The Chief Rabbi’s Office and the United Synagogue are marking Tu Bishvat, the New Year for Trees, by launching a “game-changing” environmental initiative, Dorot.

Meaning “generations” in Hebrew, Dorot is geared towards reducing both organisations’ environmental impact and will roll out seven projects this year.

The flagship scheme will see the US lead a campaign to have a tree planted for each of its 37,000 members as part of the Green Canopy project for the Queen’s Jubilee.

Disposable items will be phased out from shul buildings, nurseries and offices and unused land on US sites will be rewilded to encourage biodiversity and provide a home for wildlife.
“Smart energy solutions” for shuls will follow individual audits.

The US will also be reviewing its investment portfolio to check that it is environmentally friendly.

For travel, train will be prioritised over air wherever possible and the organisation has introduced an electric car leasing scheme for staff alongside an existing cycling scheme.
It also wants to start a conversation about responsible food consumption.

Dorot will be led by the US’s recently recruited head of environmental policy, Naomi Verber, who said the organisation was “in a unique position with its size and resources to take fast, decisive and impactful steps to reduce our environmental harm.

“Many of our communities have already generated real change and we now have the opportunity to scale up the impact across the organisation in a strategic way.”

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the impact of climate change was likely to pose greater challenges for future generations.

“This is why I have called for our communities to take meaningful and decisive action.

“I am delighted that the United Synagogue has responded impressively to that call with characteristic enthusiasm and commitment, building on and complementing the fruitful participation of a growing number of congregations in the outstanding EcoSynagogue initiative.

“I firmly believe that the implementation of Dorot can serve as a watershed moment for the way that our communities respond to the climate crisis and threats to our biodiversity.”
US president Michael Goldstein believes Dorot will be “a game-changer in terms of its ambition.

“Just as organisations had to act in the face of a global pandemic, so too must we act to prevent further global warming and biodiversity loss,” he remarked.

“As the Chief Rabbi has said, this is a religious priority. The decisions we take in the coming years will affect our children and grandchildren in profound ways and with this ambitious programme, we are committed to ensure our organisation plays its part in the global effort to protect humanity and all life on earth.”

US congregants young and old are fully behind the scheme. Anita Harding, 106, was a founding member of Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue, attending the day the shul opened.

“I always say ‘Baruch Hashem’ for this world and this life,” she told the JC. “We must not waste it for the next generation.”

Climate activist and Edgware Synagogue member Elinor Joseph, 15, declared: “We need drastic action and we need it yesterday.”

And five-year-old Nadavya Fromson from the Golders Green congregation said: “We need to take care of Hashem’s creations so we all can live.”