for #1, and #2, then you will post the text of your teaching into your class' shared google doc **with the citation for your source** (i.e. the precise URL from which it came and the book source where the original teaching can be found). The links for the documents are just below.

[| 7A Tu Bish'vat Teachings] [| 7B Tu Bish'vat Teachings]

4) **Prepare a Presentation for the Class** This presentation is NOT intended to force you to create any kind of labor-intensive presentation board at home. Instead, you should invest your time in preparing information on the following questions to present to the class: a. What is the text? (If you would like to prepare a digital document with the text to project on the white board for your presentation in large print, feel free to do so). b. What is the source of your text (from what book does your text come and explain what this source is)? - Title of the source - Time period during which the source was written (be specific) - Who is the author (for some sources, the information will not be available)? c. What is the ecological/environmental lesson of your text? How does this text connect Judaism to environmental concerns? Sometimes, a text needs explanation beyond what the literal translation means. Be prepared to explain the text so that your classmates understand it.

d. What are the practical/behavioral implications of the teaching? Does it give us a specific command or is it a general statement? What should we DO as a result of this teaching? What is this teaching's connection to modern world issues/problems?

e. Why did you choose THIS teaching over all others that were options for you? Talk about why this text was personally interesting to you/how it spoke to you...etc.

f. What did you learn about how to search the internet more quickly and efficiently from this project? Are there lessons that you can take with you for future internet research?

5) **Brief Writing Assignment - After all presentations are complete** __In no more than two brief, but thoughtful paragraphs__, answer the following two questions: a. How will your learning during this unit affect choices that you make that will have environmental implications? Give specific examples. b. What did you learn about how to evaluate and select on-line sources from this project?


 * Grading Rubric**




 * Class Presentations start dates:**
 * 7A - First students will present on Tuesday, February 22nd; all students must have presentations ready to go by February 25th**
 * 7B - First students will present on Thursday, February 24th; all students must have presentations ready to go by that date.**
 * Writing assignments (#5 above) are to be posted to the discussion thread of this wiki page by February 25th, 2011.**