Tikkun Olam part of daily life at newly open Beit Kayam, the Jewish eco-house

By POLINA OLSEN

article created on: 2008-12-01T00:00:00

Shoshanna Krall used to navigate different worlds—but she doesn’t need to anymore. By founding Beit Kayam, a Jewish eco-house in Portland, her passions combined into one inclusive community.

Sponsored by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, the communal house on Northeast Thompson Street makes Tikkun Olam part of daily life and sustainability as everyday as waking up.

“Part of it is an experiment to see how sustainable our house can be for us,” said Justin Shear, one of Krall’s three housemates. It’s also, he said, a model for community gatherings.

“We’ve talked about note cards next to the toilet that say, ‘There’s a brick in here, it saves water,’ or, ‘Do you hear rain falling on something that doesn’t sound like a roof? It’s a barrel that collects rain for the garden.’”

Tonight the four housemates made dinner together: mashed potatoes, tempeh, onions, garlic, broccoli. They brought their bowls into the living room of their circa 1899 home and relaxed in large, upholstered chairs. Although they moved in only two weeks ago, their bookcase was already crammed—Scrabble, “Feminist Theory Reader,” “Garden Answers,” “TheTanach.”

Living communally

“I always felt like y Jewish world was separated from my environmental world,” said Krall who grew up in Portland. A naturalist and educator, she tried an outdoor school in California. “The Jews I was with weren’t interested in observance.”

She found the answer at Adamah, a program in Connecticut that trains young Jews in organic farming and leadership. She missed her family and friends back in Portland and decided to start her own program here.

When Claire Polansky saw Krall’s advertisement for housemates, she jumped at the chance. Now an art teacher at De La Salle North Catholic High School, she once lived in an eco-commune in Georgia.

“I’m trying to rabble-rouse an arts community; I’m into social justice, ecology and getting back to my Jewish roots,” she said. “When I went to Gesher and saw this flyer—I was just ecstatic.”

Shear felt the same way. “I lived in a communal house in Seattle,” he said. “We had a greywater system, compost and a garden.”

Like Krall, he found his interest in Judaism and environmentalism disconnected.

“It was like these two separate worlds.” He turned to the Jewish Service Corp, Avodah, where he met Julie Lipson. Stationed in Washington D.C., they lived communally and worked at non-profits.

After Avodah, Lipson and Shear moved to Portland for biking, environmentalism and music. They wanted to duplicate their communal living experience. Now, Lipson works part-time at a natural health clinic and teaches music at Congregation Beth Israel. Building on skills learned during his time at Avodah, Shear serves as assistant coordinator for a day labor hire site.

Sharing shared values

They chose the house location so everyone could take public transport, carpool or walk to work. They have three recycling bins: compost, paper and things to give away.

“We all have the same type of plastic bag reuse thing,” Lipson said. “We don’t use a lot of tin foil, and we don’t buy things with packaging.”

They also hope to raise chickens for eggs and maybe keep pygmy goats for milk.

“The thing about goats is they’re so functional,” Shear said. “They’re good lawnmowers and they’re a community thing. If we had goats, maybe people in the neighborhood would want to milk them.”

The group plans to host classes in everything from sustainability to Judaism. They hope people of all ages and religions will come.

“I’m interested in [growing] vegetables, particularly vegetables that will be high yield so that we can do canning workshops,” Krall said.

Lipson wants classes on bringing environmentalism into the Jewish classroom. Other ideas include brewing beer, and teaching acupuncture from a Jewish perspective. Polansky grinds pigment from rock and ground minerals and hopes to gather artists interested in natural materials.

No stereo on Shabbat

Although Judaism is core to the group’s identity, their backgrounds vary.

“There’s a lot of fear [about intermarriage] in the Jewish community, and I think it’s significant that three out of four people here are products of interfaith marriages,” Krall said.

Three of the four are also part of Machar, the young adult leadership training program led by Sarah Liebman. Krall calls the program an incubator, and credits it for helping Kayam get started.

“When I wanted to make this happen I talked to [Liebman] about it,” Krall said. “She’s essentially the one who pushed me a little and figured out the things I’m not good at like finding grant funding and how to advertise.”

The level of observance also varies and house rules are in flux.

“We talked about having a plural community so people who are observant can have kosher plates,” Lipson said. “And, we’re setup so if somebody needs to spend Shabbat here, they can.”

They hope everyone will feel comfortable at Kayam.

As Shear noted, “You won’t see us playing the stereo on Shabbat.”

“We wanted to combine the different aspects of our lives that are important to us,” Shear said. Their first event, a dessert-only potluck, attracted a packed house—“We had to borrow silverware from the neighbors.”

And, recently someone from Olympia heard about them, drove down, and stopped by. He may start his own Kayam in Washington. As Shear said, “It’s going to take its form. Who knows?”

For more information on Kayam, e-mail kayam.pdx@gmail.com or visit kayam.weebly.com.