On Rosh Hashanah, Jews throw bread in the water to symbolically cleanse themselves of their sins. The "Reverse Tashlich" project calls on Jewish communities to switch the process and remove these human "sins" from the water in waterfront cleanups.

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The project is part of the Tikkun HaYam ("repairing the sea") initiative launched last year. It was founded by Rabbi Ed Rosenthal, also the founder of Scubi Jew, a Hillel club that teaches marine conservation through a Jewish lens as part of its mission of Tikkun HaYam.

As Rosenthal, who serves as the Hillel rabbi at Eckerd College in Florida, explained to JNS: "It applies a modern context to an ancient practice. In addition, it is intended to raise awareness about one of the greatest existential threats to our planet, the ongoing destruction of the ocean."

Every year, approximately 6 million tons of human-made trash pollute the water.

"Reverse Tashlich" started as a small program at the Suncoast Hillel at Eckerd College in Tampa Bay, Fla., which has a large marine-science program and a beach on campus. Three years ago, about a dozen students went to their local waterfront and cleaned nearly 100 pounds of trash.

The program then expanded under the leadership of Shayna Cohen, director of Tikkun HaYam, and last year's first annual event included nine locations and 307 participants. Some 650 pounds of trash were collected from Miami, Tampa Bay and Washington, DC.

The next event is scheduled for Oct. 6; groups in Boston, Minnesota, California, New York and Israel have expressed interest in participating. Cohen and her team are also hosting a grant competition for people who collect the most trash, as a way to incentivize locals to do "some really hearty cleanups," she told JNS.

"Our dream goal is having this one day a year where the Jewish community gets involved in their ecosystem and helps make an impact in their environment," said Cohen. "As Jews, we are required to care for the environment, but there is a stark lack of environmentalism when it comes to the ocean and the Jewish community … a lack of awareness in the Jewish community for marine conversation. Tikkun HaYam is just a way to bring the topic of the ocean into the conversation."

Ahead of October's event, individuals or team leaders can register on the "Reverse Tashlich" website their location, which is added to the public page so people can join. Participants then get in touch with each other to schedule a meetup, and Cohen provides coaching, guide books and online seminars to help organize things ahead of the event. Sign-up is open to everyone.

"We want anybody to feel empowered to make a difference in the ocean," said Cohen.

'We live on a blue planet'

According to Rosenthal, many mitzvot apply to the environment, such as bal tashchit, the prohibition against needless and unnecessary waste and destruction. He discusses "Water Torah" in great length on the Tikkun HaYam website, citing texts that describe "the deep Jewish connection to the sea and the profound spiritual nature of water" and how the Torah calls upon Jews to care for the ocean. He also hosts an underwater mediation – or surface meditation for snorkelers – on the Shema prayer that connects the oneness and unity of God, with the oneness of the ocean and the unity of water.

Tikkun HaYam's goal is to show there is a Jewish connection to the sea, and its name is connected to the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, the repair of the world.

Rosenthal said, "We call it 'Tikkun HaYam' because people, especially Jews, have a tendency to forget that even though they may speak of going 'green' to save the environment, we actually live on a blue planet. The ocean makes up 71% of the planet. It produces more oxygen than all of the rainforests and trees in the world combined."

"Water is the most unifying force in the world," he continued. "Every living organism from a worm to a whale, from a weed to a towering oak tree, from an amoeba to man – everything is made up mostly of water. The human body is 70% water. Our blood and our tears are about the same salinity as the sea. Water is the source of life. If the ocean dies, we die. I can't think of a more tikkun olam effort than that."

Cohen believes that because humans live on land, many times the issues of the ocean are "out of sight, out of mind."

But with "Reverse Tashlich," she said, "people can go somewhere in their local area and see that the fork that they used the day before might be the fork that they are picking up out of the mangroves, or they see the plastic bag that they probably got from their groceries a week ago is entangled in a tree, and they can connect themselves to the issue and the solution."

She added, "Having a hand in making the world a more beautiful place is an incredibly transformative experience. I'm hoping that this is a way to jumpstart people's empathy and inspire them to care for this ecosystem that they don't normally think about, and get them curious and interested in exploring what else they can do to make the ocean and the world, in general, a better place."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The initiative, organized by Hillel at Baruch College in New York City and launched this past semester, is also organizing trips for American vets to visit Israel, as well as Shabbatons for Jews and non-Jews to interact with one another – all with the goal of battling anti-Semitism by cultivating pro-Israel activists, says Ilya Bratman, executive director of the Baruch Hillel and a US Army veteran.

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"We hope to engage hundreds of non-Jewish veterans and student leaders in this project, so they go out in their community and become advocates for truth," Bratman, 41, explained. "They tell the real story of Israel. This program is part of this bigger effort to showcase what Israel is about and what the Jewish community is about."

He added, "Now dozens of non-Jewish US veterans can go home and say, 'I know Jews, they're my friends. They're my brothers. They're my brothers in arms.' The hope is not just to build a community on campus, but to create advocacy much greater, much bigger. They can really dispel rumors and become advocates for the Jewish community and the State of Israel."

Hillel organizes the events and panel discussions – engaging hundreds of students on the quad at Baruch College – in order to build relationships with students from all around the world, including the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, China and Korea, who have now become advocates for Israel after spending time with Jewish students and the Jewish community.

"Brave" recently held its third subsidized trip to Israel for US veterans and non-Jewish student leaders. Of more than 300 applications a year, they accept less than 10%.

'The most powerful moment in my life'

Among them is retired Army Staff Sgt. Trent Coyle, 36, a Baruch alum who says he used to be an atheist, but whose participation in Hillel and travel to Israel inspired him to convert to Judaism. Coyle met Bratman through Baruch College's Student Veterans Association when Coyle was serving as vice president. He went to Israel for the first time in the winter of 2017 on a student leadership trip led by Bratman.

Coyle later studied abroad in Beersheba and participated in another trip to Israel with the Zionist Organization of America. He is now in the middle of the conversion process, saying he decided to convert to Judaism "almost immediately" after visiting the Western Wall for the first time. He called the experience "without question the most powerful moment in my life."

"Ilya has been of great help on my own journey, whether it's helping me with my Hebrew homework, handling questions of faith or introducing me to rabbis in my desire to convert to Judaism," he told JNS. "Both of us have worked hard to help the Jewish community within Baruch create lasting relationships within the veteran community; I think that's what has proven to be most impressive."

Coyle had very little, if any, exposure to Jewish life or individuals before becoming active in Hillel and the "Brave" program. He said the Jewish community at Baruch always welcomed him "with open arms," and he has also seen other US veterans become close to Jewish students and IDF veterans with Hillel's help.

"The more students going with Hillel to Israel or the more events we were doing together, there became a real understanding that there were shared values, and there was just a lot of commonality between the Jewish students and veterans," he said. "What I heard again and again [from the veterans] was that there was just a real sense of togetherness. Initially, it wasn't just go to Hillel and talk about Israel. It was just hanging out, and eventually, the conversation started coming organically."

As US veterans, he continued, "we understand what it means to serve – loyalty, duty, all these things – the same as the IDF veterans, and so we feel that there's an honest and real connection between these two communities."

Coyle said before his trip, he knew little about Israel beyond "some of the vague things that you read in the news, typically negative."

That changed after his visit, where he recognized similar values cherished by Americans, such as the sense of community, the importance of family and tremendous respect held for veterans from all countries.

"It completely was not what I thought it would be," he said. "It was a wonderful experience. It really opened my eyes."

'Like a firsthand kind of baptism'

Steven D'Souza, 38, another alumnus of Baruch College and a veteran of the US Marines, said he, too, had never interacted with Jews before getting involved in the project.

D'Souza, who is Christian, took part in the 2018 trip and subsequently became vice president of Baruch's pro-Israel club, YOFI. He said being part of "Brave" resulted in him finding "a sense of kinship" with the Jewish community. He even wound up taking some Hebrew classes and studied a little Talmud.

And he recently returned from leading a trip to Israel for non-Jewish college students, including some veterans, organized by a program that Hillel partners with.

"There are a lot of misconceived notions or just an ignorance about the Jewish religion, community, and faith," he said. "By meeting people and getting to know their story instead of reading about it somewhere, it's like a firsthand kind of baptism in getting to know Jewish people, and getting emerged in the Jewish culture and language."

"One of my favorite moments about the Jewish community is Shabbat," he said, noting that during dinner, "you get a chance to talk. I think spending a meal with one another and getting to know one another is the best way that people can learn about Israel and know about what's going on there, and learn about Jewish faith and the similarities, and not just focus on the differences."

"There can never be enough conversations" about Israel, he added.

Coyle insisted that "people need those facts about Israel. Engage with as many people as possible and understand that there's more to Israel than just the army and other things. There are actual people behind all of this, and once people can relate to that, it becomes a great way of understanding."

Bratman also reiterated the importance of building personal relationships between non-Jewish college students and those within the Jewish community, especially while they are still on campus.

"This is the final frontier, where we can talk to students before they become adults before they go out to the greater community. This is an opportunity … to tell people about the reality of the situation. We have literally dozens of veterans and non-student leaders who have become our family, and they will always stand with us, with the Jewish community and with the State of Israel."

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Staunchly pro-Israel and a former congressman from Ohio, Fingerhut will oversee the activity of some 150 Jewish federations as well as hundreds of additional smaller communities in North America.

As the head of Hillel International, he has been praised for his approach of focusing on Jewish outreach as a means of connecting communities and strengthening local ties.

"I didn't realize it at the time, but my early life was shaped by Federation," Fingerhut said in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "I went to preschool at the JCC. I vividly remember carrying signs in the walkathons standing up for Israel during the 1967 and 1973 wars. Never did I imagine that nearly a half-century later, I would have the opportunity to lead a movement that has impacted my life and so many others. It has a rich history, and I believe it can have an even more impactful future. I am excited to take on that challenge."

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