This event had been canceled.

The Temple Beth El Environment and Climate Change Action Team (ECCAT) invites you to join them for Reverse Tashlich, a water and waterfront cleanup in connection with the global Jewish Reverse Tashlich movement, now in its sixth year.

Every year during Rosh Hashanah, we perform Tashlich, a ritual where we symbolically cast our “sins” into a body of water to begin the Jewish new year with a clean heart/slate. At Temple Beth El we do this using birdseed at Lake Wingra after Rosh Hashanah morning services. Traditionally, people used breadcrumbs or pebbles; breadcrumbs are not good for wildlife.

In 2016 students from Eckerd College Hillel’s branch of Tikkun HaYam–Repair the Sea questioned, with humans dumping billions tons of trash into the ocean every year, why we throw more “sins” into the water. The students creatively decided to reverse the process and remove human "sins” (plastic and other marine debris) during a cleanup of the campus waterfront. Thanks to Tikkun HaYam and Jewish communities around the world, Reverse Tashlich has become a High Holy Day ritual worldwide, with over 3,000 participants in 245 communities spanning 12 countries in 2022.

We’ll meet in Wingra Park near the shoreline and Wingra Boats for words of welcome, ritual, and directions, and then break into small groups to clean the shore. You can pick up trash in the park and along the shore, or go out in a boat and use a rake to comb through the lake water for debris. Trash bags will be provided.

ECCAT members have generously rented a few boats, and you can register below to join us in one. You’re also welcome to bring your own kayak, canoe, or boat to use. Wear clothes that can get wet and water shoes or boots (waders), and bring rakes and gloves, as well as a refillable water bottle to avoid single-use plastic (we’ll have a water refill station). We also suggest sunscreen and bug repellant, as well as a hat and sunglasses.

Bal tashchit (“do not destroy”), a fundamental ethical principle in Judaism, is based on Deuteronomy 20:19–20, which forbids cutting down fruit trees. The Talmud expanded the concept to include all forms of senseless damage or waste. Today, the destruction of the world’s oceans and waterways through pollution, single-use plastic products, and simple carelessness represents a blatant violation of bal tashchit. Scientific research estimates that by 2050 there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Along with removing debris from our waterways, we strive to cut down on plastic use.

Please register to join Temple Beth El Madison's Team.