CO-FOUNDER, CO-DIRECTOR

Rabbi Benji Elson, a seasoned Jewish environmental educator, psychotherapist, and transformative experience facilitator, has spent the past decade immersed in Eco-Torah studies. Beginning at the TEVA Learning Center, the pioneering flagship of Jewish environmental education in Falls Village, CT, Benji has shared his impactful teachings globally in the US, Israel, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Finland, and India. His popular book, Dance of the Omer, encapsulates many of his extensive environmental teachings, grounding personal transformation in kabbalah, chassidut, nature connection, and the natural cycles. Benji is also a respected teacher in the Jerusalem community, offering periodic in-person and online courses and shiurim in various institutions across Jerusalem on emotional well-being, mental health, spirituality, ecology, Torah, and the Jewish calendar.

Benji has also served as the Educational Director of Shebet Haaretz, guiding transformative Jewish expeditions into the deep deserts and jungles of the world, spending time with indigenous tribes and reconnecting Jews to the somewhat forgotten Torah teachings about living in balance and harmony with G!d’s creation.

On a more personal note, Benji's diverse life experiences include dwelling in two mobile homes that ran on used vegetable oil sharing insights on Jewish environmentalism across the USA, shepherding 160 goats in the Jerusalem hills, meditating in ashrams in India, residing on Jewish farms worldwide, and working on an organic kibbutz in northern Israel. These lived experiences have greatly shaped Benji’s profound Jewish environmentalist worldview and passion for Jewish EcoTorah and environmental education.

CO-FOUNDER, CO-DIRECTOR

Miriam Souza is a dynamic and passionate Torah educator who aspires to infuse her students with a profound and genuine connection to Torah study and practice. Leveraging her talents as a filmmaker, Miriam crafts narratives that effortlessly captivate and inspire her audience. You may have encountered her latest Parsha video on social media, where she effortlessly achieves this.

Beyond her role as an educator, Miriam is a skilled herbalist, having refined her expertise under the guidance of Master Herbalist Baruch Shapiro at Camp Eden Village West. A graduate and alum of FIG (Food Integrated Gardens), Israel's premier permaculture design school, Miriam's diverse skills extend to her being a fervent environmentalist. Raised amidst the streets and hills of Tzfat, she navigates the forest or desert with the same ease as she does the Beit Midrash.

Hailing from Tzfat, Miriam seamlessly integrates Kabbalah and Chassidic teachings into her lessons, activities, and daily life. As a spiritual environmentalist, she ardently believes in embracing a balanced, sustainable lifestyle that treads softly and sensitively upon the earth.