27 August 2010 - NEW YORK: Nigel Savage, a Jewish environmentalist visited a Sikh Gurudwara (Sikh place of worship) by the name of Guru Gobind Singh Foundation (GGSF) in Rockville, Maryland, recently. He is listed as one of the 50 most influential Jews in America. He is an Executive Director of Hazon, www.hazon.org/ a Jewish organization focused on environmental issues and engages Jewish youth to work for the environment and It is based in New York.
During his visit, he held discussions with the Sikh youth at GGSF and he shared an ancient story called The Stones which is a historical Jewish text. It was about a man who is moving rocks from land that he just bought to public property. An old man sees him doing this and he asks the first man why he is moving the rocks from land that is temporarily his to land that will always be his. The first man laughs at the old man and continues moving the rocks. Later in the first man’s life, he has to sell his land. After selling the land, he stumbles upon the rocks and remembers the old man. That is when he recognizes the old man’s wisdom. He realizes that even though he thought he was getting rid of the rocks at that time, he himself would have to deal with it again at a later time.
Nigel Savage connected this story to environmental issues by saying that the stones can represent our trash. For example, when we put our trash out to be collected, it goes to a place in the ocean where nobody has to deal with it but indirectly it affects everyone. One effect could be that the fish accidentally eat it and people then eat those fish that have pieces of trash in them. He also taught that members of religions should not only focus on internal affairs but they should look into the well- being of others as well.
Nigel Savage also told a story of how he led a group of Jews riding their bicycles across the country talking to communities about helping the environment. After narrating this story, he had an open discussion with the middle/ high school kids of the Sikh community, in which he discussed about the challenges of Jews and the similarities with Sikh challenges. He asked the children to share stories and their reactions to the stories. Savage also told of how a group of people in New York were trying to get bicycle lanes created and how they had to get through an obstacle, a committee. The turning point that turned the meeting around was a 14 year old boy saying he wants his friends to be able to ride their bikes with him but their parents won’t let them because it is dangerous.
Nigel Savage was very popular among the community at GGSF and many Sikhs came and spoke to him before and after his speech. He spoke of how he grew up in Manchester, England and how he respected the Sikh community and thought very highly of them, even as a child. He respected Sikhs because of their core values such as; hospitality, generosity, humbleness, etc. His main message of the visit was that anybody can change their own lives as well as other lives with enough passion and hard work. He also shared his recent discussions with EcoSikh Initiative for possible Jewish-Sikh collaboration on climate change.
This meeting was an incredible experience for all the youth and even the elder Sikhs at the gurudwara. Everyone enjoyed learning new things and discussing familiar topics with Nigel Savage. He was very inspirational when he was speaking of how he has helped with the environment and how religions are mostly focused on making people of their own faith better and how to further their religion. He spoke of how this was not necessarily a bad thing but how many people would be better off if the efforts were not concentrated on the followers of the same religion.
Guransh Singh (14) is son of Dr. Rajwant Singh and Dr. Balvinder Kaur is a 9th grader at Winston Churchill High School in Maryland, USA. 2010.