By BILL SLOTT

Charles Bronfman Prize winner, Alon Tal, speaks at the Jerusalem Municipality Council. Photo by Dina Guna.

Reprinted by permission of SocialAction.com

KIBBUTZ KETURA, ISRAEL — Dr. Alon Tal’s students at the Arava Institute once nicknamed him “flash” referring to his rapid-fire lecture style and his apparent ability to be in 15 places at once. The name didn’t last more than a semester, but it certainly captures the essence of this multi-tasking Israeli environmentalist, who has achieved more at the age of 45 than many people do in a lifetime, and shows no signs of slowing down.

It comes as no surprise, then, that Dr. Tal was awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize in Jerusalem in January 2006. The $100,000 prize is intended to honor “those who, through their achievements and potential for making a difference, have distinguished themselves as leaders of the future.”

In 1990, Tal founded Adam Teva Ve’Din, the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, which quickly became a model of environmental advocacy. “Israel had hundreds of environmental laws on the books officially” Tal explains, “and most of them were being systematically broken by corporations and municipalities. The police and local prosecutors never had time to pursue this, so we just stepped into a natural vacuum.” Although Tal long ago handed over the reins to a new generation, IUED is still taking violators to court and winning battles for the protection of Israel’s environment.

In 1995, building on his academic expertise as a lecturer in environmental policy, Tal created the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, a multi-disciplinary program in which students from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and neighboring Arab countries study side by side. “It’s the most logical combination one can imagine,” says Tal, “since environmental challenges have no borders and any solution to this region’s problems can only come from an international approach.” At the Arava Institute, located on Kibbutz Ketura, it is not uncommon to see a Jordanian student wearing the traditional woman’s head covering sharing a meal or comparing notes with a recently discharged young Israeli soldier.

Dr. Tal’s environmental resume is too long to list here. He has headed “Chaim Ve’sviva”, the umbrella organization for Israel’s 80 environmental groups, published books, pushed legislation, rallied young people, taught at several universities and generally slept very little during the past two decades. “More than any of their ancestors, the present generation stands at an ecological crossroads,” Tal wrote in his book Pollution in a Promised Land. “Surely as it writes the next chapters in its environmental history, Israel will once again choose life.”

But his idealism is tempered by realism. “There are no pardons or clemencies in the environmental struggles, just stays of execution,” he cautions. Though proud of his active protests against the devastating affects of the Trans-Israel Highway, he has never had any illusions. “I always knew that it would be built. It was up to us to make sure that it be built with the least damage possible.” It is exactly this realism that brought him to a position of leadership in the K.K.L. (J.N.F.). Once a leading critic of the environmental effects of K.K.L. policy, he chose to work from within and became a member of its board of directors.

Tal learned to love nature as a child growing up in North Carolina, only a short drive from the Smoky Mountains. He never missed an opportunity to go canoeing, hiking, and camping. Growing up in a fervently Zionist family, he learned to love Israel as well. He belonged to Young Judaea, the Hadassah-sponsored Zionist youth movement, where, as he puts it, he learned that “Aliyah is only the first step.” True to form, “the flash” received his B.A. from U.N.C. in two years, and was a newly minted Israeli citizen and army recruit within a month of graduating. While still in the Army, he enrolled in Law School at Hebrew University and completed his formal education with a PhD. from Harvard in public policy.

Married and the father of three daughters, Alon Tal keeps on running. The environment is only one of his many passions. A prolific writer, amateur musician, and an aggressive if unconventional tennis player, he also serves on the board of directors of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Next month, his book Speaking of Earth will be published, examining the lives of history’s greatest crusaders for nature.

“A role model of mine is Rachel Carson,” says Tal, referring to the soft-spoken American biologist who first alerted the world to the looming natural crises in the early 60’s. “She studied, she understood, and she tried to make others understand. I’m not a scientist. I’m just a lawyer and a teacher, but I hear the warning, and the best I can do is to pass her warning on to my students.”

Reflecting on the Bronfman Prize, Tal is momentarily at a rare loss for words. “Its humbling to be recognized this way. But I’m honest enough to realize that it’s never about one guy. It’s about people working together. The best part” laughs the bald and gray-bearded professor, “is being recognized as a leader of the future. My kids will get a kick out of their old man being perceived as a young maverick. But that’s as it should be. After all, it’s them I’m thinking of.”

Tal plans to use the $100,000 award to establish an Environmental Emergency Fund for Israeli grass roots organizations. “From my work with Chaim Ve’sviva I’ve learned that these small groups can make a world of difference, but they often face funding crises and are in need of nimble, low-paperwork, immediate assistance to realize their goals.” In this way Tal is in fact helping to pass the torch on to a new generation of environmental warriors, even as he continues at his own dazzling pace.

The Charles Bronfman Prize should be commended for using its considerable reputation to spotlight this remarkable man. Amidst the confusing, occasionally depressing, and often frustratingly one-sided flood of information about Israel, it is good to see a sterling example of active, goal-oriented, idealistic Zionism.

Bill Slott is a freelance writer and professional tour guide based in Israel.