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A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology intended for use in engaging adults.
Blogs
Earth Etude for Elul 13 – Displaced Trash
- September 3, 2017
by Nicci Meadow Misplaced anger causes me to displace trash from where I find it to another place where it ought not to be; Then, picturing it clearly, startles me, helping me to see what I too have become, acting out unintentionally or carelessly. Not very Jewish or Buddhist of me. It's time for a change. Nicci Meadow is a mother, artist-photographer, "do-gooder" and seeker. www.niccimeadow.com.
Earth Etude for Elul 12- Returning to Diversity
- September 2, 2017
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by Rabbi Michael Cohen~ The opening chapters of Genesis not only include the account of the creation of the earth but over and over tell us of the importance of diversity. All of creation is called "good," reminding us of the value of the multiplicity of the world that we live in. The text also teaches us, by describing everything that is created before humans as "good," that all things have intrinsic value in and of themselves beyond any value that we may place on them. Once humans are created, "very good" is the adjective applied by the text. An anthropocentric ...
Earth Etude for Elul 11 – The Shemittah Cycle
- September 1, 2017
by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin~ Do you know where this new year falls in the shemittah (seven-year) count? Or when the next shemittah year will be? Even those of us who were deeply engaged in celebrating the last shemittah year may have difficulty remembering if it was 2 or 3 years ago. (It was 3 years ago – 5775, 2014-2015.) Yet shemittah, like Shabbat, is more than a slice of time. It is a presence, always with us. It is a practice, an attitude, a social, economic and spiritual ethic that guides our lives. In the biblical era, this was evident, and the air of the ...
Earth Etude for Elul 10 – I Can Do Something
- August 31, 2017
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by Joan Rachlin~ I recently retired and have since been immersed in climate change related activities. I once heard it said that most working folk are "denatured," so one of my post-retirement goals has been to “renature.” With this kavannah in heart and mind, I have been trying to more actively appreciate the boundless gifts nature offers us daily. Most specifically, I’ve begun to notice, appreciate, and more consistently support those who produce the food that sustains my family and me. Through the physical labor of farmers we are given the gift of nourishm...
Earth Etude for Elul 9 -Natural Awe and Artistic Representations
- August 30, 2017
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by Rabbi Steve Altarescu~ When we stood at Mt. Sinai, the mountain was described as ablaze with fire and the people heard the sound of God from out of the fire but did not see any form or shape. We learn that since we experienced God without a form or shape it would be wrong for us to make a likeness, a resemblance of anything in nature. Why does Moses repeat this prohibition four times? For the Torah there is power to an image, whether it be a sculpture, a painting or any other art form that stands in contrast to feeling the power of God. For me, there is a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 8 – Where Are We Now?
- August 29, 2017
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by Rabbi Dorit Edut~ These narrow, dark cobblestone streets still echo with the click-click of many shoes, sandals, boots…. of the modern tourists, flamenco dancers and local yuppies who now populate these gentrifying neighborhoods where once there stood a Jewish ghetto – Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada… Small tiles with the words” Chai” in Hebrew or the Menorah symbol can be found scattered on the sidewalks. A Magen David is discovered above a balcony window, etched in the stone wall. The synagogues are now museums or churches or convents. Even ...
Earth Etude for Elul 5 – Where Are We Going
- August 29, 2017
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by Thea Iberall, Ph.D. A while ago, I started writing a book that contained everything I had learned about love, life, Jewish ethics, and about making peace with the past. And I made up a science fiction world of bad things happening. And one day, my sister Norrie said, “You don’t have to make it up. There’s bad things happening already.” I asked what she meant. She sat me down in front of her computer screen and showed me some charts. How the carbon dioxide is rising and with it the temperature in the air and in the oceans. She showed me how the ...
Earth Etude for Elul 7 – Our Last Elul?
- August 29, 2017
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by Judith Felsen, Ph.D. ~If this were our last Elul might we see a different world? On the verge of our demise would each spark of nature sent by You remind us of Your light we are? In these days of hidden peace do we know we are Your kin together in the field? In darkest times does not the moon and sun still shine on us? Today may elements of earth be manna, all reminders of divine connection and Your care through deserts now. This Elul may we see You within all shadow and not be blinded ...
Earth Etude for Elul 6 – Looking to the Sky, Remembering Our Ideals
- August 27, 2017
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by Rabbi Natan Margalit, Ph.D. ~Recently, I read an article in the New York Times Magazine that talked about the way that people do or say things, say, supporting a good cause or political opinion, not because they really believe in it, but because they want to signal to their social network that they are virtuous. Apparently, there is a popular new label for this behavior: “virtue signaling.” The author reports that this term is most often used by people on the right against people on the left (“Virtue Signaling Isn’t the Problem. Not Believing One Another ...
Earth Etude for Elul 5 – Where Are We Going?
- August 26, 2017
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by Thea Iberall, Ph.D. ~A while ago, I started writing a book that contained everything I had learned about love, life, Jewish ethics, and about making peace with the past. And I made up a science fiction world of bad things happening. And one day, my sister Norrie said, “You don’t have to make it up. There’s bad things happening already.” I asked what she meant. She sat me down in front of her computer screen and showed me some charts. How the carbon dioxide is rising and with it the temperature in the air and in the oceans. She showed me how the waters are ...
Earth Etude for Elul 4 – Saying Farewell with Each Breath, Starting Anew
- August 25, 2017
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by Rabbi Judy Kummer~ Towards end of the day, towards summer's end, body and soul prepare for farewells. Through piney woods I run, gauntleted by trees whose dark limbs reach up to breathe in fresh blue sky. Dim path; the light can't reach down here. Ahead, the river winks at me. I thread my way out the wooded tunnel's end and can feel the sky lift -- and my mind lifts too. Before me lies still water meandering between wooded banks. Turning, I race the river. Feet pound on hard sand paths, ...
Earth Etude for Elul 3 – One Natural World
- August 24, 2017
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by Rabbi Robin Damsky~ While I do a great deal of writing for In the Gardens – our nonprofit that brings organic edible gardens to greater Chicagoland, donates 80% of our produce to the hungry and teaches mindfulness practice – when thinking about Elul, I had to dig in, no pun intended, for what to say. Because it’s not just about sharing the love of gardening or teaching about sustainable and healthy food. It’s about creation and our future. It’s about living on the earth as an interconnected whole. For me, this is the main message of the High Holy ...
Earth Etude for Elul 2 – From the Perspective of the 9th of Av, 5777
- August 24, 2017
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by Hazzan Shoshana Brown~ Writing on the mourning day of Tisha b’Av, I am inclined to think of this “etude” as rather more of a kinah (lament) for the magnificent temple of our Earth, third planet in our solar system. Not to say that Earth is a churban, a ruin like our ancient Temple in Jerusalem, but to say that like that once beating spiritual heart and ritual nerve-center of the nation of Israel, our planet is both magnificent and utterly vulnerable to the predations of human greed, violence, and recklessness. And yet I have got the analogy turned inside-out ...
Earth Etude for Elul 1 Alarm Clock for the Soul
- August 23, 2017
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by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen~ Today marks the beginning of the month of Elul, a period of self-reflection and the search for forgiveness. Each day during this month, you will find here an Earth Etude for Elul, a short reflection on teshuvah and Earth by a member or friend of Ma’yan Tikvah. We hope these Etudes will help you along the way on your journey. It’s Elul. Once again. We’ll hear the shofar in the mornings, trying to wake us up. An alarm clock for our souls. For every morning, the Sun rises. Sometimes I’d like to hit snooze, but Ruach ...
Aytzim (Ecological Judaism) is Back—Let’s reconnect!
- July 30, 2017
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It’s a mystery--we lost our Aytzim facebook page and all our facebook friends. So we will be sending out new invites to like our page. In case you have forgotten, we are all about the environment—saving our world. And these days, it has become more important than ever. Aytzim is the umbrella organization of: Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology.org, EcoJews, and Shomrei Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth. Aytzim means “trees” and here’s a little about the other organizations in our product grove: Green Zionist Alliance—Since its founding in 2001, the ...
EcoPeace Middle East new publication; new brief
- July 11, 2017
EcoPeace Middle East, a unique environmental organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israelis, with the primary objective of promoting cooperative efforts to protect the region's shared environmental heritage, recently published a new report entitled "Decoupling National Water Needs for National Water Supplies: Insights and Potential for Countries in the Jordan Basin". This report analyses and compares the water allocation and management experience of Jordan, Palestine and Israel using the lens of economic and resource decoupling to highlight ...
Shavuot and the Connection to Vegetarianism
- May 25, 2017
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A compilation of articles by Richard Schwartz A Dialogue on Shavuot Night For many years Danny Shapiro looked forward to staying up all night at his synagogue with his friends on the first night of Shavuot, hearing talks about and discussing Torah teachings. This year he especially anticipated this annual commemoration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, because Rabbi Greenberg would be meeting with Danny and other college students for an hour at 3 AM to answer any questions on Judaism that they brought up. Danny had recently become a vegetarian ...
- May 3, 2017
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This article initially was published in the May 3 issue of the Jerusalem Post Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) meets, December 12, 2015. (photo credit:REUTERS) ------------- I generally find articles by Jerusalem Post op-ed editor Seth Frantzman to be well-reasoned, insightful and informative. So I was disappointed and saddened to read his April 25 article, “Plan for, don’t gripe about, climate change,” in which he argues that we should ...
People Climate’s Movement
- April 29, 2017
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Aytzim supports the People’s Climate Movement this April 29th in Washington, D.C. (and across the country) to stand up for our communities and climate. The People's Climate Movement is organizing a country-wide arc of action, culminating on April 29th in Washington DC in a powerful mobilization to unite all of our movements. To change everything, we need everyone. On April 29th, we will march for our families. We will march for our air, our water, and our land. We will march for clean energy jobs and climate justice. We will march for our communities and the ...
Shmita Revival: The Reconsideration and Expansion of Sacred Land
- April 21, 2017
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David Krantz will be speaking at the Mountain and Sacred Landscape Conference at The New School in New York City on Friday, April 21 from 8:30 to 10:00 am. David is a National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow and a Wrigley Fellow researching solar-energy policy and faith-based environmentalism. He also runs the environmental nonprofit, Aytzim: Ecological Judaism, parent organization of Jewcology.org, the Green Zionist Alliance, EcoJews, and Shomrei Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth. He serves on the board of directors of Interfaith Moral Action on ...