More than 220 Jewish environmental activists gathered in Malibu last weekend for this year's Mark and Sharon Bloome Jewish Environmental Leadership Institute, sponsored by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). Professionals from Jewish educational, environmental and outreach institutions came from as far as Canada, Europe and Israel.

Composed of 12 affiliates all over North America, with another half-dozen branches in development, COEJL organizes proactive environmental programs for Jewish institutions and individuals. When the conference took place in Ojai, CA, in 1998, there were just three affiliates. This year, 30 regional leaders from 17 communities gathered for a weekend of education, training and coordination.

The conference blanketed a wide range of issues, including "Ten Fundraising Tips for Grassroots Groups," "Operation Noah: Protecting Endangered Species," "Building a Jewish Nature Trail," "Creating a COEJL Affiliate from the Ground Up," and "Using the Media to Convey Your Message" were among the seminars offered. Urban ecology, environmental health, climate change and food supply were discussed in both secular and Jewish community contexts. "Right to Know," a ballot initiative calling for labeling of genetically engineered food that will become big news come November, was another hot button topic.

Ian Murray, associate director of Shalom Institute Camp and Conference, where the event was held, believes that this year's conference accomplished what it had set out to do.

"It was really wonderful," Murray reports. "My favorite part of the whole experience was that they had every denomination of Jewish faith ... all respecting each other. Friday night they all prayed together."

Shabbat was observed over the course of the three-day conference, which also included prayer, singing, meditation and hiking. The weekend's meals accommodated kosher, vegetarian and vegan dietary concerns.

Said Murray, "There was such joy and a love of the environment and Judaism."

Andy Lipkis

Participating on three panels at the COEJL conference, Andy Lipkis was also "very encouraged" by the turnout. Lipkis will be honored April 7 by COEJL for his work leading Tree People, a local environmental group which this year is very focused on solving water-related issues.

"We've been working on a way to use trees and forestry practices to capture the rainfall and reuse it for irrigation," said Lipkis. "We're starting to make huge progress. We so poorly manage water here that L.A. is hemorrhaging lots of money."

Lipkis added that the result of resolving these water problems could bring in thousands of new jobs in the coming years and stimulate our local economy.

"The energy and enthusiasm was tremendous," Lipkis said of the weekend's environmental shabbaton. "Aside from the traditional role of what people think of as environmentalism, it was also really good because people are taking up serious work of tikkun olam."

Lee Wallach, executive director of the California-Israel Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Malibu-based COEJL branch, says that this year's gathering maintained the integrity of past conferences.

"The focus every year is fairly broad, because what we're doing is educating folks on a variety of issues, everything from green power to kashrut and the humane treatment of animals. Before we in the Jewish community jump aboard, we have to clean house ourselves and work internally within the Jewish community," said Wallach, who stresses that there is much our area Jewish institutions can do to ensure quality of life for future generations.

"They need to do everything from buying green power -- solar power, windmill and other environmentally conscious sources of power -- to making sure that they're recycling paper and they're not using styrofoam cups."

For example, Wallach says that a ner tamid, the eternal light that burns above the ark in a synagogue, can be operated by nature.

"We have a program in place where we're going to be teaching shuls how to charge this by solar power," said Wallach. "How much closer to God can you get than making sure that the sun is making that light everburning?"

For information on next year's conference, and on environmental tips on an individual or community level, contact COEJL's Lee Wallach or Bill Kaplan at (818) 889-5500. COEJL will have a booth at this year's Independence Day Festival at Pan Pacific Park on May 14.