Kehillah highlighted this year’s Tu B’shvat holiday (birthday of the trees) with special programming around the theme of reflecting on the lessons we can derive from our botanical analog.

Students broke off into various classrooms to cover the following topics: Climate Activism, Sustainability, and Connecting to the Earth, with rotations so every student had a chance to reflect on each of the topics. Under the umbrella of Climate Activism, we had discussions on the History of Climate Activism, Dr. Dooley lead students through a poignant series of slides that illustrated how the fight for a cleaner earth is not a new topic, taking students back to the origins of where it all began with pioneers like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt.

In another room Henry Shane (’21) lead the discussion on how social media effects activism, can it be utilized to mobilize people? Students had their own insights around whether scrolling past shared posts was the reality, acknowledging that to actually make a difference requires being present. Posters were being made in another room with groups working together to determine the most motivating phrases and imagery that could be displayed, some simple reminders to recycle while others were more complex thought provoking illustrations to evoke more consideration of how to save our planet from it’s inhabitants.

Sustainability was covered in a variety of ways from a simple lip balm recipe with a bees wax base to the more involved ideas around sustainable kitchens and how what we take from the earth for our table, effects what we will be able to reap in the future. There was a meditation walk that included mindfulness and the picking up litter, just a moment to acknowledge that the little things add up, you’re not just picking up an empty chip bag, you might be inspiring someone else to do the same and spreading that simple note of positivity, echos out to our planet.