Symposium on Spirituality and the Environment

We invite our friends of all faiths and backgrounds to Congregation Har HaShem’s Inaugural Symposium on Spirituality and the Environment on Sunday, October 30 from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm. We hope that the conversations at this Symposium will help the Boulder community step forward to advance a spiritually-based response to environmental stewardship and community action. Guest speakers include:

Rabbi Marc Soloway (Judaism) – Congregation Bonai Shalom, Boulder CO

A native of London, England, Marc was an actor and massage therapist, and has been the spiritual leader at Bonai Shalom since 2004. He co-chairs the Rabbinical Council of Hazon, which strives to create more sustainable Jewish communities. In 2015, he was among a group of 12 faith leaders honored at The White House as “Champions of Change” for work on the climate. Bonai Shalom was the first “zero waste” synagogue, grows food, houses a Jewish goat co-op, and keeps chickens. Marc loves milking goats every Sunday morning.

Rev. Fletcher Harper (Christianity) – Executive Director, GreenFaith, Highland Park, NJ

The Rev. Fletcher Harper is Executive Director of GreenFaith, an international, interfaith environmental organization that supports leadership training for faith leaders from diverse backgrounds, activist campaigns, and advocacy on climate and environmental issues.

Gopal Patel (Hinduism) – The Bhumi Project, New York, NY

Gopal Patel is based at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies where he serves as the Director of their Bhumi Project. Sanskrit for ‘Mother Earth’, the Bhumi Project works with Hindu communities internationally to raise awareness of, and address, the environmental challenges facing our planet.

Nana Firman (Islam) – Fellow at GreenFaith/ Green Market Solution, San Diego, CA

Nana Firman is GreenFaith’s Muslim Coordinator. An Indonesian, Nana directed WWF-Indonesia’s “Green Reconstruction” efforts during a post-tsunami period and developed an urban climate change adaptation/ mitigation initiative. She organized the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change in Istanbul, Turkey, and currently co-directs the Islamic Society of North America’s Green Mosque Initiative.

Agenda

2:00 Opening Message

2:15 Session One

3:15 Session Two

4:15 Multi-Faith Panel Discussion

5:15 Next Steps to Continue the Conversation

5:45 Conclusion

There is no fee to attend this event, however, you must register to reserve your seat. Find more information here: http://www.harhashem.org/social-justice/symposium and please register here: https://harhashem.wufoo.com/forms/symposium-on-spirituality-and-the-environment/.

This symposium is sponsored by the Bachrach Family Endowment of Congregation Har HaShem.

We appreciate the Travel Justly Grant from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.