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About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff ...
Can Someone PLEASE Explain How President-Elect Trump and Other Republican Politicians can Be In Such Denial About Climate Change
A question that has been bothering me for a long time and that I would love to get a meaningful answer to is: how can the vast number of Republican politicians, now including President-elect Donald Trump, be in such denial about climate change, in view of the following:
* ALL of the 195 nations at the December 2015 Paris climate change conference agreed, based on the recommendations of their science advisors, that immediate steps must be taken to combat climate change, and almost all of these nations set up national plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). ...
An Existential Threat to Israel, the U.S., and the World
While climate change is an existential threat to Israel, the United States, and, indeed, the entire world, there has not been sufficient attention to it by most people. It was not discussed at all during the recent presidential debates, and was not a major campaign issue. Unfortunately, “denial is not just a river in Egypt,” and most people today are, in effect rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, as we head toward a giant iceberg.
Here are ten important reasons we all should be very concerned about climate change:
1. Science academies worldwide, 97% of ...
Three Simple Steps Toward Going Green
If you are someone who cares about protecting the environment, you may find yourself frustrated at times because you are not doing as much as you could to change your lifestyle. While caring for God’s creation and reducing waste (baal tashchit) are important principles in Judaism, you don’t have to do it all to make a difference. Here are a few simple suggestions to get you going on the right path.
Start slow and keep it going: As with anything in life, creating eco-friendly change is more likely to succeed if you take it one small step at a time. ...
“Noah, Superman, and Global Warming,” a Brilliant Article by a Rosh Yeshiva That Can Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet
A Message from the Rosh HaYeshiva
Rabbi Dov Linzer
Norman and Tova Bulow Rosh HaYeshiva Chair
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School
A Thought on the Parasha
Feel free to download and print the Parashat Noach sheet and share it with your friends and family.
Noah, Superman and Global Warming
God creates a perfect, self-sustaining planet, teaming with life. God places human beings in it and gives them seemingly divine powers: rule over all living things, and the ability to build, create, transform, and take mastery over the entire planet (Breishit ...
Who Stole My Religion?
For many years I have believed that my religion, Judaism, has been stolen. Why? Because Judaism is a radical religion, with powerful messages on peace, justice, compassion, sharing, and environmental sustainability that can help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. Yet, most Orthodox Jews are in denial about climate change and other environmental threats and are increasingly supporting politicians who promote benefits for the wealthiest Americans and highly profitable corporations, at the expense of average Americans.
I have been a member of a modern ...
Review of My Book, “Who Stole My Religion?” by the Midwest Book Review
Wisconsin Bookwatch: October 2016
/James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575
The Judaic Studies Shelf
Who Stole My Religion?
Richard H. Schwartz
Urim Publications
c/o Lambda Publishers
527 Empire Boulevard, Brooklyn, New York 11225
www.UrimPublications.com
9789655242348, $28.95, HC, 302pp, www.amazon.com
"Who Stole My Religion?: Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet" by Richard H. Schwartz (President of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians ...
Latest Review of “Who Stole My Religion?”
THE ARK, publication of “The Catholic Concern for Animas” AUTUMN/WINTER 2016
BOOK REVIEW
WHO STOLE MY RELIGION? by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Although this book has been written to ‘revitalize Judaism and apply Jewish values to help heal our imperiled planet,' the references used from the Old Testament, apply as much to Christians as they do to Jews. Therefore, I felt it useful to review this book for The Ark.
Schwartz takes a good look at the world today including it politics, economic systems and foreign policies, as well as the environment and our ...
Sukkot and Eco-Friendly Eating
Sukkot, the harvest holiday that takes place on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei, marks the end of the agricultural year. Jews give thanks for the bounty of the Earth. We commemorate the holiday by decorating our sukkah with fruits, vegetables and harvest items. We shake the lulov and the etrog to connect ourselves to the Earth as we eat and spend time outside.
It is fitting during the traditionally agricultural holiday of Sukkot to think about our food choices. Here are a few ways we can be more eco-friendly in our eating and food purchasing habits:...
Earth Etudes for Elul: A Collection of Meaningful Ways to Enrich Our Lives
by Susan Levine
~ It’s not too late to read the thought-provoking Earth Etudes for the month of Elul. Now is a good time to think about our lives and what matters: our family, our friends, this Earth we call our home and all the other people and animals who share it with us. How can we take care of our health and work towards a peaceful and sustainable future for our children?
A special thank you to Rabbi Katy Z. Allen for organizing this project and to our contributing writers with their meaningful essays, poems and thoughts. You can read them here whenever ...
Major Interview of Richard Schwartz in a Spanish Publication (Translation Follows Link)
.H.: http://www.anda.jor.br/05/10/2016/devemos-procurar-transcender-nossas-diferencas-e-nos-unirmos-pelos-animais
Richard Schwartz was interviewed by Arquivo Pessoal of ANDA (News Agency of Animal Rights). The translation of the interview follows:
ANDA: Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is the author of: Judaism and Vegetarianism; Judaism and Global Survival; Who Stole My Religion?; Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal our Imperiled Planet; Mathematics and Global Survival, and over 200 articles and 25 podcasts at JewishVeg.com/schwartz. He is ...
Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah and Vegetarianism
The Sukkot holiday, including Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, is known as the "Season of Rejoicing," because people's worries about the success of the harvest are over. Since one must be in good health in order to fully rejoice, the many health benefits of vegetarian diets and the knowledge that such diets are less harmful than animal-based diets to the environment, hungry people, and animals are factors that can enhance rejoicing. There are many other connections that can be made between vegetarianism (and veganism) and these joyous Jewish festivals:
1. Sukkot ...
Yom Kippur and Vegetarianism
Yom Kippur, the culmination of the Aseret Y’mei Teshuva (the Ten Days of Penitence) that begins on Rosh Hashanah, is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. On this day, Jews refrain completely from consuming food and water and spend many hours in synagogues, examining their deeds, vowing to repent of past transgressions, and seeking God’s blessings for a coming year of good health and positive outcomes. Yet, after Yom Kippur, most Jews return to animal-based diets that are arguably inconsistent with the values of Yom Kippur and Judaism in general. Please consider:
...
Shanah Tovah 5777
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen
As you enter this new year
may distance bring clarity
and may the many shades of the forest
be clear to you
as separate and individual colors
each unique in its own right
may the sky be ever visible to you
between the leaves
may you understand
that the leaves
the sky
and the tendrils
are all interconnected
and when you cry out for help
may your prayer
be ...
Our Earth Etudes for Elul: Thank you to our contributors!
By Susan Levine
A special thank you to Rabbi Katy Z. Allen for organizing this project and to our contributing writers with their meaningful essays, poems and thoughts. Elul is the month that leads up to Rosh Hashanah, but these Earth Etudes are insightful windows into the meaning of life and the interconnection between our lives, our Earth and our spiritual existence at any time.
~ Etude Elul 1 by Andy Oram: Save the Earth to Save Our children. Read more...
~ Etude Elul 2 by Rabbi Robin Damsky: Oh Deer What Can the Matter Be? Read more…
~ Etude ...
Earth Etude for Elul 29: Hope Sprouting
by Rabbi Judith Kummer
~ When the world is whirling
and despair for the future begins to crowd in
I turn to growing things,
seeking hope.
The sweet potato plant cutting I made last week,
Bereft of leaves but stuck into a vase to root anyway--
Just in case--
has now sprouted tiny purple and spring-green leaves,
against all odds.
How did it know to grow, know it could grow? What
generative force propelled it forward
into a future I sometimes cannot imagine?
In the garden
Swaths of bright ...
Earth Etude for Elul 28: Our Repentance, Prayer, and Deeds of Righteous Action Will Stop Climate Change
by Dr. Mirele B. Goldsmith
~ This year, as the sun sets on Yom Kippur, our prayers will reach a pinnacle of intensity as we recite the UnetanehTokef prayer: “On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. How many shall leave this world, and how many shall be born; who shall live and who shall die, who in the fullness of years and who before; who shall perish by fire and who by water, who by sword and who by a wild beast; who by famine and who by thirst… But repentance, prayer, and deeds of righteous action, can remove the severity of the ...
May it bee a sweet new year
"May you bee inscribed and sealed in the book of life for a good and sweet new year. May all your offspring survive to see adulthood and may you successfully pollinate our crops so that we will have sufficient to eat."
It's not that I'm actually suggesting this prayer is added to our Rosh HaShanah prayer books - heaven know the services last long enough already - but the words did spring to mind now that we are surrounded by pictures of fluffy cute bumblebees in the run up to the Jewish New Year. These yellow and black critters have become as much symbols of the ...
Earth Etude for Elul 27: Teshuvah in the Garden
by Maxine Lyons
~ My perennial love relationship with the earth is expressed most explicitly in tending my flower gardens. For me it is spiritual work, a way to respect the earth while feeling more mindful of how growth and change is an ongoing process and mirrors the major themes of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The spiritual work of Teshuvah on the Yamim Norayim for me often centers on facing challenges, reviewing the aspects of my life that need changing and seeking new ways that I can re-commit myself to positive actions to bring about those changes. The ...
Earth Etude for Elul 26: You Were Wrong
by Ben Weilerstein
~ I
You were wrong about environmentalism, man, no that’s not what I think no, I’m not really an environmentalist because if I say I am you’ll say in your head I’m saying things you don’t think need to be said, out loud, at all so, no, I’m not an environmentalist and I don’t feel a rush of flight, of my heels lifting up off the ground when I recycle a plastic bottle not like I do when I recite over and over again until it doesn’t leave my head for years, “stop! the! pipeline!”
or something like that, y’know my voice ...