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How the 87-Year-Old Founder of Jewish Environmentalism Helped Me Grow

JL;DR SUMMARY Talya Zax reflects on her connection with Rabbi Everett Gendler, an influential figure in Jewish environmentalism and social activism. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

SpiritualityCivil Rights MovementSocial ActivismLiteratureMartin Luther King Jr.Dalai LamaJewish EnvironmentalismTalya ZaxEverett Gendler

Places mentioned

New Jersey, United States
"and I was in New York"
New York, United States
"and I was in New York"
New York, United States
"and I was in New York"
Chariton, Iowa, United States
"Everett Gendler was born in Chariton, Iowa, in 1928."
Des Moines, Iowa, United States
"Gendlers family left Chariton for Des Moines when he was 11, and he left Des Moines at 18 for the University of Chicago."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"he left Des Moines at 18 for the University of Chicago."
Princeton, New Jersey, United States
"before taking an appointment in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1962."
Albany, Georgia, United States
"Dr. King is having a lot of trouble down in Albany, Georgia, and would love some help from northern clergy, he was told."
Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
"the duo left Princeton and moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico, then went to Andover, Massachusetts."
Massachusetts, United States
"then went to Andover, Massachusetts."
Lowell, Massachusetts, United States
"Gendler served as the rabbi at Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley, in Lowell, and also as the first Jewish chaplain at Andovers Phillips Academy."
Denver, Colorado, United States
"my parents and I driving the 800 miles to our family home in Denver."
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
"We were living in St. Louis, where wed both gone to college, meeting as freshmen at the impromptu performance of a Jewish a cappella group."
Georgia, United States
"in Georgia"
Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States
"A couple hours earlier, when he had picked me up from the bus station in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, hed confessed that he still dreamed of rural Iowa."
Missouri, United States
"Stockbridge, Massachusetts,"

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Retrieved 2025-09-20 05:31:27 UTC
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