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Earth Etude for Elul 15

Appreciating Nature's Gifts by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi The tiny island country of Iceland sits atop two tectonic plates, the North American plate, and the Eurasian plate, which accounts for most of its landscape, along with its continual seismic activity. Thanks to a cousin who chose to have her wedding in Iceland this past May, I had the opportunity to visit just a small area of this amazing place. Miles and miles of lava fields, unable to be cultivated, gave way to rivers and waterfalls, majestic mountains, geysers and glaciers. I wish I could say that each ...

Earth Etude for Elul 16

Zazu Dreams - Between the Scarab and the Dung Beetle -Cautionary. Fable for the Anthropocene Era by Cara Judea Alhadeff, PhD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14uU3UW0d1w Our collaboration combines four generations: Zazu (the dreamer), Cara/Mommia (the storyteller), Micaela/Nana (the artist), and Grand Papoo (the family photographer). Zazu Dreams focuses on human rights and ecological justice, merging humanities and the sciences, exploring the relationships among cross-cultural Sephardic and Arab-Jewish spiritualities with biodiversity. The trailer opens ...

Earth Etude for Elul 14

Love is the Breath of the Soul by Rabbi Dr. Nachshon Siritsky Earth: AdamahIn Hebrew, earth (adamah) is also (adam) which is humanity. Both have the same three-letter root (alef/dalet/mem), but earth/adamah has the extra Hebrew letter "Hey." Hey: the double letter in G!d's NameHey: the vowel that opens us to LifeHey: (Breath/Ruach) called Avram and Sarai to leave the land where they could not breathe that they could awaken into their destined Blessings… Hey: the sound of Breath/Ruach that opens to Spirit/Oxygen enlivening us into our Purpose/Bashert. Hey: ...

Earth Etude for Elul 13

Uncovering the Moon: The Compass of Compassion by Rabbi Margie Jacobs Growing up, I was taught that our prayers on the High Holidays were an effort to move God, who sits on a throne of judgment on Rosh Hashanah writing our fate in the Book of Life, to a seat of compassion by the end of Yom Kippur. But the Zohar, the 13th-century book of Kabbalah, offers us a different image. While Psalms 81:4 is often translated as “Blow the shofar on the new moon, on the full moon (b’keseh) of our festival day,” the Zohar instead understands “b’keseh” to ...

Earth Etude for Elul 12

Learn to Acknowledge Defeat by Rabbi Paul Plotkin I have been a vegetable and herb gardener for the last 30 years. That means that I have had the pleasure of tasting wonderful tomatoes and carrots, snow peas, peppers and eggplants that had real flavor and something mysterious called freshness. It also means that I have experienced disappointment, failure, heartache and loss at a frequency much greater than success. At times after waiting months for a veggie to mature and reach maximal ripeness, something happens. An animal decides it was invited to the harvest. ...

Earth Etude for Elul 11

God's eyes on the Land: Why our ancestors chose a land "of hills and valleys" by Rabbi David Seidenberg In Parashat Eikev, Deut 11:10-12, the Torah compares the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan. Egypt is sustained by a river-fed agriculture, whereas the land of Canaan is "a land of hills and valleys -- she drinks rain from the heavens." And, unlike Egypt, the eyes of God are upon the land of Canaan continually. Each of these distinctions bears close reading; each is needed to explain the other. Egypt is described as a place where you could water crops from the ...

Earth Etude for Elul 10

Climate and the Sh'ma by Leah F. Cassorla Ph.D. One of my amazing 7th graders said to me that the second paragraph of the Sh’ma (the V’hayu) says, in his words, “if we follow the commandments, we will have plenty to eat and be safe, but there are people who don’t have enough food.” He’s right. There are people who don’t have enough food. I explained it’s because we bow down to other gods. The V’hayu is either completely redacted or read silently in most liberal Jewish communities in North America. It feels a bit icky to us. It describes a ...

Earth Etude for Elul 9

I COME HOME by Lisa M. Miller walk my wild rocky woodland—indigo bunting familieskatydids, a woodpecker,the rushing creek timbre.God. In tones solstice goldmoss thick, hardwood sentries and baby sapsline my edgesway far out. I’m bigger here, resilient, and only a speck.Soaring thank yous with feet.I know myself. I knowhow to find my way—homeanywhere. Lisa M. Miller is an inclusive, community-building, mind-body health specialist and social justice advocate. Her workshops help women in every life-chapter integrate physical, emotional and ...

Dropping Our Leaves

Earth Etude for Elul 8 by ©Rabbi Robin Damsky In his book, This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared, Alan Lew, of blessed memory, teaches us that the arc of the High Holy Days begins with the grief of Tisha B’Av, even before we approach Elul. As we mourn the destruction of the Temples, we acknowledge loss, brokenness, a sense of unfathomable exile. We feel this so preciously this year, as it has been perhaps the greatest year of grief and loss to us in the Jewish community since the Holocaust. And the grief remains, persists. I think of a deciduous ...

Earth Etude for Elul 7

Love Psalm from Elohim by Judith Felsen, Ph.D. Dear Ones,This Elul we greet and meet in fields of anguish,barely chanting salutations trapped in unrequited prayerswaiting to be mourned…our hearts engorged with grief and rage beat haltingly,our bodies weary cartons holding our debacle, filled withsymptoms screaming for attention and unknown revenge… Dear Ones,Within this dark abyss, quagmire of all unsafe,do not shut down to holiness presiding on the edge of emptiness;be with the speech of Elohim, the wind, the seas, the sparkle of the stars;let Hashem’s ...

An Open Letter to Jewish Trump Supporters

You likely support former President Donald Trump because he has done some positive things for Israel, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the US consulate there, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and helping form the Abraham Accords. This is certainly understandable. However, have you considered the two ways that Trump’s actions have greatly endangered Israel and, indeed, the entire world? First, he pulled the US out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was working very well, according to professional inspectors ...

Earth Etude for Elul 6

Repentant and Grounded: AllyShip in Elul by Rabbi Mike Moskowitz One of the reasons that we are called “Earthlings,”1 b’nei adam in Hebrew, is because our ability to return to a pristine state of purity can be achieved through our connection to the Earth. Our rabbis teach “טומאה מקבל אינו לקרקע המחובר - anything that is attached (m’chubar) to the ground can’t become impure.”2 The Earth reminds us of God’s nature as Creator, who formed us from the Earth, and our role as a partner in co-creating goodness. When we separate ...

Who Would Be Better for Israel, Trump or Harris?

Trump is wrong for America, for Israel, for Jews, and for a human future of generosity and safety. We must repudiate him and his selfish, destructive worldview. Given everything above, Harris would be far better for Israel than Trump.

Why is Despair So Compelling?

Earth Etude for Elul 5 by Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner The Chasidic Rabbi Nachman of Braslav (1772-1810) was a lifelong sufferer of what was likely depression. When, towards the end of his life, he told his followers that “it is forbidden to despair” (Likutei Moharan II 78:7), it was because he understood the siren call of hopelessness. What is so tempting about hopelessness? It’s the sense of certainty that comes with it. When things feel uncertain, it means we’re holding multiple possible futures that could range from terrible to wonderful. Carrying that ...

Arise

Earth Etude for Elul 4 by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Arise / לָקוּם Enough!Too long have youstood still. Arise! Draw nearand walk the verdant woodland trailswith Me. אָז רַבלָכֶם שֶׁבֶתלְבַד. עַכְשָׁו לָקוּם. בֹּאוּ לְתוֹךְ חֹרֶשׁ קָסוּםאִיתִי. Inspired by Devarim 1:6 Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and spiritual leader of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, an outdoor congregation in Metrowest Boston, the co-founder of the Jewish Climate Action ...

The Tides of Teshuvah

Earth Etude for Elul 3 by Rabbi Janet Madden Midrash Tehilim 65:4: “Teshuvah is like the sea which is never barred, so that whoever desires to bathe in it can do so whenever they desire.” As the moon draws the tides,so this month pulls our souls to the way of our ancestors,to teshuvah.Return is always possible. But in Elul, resistance dissolves,Desire engulfs us like a swelling wave,and we, made mostly of water,carried on currents of time and memory,sea-change, returning to ourselves.Rabbi Janet Madden, PhD, is a ritualist, poet, herbalist, grief specia...

I walked on the Pier above the Saint Lawrence River

Earth Etude for Elul 2 by Enid C. Lader I walked on the pier above the Saint Lawrence River It happened to be across the street from a grand cathedral built in honor of Saint Anne… To become a saint, people must attest to miracles performed… As you walk into the cathedral’s sanctuary, crutches and walking sticks and canes are gathered into two displays— We can walk! It’s a miracle! Walking back from the river, the wind was quite strong- everyone held on to their hats… The undulations of the river were then carried forward to the ...

Earth Etude for Elul 1

Waves by Louis Polisson Written after a visit to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, native lands of the Waccamaw Siouan, Lumbee, and Catawba (Iswa) peoples The sound of waves Breaking on the seashore Heralding The coming of the time for return The sound of a wheel That rolls Like our fools in prophecy[1] said Open and closed The voice of the Shekhinah Over the waters [2] In the midst the sea [3] Within the heart The voice of my heart Saying: “Seek My face” Your face, Eternal, I will seek [4] גלים מאת הרב לואיס פוליסון נ...

Earth Etude for Rosh Hodesh Elul

Turning Earthward by Rabbi Asher Chaim Sofman ~ I sit in my backyard on a cool and beautiful August day. Cicadas and crickets buzz. It’s a workday, but if my laptop’s on, even hours I spend lounging outside can be productive. I’m working, of course. I have multiple programs open and I’m typing away. What I’m not sure I’m doing is “producing.” Our scraggly food garden lies to my left. Mostly what’s growing there are weeds, but not everything. The plot also hosts two melon vines that sprouted from my compost pile. They have flowers now; ...

Climate Change: An Issue That Should Defeat Donald Trump

Climate Change: An Issue That Should Defeat Donald Trump In what could be the most consequential election in US history, former President Trump must be defeated. Among the many reasons is his longtime denial of climate change, which is increasingly seen as an existential threat to Israel, the US, and, indeed, the entire world. There is a very strong consensus, composed of 97% of climate experts, all the major science academies that have taken a position on the issue, and most importantly, over a thousand peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals, that ...

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