An Invitation to Join "Team TSTI's 5K Run/Walk/Roll"

Our September Bulletin article... In August...

This isn't your typical end of the summer "welcome back", pre-High Holy Day bulletin article. Then again, what we have planned for October isn't your typical temple function. Let us explain.

Rabbi Nachman’s Prayer

Master of the Universe, grant me the ability to be alone.
May it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grasses,
Among all growing things,
There to be alone and enter into prayer.
There may I express all that is in my heart,
Talking with God to whom I belong.
And may all grasses, trees and plants
Awake at my coming.
Send the power of their life into my prayer,
Making whole my heart and my speech through the life and spirit of growing things,
Made whole by their transcendent Source.
Oh! That they would enter my prayer!
Then would I fully open my heart in prayer, supplication and holy speech;

Then, O God, would I pour out the words of my heart before Your Presence

Rabbi Cohen:
It's funny how things can take on a life of their own. Back in the spring my friend Larry Greenberg realized that he had let himself get out of shape. He has run a number of marathons and decided to get running again. Because he is an avid technology fan he decided to use an iPhone app "C25K" which is based on Cool Running's Couch-to-5K Running Plan to help him along. C25K is designed to get someone who hasn't been running at all up, running and, a few months later, able to run in a 5 km race. Of course, I opened my mouth and said that I wanted to do it too. I hadn't run in years but my physician had been telling me I needed to start exercising so before you knew it I had the app on my iPhone and had started running (well walking at first actually).

I told Rabbi Miller what I was doing and she, in turn, joined in. Before I knew it the entire senior staff of the synagogue had agreed to participate in some form or another.

As things tend to happen in Temple life, especially here at TSTI, the idea took on a life of its own. Rabbi Miller suggested that we do a larger synagogue run and invite everyone in the temple family to join in. The timing couldn't be better. Right after the Holy Days is a wonderful time for us to gather together as an extended temple family. Moreover, because we are part of the URJ and GreenFaith’s Greening Initiative, getting out into nature seems to be a perfect fit.

(Quick aside, on a recent conference call with GreenFaith I learned that we now spend an average of 90% of our time indoors. Source: epa.gov via Rabbi Larry Troster) It seemed like something we should do and... it is something we are doing. But I'll let Rabbi Miller pick it up from here.

Rabbi Miller
This was one of those times when, even as the words were leaving my mouth I realized I should have kept quiet. But once I said I was in... I was in. I knew I needed to start training right away. Yes, peer pressure can be a positive thing sometimes. (As a quick aside, Rabbi Cohen emailed from his vacation saying that he was ready to quit but didn't "because he wasn't going to let me keep going while he stopped." I emailed back that I had thought the exact same thing that morning.)

Couch25k is a 9 week training program. During my first 7 weeks of training (at week one mind you) I told everyone I know that I was doing this program. Many people said that it sounded great and asked how to get the program so that they could train too. That gave me an idea . . . Why not invite everyone in the congregation to join in. We'll have fun together, get outside together, and even better, we can turn it into a mitzvah and raise some money for a good environmental cause or two.

And so Team TSTI was born.

Here are some of the details at this point --

The race, or more accurately run/walk, will be held on a Sunday in October. (The official date will be on the temple Web site as soon as it is approved by the town.)

The registration will be $18 for anyone under 18 and $36 for anyone over 18. That will include a t-shirt, a water bottle (as part of the Greening Initiative we can't exactly give out plastic bottled water can we??) and some prizes that will be raffled off to a few of the people who have completed the 5K in any form.

In addition, we are going to invite anyone who is participating to get sponsors for each of the five kilometers. Half of the proceeds will go toward planting trees in Israel through the Jewish National Fund and the other half will go toward planting trees and flowers here at home. This is, of course, optional but we invite all walk/runners of the 5K to do so.

We hope that everyone will join us. You don't have to run the 5 km (3.2 miles). You can run, walk, or roll. Just join us. Our heartfelt thanks to Debbie Bernstein for helping to organize this event.

On a final note, this experience has given me the chance to see the "unRabbinic side" of Rabbi Cohen even more clearly than ever... he has completed the C25K (and has started Couch to 10K) and on each of the last three runs he taunted me by sending me his stats.

We are proud to serve as rabbis of a congregation that would pursue an initiative such as this and look forward to all of you joining with us for Team TSTI's first ever 5K.

Here is a bonus... if you plan to join us and have either an iPhone or iPod touch...

I (Rabbi Cohen) was emailing with the developer of the C25K iPhone app. They loved the fact that we are doing a TSTI 5K and sent me promotional codes for 10 copies of the app (and invited me to write up our story for their website [which I will happily be doing]). If you will be joining us for Team TSTI and would like a copy of the app email me and I'll get one of the ten codes to you if any are left.

In The News...

From--

Temple puts on its 'GreenFaith'

• Posted by News-Record on June 9, 2010 at 10:30am
• View News-Record's blog

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
As the senior rabbi of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, Dan Cohen can cite passages of Torah and Talmud about being good stewards of the environment.

Those teachings will be put into practice in a big way, with the synagogue hoping to lead by example.
Sharey Tefilo-Israel is one of eight Reform synagogues in New Jersey and four churches nationally participating in a two-year certification program through GreenFaith, a New Brunswick-based interfaith organization concerned about the environment.

Among the requirements, the synagogue must have three worship services that have an environmental theme, take steps to make their buildings “green” and get involved in environmental advocacy and justice.
There is also a strong education component. Cohen said a main goal is to influence the roughly 900 to 1,000 households which make up his congregation to put into practice environmentally friendly steps.
“Part of our responsibility is to be in balance with the world, and we’ve thrown off that balance,” he said from his office with a window view of Scotland Road.

Phil and Sue Hoch, two members of Sharey-Tefilo Israel, went to Cohen about participating in the GreenFaith project.

Cohen said there is a strong emphasis within Reform Judaism about social responsibility, of getting involved in larger social issues. He pointed to the involvement of Reform rabbis in the civil rights movement.

The environment, he said, is “probably one of the most important challenges facing us today.”
He looks with concern at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and says now is the time for a national energy policy that takes the country off its reliance on oil.

The synagogue, home to a volunteer “Green Team,” already sees itself as environmentally friendly. It plans to change over its light fixtures to higher energy-efficient models. Recycling bins will also go into the classrooms of its preschool and Hebrew school. “We want our kids to see us model it,” he said.

The Union for Reform Judaism, the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism and Greenfaith jointly announced what has been billed the “Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program.”

During a conference call June 3, Rabbi Jordan Millstein of Temple Sinai of Bergen County said the Torah speaks of tilling and tending to the earth.

He said the Torah teaches people to respect God’s world and be the good stewards “we were meant to be.”

The Rev. Fletcher Harper, director of GreenFaith, said interest about the environment is running high in the “faith community” and that houses of worship have a role to play.

Philip Sean Curran can be reached at 908-686-7700, ext. 116, or at newsrecord@thelocalsource.com.

TSTI In The News...

From---

GreenFaith Partners with Reform Jewish Temples to Create Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program By Rachel Meisel 6/14/2010

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental organization, has partnered with the Reform Jewish Movement in creating the Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program. Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange is one of eight temples in New Jersey to be selected for the rigorous two-year GreenFaith Certification Program set to begin this month. In order to become certified as GreenFaith Sanctuaries the synagogues will spend the next two years creating and implementing an action plan to reduce their carbon footprint by conserving energy and other resources within their facilities, providing environmentally-themed education and worship and environmental justice programming and advocacy. Each temple’s committee will consist of their clergy and congregants. The goal is to teach and engage their congregants on sustainability as well as the community at large. Rev. Fletcher Harper, the Director of GreenFaith, said these temples were selected out of the close to 50 reform temples that applied because they demonstrated a high degree of willingness and were ready to commit the time. Originally known as Partners for Environmental Quality, GreenFaith was founded in 1992 by Jewish and Christian leaders whose mission was to connect diverse religious traditions with the environment. It changed its name to GreenFaith in the early 2000s when its efforts included energy conservation and the use of renewable energy in religious institutions. Since its inception, they have been responsible for greening houses of worship throughout New Jersey. In a phone interview, Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Sharey Tefilo-Israel told The Alternative Press the environment is not an academic issue. He believes it is a spiritual one. To him religion is how you interact with people and the world. He pointed out that tradition says one cannot pray in a synagogue without windows. Rabbi Cohen interprets that as a reminder that prayers come to life when we can see and be aware of the world. He recounted the old Jewish story of an elderly man in ancient Israel planting a fig tree. A Roman general passing by says to the man, "Don’t you realize it will take twenty years before that tree will grow enough to produce fruit, and you will be long dead by then?" The old man responded, "When I was a small child, I could eat fruit because those who came before me had planted trees. Am I not obliged to do the same for the next generation?" Rabbi Cohen summarized, "We have to think outside ourselves and how the environment affects us. We have to think how it will affect other generations." The seven other congregations participating in the Pilot Program are Temple Shalom in Aberdeen, Temple Emanu-El in Edison, Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick, Temple Shalom in Succasunna, and Temple Sinai in Tenafly. Photo above: Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Wantage, NJ where GreenFaith was instrumental in installing a solar array. Photo courtesy of GreenFaith. Entrance sign to Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, South Orange, one of eight temples to be selected for the GreenFaith Certification Program.

TSTI Green Team News

TSTI Part of the Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program

The TSTI Green team has been hard at work and they have an exciting announcement:

TSTI has been selected to participate in the Greening Reform Judaism Pilot Program!

The URJ has partnered with GreenFaith, a leading national interfaith environmental coalition, to provide a limited number of qualified New Jersey congregations the opportunity to enroll at no cost in the GreenFaith Certification Program and support strong environmental leadership within our Movement. TSTI is among the first Reform congregations in North America to become a GreenFaith Sanctuary, serving as an example to our community, our state, and the Movement.

Thanks to special funding from the National Religious Partnership on the Environment, the URJ will be able to completely underwrite the costs to enroll in the Certification Program. This represents a savings of approximately $1,500 for TSTI.

Our congregation, led by the Green Team and with the full support of leadership, clergy and staff, will make a two-year commitment this pilot program. Over the two-year period, our congregation will engage in a range of environmental activities, including:

• Environmental education programs for children, teens and adults;

• Environmentally-oriented worship services;

• Green building and facility management activities;

• Environmental justice education and advocacy;

• Interfaith environmental efforts with houses of worship of diverse denominations.

TSTI has been and continues to be very committed to the environment. Our Green Team has been active for a few years and has been successful in helping the Temple achieve savings and more environmentally conscious consumption. The team continues to create awareness for the Temple Community. We are excited about the opportunity to become part of the Greenfaith program because there is still work to be done in our congregation and this program will provide us with more resources, structure and direction than we currently have on our own. TSTI also welcomes the challenge to reach further on environmental issues and the opportunity to be a role model for other congregations.

Upon completion of the pilot program, our congregation will be considered a leader in the Greening Reform Judaism initiative. Members of our Green team will serve as advisors to other Reform congregations and participate in select URJ programs and events such as the URJ Biennial and the Religious Action Center’s Consultation on Conscience.