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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Earth Etude for Elul 13: A Tall Order
by Hattie Nestel ~ Creating the earth and all within was the gift of G-d. Opening our eyes to see the situation the world is in, and in particular the destruction of all G-d gave us, is the work of the people. How shall we begin the job of righting the wrongs done not only to the environment but to people dependent on the environment going through catastrophic changes. Daily we hear of forest fires burning thousands of acres and untold numbers of ...
Earth Etude for Elul 12: In the Shadow of the Rabbi’s Tree
by Hody Nemes ~ I spend my days entombed in a skyscraper in downtown Manhattan. I am writing these words in an eight-story apartment building. As the world urbanizes, and as the urban sprawls further afield, we spend our lives increasingly surrounded by the human-made – brilliant engineering, beautiful cityscapes, wonderful in their own way, yet sometimes painfully lacking. A wonderful other sort of beauty, the emergent beauty of ecosystems -- ...
Earth Etude for Elul 11: The Emergence of Aliveness
by Rabbi Natan Margalit, Ph.D. ~ On Rosh HaShana we say “hayom harat olam” – today is the birth of the world. But it isn’t just a birthday that happened in the past. The daily morning blessings remind us that God creates the world anew every day. So this High Holiday season is a time to celebrate a process of on-going creation. It brings up the question: what do we even mean today when we talk about God’s creation of the world? I ...
Earth Etude for Elul 10: Re-remembering Who We Are
by Rabbi David Jaffe ~ Born at home on a Shabbat morning, my son spent his first few hours on this planet snuggling against his mother’s warm chest. One of the most striking visual images of that first day was the moment our midwife cut the umbilical cord that physically connected mother and child. Until that moment I knew abstractly that we were all connected and even, at rare times of spiritual reverie, sensed this connection. But here I saw it ...
Earth Etude for Elul 9: The Important Ten Percent
by Rabbi Judy Weiss ~ Rabbi Dr. Judith Hauptman, professor of Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary, taught a passage from the Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 54b-55a, in a study session for the Israeli Knesset in 2014 (listen to her re-teach it at Mechon Hadar, here). In this passage, the rabbis conclude that we're responsible for protesting when we observe someone doing something that is morally wrong. We must protest even if we think the offenders ...
Earth Etude for Elul 8: Like a River Flows
by Janna Diamond “I would like to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” - John O’Donohue What happens when we begin to awaken to what is in front of us, around us, and meeting us? Whose truth are we waking up to? Is it the “reality” of the heat being turned up--literally, like the past summer with the highest temperatures on record--and also the speed at which crises are converging? Or is it actually a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 7: The Power of Limit-Making
by Maggid David Arfa “Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.” R. AJ Heschel A riddle: Lily pads are doubling on a pond every day, Day 1- 1, Day 2- 2, Day 3- 4, Day 4- 8 and so on. On day 30, the pond is filled. On what day is the pond half filled? Answer: The 29th day. And the 28th day the pond is only a quarter filled. The 27th day? The 26th day?* _________________...
Earth Etude for Elul 6: I Dare You
by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein “I dare you to do it!” So I was challenged by Yosef Abramowitz. Yosef and his wife, Rabbi Susan Silverman made aliyah to Israel 10 years ago. Last year he ran for president of Israel and he has a company selling solar panels. He challenged every American rabbi, any American rabbi to talk about Passover and the environment. It was, after all Earth Day. I accepted the dare. For me, it was easy. My father ...
Earth Etude for Elul 5: Changing Ourselves
by Thea Iberall, Ph.D. ~ Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” I think about this statement every time I do climate change activism. We must wean humanity off of fossil fuels before the seas rise too high and before droughts have not just millions of people on the move as they are now, but billions searching for food, water and stable governments. What am I personally doing to ...
Earth Etude for Elul 4: The Power of Silence, the Power of Creation
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen ~ When we don’t know what to do, it can be difficult to sit still. When we are deep in grief or despair, it can be painful to stop moving. When we are angry or hurt, allowing silence into our lives can feel almost impossible. Silence in all these situations can feel like an unwanted stranger. But silence is a good friend. And our own silence when we are out in nature, is even a better friend. Those of us who have a bit of ...
Earth Etude for Elul 3: G-d’s Might, Detroit, and Coming Back to Life
by Moshe Givental ~ Every year on Tisha b’Av we begin a 7-week journey of preparation for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Like most significant experiences in life, for the Jewish Holy Days to have the potential for transformation, they require preparation. So we started a few weeks ago by looking at the broken-ness of our physical, ethical, and spiritual worlds signified by Tisha b’Av, moved towards the hope of a world filled with love 6-days later ...
Earth Etude for Elul 2: Oh Deer, What Can the Matter Be?
by Rabbi Robin Damsky I am sitting with the concept of brokenness as it relates to Tisha B’Av and the ensuing unfolding of the High Holy Day season. We often have trouble connecting with this day; our lives are so distant from the First and Second Temple periods, but its central theme is one with which we can all relate: brokenness. In this day of weeping, we weep not only for the brokenness and destruction in the past, we weep for ...
Earth Etude for Elul 1: Saving the Earth to Save Our Children
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Hanukkah Night 8, 5776 – Seeing in Detail
Text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Photos by Gabi Mezger Eight lights burning, sending out light, sending out heat - the hanukkiah is full. May our hearts be full as well, of light and warmth, allowing us to see in detail both the pain and the beauty of the world. Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as an Eco-Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and ...
Hannukah Night 7, 5776 – One
Text by Rabbi Katy Allen Photo by Gabi Mezger One. What does it mean? One Homo sapiens. One Earth. One G!d. One Universe. One time. One future. What does it take for us to live as ONE? Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as an Eco-Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, ...
Hanukkah Night 6, 5776 – Let it Flow
Text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Photo by Gabi Mezger Let the light within us flow, Let our lives flow, and our hearts, and our souls. Shabbat shalom. Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as an Eco-Chaplain and the Facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit. She is the founder and rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, which holds services outdoors all year long. She is the co-founder and ...
Hanukkah Night 5, 5776 – Sparks
Text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Photos by Gabi Mezger A spark of Mystery burns within every single human being, and within every part and parcel of Creation, and every one of those sparks is different. All of the sparks are needed for shleimut -- for total healing, wholeness, for Oneness. What is the essence of your spark? Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as an ...
Hanukkah Night 4, 5776 – What Is Burning?
Text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Photo by Gabi Mezger What is burning in your heart? What is burning to be expressed? To come out? To be shared with the world? To bring a blaze of light? Whatever it may be... Let it out! Let it come forth! Let it shine! Rabbi Katy Allen is a board certified chaplain and serves as an Eco-Chaplain ...
Hanukkah Night 3, 5776 – Within and Without
Text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Photos by Gabi Mezger Baruch atah Adonai - Blessed are You Adonai -- Blessed is the spark of G!d -- of Life, of Light, of Specialness, that burns within your being, within every living being. Blessed is the Spark. Eloheinu melech ha'olam - Our G!d, Sovereign of the Universe -- We acknowledge You, Source of All, from before time began to the end of time, and beyond, from this pin point of place to ...
Hanukkah Night 2, 5776 – Reflections
Text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Photos by Gabi Mezger The moon appears in the sky while sunlight still shimmers, the sky can still be called blue, and clouds are visible. In the waning daylight, the reflection of the reflected light we call moonlight sears a bright path across the sea. As darkness rolls in the ...
