During this live, interactive session, we will share with you about our life on Kibbutz Lotan in the southern Arava desert of Israel, where we have built a thriving community in extreme desert conditions, striving for the ideal of "to till and to tend", connecting earth and spirit through a living and dynamic Reform Judaism and working for Tikkun Olam.

We will hear about:

• Everyday life on a kibbutz and how we celebrate the Jewish festivals together as a community

• The different work branches on the kibbutz, how the kibbutz functions economically and how we take decisions together

• How Lotan has developed into an ecological kibbutz

• How we grow organic vegetables in extreme desert conditions

• How we recycle garbage to build children's playgrounds and how we build energy efficient buildings from our local earth and natural, renewable materials

• How we engage with different groups and individuals in our educational programs and work for Tikkun Olam through hands, hearts and minds

Zoom information will be automatically sent via email upon registration.

The session will be run by Mark Naveh. Mark was born in the UK and emigrated as a teenager to Sydney, Australia with his family. Mark holds a BSc from the University of Sydney where he majored in ecology, supplemented with an Honors degree in marine ecology from the James Cook University of North Queensland. In 1989 he moved to Israel, joining Kibbutz Lotan in the southern Arava. Mark received a Masters degree in Education for Sustainability from South Bank University of London that included a research project and dissertation entitled “Common Paths: A Jewish-Arab coexistence project between two schools in Israel. A case study in peace education”. Mark served as General Secretary of the kibbutz in the years 2008-11. Since 2000 he has been a senior staff member and director of education in Lotan's Center for Creative Ecology, lecturing in the "Green Apprenticeship" permaculture and practical ecology training program, teaching and facilitating groups of adults, youth and children, and developing programming around themes of community and sustainability.