Tag: Camp Counselors

Sukkot and Shmita Resources and Events

SUKKOT AND SHMITA RESOURCES AND EVENTS for 2014-15 contributed by all the organizations and initiatives on “the Map” http://jewcology.org/map-of-initiatives/ Here’s a quick bit of Sukkot Torah to start us off: “The four species of the lulav represent the four types of ecosystems in the land of Israel: desert (date palm), hills (myrtle), river corridors (willow), and sh’feilah, the lowlands (etrog). Each species has to be fresh, with the very tips intact – they can’t be dried out, because they hold the water of last year’s rain. Together, they make a kind of map of last year’s rainfall, and together, we use them to pray for next year’s rains.” I hope everyone enjoys the wonderful array of activities and ideas we are generating. We are a strong and beautiful network. Please add more to this list if you like: write to and I’ll update this page. I will also be updating the format and fixing the fonts — I don’t have time Erev Yom Kippur to do more than simply share this content. Thank you to everyone who shared, and g’mar chatimah tovah! Rabbi David Seidenberg, neohasid.org   Resources from Judith Belasco, Hazon http://hazon.org/educational-resources/holidays/sukkot/ Hazon also has an incredible array of resources on Shmita linked at: http://hazon.org/shmita-project/educational-resources/resource-library/ from the Religious Action Center “Eco-Friendly Sukkot”  http://resources.rj.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1369 “Table Texts about Food Justice” http://rac.org/pdf/index.cfm?id=23602 from Max Arad and Rabbi Carol Levithan, The Rabbinical Assembly “The Sukkah as Shelter: A Source Sheet” http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/jewish-law/holidays/sukkot/sukkah-as-shelter.pdf See also: http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/jewish-law/holidays/sukkot  from Jeffrey Cohan, Jewish Vegetarians of North America “Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and Vegetarianism” http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/hlydysu.html from Rabbi Katy Z. Allen, Ma’yan Tikvah Ushpizin for an Ecological Sukkot by Laurie Levy https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzF1ISt_50TyVG9lWE0zOXJpd1k/edit from Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Shalom Center 14 articles on Sukkot at: https://theshalomcenter.org/treasury/114 including “Reb Zalman’s Prayers for the Earth on Hoshana Rabbah” and “Spread over all of us a Sukkah of shalom, salaam, paz, peace!”   from Rabbi David Seidenberg, neohasid.org “How-to Build a Sukkah For Under $40” http://www.neohasid.org/sukkot/a_simple_sukkah/ more links at: http://neohasid.org/zman/sukkot/ including “Eco-Torah for Sukkot”, “Hoshanot, the Original Jewish Earth Prayers”, and “Egalitarian Ushpizin with a Prayer for the Earth”  from Canfei Nesharim via Rabbi Yonatan Neril resources can be found at http://canfeinesharim.org/sukkot/ and on Jewcology http://jewcology.org/resources/sukkot-shemini-atzeret-resource-and-program-bank/  also from Rabbi Yonatan Neril, for Jewish Ecoseminars http://www.jewishecoseminars.com/let-the-land-rest-lessons-from-shemita-the-sabbatical-year/  from Nati Passow, Jewish Farm School Two resource sheets for Shmita to be posted on Jewcology — look for them on Monday before Sukkot  from Anna Hanau, Grow and Behold Foods Recipes (meat): http://growandbeholdblog.wordpress.com/tag/sukkot/   Events We have three big regional festival events going on, Sukkahfest, Sukkot on the Farm, and Sukkahpalooza, and lots more local events:  from Judith Belasco, Hazon/Isabella Freedman Oct 8-Oct 12, Sukkahfest at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center http://hazon.org/calendar/sukkahfest-2014/  from Pearlstone Oct 8-Oct 12, Sukkahpalooza http://pearlstonecenter.org/signature-programs/sukkot/  from Sarai Shapiro, Wilderness Torah Oct 9-Oct 12, Sukkot on the Farm, Green Oak Creeks Farm, Pescadero CA http://www.wildernesstorah.org/programs/festivals/sukkot/   local events and projects: from Hazzan Paul A. Buch, Temple Beth Israel, Pomona CA Our synagogue will break ground during Sukkot on a 1/2 acre urban farm on our property, in cooperation with a local NGO. The farm will be fully managed by the NGO at no cost to us, and all workers are paid a living wage. The produce grown will be available for purchase to our congregation and sold at farmers markets in the area. A portion will be dedicated to those who are food insecure. Question for everyone: Do you know of any other synagogues who have dedicated their land in a similar way?  Please note this is not an urban garden, but a functioning not-for-profit commercial project. from Becky O’Brien, Boulder Hazon Oct 6, at 5:30 pm, family sukkot program, in partnership with the south Denver JCC Oct 12, at 4:00 and 7:00 pm, screenings of “Road to Eden”, co-sponsored with the Boulder JCC Oct 16, Sukkot Mishpacha, a program for young families at a local organic farm Rabbi Julian Sinclair stopped in Denver/Boulder on his recent book tour promoting Shabbat Ha’aretz; we hosted five programs with him earlier this month. We are leading a shmita hike for local staff of Jewish organizations to help them decompress from the hectic time of the high holidays. We expect that many shmita-related programs will arise throughout the year but we don’t yet know what they will be. from Helen Bennet, Moishe Kavod House Fri Oct 10, Shabbat in the sukkah Tues Oct 14, Sukkot Festival dinner, co-hosted with Ganei Beantown (Leora Mallach). Moishe Kavod is planning to run a series of learning and DIY sessions on shmita starting in November, with focuses on economic justice, food and ag system, and chesed/caring community principles.  from Gail Wechsler, St. Louis Jewish Environmental Initiative (JEI) Sun Oct 12, 4-6 PM, screening of the film “Fire Lines”, about joint Israeli and Palestinian fire fighting efforts during the Carmel fire of December 2010. The film includes environmental themes as part of the reason for the fire was overforestation of the affected area. The director, Avi Goldstein, will speak after the film.  In partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council, Webster University and the JCC. followed by: Sun Oct 12, 6-7:30 PM, organic potluck Sukkot dinner. In partnership with the JCC and its Garden of Eden, a community garden that grows organic fruits and vegetables to benefit the clients of the nearby Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. Both events at the Jewish Community Center Staenberg Arts & Education Building. from Michael Rosenzweig, Boulder JCC We have a great event each year called Sukkot Mishpacha, where we partner with a local farm so the children and families can learn about environmental issues, do fun arts and crafts projects, and pick their own gourds. http://www.boulderjcc.org/events/2249/2014/10/14/boulder-jcc-events-calendar/sukkot-mishpacha/ Note: I have not included narrative detail in general here, but I found Rhonda Ginsberg’s description so delightful to imagine and I just didn’t think I could condense it. So here is what she wrote to me, with some minor editing: from Rhonda Ginsberg, teacher, Carmel Academy, Greenwich CT For Sukkot we do a 4 year rotation focusing on different aspects of the holiday.  The first year of the cycle we invite

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Why Jewcology Matters

It feels good to be back blogging on Jewcology after a 6 month hiatus.  During this period, my wife gave birth to a baby boy and we moved from NYC to Maryland.  Although it has been a very hectic time, as those with children or nieces/nephews know, the birth of a child changes one’s perspective on the world.   I have been involved with Jewcology since its inception and think it serves a very important purpose.  I am thrilled that a new group of individuals has become involved, breathing a new sense of energy into the movement, including the launching of the redesigned website.  When asked to continue on as a blogger for Jewcology, I did not hesitate to say yes because I think Jewcology presents a vital forum for Jewish environmentalists to interact with each other and share ideas.  Jewcology was initially born out of the realization that there was an extraordinary amount of activity taking place worldwide in connection with Jewish environmentalists, but often very little sharing of ideas or coordination.  Please note that I use the word environmentalist in the broadest sense, which is one of the major points I want to convey about Jewcology.  I hope that people come onto Jewcology, not only to share ideas about Jewish teachings, advocacy, or programming, all of which should be shared and are a huge part of what makes Jewcology amazing.  But I also hope people will share and discuss experiences and interactions they have with nature, such as a hike, or even just pictures of nature that have meaning to the person sharing.  Jewcology should be a place for sharing ideas, but also a place to inspire each other, which sometimes only requires a photo.  Here are a bunch that I came across and happen to love: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/12/50_best_photos_of_the_natural.html I started with Jewcology while working with an organization called Faiths United for Sustainable Energy, which unfortunately had to close its doors a few years back.  Though that organization I was able to meet a wide range of people affiliated with various religious organizations who cared deeply for the environment.  Through FUSE, individuals from different religious backgrounds were able to come together and collaborate in an effort to be good stewards of the planet.  I think the same applies to Judaism as, which is a very large tent containing a wide range of viewpoints.  If we as Jews can come together in order to share and exchange ideas, thoughts, and experiences in connection with  environmental  advocacy, activities, events, and Jewish teaching, we can create an even stronger Jewish environmental movement, in hopes of passing down a more sustainable world to the next generation, like my new son. Please feel free to comment on this post or send me emails directly and I am always happy to discuss.  After all, that is the entire purpose of Jewcology. I wish everyone a happy and sweet New Year.

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Can we see all Earth as our Holy Temple of today?

There are two crises in the world today that call especially for Jewish responses: One because it involves the future of a state that calls itself “Jewish,” and of its supporters in America — their spiritual, intellectual, ethical, and physical futures – at a moment when the relationship between Jews and our Abrahamic cousins of Palestine is filled with violence that threatens to kill more people, breed more hatred, and poison the bloodstream of Judaism and Jewish culture; The other because it calls on Judaism as –- probably uniquely — a world religion that still can draw on having once been an indigenous people of shepherds and farmers with a Torah, offerings, festivals, and many other practices centered on the sacred relationship with the Earth. Can these roots regrow new flowering at a moment when all the wisdom of all human cultures is needed to cope with a planetary crisis that originates in human mistreatment of the Earth? We are living in the midst of the planetary climate crisis, the scorching of our Mother Earth, the choking of what was the balanced Breath of Life, our atmosphere, Whose sacred Name is YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh. If we pronounce those letters, that “Name,” without vowels, we can hear the “still small Voice” Elijah heard, the sound not of silence but of breathing; the sound that susses between trees and human beings as we breathe in what the trees breathe out and the trees breathe in what we breathe out; the balance of CO2 and Oxygen that through our atmosphere breathes life throughout our planet. We call the radical disturbance in that balanced breathing the “climate crisis”; it is a crisis in the Name of God. Our ability to pay attention to the climate crisis seems always to be drowned out by the blood of war or the tears of the poor; but the scorching of our planet is already causing far more deaths and is threatening the lives and foods and homes of millions more. How can we draw on the ancient wisdom of Biblical Israel as an indigenous people in sacred relationship with the Earth? How can we use this storehouse of wisdom toward helping heal all Humanity and Mother Earth today, from a crucial planetary crisis threatening the very life and health of all of us? There are three weeks from 17 Tammuz (when the Babylonian Army broke through the walls of Jerusalem) to Tisha B’Av (when they destroyed the Temple). (In the Western calendar in 2014, these three weeks run from July 15 to August 4-5.) Traditionally, these three weeks were about danger to the Temple and then its destruction. It was through the Temple that ancient Israel made contact with God. The contact came not by words of prayer or words of Torah study, but by offering on the Altar a portion of the foods that YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh, the Interbreathing Spirit of all life, had brought forth from adamah, the Earth. So adam, the human community, praisedYHWH and celebrated the sharing of life through the food that came from adamah. According to the records of the Prophet Jeremiah (chapter 34), as the Babylonian Army approached the city, he had called on the Israelites to free all their slaves and make real the Jubilee. In that Homebringing, the Earth was released from human exploitation and the poor were released from exploitation by the rich — for each family received an equal share of land. The rich would release themselves from greedy domination, the poor would release themselves from fear and rage. So the people heeded Jeremiah and freed their slaves. The Babylonians pulled back. Perhaps they were impressed by this demonstration of the people's unity and commitment. But — seeing the besieging army withdraw, the slaveholders changed their minds and took back their slaves. Then Jeremiah prophesied their doom: "Says YHWH, Breath of Life: 'You would not hear My Voice and proclaim a release, each to his kinsman and countryman. Here! I proclaim your release — declares YHWH — to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine." Paraphrasing: If you will not let the Land rest, you will be exiled and it will rest in your absence. If you will not free your slaves, you will all become slaves. If you will not hear and listen to the still small Voice of the Breathing that connects all life, your own breath will be taken from you. And he was right. The Imperial Army realized that the people were no longer united, but divided by the greed of the rich and the rage of the poor. The Army returned, conquered the city, and destroyed the Temple. Much later, the Rabbis named the ancient sin as idolatry. And indeed, as the slave-holders made idols of their own domineering power, they rejected the Interbreathing Spirit. They themselves had already destroyed their real connection with God, and the Destruction was simply an affirmation of their rejection. The three weeks between 17th of Tammuz and the 9th day of the Jewish “moonth” of Av were weeks of uncertainty — of choice. Choice for the Israelites and for the Babylonians. Which side were they on — their own power to lord it over other people and Mother Earth herself, or the Breath of Life that intertwines us all? Shall we choose the God Who calls for freedom, for release, for a turning-away from our own arrogance? When the walls between us have fallen, can both sides reach out to release themselves and each other from being enemies? Or shall we resort to subjugating others, and pay the price of being ourselves subjugated?
 In 586 BCE, both peoples failed. And for the Jews, the day of the final Destruction became a day of deep mourning, a 25-hour Fast from food and water, luxurious clothes and perfumes, even sex. Jewish tradition also saw this day of despair, Tisha B'Av, as the day when the Messiah was born — and hidden away for a time of transformation. From hitting rock

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Dead Young Men: Mississippi, Israel, Palestine

I spent several days last week in Mississippi, — Mourning the murders of three young men 50 years ago; Celebrating a Mississippi that today is very different; Facing the truth that Earth and human communities –– especially, still, those of color and of poverty –- are being deeply wounded by the Carbon Pharaohs’ exploitation and oppression; Talking/ working toward a future of joyful community in which Mother Earth and her human children can live in peace with each other in the embrace of One Breath. And then, a few days later, came the news of the murders of three young men just weeks ago –- three Israeli youngsters, their bodies, like those of Mickey Schwerner, Andy Goodman, and James Earl Chaney, hidden while the search went forward for them. But not only them. The violent deaths of young Palestinian boys/men as well, during the Israeli Army crack-down on the West Bank. Their mothers also mourning. As the New York Times reported the day before the three Israeli bodies were discovered: “Most Israelis see the missing teenagers as innocent civilians captured on their way home from school, and the Palestinians who were killed as having provoked soldiers. Palestinians, though, see the very act of attending yeshiva in a West Bank settlement as provocation, and complain that the crackdown is collective punishment against a people under illegal occupation.” Is there a danger of “moral relativism” in mentioning these deaths together? Is the cold-blooded murder of three hitchhiking youngsters morally equivalent to killings carried out by angry, frightened soldiers faced with a protesting mob? At the individual level, No. But at the level of public policy, there is also no moral equivalence between a cold-blooded military occupation and the impotent rage of the occupied. Above all, there is no “relativism” in the tears of mothers. Some Israelis and some Palestinians have joined their sorrow over the killings of their own children to work in the Circle of Bereaved Families for a peace that would end the killing. (See <http://www.theparentscircle.com/>.) Others –-including some Israeli cabinet ministers in the last day — have defined their deaths as the warrant for more killing. But Mississippi did not change through threats like that. It changed because an aroused American citizenry from outside Mississippi allied itself with the oppressed community inside Mississippi to demand – through nonviolent direct action and through passing laws — that an oppressed population of black folk be freed to achieve some measure of political power. As a result of that arousal, the deaths 50 years ago have made a visible difference. Fifty years ago, a scant few black Mississippians had been allowed to register to vote. As the “Freedom Summer + 50” gathering opened last week, thousands of black Mississippians who are devoted to the Democratic Party intervened in a Republican primary to prevent the nomination and for-sure election of a far-right Tea Party candidate. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, no sufficiently powerful outside energy has made the commitment to bring all its lawful, nonviolent power to bear to achieve a two-state peace. So the violence worsens in a downward spiral of injustice. What the gathering in Mississippi showed was that even when change is still necessary, even when injustice still continues, there can be an upward spiral, growing from past transformations into future ones. For the gathering at Tougaloo College addressed the future as much as the past. The memory of youthful deaths so many years ago –- we recited their names, we sang their songs, we welcomed their families — became the celebration of youthful courage that had led to serious change. So not only many veterans of 1964 were there, but also many many young activists, come to learn and be inspired. So we addressed the injustices that persist, and we took up some levels of injustice that fifty years ago were not on anyone’s agenda. Even Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962, did not envision a massive disruption of the planetary climate system and the web of life it has nurtured for millions of years. So there was a confluence of issues almost unimaginable in 1964 when Jacqueline Patterson of the NAACP staff brought together two excellent workshops on ”climate justice.” They were the first climate–action settings I have ever seen in which people of color — Black and Hispanic and Asian and Native — were at least half of those present. Many spoke of two clear cases in their own region when the fossil-fuel Pharaohs had shattered the lives of poor communities of color even worse than they had damaged prosperous whites: How Hurricane Katrina (which was greatly worsened by the oil rigs that chopped up marshy wetlands that used to absorb much of the energy of hurricanes when they hit land) had most damaged the poor folk who were living closer to the river (because houses were cheaper there). And how poor folk also were the slowest and still the least served by relief and reconstruction efforts after the BP Oil blow-out in the Gulf. And we learned as well how on a global level the overheating of our planet was hurting and killing the poor even worse than others: How droughts in California, the US corn-belt, central Africa, and Russia had raised the price of staple foods so badly that those who were teetering on the edge in poverty fell into hunger, and those who had been hungry faced starvation. And some who were starving fought civil wars to get their hands on food. We discussed alternatives for climate activism. Some of us talked about the model of the “Freedom Schools” that emerged in 1964, teaching where the impulses to learn and teach were deeply interwoven with the impulse to heal the world. Those Freedom Schools helped give birth to the Teach-Ins against the Vietnam War that flowered in the spring of ’65. Could we create new Freedom Schools, new Teach-Ins, to fuse the science of climate and the facts of Corporate Carbon domination with

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The Seder’s Innermost Secret — Charoset: Earth & Eros in the Passover Celebration

There it sits on the Seder plate: charoset, a delicious paste of chopped nuts, chopped fruits, spices, and wine. So the question would seem obvious: "Why is there charoset on the Seder plate?" That's the most secret Question at the Seder – so secret nobody even asks it. And it’s got the most secret answer: none. The Haggadah explains about matzah, the bread so dry it blocks your insides for a week. The Haggadah explains about the horse-radish so bitter it blows the lid off your lungs and makes breathing so painful you wish you could just stop. The Haggadah even explains about that scrawny chicken neck, or maybe the roasted beet, masquerading as a whole roast lamb. But it never explains charoset. Yes, there's an oral tradition. (Fitting for something that tastes so delicious!) You've probably heard somebody at a Passover Seder claim that charoset is the mortar the ancient Israelite slaves had to paste between the bricks and stones of those giant warehouses they were building for Pharaoh. But that's a cover story. Really dumb. You think that mortar was so sweet, so spicy, so delicious that every ancient Israelite just had to slaver some mortar on his tongue? You think it wasn't leeks and onions they wailed for after they crossed the Sea of Blood, but the mortar they were pasting on their masters' mansions? You think they were whining, "Give me mortar or give me death?" Forbid it, Almighty God! OK, maybe it’s a midrash? Those bitter-hearted rabbis, always fresh from some pogrom or exile, claiming that to the Israelites, slavery was sweet? So sweet that it reminds us that slavery may taste sweet, and this is itself a deeper kind of slavery? No. The oral tradition transmitted by charoset is not by word of mouth but taste of mouth. A kiss of mouth. A full-bodied, full-tongued, "kisses sweeter than wine" taste of mouth. Charoset is an embodiment of by far the earthiest, sexiest, kissyest, bodyest book of the Hebrew Bible —- the Song of Songs. Charoset is literally a full-bodied taste of the Song. The Song is the recipe for charoset. You think they were going to tell you that when you were six years old, just learning how to stumble through "Mah nishtanah," the Four Questions? Or maybe when you were fourteen, just beginning to eye that good-looking cousin sitting right across the table? Or maybe when you were 34 and they were all nagging you to settle down already, get married –– that's when you thought they might finally tell the truth about charoset? Face it: They were never going to tell you. Maybe, without ever asking or answering about charoset, they might mention something that seemed entirely different: that the olden rabbis thought the Song of Songs should be recited during the festival of Passover, but quickly they'd explain that what seems so erotic in the Song was really about God's loving effort to free the Israelites from Pharaoh. And – especially important in our generation: The Song is by far the likeliest candidate of all Biblical books to have been written, or collated, or edited, by a woman. A woman’s experience is central to it. AND – it is filled with love not only between human beings but between human beings and the Earth. The luscious tastes of fruit, nuts, spices, wine – are the delicious savors and flavors of the Earth. Time to tell the passionate truth: The Song of Songs is the recipe for charoset, and charoset is the delicious embodiment of the Song. Verses from the Song: "Feed me with apples and with raisin-cakes; "Your kisses are sweeter than wine; "The scent of your breath is like apricots; "Your cheeks are a bed of spices; "The fig tree has ripened; "Then I went down to the walnut grove." There are several kinds of freedom that we celebrate on Pesach: The freedom of people who rise up against Pharaoh, the tyrant. The freedom of Earth, the flowers that rise up against winter. The freedom of birth, of the lambs who trip and stagger in their skipping-over, passing-over dance called “pesach.” The freedom of sex, that rises up against the prunish and the prudish. The text of the Song subtly, almost secretly, bears the recipe for charoset, and we might well see the absence of any specific written explanation of charoset as itself a subtle, secret pointer toward the "other" liberation of Pesach –- the erotic, Earth-loving freedom celebrated in the Song of Songs, which we are taught to read on Passover. The Song of Songs is sacred not only to Jews, but also to Christians and to Muslims, and especially to the mystics in all three traditions. Its earth-and-human-loving erotic energy has swept away poets and rabbis, lovers and priests, dervishes and gardeners. Yet this sacred power — "Love is strong as death," sings the Song — has frightened many generations into limiting its power. Redefining its flow as a highly structured allegory, or hiding it from the young, or forbidding it from being sung in public places. Even so, long tradition holds that on the Shabbat in the middle of Passover, Jews chant the Song of Songs. Why is this time of year set aside for this extraordinary love poem? At one level, because it celebrates the springtime rebirth of life. And the parallel goes far deeper. For the Song celebrates a new way of living in the world. The way of love between the earth and her human earthlings, beyond the future of conflict between them that accompanies the end of Eden. The way of love between women and men, with women celebrated as leaders and initiators, beyond the future of subjugation that accompanies the end of Eden. The way of bodies and sexuality celebrated, beyond the future of shame and guilt that accompanies the end of Eden. The way of God so fully present in the whole of life that God needs no specific naming

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A Tu B’Shvat Seder to Heal the Wounded Earth

The New Year – for Rebirthing Trees: [This version of the Haggadah for Tu B’Shvat has been greatly adapted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of The Shalom Center from a Haggadah shaped by Ellen Bernstein, as published in Trees, Earth, and Torah: A Tu B’Shvat Anthology (Jewish Publ. Soc., 1999, ed. by Elon, Hyman, & Waskow). Bernstein wrote introductory remarks to sections of that Haggadah, many of which have been included or adapted for this one. They are indicated in the text by the initials “EB.” * The desire for such a Haggadah grew from discussions of the Green Hevra, a network of Jewish environmental organizations. Thanks to Judith Belasco, Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, Sybil Sanchez, Rabbi David Seidenberg, Richard Schwartz, Rabbi David Shneyer, and Yoni Stadlin for comments on an earlier draft of this Haggadah. With especially deep thanks to Ellen Bernstein and the Green Hevra, I note that neither bears responsibility for this version. — AW] This Tu B’Shvat haggadah focuses on healing the wounded Earth today, with passages on major policy questions facing the human race in the midst of a great climate crisis and massive extinctions of species. In each of the Four Worlds in this Haggadah (Earth, Water, Air, Fire) there are traditional, mystical, and poetical passages, and in each there are also contemporary passages on aspects of public policy (Earth: food and forest; Water: fracking; Air: climate; Fire: alternative and renewable energy sources.) These policy-oriented passages help make this a unique Haggadah. After these passages, this Haggadah encourages Seder participants to take time for discussion. They may also decide to omit some passages and/or add others. Please feel free to use this Haggadah in your own celebration, and to share this letter with others who might be moved by its fusion of spiritual ceremony, poetic insight, and activist energy for profound social change. To support The Shalom Center in creating such work, please click: <https://theshalomcenter.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1 A TU B’SHVAT SEDER TO HEAL THE WOUNDED EARTH A Song to Welcome the Celebrants: We’ve got the whole world in our hands: We’ve got the rivers and the mountains in our hands; We’ve got the trees and the tigers in our hands; We’ve got the whole world in our hands. We’ve got the wind and the oceans in our hands, We’ve got our sisters and our brothers in our hands, We’ve got our children and their children in our hands, WE’VE GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN OUR HANDS! Introductory Invocations “Said Rabbi Simeon: ‘Mark this well. Fire, air, earth and water are the sources and roots of all things above and below, and all things above, below, are grounded in them.’” (Zohar, Exodus 23b) “Sh’sh’sh’sh’ma Yisrael, Yahhhh Elohenu, Yahhhh Echad: Hush’sh’sh’sh to Hear, you Godwrestlers: our God is The Interbreathing-Spirit of all Life; The Interbreath of Life is ONE. “If you hush’sh’sh’sh to listen, really listen, to the teachings of YHWH/ Yahhhh, the Interbreath of Life, especially the teaching that there is Unity in the world and inter-connection among all its parts, then the rains will fall as they should, the rivers will run, the heavens will smile, and the good earth will fruitfully feed you. BUT if you chop the world up into parts and choose one or a few to worship – like gods of wealth and power, greed, the addiction to Do and Make and Produce without pausing to Be and make Shabbat — then the rain won’t fall – or it will turn to acid; the rivers won’t run – or they will flood your cities because you have left no earth where the rain can soak in; and the heavens themselves will become your enemy: the ozone layer will cease shielding you, the Carbon Dioxide you pour into the air will scorch your planet. And then you will perish from the good earth that the Breath of Life gives you.” (A midrashic translation by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Sh’ma and its traditional second paragraph, which originally appeared in Deuteronomy 11: 13-17,) “Know that every shepherd has a unique niggun [melody] for each of the grasses and for each place where they herd. For each and every grass has its own song and from these songs of the grasses, the shepherds compose their songs.” “…Would that I merited hearing the sound of the songs and praises of the grasses, how every blade of grass sings to the Holy One of Blessing, wholeheartedly with no reservations and without anticipation of reward. How wonderful it is when one hears their song and how very good to be amongst them serving our Creator in awe.” (Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav) “A person who enjoys the pleasures of this world without blessing is called a thief because the blessing is what causes the continuation of the divine flow of the world.” (Peri Eitz Hadar, the original plan for the Tu B’Shvat Seder, publ. 1728). The Four Worlds [If there is a leader, s/he may lead the group in the meditations at the beginning of each world, and the kavannot before the blessings. The group as a whole sings. Distribute the readings in each world ‑­embellish here, too…. from your own sources‑‑ before the beginning of the seder so that as many people have parts as possible. Other activities, such as dancing, storytelling, etc, should be inserted into the appropriate world. – EB] I. ASIYAH (Actuality, Physicality): The World of Earth MEDITATION: Earth is the rhythm of our feet on the Mountain. In this world, we bless the physical: our bodies, our land, our homes. It is our connection to the Earth which inspires Action. [EB] SONGS: “Tzadik KaTamar,” ”You Shall Indeed Go Out with Joy,” “Inch by Inch (The Garden Grows)” READINGS: FOOD “And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken, yes hearken to my commandments which I command you this day, to love YHWH your God and to serve the One with all your heart and soul, then I will give the rain of your land

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Official Launch of Jews Against Hydrofracking: Learn how you can help combat this Environmental & Public Health crisis!

If one Jew sins, all of Israel feels it….This can be compared to the case of men on a ship, one of whom took a drill and began drilling beneath his own place. His fellow travelers to said to him:what are you doing?’ He replied: ‘What does that matter to you, I am drilling only under my own place?’ They continued: ‘We care because the water will come up and flood the ship for us all. Midrash: Vayikra (Leviticus) Rabbah- 4:6 First off, open http://www.facebook.com/jewsagainsthydrofracking in a new window and like us. Now read on: This teaching of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai seems especially fitting for the launch of our action group, Jews Against Hydrofracking. In July, the Forward reported that four Jewish summer camps had leased their land to gas companies, who had offered large sums for the right to drill wells to extract methane gas using the controversial new technique known as high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The land beneath our feet is quite literally being drilled into swiss cheese, while our water, the blood of creation, is being poisoned with carcinogenic and toxic chemicals. Extreme profits are available for multinational gas companies who seduce our elected officials, eager to revive the economy with promises of new jobs, and willing to let these companies foot their campaign bills. So the wells are drilled: more than 1,000 new wells in PA last year. Companies in Texas are making a mint, paying no taxes. And what do we get out of all this: stillborn calves, radioactive salts in our drinking water, and water that can be lit on fire. Even if this were purely an environmental issue, we would be forsaking our duty as Jews to be stewards of the earth, to 'tend and protect' her. Even if this were purely a matter of resource exploitation, of modern day pharoahs using people and land for the sake of accumulation, we would not be living up to our legacy as champions of freedom who serve only the highest good. But this is in fact a public health crisis, and utmost among Jewish responsibilities, above all other mitvot and obligations, is to preserve life. New studies draw strong links between breast cancer and proximity to gas wells in Texas, and a reports of neurological problems in humans and animals are now a common tale. And its coming to our backyard…unless we, as Jews, as humans stand up to it and assert that clean water is a human right and a holy duty. That human life is sacred and worth fighting for. That the earth and water, and air are more than inert matter to be bought and sold, but the holy clothing of a living, breathing universe. These sacred elements do not know property lines, borders, divisions of denomination, race, politics. What we do to one, we do to all. What somone does over there affects us over here. The logic of markets, a few hundred years old, cannot and will not trump 6,000 years of the deepest ethical committments of our people. This is happening now. Here. On November 21, the Delaware River Basin Commission will vote to lift the moratorium on fracking and allow the construction of 10,000 new gas wells in the Delaware River Watershed, source of drinking water for New York and Philadelphia, more than 15,000,000 people total. People will get sick. Unless we act now. What can we do? What are our responsibilities? Join the conversation. Head to Trenton on November 21 with the Jews Against Hydrofracking Action Team. Submit public comment at various upcoming hearings. Call your elected officials and tell them exactly how you feel. but first, like our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/jewsagainsthydrofracking and tell us what you think!

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Wilderness Canoe Trip For Jewish Educators, Camp and Youth Group Leaders

* Backcountry Camping Skills * Jewish Eco-theology * Integrated of Jewish Wilderness Experience Sign up now, this is a trip not to be missed! When: June 23 – 27, 2011 Where: Adirondack National Park, NY How Much: $650.00 Co-leaders: • Rabbi Howard Cohen, founder and senior guide for Burning Bush Adventures* • Noam Dolgin, a leader in Jewish environmental education (www.noamdolgin.com) For more info: www.burningbushadventures.com Email: Call: 413-652-7086 *In business since 1989, Burning Bush Adventures is the established leader in combining backcountry guiding and Judaism.

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