Owner of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope
Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and leader of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, a congregation without walls that meets outdoors all year long. She is the co-convener and President pro-tem of the Boston-area Jewish Climate Action Network, and the founder of the One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit in Framingham, MA.
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Hanukkah Day 3 – Eviscerating Guilt by Responding with Action
Hanukkah Day 3 - Eviscerating Guilt by Responding with Action by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen The rabbis of the Talmud were concerned that the miracle of Hanukkah be publicized, so the tradition grew up to put thehanukkiah (Hanukkah candelabrum) in the window, for all to see. But the family is also to gather together, each one lighting his or her ownhanukkiah, in order to publicize the miracle inward, to the family. The miracle ...
Hanukkah Day 2 – Acknowledging Greed and Encouraging Generosity
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen In the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), the rabbis discuss how to light thehanukkiah - the Hanukkah candelabrum. The famous sages Hillel and Shammai disagree as to whether we should start with eight candles and day by day diminish the number we light until on the last day of Hanukkah there is only one candle (plus the shamash, or helper candle) burning, which is the view of Shammai, or, if we should startwith ...
Hanukkah Day 1 – Dispelling Fear and Finding Courage
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen This week's Torah portion is Miketz -- we are smack dab in the middle of the Joseph story, a sure sign that Hanukkah will soon begin, as we always read this portion during Hanukkah. In addition, this week's Shabbat candle-lighting time is almost as early as it gets (next week will be one minute earlier), even though the actual shortest day of the year is weeks away. It is a dark ...
Earth Etude for Elul 29 – Shana Tova
Photos by Gabi Mezger Words by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen G!d made a promise never to destroy the world again. We see that promise in every rainbow that arcs across the sky. We see it, too, in rainbows all around us. G!d had the power to make the waters of the flood recede. We have no such power. May we make a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 28 – I Am My Beloved and My Beloved Is Me
by Daniel Kieval I have a friend who reads people's auras. He sees all sorts of colors like green & red & purple. He says anyone can do it. All it takes is forgetting everything you think you know & just looking. I've tried it & even though I haven't seen any colors yet, everyone I meet looks so beautiful when I stop knowing everything, that it's pretty hard to go back to the old way. ...
Earth Etude for Elul 27 – Sunrise Sunset – Evening the Frayed Edges of Our Lives
by Rabbi Jeff Foust Sunrise and sunset are special liminal times calling forth awe and mindful awakening to spiritual realities we otherwise might totally miss. It’s no accident that the main traditional prayer times for Jews are sunrise and sunset. This simple profound reality is especially moving me this year as I prepare for the Teshuvah/Realignment/Renewal work of Elul before Rosh HaShanah. I’ve been reflecting ...
Earth Etude for Elul 26 – Teshuvah and Eden
by Rabbi Robin Damsky I am sitting in my yard as I write this, amidst the din of cicadas singing their love songs to one another, with the wind lusciously blowing around the 93-degree day. Although hot, the garden is nevertheless my favorite place. To my left are the grapevines yielding their first crop of grapes. To my right is a series of raised beds forming a giant U: lettuces under their shade cover, two compost bins, onions, carrots and ...
Earth Etude for Elul 25 – Circling Home
by Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman Turning, always turning To every turn, a season To every season, a spirit To every spirit, a soul To every soul, a home Ani l’dodi v’dodi li I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine Elul pours forth a call Turn as the earth Around your sacred truth, Hold to your center but move from your place. See from a new angle, Who ...
Earth Etude for Elul 24 – The Humility of Rabbits
by Leora Mallach I am an educational vegetable gardener, that is to say, I facilitate learning about food and grow vegetables for people to eat. Vegetable gardens don’t happen by chance, but are manicured and maintained on a regular basis. There is pre-season planning, worry and hope as things sprout, groups of students to program with, volunteers to direct and family picnics to coordinate. When I first saw evidence of ...
Earth Etude for Elul 23 – Adonai, Adonai
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Adonai, Adonai, G!d, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth, showing compassion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin. (Ex. 34:6-7) G!d speaks the Divine name twice! Wouldn't once be enough? Whose attention is G!d trying to reach? The medieval commentator Rashi teaches that “Adonai” is G!d's attribute of compas...
Earth Etude for Elul 22 – For Lifts
by Nyanna Susan Tobin I am helped by...Remembering that where ever I sit or stand, it is sacred ground. Sometimes it is hard to believe this wisdom. But, If I can re-remember my roots, and my strong belief that we are all apart of the on-going cycles of creation and of unraveling, then I can wake up and realize the miracle of this moment. One of my goals for this summer was to slow down, and honor my desire for living closer ...
Earth Etude for Elul 21 – How Do You Meet the World?
by Alexander Volfson There are many ways to look at life. This lens through which we perceive reality affects how we feel and how we act. Elul, a time of returning, is a perfect opportunity to reflect on our lenses. Is our outlook truly helping us be the best self we can be? Sometimes we can get into phases where we're caught up in one particular lens. You might notice a particular pattern of thought you're reenacting, ...
Earth Etude for Elul 20 – When the Land is Allowed to Rest
Photos by Robyn Bernstein, text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen The sabbatical year, or shmita (meaning 'release') is the seventh year of the seven year agricultural cycle described in the Torah and applying to the Land of Israel. During the shmita year, the land lies fallow, debts are forgiven, and all of creation is allowed to rest. In this country, land set aside as conservation land is allowed to rest for ...
Earth Etude for Elul 19 – The Nature of Quiet
by Joel Wool The blood is thrumming through my veins as, once again, Saturday, I wake up with the buzz of the week still driving my heart and mind, a sense of rush and to-do crowding out any notion of rest. A glass of water on the windowsill, dappled with light, catches the shifting beams of sunrise as I reach out to recharge my body, lukewarm moisture rolling on the tongue, and peer out the window, searching out the ...
Earth Etude for Elul 18 – Reflections on the Seasons of My Mourning
by Leslie Rosenblatt Almost a year ago my husband Marty succumbed to the ravages of cancer, leaving us on a Fall evening in October. Although this event was not unexpected we had been hopeful that he would live longer with Hospice in place. We had no idea how very sick he was and how soon the end would come. He came home from the hospital for the last time on Yom Kippur. Just days ago we had sat for ...
Earth Etude for Elul 17 – Do Not Be Daunted
by Susie Davidson Last week, my brother said to me, “Why do you spend so much time working for the environment and trying to change the world? It is hopeless.” He then cited an activist friend who, for decades, has been researching and trying to uncover the full story behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Despite a History Channel episode on this issue that he helped bring about, he has virtually gotten ...
Earth Etude for Elul 16 – Memories for the New Year
by Carol Reiman I think a lot about memory as I listen to my 93-year-old mother. Her short term memory has changed to the point at which she rarely remembers what or if she has eaten a few hours ago, but she thinks a lot about her childhood and into her married life 60 years ago. She says that she doesn't miss people so much but that she misses scenery. While I know that my mother does miss people, nature has played a large role ...
Earth Etude for Elul 15 – Caring for the Planet
by Rabbi Laurie Gold “When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: ‘Look at my works! See how beautiful they are; how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.’” (Midrash Kohelet Rabbah, 1 on Ecclesiastes 7:13) I read this midrashic story only ...
Earth Etude for Elul 14 – Seeing the Beauty
by Sandra Daitch Last night I returned from a week-long trip out west with my brother and his family. My brother planned a wonderful itinerary and I was gifted with seeing and experiencing the magnificence and beauty in nature. I saw Muir Woods, Scenic Coastal Route 1 in California, theGrand Canyon, and the red hills/mountains, in Sedona. In these places in California and Arizona, ...
Earth Etude for Elul 13 – Resistance
by Lois Rosenthal There is resistance to the waning of the year These late summer days of afternoon warmth Sun’s glare softened by a chill A bit of orange creeps in to the solar yellow Fall is almost upon us, Elul is here Time to think about wrapping up this old year And stepping into the next There is resistance Remember last year’s beginning? The intentions, the clarity of changes ...
