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Earth Etude for Elul 4: We Must Try to Finish the Work
by Harvey Michaels
There is a tradition that in the month preceding the Jewish New Year in September, we begin our contemplation about our failures, and returning to our true selves - our Teshuvah. We can consider climate change a failure that we all share; a problem created by us all. And since we haven’t yet healed the Earth’s climate, we have more frequent extreme weather, fires, drought, floods, glacier melts, sea level rise, habitat displacement, infestations, and diseases, and the devastation that these cause in some places. But we all feel enviro...
Earth Etude for Elul 3: How will seeds of light and kindness grow?
by Rabbi Michael Birnholz
It is an adventure to be a garden educator. For me, while I plant produce for food for my home table, I am also planting on my synagogue campus to use the garden to teach Jewish values and the Jewish values of taking care of the garden and appreciating nature. Like many gardeners, I do plan my beds and planting spaces. I have many copies of elaborate maps so the right plant gets into the right spot. However, like many garden educators, hoping to bring my students into the planting experience, the outcome of the planting seldom matches my ...
Earth Etude for Elul 2: How do we hear the silent sound of the Earth?
by Andy Oram
The Unetanah Tokef prayer we say at High Holidays contains the famous phrase "a tiny silent sound" (translated in many ways) from I Kings 19:12. The phrase always grabs our attention because of the unexpectedness of the image. Let's look back at the context of the original phrase in Kings to see how it might help us deal with the onslaught of climate disasters.
I Kings 19 describes the flight of Elijah after he has pulled off the biggest miracle since the fall of Jericho: an extravaganza that brings fire down from heaven to strike a blaze on an altar ...
Earth Etude for Elul 1: For Lea
by Lorin Troderman
Spirals of death in a season of drought
Av reaches in and grabs a friend,
again.
Mourners lament in whispers
“It’s way too early” I shout
We grieve
Each in our own way
But together
On Sunday we will gather by the sea
Temple destruction remembrance day
Our earth, a holy temple assaulted by our ignorance
One less sister to help us reverse the ...
Earth Etudes are Coming Soon
by Katy Z. Allen
Soon the shofar will be heard each weekday morning, attempting to awaken us to engage in heshbon hanefesh, soul accounting, deep reflection as a pathway to teshuvah, return to G!d, to our best selves, to all that we really can be.
What is the connection between teshuvah and climate change?What do woodchucks, or butterflies, or sprained ankles have to do with teshuvah?How does being connected to the more-than-human world enhance our ability to engage in meaningful teshuvah?
These are just a few of the questions ...
Restoring and Transforming the Ancient Jewish New Year for Animals: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
The conditions under which animals are raised for food today are completely contrary to Jewish teachings about compassion for animals:
While Judaism teaches that Jews are to be rachmanim b’nei rachmanim, compassionate children of compassionate ancestors, imitating God, Whose “compassion is over all His works” (Psalms 145:9), egg- laying hens are kept in cages so small that they can’t raise even one wing and they are debeaked without anesthetic to prevent them from harming other birds by pecking from frustration in their very unnatural conditions. Male ...
Tisha B’Av and Veganism
There are many connections between the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av and veganism:
1. Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Today the entire world is threatened by climate change, and modern intensive livestock agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
2. In Megilat Eichah (Lamentations), which is read on Tisha B'Av, the prophet Jeremiah warned the Jewish people of the need to change their unjust ways in order to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem. Today, climate ...
A Tisha B’Av Message: Will We Again Fail To Heed the Warnings?
Tisha B’Av, which we commemorate this year starting in the evening of August 6, reminds us that over 2,600 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah about the importance of changing their ways, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, one of many tragedies that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple as well.
Today there are no prophets like Jeremiah to issue warnings, but there areincreasingly dire warnings from climate scientists that now it is not just Jerusalem but ...
A Tisha B’Av Message: How Do the Warnings Today Differ From Those of Jeremiah?
Over 2,600 years ago, Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah about the importance of changing their ways, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, one of many tragedies that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple as well.
There are comparisons between the warnings and threats in Jeremiah’s lifetime and those today that can provide insights that can be valuable in responding to current threats.
1. There are no prophets today like Jeremiah warning of the potential dangers. ...
Israel’s natural gas infrastructure is impressive, but we must aim for a clean energy future!
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=398551318956738&set=a.325672609577943
On Sunday, June 12, I toured the Israel Natural Gas Lines Ltd. (Natgaz) power station outside of Ashkelon with the Committee on Citizen Affairs. Natgaz is a public company responsible for establishing and maintaining the national distribution system of natural gas - from the relatively new gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea to customers in Israel and abroad. As the Subcommittee learned at the plant, natural gas is improving the Israeli economy, strengthening Israeli energy independence, and nourishing regional peace through natural gas sales to nearby countries such ...
Book Review of “Food For Thought: Planetary Healing Begins on Our Plate”
Food For Thought: Planetary Healing Begins on Our Plate
Camilla Perusello, PhD
Lantern Publishing and Media
2022.
Food For Thought That Can Heal the Planet
At a time when animal-based diets are contributing very significantly to a potential climate catastrophe and other environmental threats, risks of future pandemics, the very wasteful use of increasingly scarce land, water, energy, and other resources, and the massive mistreatment of farmed animals, Dr. Camila Perussello’s wonderful book, Food for ...
Can We Avert a Climate Catastrophe?
by Richard Schwartz
The most critical issue facing the world today is the possibility of a climate catastrophe that threatens all life on our planet. This article discusses the seriousness of the threats; why they are likely to become far more severe in the future; and what needs to be done to provide a chance to avert the looming catastrophe.
First, it is important to recognize how strong the scientific consensus about climate change is. Science academies worldwide, 97% of climate scientists, and virtually all the peer-reviewed papers on the ...
How kosher plant-based diets help heal our imperiled planet and why it’s so important during Passover.
by Richard Schwartz
Take a look at the following 3 articles:
1. Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Diets That Hurt Us and the Planet
2. How Applying Passover Messages Can Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet
3. Passover and Vegetarianism or Veganism
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1. Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Diets That Hurt Us and the Planet
Jews commendably go to extraordinary lengths before and during Passover to avoid certain foods, in keeping with Torah mitzvot. But at the same time, many continue eating other foods that, by Torah standards, are hardly ...
Tell Congress: Fund Freedom From Fossil Fuels
In November, the US House of Representatives passed $550 billion for climate solutions. Now the Senate must vote.
Ten Ways to Create a More Vegan World
There is increasing evidence that animal-based diets are causing an epidemic of life-threatening diseases, contributing to climate change and other environmental threats to humanity, and having other negative effects. Despite the increasing need for a shift toward veganism to counteract these problems, progress has been relatively slow. It is time to consider new strategies to promote veganism more effectively. The ten ideas suggested below are designed to start dialogues that will lead to positive changes. It is my hope that this article will elicit additional suggesti...
Freeing Ourselves at Passover From Slavery To Diets That Are Harmful To Us and Our Planet
Some Jews commendably go to extraordinary lengths during Passover to avoid certain foods, in keeping with Torah mitzvot.
But at the same time, many continue eating other foods that, by Torah standards, are far from ideal.
On Passover, Jews are prohibited from eating, owning, or otherwise benefiting from chometz, foods such as breads, cakes, and cereals, that are made from one of the five grains (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats) that ferment from contact with liquid. These prohibitions are based on several Torah ...
An Open Letter To Rabbis
Shalom dear Rabbis,
Because of your collective wisdom, dedication to Jewish values, and valuable contacts, you are in a position to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. This would help leave a decent, habitable, environmentally sustainable world for future generations. To paraphrase Mordechai’s plea to Queen Esther when the Jews of Shushan were in danger of annihilation, perhaps you were put into your present position for just such a purpose.
As you well know, Judaism stresses pikuach nefesh, the ...
There is no ‘Planet B’ – My book review of “Vegan Voices” in the March 25 Jerusalem Post magazine
The French writer Victor Hugo famously wrote, “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, through very insightful essays by dedicated vegan activists, provides many reasons why the time has come for a societal shift to veganism.
These include:
* There has been an explosion in the number of plant-based substitutes for meat and other animal products, some with the appearance, texture, and taste so similar to the animal products that even long-time meat eaters can’t tell the difference.
* Many ...
Parshat Tzav: Meat Consumption in Temple Days and Today
And that which is left thereof [from the meal-offering] shall Aaron and his sons eat; it shall be eaten without leaven in a holy place; in the tent of meeting they shall eat it. . . . it is most holy as the sin-offering and the guilt-offering.
Leviticus 6:9.10
When the Jewish people were in the wilderness before they entered the land of Israel, the consumption of meat was associated with holiness. Every piece of meat consumed came from an animal sacrificed in the Mishkan (Sanctuary), an act meant to bring the worshiper closer to God. The word korban ...
A Vegan View of the Biblical Animal Sacrifices
“Now we come to the great embarrassment.” Those were the opening words of a sermon delivered years ago by an assistant rabbi at the Young Israel of Staten Island, referring to the biblical animal sacrifices discussed in Parshat Vayikra (Leviticus).
In his book, Jewish Law as Rebellion: A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Dean of the David Cardozo Academy, states: “Does Judaism really need animal sacrifices? Would it not be better off without them? After all, the sacrificial cult compromises Judaism. What ...