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Blessings for all
Jews love blessings. We bless our food, our weather, and our new clothes-nearly everything. Why then do we not have a blessing for planting? Today at camp, we began planting our garden. Campers were able to dig their hands—too often used for texting and videogames— into rich soil. They planted tomatoes, brussel sprouts, sweet peppers, basil, cabbage, and kohlrabi, but before we put these life-sustaining plants into the ground, we took a step back to surround our actions with consciousness and purpose.
I had all the campers write their own blessings for ...
Planet Jewish: “Greening” your Shabbat
Shabbat is a day of rest and spiritual enrichment for the Jewish people. It is a wonderful time to reflect on the Jewish principle of ‘bal tashchit’ which forbids wastefulness. Here are a few ways to enrich Shabbat by being more mindful of our connection to the land and of the importance preserving and restoring the Earth rather than wasting resources.
Make the Shabbat Table More Sustainable. For Shabbat candles, consider using natural candles such as those made of beeswax. Beeswax candles are clean-burning, non-allergenic and are a renewable resour...
Jewish Early Childhood Garden Conference- join us!
Planting Seeds: Jewish Early Childhood Garden Education Conference at Kayam Farm
When:
Sunday July 24, 2011 at 3:00pm
-to-
Tuesday July 26, 2011 at 3:00pm
Add to my calendar
Where:
Kayam Farm at Pearlstone Retreat Center
5425 Mt. Gilead Rd
Reisterstown, MD 21136
Driving Directions
Cost:
$300 per adult double occupancy
$400 per adult single occupancy
$50 per child 3-12
$18 per child under 3
You're invited to a wonderful event, and the first of its kind! A conference on Jewish Early Childhood Garden Education, ...
What is Sustainability?
In 1983 the Bruntland Commission formally defined sustainable development as, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Many hard-core environmentalists and deep ecologists reject this definition because it presupposes development as the foundation for sustainability. However, many free-market capitalists think this definition goes too far and encourages unnecessary government oversight of global markets. Given the opposing viewpoints sustainable development can ...
Interfaith Climate Change Forum in Jerusalem on July 25th
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development Cordially Invites You
To an Interfaith Climate Change Forum on the topic
How Can Religions Address the Climate Crisis?
with the Honorable Panelists:
His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Haj Salah Zuheika, Deputy Minister of the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Religious Affairs
Rabbi David Rosen, AJC International Director of Interreligious Affairs
All of Whom are Members of The Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
The American Colony ...
Rooted Judaism
When: Sunday, July 10 at noon
Where: Spertus, 610 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago
Come join farmer and environmentalist Elan Margulies as he leads an interactive session that explores Judaism's connection to the earth through religious texts as well as theater and hevrutah (group study). Plus, each participant will plant their own microgreens to bring home and harvest!
In addition to his accomplishments as an educator, Elan Margulies developed the science of nature curriculum for Eden Village Camp, America's first Jewish Environmental camp. He is now ...
All we need is love
The kids are here. 183 screaming, excited and overly energetic 2nd-8th graders, and they are ready to change the world. Rather, we want them to be ready, but, is it reasonable for adults to expect these campers to make significant social change from our camp bubble in upstate New York? Is it fair of us to ask them to attempt this mission that my generation and the generations before have failed at? I am not sure, but I do know that we can and must expect a higher level of compassion and caring this summer.
Yesterday, while staking the pepper plants growing in our ...
Where Is Our Revolution? A Call for a North American Sustainable Spring!
Spring is in the air. The youth and working class of Egypt and Tunisia have overthrown their repressive regimes while Syria, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and other Arab nations are experiencing civil unrest. In Europe, a focus on economic austerity at the expense of the youth and working class has led to clashes in France and Greece. Indigenous peoples of Bolivia, Peru and other South American countries have been working to block mining, drilling and transportation across the Andes and Amazon basin.
In these parts of the world, citizens have begun to recognize their ...
New Superheroes In Kids Animated Series Are All About Saving The Environment
By Alona Volinsky
Photos by Amir and Liat Shahar
Could children be taught to think that being environmentalists is super cool? Israeli couple, Amir and Liat Shahar, a kindergarten teacher and a Yoga instructor, believe they have found the formula. The couple is working on a animated children’s series, Leafers, which tells the story of 4 super-powered siblings and their friend, who protect and save the world from environmental disasters.
In each episode the kids go to a different location in the world that requires an urgent interference in order to ...
What is Jewish Sustainability – Jewish Agency for Israel Assembly Session
Introduction & celebration
Hello, My name is Einat Kramer. I am the founding director of Teva Ivri - an organization promoting Jewish sustainability in Israel.
I am here with my friends & colleagues from the environmental movement in Israel that will facilitate the round tables sessions. Together, we are part of a far-reaching movement - the Jewish environmental movement.
This movement is spread all over the world and getting bigger every day.
This movement is made up of thousands of individuals from all streams of Judaism, ...
Goal-setting for campers
When setting goals, the more specific and achievable we make them, the more likely we can reach them! Below is a fun list of goals our campers can look through in considering their own goals for their summer at Eden Village Camp. This is just a brainstorm to get them started!
~
Farm
• Make challah from scratch
• Learn to use a solar cooker
• Make a cob oven
• Experience a farm not just as a place of food but of food, fiber, fun, fuel, farmacy, beauty and community
• Leave camp with the confidence that if I want, I can create and maintain my own garden on some ...
What we learn from our teens
JEI has a teen environmental group that has been making waves (figuratively). Although only in existence for two years, this group of young people has educated others in the Jewish community on important issues such as how to green your synagogue, the dangers of polystyrene and the benefits of using rain barrels and native plants. When the next generation speaks passionately about these issues, people listen and learn. Many thanks, JEI teens!
What’s the Story?
How do you motivate people? In the Jewish-environmental movement, it seems that we share fact after fact about the environmental challenges we face, and list after list of things that people can do to make a difference. We’ve also gotten good at telling people what Jewish values should motivate them, and bringing them outdoors to grow food or see the beauty of nature.
While we’ve made some headway as a movement, we certainly have not mastered environmental motivation in the Jewish community.
The key to understanding motivation is that it ...
Jewcology Celebrates our 200th Day!
Mazel tov! We're excited to be celebrating Jewcology's 200th day!
Jewcology now features:
484 resources for synagogues, schools, communities and Jewish institutions (shared in the Idea Box)
342 registered users
253 blog postings
34 communities
24 video "questions of the week" featuring our partner organizations
In honor of this happy anniversary, we have awarded the Jewcology Leaf to our most active participants. You can see the leaf in the corner of the profile pictures of our top participants. Look on the site to see who got the leaf, and particip...
Leadership Training at Hazon Food Conference, August 21
Are you educating the Jewish community about protecting the environment? Have you faced challenges with:
motivating people into action?
inspiring Jews who don’t have the same values as you?
or moving a community into activism and shared commitment?
Jewcology is partnering with educators from Harvard University on a new leadership training intended to address these specific issues, in order to empower Jews who are seeking to educate Jewish communities about the importance of protecting the environment.
Date: Sunday August 21
Time: 10:30am-6:30pm...
The world is sprouting at Camp Sprout Lake
It has been three days of hard work, blisters, and buckets of sweat, but it is almost time to sprout, literally. Next week, the campers of Young Judea Sprout Lake in upstate New York will arrive. For this eight-week summer, I have one goal in mind, to make clear the intimate connection our tradition has with the earth. As staff has slowly trickled in from across Israel, Canada and the United States, I am impressed by the continual excitement when they meet “the Garden Guy”. The desire to dig, plant and labor is ever present. I believe this spirit is ...
Jewcology Question of the Week #24
Carole Caplan, Past President of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, Illinois, asks Jewcology's question of the week: "What environmental book have you finished most recently?"
Wanted: Superheroes
In the middle of the night, I heard the sound of running water outside. It was 4:42 am and I was staying in a beach house on the South Jersey shore. At first, I thought it must be the sound of an air conditioner, or a toilet running, or a drainpipe filtering some rain.
But the sound went on. Running water - wasting water - drives me crazy (so much waste and so many without water all around the world), so I dressed quickly and crept outside into the pre-dawn light. There, behind the house, was the outdoor shower, absolutely gushing water, from both the upper ...
Mikveh recycling!
Check out this post: An article about mikveh recycling on Ynet. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4026366,00.html
Thanks to Aaron Day Nitkin for sharing this.
How counting to 50 can heal the planet
Last week we completed the Sefirat Ha-Omer, the counting of the 49 day period between Pesach and Shavuot, culminating with the celebration of Shavuot, which falls on the 50th day. In agricultural terms, this is a period of waiting in between the barley harvest and the wheat harvest in Israel. In religious terms, this period is a time for preparation and transformation that preceeds Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Sefirat Ha-Omer is very similar to the mitzva of Sefirat Ha-yovel, whereby we are enjoined to count 49 years and consecrate the 50th ...
