Shmita Values in Action, with Naomi Edelson & Dr. Mirele Goldsmith
In this podcast, we explore different ways to put shmita values into action through congregational and community projects and by advocating at the local level. Two speakers—Naomi Edelson, Senior Director for Wildlife Partnerships at The National Wildlife Federation and Dr. Mirele Goldsmith, an environmental psychologist and co-chair of Jewish Earth Alliance—lead the way.
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We’re encouraging the replacement of lawns with native plants. The idea is to replace lawns with the plants that have co-evolved with wildlife, and when you plant them they provide food and cover and homes for wildlife. But at the same time, they help people because they’re actually changing how the water is on the land. — Naomi
We want to create, even in urban and suburban areas, biologically-important areas. — Naomi
In our congregation and particularly our climate action team we were thinking about, “what would be an appropriate project for us to get involved in that reflects the values of the Sabbatical year?” The Sabbatical year raises some really deep questions about what is a sustainable society, and it challenges us to think about how what we’re doing in the present to create a better future. — Mirele
Don’t try to do it alone. Look around for a group that you can be part of in your area. And then meet with someone in the group and find out the different ways for people to be involved. That’s the way to do it, and I would just say be brave. — Mirele
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Naomi Edelson is the Senior Director of Wildlife Partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). In this role, she leads partnerships with state wildlife agencies and other state based partners to secure greater funding to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered, including legislative, communications, grassroots, and coalition building elements of the campaign. On the federal side this includes the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act campaign. Naomi has also developed a toolkit for wildlife leaders on “Strengthening State Wildlife Agencies” that includes securing state-level funding for wildlife with numerous tips, tools, and case studies. She also works with Gardening for Wildlife program to restore wildlife habitat where people live, work, learn, play, and worship, including creation of the Native Plant Finder and Sacred Grounds, a program for faith communities. Naomi is a wildlife biologist with a M.S. from the University of Florida where she studied wading birds and wetlands, and a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Naomi lives with her husband and 14-year-old son in Takoma Park, MD, just across the Washington D.C. line.
Dr. Mirele B. Goldsmith is an environmental psychologist, educator, and activist. She is an expert in how to change human behavior to solve environmental problems. As director of Hazon’s Jewish Greening Fellowship, she guided 55 community-based organizations to save energy, invest in renewables, implement sustainable operations and educate youths and adults. She co-founded Jewish Earth Alliance, a national network mobilizing Jews to raise a moral voice for action on climate change to the US Congress.
This podcast is part of our Winter 2021 collection, Shmita Now, guest-edited by Yaira Robinson.
