An Interview With Adina Allen and Jeff Kasowitz, Founders of Attar

June 16, 2010

Adina Allen and Jeff Kasowitz founded the organization Attar with the goal of creating innovative programming that combines Jewish texts and traditions with sustainable environmental practices. This past year Jeff Kaskowitz was part of a small group of CJP/Presentense Fellows in Boston who received mentoring and other support as he worked to expand the work of Attar. The two founders recently took some time to answer a few questions from the New Vilna Review via email.

NVR: For people who may not be familiar with the work of Attar, can you give us a brief overview of what the organization does?

Attar is a spiritually-grounded, community-based approach to sustainability that engages the Jewish community in reimagining the world we want to live in. When we combine the tools of Judaism with the tools of our hands we open up the possibility of living more connected to our tradition, ourselves and the living world around us. By combining the rich resources of text study, innovative ritual practice, and sustainable living skill development, our multi-generational programs inspire and give us the skills to shift our behaviors towards more sustainable practices in a way that is hopeful and enduring.

NVR: What inspired you to combine environmental education and activism with Jewish texts and tradition?

After significant periods of feeling separated from Judaism, we both sought out a reconnection initially through programs that used language of interconnection and offered experiences that celebrated our connection to one another and to the land. These were powerful and in many ways life changing experiences. Some examples include the Adamah Fellowship in Connecticut and the Beyt Tikkun community in the Bay Area. While we don't classify what we're doing with Attar as environmental education per se, our aim is provide powerful opportunities for people to connect Jewish and ecological values and engage with Jewish text and ritual in a way that is fun and accessible.

NVR: Why do you feel it is important to look at environmental issues from a Jewish perspective?

There is so much we can learn about ourselves and the world around us, not just from looking at Jewish texts, but by engaging in a supportive and shared process of inquiry and reflection. When we engage with traditional Jewish texts with the intention of finding insight into important and challenging questions, possibilities opens up. We saw the power of this at our first composting workshop: "Wisdom and Worms: The Torah of Composting". It was inspiring to see participants who ranged greatly in terms of their background and experience engage with one another in text study and develop new insights together. People seemed to truly connect to the experience and process of composting after we sang Hashkeveinu (a prayer about laying down to rest and rising up again) and considering the passage in Genesis "Tohu V'vohu" - which led us into a conversation about how the world was not created from nothing, but instead from energy, waste and wildness. In the process of composting, we create the conditions to transform waste into food. In the same way, we might say that God acted as the ultimate composter by taking what materials existed, harnessing their power, and transforming them into the foundation of our world.

NVR: What are some of the challenges you have faced as this project has developed?

For the Jewish community to model what it means to live sustainably, we all must learn to shift behaviors and routines that have become comfortable. This is a challenge and a tremendous opportunity for us to continue learning how to live while embodying our values. We are beginning to move in this direction and are seeing an increasing demand for a Judaism that speaks to deeply held values and passions. We need to accelerate this momentum by providing tools that are connected to our tradition and opportunities to develop hands on skills that we can bring into our daily lives.

NVR: Looking into the future, what would you like Attar to be doing ten years down the road?

We envision a physical Attar Center, a full suite of workshops that combine text, ritual and sustainable living skill development (e.g., beekeeping, seed saving, fermenting, bicycle maintenance, yoga, etc.), an annual Attar festival, a blog and magazine, trainings and shabbat and festival programming.

NVR: Attar was one of the first participants in the CJP/Presentense Fellow program in Boston, can you tell us a little about what that experience was like? Do you feel it was helpful in terms of expanding the work of Attar?

The CJP/PresenTense fellowship provided us intentional time and structure to take ideas which we've had ever since we first met and craft them into a vision and program model. The fellowship also provided valuable mentorship and coaching from the community.

NVR: What programs or events do you have coming up in the near future? How can people who might like to get involved find out more about Attar?

We are spending time this summer continuing to expand our workshop curricula and building partnerships. You can learn more about Attar by checking out our website, attartools.org, or emailing us at attar@attartools.org.