On this second day of the last week of counting the Omer, we focus on Gevuarh in Malchut – Restraint in Leadership. The amount of energy involved in the Big Bang was so unbelievably huge as to be beyond our comprehension. Today, the brightest events in the sky – those
Today we begin the last week of counting the Omer, and all during this week, as we count the last seven days until Revelation, we focus on Malchut – Leadership, beginning with Chesed in Malchut, Lovingkindness in Leadership. And this week we focus on the stars. When we look into
As we reach the end of the fifth week of counting the Omer, we focus on the Divine Attributes of Malchut in Y'sod, Leadership in Bonding. As I walk through the woods today, I am suddenly struck by the dead trees. They are dead, certainly, and yet they are home
On this sixth day of the fifth week of counting the Omer, we consider Y'sod in Y'sod – Bonding in Bonding. Some trees are covered with large, bright, decorative blossoms in the spring – magnolias, flowering dogwoods, cherry trees, flowering crab apples. These and others we plant in our yards
On this 40th day of the Omer, we focus on the Divine Attributes of Hod in Y'sod, Humility in Bonding. Every year that a tree grows, a new layer or ring of wood forms around the trunk, just under the bark. A tree generally produces one layer of wood each
On this 39th day of the Omer, we reflect on Endurance in Bonding – Netzach in Y'sod. The fall foliage in New England is stunning. Bright reds and oranges and yellows take one's breath away. In the Midwest, where oaks predominate, the colors are more subdued – yellows, yes, but
On this third day of the sixth week of the Omer we focus on Tiferet in Y'sod, Harmony in Bonding. Biomes are large geographical areas of the world, each with distinctive plants and animals that are adapted to the particular climate and geography of the area. Forest biomes include tropical
Today we consider the Divine Attributes of Gevurah in Y'sod, Restraint in Bonding, as we count the 37th day of the Omer. I think of the majestic redwoods of the Pacific coast. They are so tall that it is impossible to see their crowns, and some are so big around
Today we begin a new week, the sixth week of counting the Omer, and for this first day of the week we consider Chesed in Y'sod, Lovingkindness in Bonding. During this sixth week, trees will provide our inspiration, beginning with oak trees. Growing up in the Midwest, I learned about
The other day I took my almost 7 year old son to the dentist. He’s a good sport about dentist visits – it’s amazing what a plastic toy at the end will do for a kid – so we were relaxed and chatting in the car on the way home.
Core teachings on 18 topics linking Torah and the environment were released between Tu b’Shevat 5772 and Tu b’Shevat 5773 as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim and a host of other organizations who shared materials across the Jewish community. The
Here are three very simple things you can do for Shabbat Noach to honor God’s covenant with all life: 1) Learn and teach the rainbow blessing: “Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha`olam ZOKHER ET HABRIT — Blessed be You, Hashem…who remembers the covenant!” And — you can remember that the
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 PRAY, PLANT, GROW repeat! Many of us are familiar with the Pray, Eat, Pray, pattern of Jewish practice. Well, in this Harvest Season- which is also the spiritual season of birth and renewal- a New Year brings us many opportunities for reflection, renewal and redemption. Today
When I was in Israel for my Junior Year abroad in 1974, I remember that on Erev Sukkot the headline on the Jerusalem Post read: “Sukkot Starts Tonight, Weatherman Predicts No Rain.” For those of us in the Northeast this year Sukkot started with a lot of rain continuing a
Yom Kippur, the ‘holiest’ day of the Jewish year. Millions of Jews worldwide get dressed up in white or their best attire and sit together in synagogue, hungry, lamenting all the bad things we have done as a community of flawed individuals. When the average person is asked about Yom
Yesterday marked the transition in our annual cycle where we switched from praying for rain to praying for dew during the amidah. This ritual act, in combination with the two washings of our hands during the seder got me thinking about water, H2O. We have lots of prayers In Judaism
As a freelance Jewish environmental educator, the 2 weeks surrounding Tu B’shvat might be considered my high holidays. This year I will be teaching in 4 cities, 3 synagogues, and 11 supplemental and day schools in just that window. Yet in the two months following I only have a few
Come Join (and bring) children from all religions to join in a prayer for rain at Ein Chiniya spring. Monday, December 6th, there will be a musical gathering at Ein Chiniya (just past the checkpoint by Ein Yael, southwest Jerusalem) with musicians Ehud Banai, Shlomo Bar and Khalil al-Mustafi. All
