While many Israeli government organizations and private groups profess their commitment to multiculturalism, truly multicultural approaches to issues - especially with respect to engaging the haredi community - are few and far between.

That is why a Torah essay competition on the environment in Jewish law and thought is being seen as such a welcome endeavor by both environmentalists and the haredi community.

Now in its third year, the competition solicits Torah essays on environmental topics in a contest open to yeshiva and rabbinical students, scholars, educators and authors from the Sephardi, Lithuanian and Hassidic communities in Ramat Shlomo, a 12-year-old neighborhood in northern Jerusalem with some 20,000 residents.

The competition is sponsored by Shomera Lesviva Tova (Guardian for a Good Environment), a non-profit organization founded in Har Nof in 1998 known for its initiatives in environmental education and activism, the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood administration, the Environment Ministry and the Jerusalem Municipality.

Serving as a forum to stimulate interest, research and public awareness of environmental issues, the event has also been a catalyst for increased ecological activity within the Ramat Shlomo haredi community.

As testimony to how the community views the project, nearly 500 residents attended the October 21 conference in which awards were presented to the winning authors, who ranged in age from 13 to 55. Out of hundreds of entries, 28 were selected for publication in this year's journal, which is available both in hard-copy form or can be downloaded from the Ministry of Environment Web site at www.sviva.gov.il.

"This project is a unique way of working with the haredi community which is not being done anywhere else," states Carmi Wisemon, director of Shomera Lesviva Tova. "It involves speaking to a public to whom the issue of environment is new, in their own language - that of Halacha and Torah - and providing avenues compatible to the community's cultural needs. It is to the Ministry of Environment's credit that it was so open-minded about new ways of getting the haredi community involved in environmental activities."

"In the ministry, we were looking for ways to arouse the interest of the haredi community in the environment, an issue which is not self-evident to this population," notes Meira Helfer, educational coordinator of the Ministry of Environment's Jerusalem district. "This project represents a breakthrough in reaching the haredi public both intellectually and on a practical level. The essays address both practical and theoretical issues and the publication of the journals constitutes a collection of material on the environment and Halacha that did not exist previously."

"The fact that this competition is now in its third year shows that it has captured an important place in the minds of the public," says Rabbi Gavriel Shtauber, director of the municipality's Torah Culture Division. "It provides an opportunity to discuss environmental issues from the residents' point of view." "For us, everything is connected to Halacha," relates Rabbi Gavriel Kosower, chair of the Ramat Shlomo community council. "This is just one more aspect of Halacha."

A list of some of the topics covered by the essays this year illustrates this connection: essays on the laws of house committees, the structure and legal authority of the municipality, damage to public property, neighbors' legal obligations to one another and issues relating to building on public property.

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