46 results for month: 01/2011

Buildingreen (Ecologic Art)

Hello Jewcology Community, Buildingreen is an Israeli company that builds exclusively out of recycled material. In israel is it very important that we save water because we don't have very much of it. Buildingreen promotes recycling water and specializes in gray water systems and aquaphonic systems to grow organic food. We also build tubs, fish pools and benches for gardens of all sorts in our community, all out of recycled material. In each of our projects we don't down-cycle or discriminate against non-recyclable material. Give us garbage and we turn it into gold. Recently when building a bench in a school in Jerusalem, we included ...

Do you know Evonne? You should.

As a member of the Jewcology team, I’m a happy camper. I wasn’t totally sure of how the bits and pieces of Jewcology.com would come together or which people would engage with the material and users. However, last week was TuBShvat and there were so many accessible and usable resources on the site. I know a number of people who went to the site to learn more ways of teaching and engaging with the holiday. Last week was really the first time I was able to see the Jewcology dream in action, full force. I want to dedicate this time and space to say thank you to Evonne Marzouk, the brain behind Jewcology. She’s a smart cookie ...

Powerless

On Wednesday night, I was sitting in my office, printing documents and chatting with my husband when the lights went out. The lights, the computer, the printer. Silence, darkness as we looked out the window into the snowy night. The documents, half-printed. The to-do list. Everything we had planned for the evening (and as it turned out, for the rest of the week) would have to wait. We began an entirely different type of conversation, which I’m sure was happening in homes all across our neighborhood. Where are the candles? Do we have batteries for the radio? How cold will the house get before the heat comes back on? Should I use my cell phone to ...

The Inspiration of Engaging Judaism

As a Jewish environmental educator, people often ask me if my work more Jewish or more environmental. I usually refuse to answer the question in the simplistic form in which it’s asked, and instead offer an answer about the complete interconnectedness of the material... But, today, just for you, Jewcology readers, I will answer the original question with a little secret. While at my core, the cause I am working toward is environmental sustainability, the work is primarily Jewish education. Nature, ecology, environmental responsibility, are all tools to teach a Jewish value of responsibility for self, people, humanity and all Creation. ...

Tu B’Shvat Reflections and Beyond

Now that Tu B’Shvat has past and the Seder which my Sunday School class led is over, its time for some reflections on what went well and what could be improved upon. Following this period of reflection, it is also important to identify some ‘next steps’ as far as the direction to take my students in, as well as the direction to focus our collective efforts towards. While I feel some relief that the Tu B’Shvat seder is over and that it was a successful event for the community, there is also a feeling that the ideas discussed during the Tu B’Shvat holiday must be examined in further depth and expanded upon in the weeks ...

Question of the Week #26

Sarah Osborne of Canfei Nesharim and the Jewcology Team asks Jewcology's question of the week.

Topsy Turvy Bus

Have you heard? http://www.indiegogo.com/Topsy-Turvy-Bus-Tour?a=63967&i=addr

The Daily Yay! thedailyyay.blogspot.com

I'll post environment-related posts from that blog here later, as I have limited internet access now.

Environmental Tips of the Week so far; I’ll add links later or you can check out environmentaltip.blogspot.com

Monday, January 24, 2011 Stay green even when moving, parts 2 and 3 and announcement part 2: If you're moving across the country with a baby, your baby can fly for free if you ...

Keeping It All In Perspective

About two years ago while working at the non-profit organization I helped form, Faiths United for Sustainable Energy (FUSE), I made the decision to go to law school in order to pursue a career in environmental law. I just started my second semester of classes two weeks ago. The interesting thing about law school is that grades are not released until five to six weeks after final exams are finished. Therefore, despite already being back into the daily ground of second semester classes, I am still waiting for several of my grades from last semester (in law school 100% of a student’s grade is based on the final examination). This waiting ...

Eco-Israel Spring 2011 Semester

Hi everyone, As a newbie to Jewcology I am just figuring my way around here so I'll make this brief and to the point. Hava & Adam Eco-Educational farm is gearing up for our sixth semester of Eco-Israel which starts February 21. We still have some spots left so if you know of anyone who wants to experience hands-on what it means to live more sustainability, to learn natural building methods, medicinal herbs, permaculture design, recycling, gray water and all that good 'ole ecological living send them to our website (http://eco-israel.org). Our program is 5 months and very reasonably priced and with potential Masa funding it's a ...

Primer seminario eco-judío en español

Hace dos semanas se llevó a cabo en Yerushalaim el primer programa en español de Jewish Eco Seminars (organización con sede en Israel que involucra y educa a la comunidadjudía a través de seminarios inspiradores sobre la sabiduría judía en relación al medioambiente). En medio del invierno, un grupo de treinta y un personas de Midreshet Chail, (incuyendo alumnas de Chile y Argentina, sus coordinadoras y dos de sus rabinos), más el staff de educadores de Jewish Eco Seminars, dejaron de lado el frío para aventurarse por los bosques de Har Nof, para experienciar y estudiar sobre el ...

First Jewish Eco Seminar for Spanish-speaking communities

Two weeks ago, first Jewish Eco Seminar’s program for Spanish-speaking communities (Jewish Eco Seminars engages and educates the Jewish community through inspiring seminars on Jewish environmental wisdom) took place in Yerushalayim. In the midst of winter, a group of thirty one people from Midreshet Chail (including students from Chile and Argentina, their coordinators and two of their rabbis), besides the Jewish Eco Seminars’ staff of educators, put aside the cold to venture into the forests of Har Nof, to experience and study about the environment in Judaism. After a short walk, the girls participated in an experiential activity ...

This Tu B’shvat I planted the Tree of Life

The Torah is the wellspring from which all of us here on Jewcology.com draw from to irrigate our environmental projects and plans. The Torah is also called the Tree of Life, and is planted in us. There's a young boy in our community, not yet three years old. I had been planning for a while to start tutoring him in Jewish subjects, and today, Tu B'shvat it finally worked out that we were able to meet and learn. I introduced him to the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, with the hope that this Aleph seed will sprout and take root and flourish in his fertile mind, one day to become a towering cedar of knowledge and scholarship.

Tu B’Shvat: An Ancient Jewish Holy Day for Modern Environmentalists

Check out the lead article in today's Huffington Post Religion section: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gabe-crane/tu-bshvat-an-ancient-holi_b_810325.html "What was once an accounting of tree inventory in ancient Israel may be emerging as the accounting of a movement." By Gabe Crane, Adamah Fall 2010 Tu B'Shvat, long ago the annual date set aside in ancient Israel for determining the age of trees, essentially as a tax matter, today marks what has come to be known as the "Jewish New Year for Trees." In that fact, it is not unique -- it is one of four "new years" events within the Hebrew ...

Happy Tu B’Shvat!

Enjoy your tree-planting and your fruit!

Hazon Food Conference 2010

Below is the text to a drash/show and tell that I gave this week at my shul in honor of Tu B'Shvat: For a version of this blog post with working links and photos, please visit my personal blog. This week’s parsha has an interesting sequence of events. Probably the event that stands out the most is the crossing of the Yam Suf. This is an enormous miracle that is exciting and triumphant. The part we talk about a little less frequently is what comes after this sort of birth out of Egypt and into Hashem’s care. After the singing and dancing and celebration has ended, the people suddenly become frightened and ask, &ldquo...

Trees: The Ultimate Environmentalists

15 Shvat, 5771 — Trees just might be the ultimate environmentalists. They provide shelter and food for animals large and small. They nourish the soil with their fallen leaves, and protect it with their strong roots. And trees not only pump oxygen into the atmosphere, allowing every animal on the surface of the planet to breathe, they also filter out greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as precursors to acid rain, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. How many other environmentalists can claim that? We can only aspire to help the environment as much as trees do. So perhaps one of the most import...

Question of the Week #8

Daniel Infeld of Hazon asks Jewcology's question of the week.

3 minutes, 25 leaders, and one web portal uniting Jewish environmentalists around the world

25 Jewish environmentalists from around the world share their commitment to the environment, and how Jewcology.com is supporting their efforts. Many thanks to Sasha Perry for her tireless video efforts making this a reality! To share this video: To embed on your site, use this embed code: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ahJZ8l_dykc?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">&...