By Adam Grobman
Ahead of Tu Bishvat and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, community organizations came together to recognize both holidays and learn more about celebrating the two in parallel.
In an online event on Sunday, January 16th, more than fifty community members learned about environmental and racial justice in this event sponsored by PJ Library, Beth El Temple’s Green Team, The Silver Academy, Gesher, and Temple Ohev Sholom Religious School. The program included content for children and adults, alike.
“Tu Bishvat is the day we celebrate the ‘Birthday of the Trees’ and has become a day where we think about how we take care of the environment,” said Rabbi Ariana Capptauber of Beth El Temple Harrisburg. “MLK Day is a day where we think about equality between people and taking care of our society.”
The adult program was led by Basir Vincent, a community activist in Harrisburg. Basir’s presentation focused on environmental and racial justice, including Harrisburg’s history of “redlining” – the historic practice of systemic discrimination and lack of investment in areas with large populations of ethnic and racial minorities.
“The community has felt the effects of redlining and environmental justice,” Basir said. He described the overlap on the map of Harrisburg “between hottest areas, least amount of green space and food that lines up with the red areas.” The effects continue today, with these targeted areas of Harrisburg still having higher temperatures and less access to fresh food.
Basir noted that Harrisburg is identified as an “Environmental Justice Area” by PA’s Department of Environmental Protection, and discussed projects like Harrisburg’s Comprehensive Plan, Harrisburg Urban Growers, and Recycle Bicycle as opportunities for citizens to get involved in environmental justice work.
“The work of uplifting the community is not going to be easy,” he said. “We’ve got to get our hands dirty – this year is going to be about engagement, so try to find a lane and pay attention to what’s happening in that lane.”
While adults heard from Basir, children joined a breakout room with JCC educators Jacquie Wise and Macy Deskiewicz, where they listened to a short video from musical group The Maccabeats focusing on MLK Day, and created a Tu Bishvat Mad Lib story.
Together, both groups planted sunflower, cantaloupe, and luffa seeds provided by Rafiyqa Mohammad, a community activist who was instrumental in planning the program and originally slated to speak. Participants have the option to grow their plants in their own space or return them to The Silver Academy to be grown in their science department.
Members of Beth El’s Green Team gave a short presentation before turning the program over to Rabbi Capptauber, who led participants in a Tu Bishvat Seder.
“We ate fruits that fit different kinds of spiritual categories and talked about their significance in terms of social justice work on MLK Day,” recalled Rabbi Capptabuer, describing the symbolism of each food, similar to the items on a Passover Seder Plate. “The kids really enjoyed tasting the different foods and learning about which ones grow in the land of Israel, like figs and dates.”
This year, Tu Bishvat began the evening of Sunday, January 16 and continued through the evening of January 17, overlapping with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.