Elana Sztokman

Saving the environment is not just a noble cause; it is a religious imperative. That is the message coming from an intriguing new political initiative of Rabbi Michael Melchior and Prof Alon Tal, who have recently joined forces to form a counter-intuitive and seemingly unlikely political merge between a religious and a green party. Tal’s environmentalist Green Movement and Melchior’s religious-liberal Meimad have decided to unite in order to lead the country not only towards intensive environmental and social activism but effectively towards implementing an entire vision of what it means to build a Jewish society.

“What kind of Jewish state are we if are not looking after our environmental and social needs?” Tal asked. “The answer is, we are not a Jewish state. We are not embodying Jewish values.”

Tal, long-time environmental activist, founder of the environmental advocacy group Adam Teva V’Din, founder of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, member of the JNF board, and author of several books on the environment, has an astounding record of achievement. He has had a part in writing a good portion of Israel’s environmental legislation, was instrumental in transforming JNF into a leading environmental organization, and won the $100,000 Bronfman award for environmental work – which he in turn used to create the Tal Fund for environmental activism.

“Winning the award was pretty cool,” the bare-headed, bald and bearded 48-year old Tal smiled, sitting with his astute nine-year old daughter Zoey in his lap and his retired thoroughbred-dog Alice puttering about. “We had been living in kibbutz for ten years, making around 1,000 NIS a month, so it was really something.” Tal, a North Carolina native and second-generation environmentalist currently living in Maccabim with his wife and three children, made aliyah at 20, joined the paratroopers, completed a doctorate in environmental studies at Harvard University, and lived on Kibbutz Ketura for ten years before moving to the center of the country.

For a man who has dedicated his life to changing environmental policy, going into politics seems to be the natural next step. “So many of the key environmental issues need political force to be solved,” he said. “The sad truth is that whenever there are conflicting interests, the environment loses out.”

According to Tal, there are some burning environmental issues that will soon become irreversible if they are not taken care of soon. “Green spaces,” for example, in the Modi’in area, “if we wait five or six years, the ecological corridor which is so critical for animals to be able to survive, just won’t be there. If the mayor puts a huge housing development in the southern hills, we will have lost something very, very important.”

Tal is motivated by what he calls a “deep sense of urgency”. “Take the corals in Eilat. Seventy percent of the corals, eight years ago, were okay and thirty percent were bleached, broken, and so forth. They did the same study a year and half ago and the numbers flipped – now 70% of the corals in Eilat are dying. We’re really one minute before midnight here, where future generations will lose the ecological wonder. We’re going to have to do something and do something now. So this kind of issue is not on anyone’s radar screen except for the Green Movement-Meimad. And those are the kinds of things that are not going to wait. The list of irreversible issues is long and deep.”

One of the striking aspects of the merge between the Green Movement and Meimad is the way it connects the environment and people’s lives. “Take cancer for example,” he says. “The world rate for breast cancer in one in ten women. In Israel it’s one in nine. In Haifa it’s one in six and a half. And it’s not because of genetics or diet. This epidemic has to do with the air they’re breathing. So these are serious issues.” Indeed, one of Tal’s most burning issues is air pollution, because of the way it directly impacts people’s lives. “The fact remains that 45 days out of the year, it’s still unhealthy to breathe the air in Israel,” he says. “National statistics show that 2,000 people die a year unnecessarily of air pollution. One in five children in Tel Aviv have respiratory disease because of air pollution,” he says. “You can’t give those children their years back, when they couldn’t go in a swimming pool or they couldn’t go on school trips because of asthma.”

One of the people who has been directly affected by air pollution and respiratory disease is MK Michael Melchior, Tal’s new political partner. “I am one of those people who walks around with an inhaler,” Melchior confessed at a conference about the new party that was held in Modi’in’ cultural center with a 100+ crowd last Saturday night. “I know what it feels like for these kids who can’t lead a normal life because of the impact the environment has on them.”

But the connection between the environment and society goes far deeper than looking at how air pollution affects kids. “What does it mean to be a Jewish state?” asked Melchior, dressed in his everyday garb of a black suit, tie, black hat, and beard. “If people are not healthy, if people are not looked after, if they are not receiving basic care for their well-being, we cannot call ourselves a Jewish state.”

The idea that the definition of Jewish is not based on kosher food, separating of the sexes, or an interrogation by a gruff and archaic Beit Din but rather on interpersonal behavior is as inspired as it is radical for Israel. Even moreso is this idea so unexpected to be coming from such a distinguished rabbinical figure as Melchior, who has seven generations of Danish rabbis behind him.

“He’s a very wise, liberal and activist rabbi,” says Tal in admiration of his colleague. Melchior has spent the last Knesset session serving as head of the Education committee, and has been one of the most activist legislators in that time, promoting a range of issues from pluralism to women’s rights to the environment. His office is lined with environmental awards which most people do not associate him with. Indeed, most people think that Tal is the environmentalist on the team, but in fact, Melchior is as staunch an environmentalist as Tal. “He’s one of the most outstanding parliamentarians in the country,” Tal says, smiling that Melchior has undoubtedly “earned a place in the world to come.” Melchior is also head of the committee on co-existence between Jews and Arabs, as well as founder of the Meitarim educational schools, and initiator of the new “Third Stream” of mixed religious-secular education. “He’s widely recognized as the most qualified Knesset member to become Minister of Education,” Tal said, “so our combination seemed like a natural thing.”

The overlap between environment, education, and social justice creates a powerful and inspired platform – all in the name of Judaism. “We’re talking about ‘nutritional security’,” says Tal. “We want to bring compassion back, a certain type of internal harmony, a community that has a strong sense of social justice.” And this requires political activism.

The new party, the only party running whose list is exactly 50-50 men and women, reflects the pluralism and wholesomeness of its message. “What I like about this merge is how it blends secular, young Jews and mostly religious or traditional Jews,” Tal emotes. “We were so excited about a partnership with this party, even though they had a rabbi with a black suit on as their head and the people in our party were much more secular – because we thought that was something as a statement of sorts. It was good for the country. All the polarization that exists in Israeli society is fabricated by larger parties and manipulated by them. While in fact, on the key day-to-day issues, we don’t have any problems, and we have the same visions.”

The new party is undoubtedly changing some standard Israeli paradigms. “One of the things that make us different from the other parties is that we are thinking long term,” he says. “Today, things tend to be thought through in two-three year segments. We recognize that this is why we are in an ecological crisis, and why we are in a social crisis.”

Tal also sees his party as forging a new type of leader, “to transform ‘politician’ from a dirty word to an honorable profession. Our party professes transparency, professionalism, democratic values, a broad agenda, and leaders with proven records of achievement,” Tal says. “It’s an honor for me to be on this list with this group of people.”

The conference officially launching the new party is set to take place in Ganei Hataarucha on Sunday 18 Jan 1t 6:30 PM. For more info, see their website here.