Please register below.
Congregation Shaare Zedek hosts a featured talk by Jay Shofet from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), sponsored by the David, Ursula, & Adina Michaeli Memorial Education Fund which supports Israel programming at Shaare Zedek.
Shabbat morning services will begin at 9:30 a.m. and children's services at 11:00 a.m. A sponsored kiddush lunch will be served shortly after noon, and the event will begin at 1:00 p.m.
About the talk:
A Brief History of Israel's Environmental Movement, and a Snapshot of Today's Sustainability Challenges and Successes
Jay will trace the growth of Israel's environmental movement from its early-decades focus on a romantic notion of conservation, through its growth and professionalization stage in the 90's, to its grassroots focus on sustainability in the last decade. Then, he'll give a snapshot of where things stand today: how a new ethos of dense, sustainable cities is slowly developing; how land use planning affects everything; how the push for renewable energy is fighting against entrenched economic interests and old infrastructure; and how Israel's world-class biodiversity is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation -- and what SPNI is doing about it.
Jay Shofet serves as the Director of Partnerships and Development at the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Jay previously served as the Director of The Green Environment Fund, which was a leading philanthropic partnership that supported the environmental movement in Israel for 15 years. Previously, Jay served as the Director of Resource Development Consultation for Shatil, responsible for a national team of consultants who provided training and support for NGOs in fundraising and income-generation, as well as Director of Shatil's Religious Pluralism project, working to advance religious pluralism. Jay has also worked for the Jewish Agency for Israel and was the founding director of the Agency's People-to-People Center.
A resident of south Tel Aviv, Jay grew up in upstate New York and moved to Israel in 1986. He holds a BA in Government from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and an MA in Political Science from New York University. Jay served in the IDF in the Military Police, and in the Civil Guard, and is father to Shani, 26, a social worker in Kiryat Shemona, and Nadav, 22, an intelligence officer in the IDF.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) is the oldest, leading, and largest environmental non-profit organization in Israel, and represented in the United States by NatureIsrael™. Since 1953, SPNI has dedicated itself to protecting and preserving Israel’s natural resources, environment, and unique landscape through education, activism, and advancing the love of nature. SPNI works with policy makers and young people, across the country and in all sectors, to create a sustainable future for Israel, protecting and harnessing Israel’s natural resources for current and future generations.
Please register for Jay's talk:
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