20 February 2020

Crouch End Chavurah’s Leah Bindman Cohen and her father Dave Cohen were honoured at the EcoSynagogue Awards 2020.

The pair won a joint prize at the ceremony, held in conjunction with the Board of Deputies of British Jews, for their contributions in helping the Chavurah become greener.

Leah, who was the youngest winner on the evening, also spoke to guests (pictured) about how the community is becoming greener. She was the person responsible for signing Crouch End up to EcoSynagogue – in which detailed questions are asked of each Jewish community and points awarded for green activities and awareness raising – as part of her bat mitzvah project last autumn.

The whole family are also involved in helping the planet. Dave is the Chavurah’s environmental lead and Leah’s twin Jack went vegetarian, inspiring the family to eat much less meat.

Among the Crouch End initiatives for a greener community are tips in each newsletter to help members consider their choices and regular volunteering with a local conservation group. On a wider level, the community is working with Citizens UK to get London to carbon net zero by 2030.

These and other projects have seen Crouch End’s Eco Synagogue score rise from 260, out of a possible 900 points, when they joined to 560 now.

EcoSynagogue is a cross-denominational project with communities from each of the Jewish movements invited to participate. It has been developed in partnership with A Rocha, the founders of EcoChurch, and launched in January 2018. To find out more, please visit www.ecosynagogue.org.