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A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology intended for use in intended to support Communities of Practice.
Blogs
Relating Tisha B’Av to Current Environmental Threats
- July 21, 2015
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Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the first of many negative things that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple. Today there are many “Jeremiahs” warning us that now it is not only a temple in Jerusalem, but the entire world, that is threatened by climate change and its effects, species extinction, soil erosion, destruction of tropical rain forests and other valuable ...
Tisha B’Av and Vegetarianism
- July 19, 2015
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There are many connections between vegetarianism and the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av: 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, ...
Jewish Climate Action Network Conference
- May 19, 2015
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen This past Sunday, over 100 members of the Jewish community, from New Bedford, MA to Brattleboro, VT, gathered at Hebrew College in Newton, MA, for the first Jewish Climate Action Network conference, "From Uncertainty to Action: What You Can Do About Climate Change." According to Rabbi Arthur Waskow, it was the first conference of its kind, "I would have heard about it," he told us, if there had been another. For four hours, we learned together, sang together, talked together, and connected to each other. And through all this, we were inspired, ...
Hazon Philadelphia’s Ride the Pines
- March 31, 2015
We are excited to announce Hazon Philadelphia’s Ride the Pines - Sunday, May 31st, at the JCC Camps in Medford, NJ. Ride the Pines is a fully-supported bike ride and community experience for people of all cycling levels and ages, bringing together organizations like ours from across the Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Jewish communities. Join friends for routes through pine forests, farmland, and local villages, culminating in a barbecue lunch of kosher, pasture-raised meat from Grow and Behold, followed by an interactive marketplace of local, ...
From Uncertainty to Action: What You Can Do About Climate Change
- March 27, 2015
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The Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN) is sponsoring its first conference, a time for community members from across New England concerned about climate change to come together. The conference will focus on a Jewish response to climate change, ideas for action, and how climate change is fundamentally a social justice issue. It will provide organized opportunities to connect with others interested in working together. Summery of the conference: Panel exploring what Judaism adds to our understanding and ability to respond to climate change Two rounds of workshops, ...
Eden Village is hiring farm educator apprentices for 2015 growing season!
- January 26, 2015
Eden Village Camp is Hiring! Submit Your Application 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 ...
“Farm the Land Grow the Spirit Summer 2015”
- January 5, 2015
- 1 comment
flgs_2015 This ia a free opportunity for young adults 19-29 to come together in an interfaith setting for Jews, Christians and Muslims to live, farm and study together from June 1st - July 23rd 2015 at the Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, NY, with time for mentoring and vocational discernment. It is a Multifaith, Peace, Justice and Earthcare program. We seek students who are grounded in their religious tradition, serious about spriiuality and the state of the planet, and open to learnig and living in an intentional community setting. This is our ...
Confessions of a Shemitah Skeptic
- October 7, 2014
- 1 comment
Two weeks ago, on Rosh Hashanah, we marked not only the beginning of another year in the Jewish calendar, but the beginning of Shemitah, the Jewish sabbatical year. Every seven years, Jewish farmers in Israel are commanded to let their lands lie fallow, not to plant, plow, prune trees or in any way improve the land, to harvest only what they can eat themselves (from perennial plants that do not need to be sown each year), and to leave the rest for whoever wants to pick them. In addition, at the end of the Shemitah year, we are commanded to release debts. Shemitah ...
Cranberry Shabbat with Mayan Tikvah
- October 5, 2014
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Cranberry Shabbat Saturday, October 25, Raindate, November 1 Wachusett Reservoir, Boylston Join us for our annual Cranberry Shabbat. We will intermix songs and prayers with wild cranberry picking, and share a picnic lunch at the end. Please bring something to share and your own drinks and utensils. (Warm soup sounds good for a picnic in October!) Also bring containers for the cranberries. Most of our pickings will be given to a homeless shelter for their Thanksgiving dinner. There may be muddy spots, so be prepared footwear-wise, and it could be windy and chilly ...
Sukkot and Shmita Resources and Events
- October 3, 2014
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 ...
Earth Etude for Elul 29- Shanah Tovah
- September 24, 2014
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photos by Gabi Mezger text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen May you find yourself in the new year constantly in motion... surrounded by love like a seal in water... reflecting light visible even in the light of those around you... moving slowly when necessary, yet always steadily... raging ferociously against the ills and injustices of the world... with unending energy, unceasing in your efforts like the constantly moving waves... zeroing in on what is most beautiful and most nourishing... &nb...
Earth Etude for Elul 28- Sweet and Sour Grapes
- September 22, 2014
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by Rabbi Robin Damsky I am in my favorite place at my favorite time: in the garden, in the morning, before the cars have started up, before the noise of lawnmowers and leaf blowers. The crickets are singing, the birds responding. The rising sun’s light filters through the leaves. A beginning. It has been a tough year in the garden. An endless winter caused a late start and temperatures have been cooler than usual. A call from critter to critter that I cannot hear lets them know there is bounty on my corner. Maybe it’s because the peach tree lost its ...
Earth Etude for Elul 27- Gratitude
- September 21, 2014
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by Judith Felsen My King, where do I quest for comfort and consolation in times of weariness and aching of my soul? Where do I seek wisdom when the burden of errors regrets and sadness accompany my hours? Where do I cherish and find refuge and sanctity when I am transparent and exposed to myself? My Lord, Your streams wash over aching, Your mountains call to look up to You, Your grasses and undergrowth cushion the heel and every step, Your flowers bring joyful response to all inquiry, Your trees are time worn standing presence ...
Earth Etude for Elul 26- We Will be the Change We Want to See
- September 20, 2014
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We will be the change we want to see I am squatting I am wringing laundry with my hands I am picking chunks of dirt from the soles of my feet I am learning to smell the open sewer when I breathe in and out I am walking I am jostling in a vikram, in a small car that must have the air conditioning switched to off in order to make it up the Himalayan Mountain where love calls I am exhausted I am exhilarated I am joyful I am fretting as we weave ourselves up the steep slope and you can ...
Earth Etude for Elul 24- Elul Love and Joy
- September 18, 2014
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by Maggid David Arfa I’d like to speak about Joy. I know that Elul is upon us; a time for relentless self-reflection, spurred on by the blasts of shofar. And yet, the rabbis in their complexity have added another dimension to Elul, Love. Remember the acronym for Elul? It’s from the Song of Songs, Ani l’dodi v’dodi li - I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. Reciprocal love is spiraling back and forth right here in Elul along with our lists of how we missed the mark. Isn’t this worthy of attention? What might it mean? ...
Earth Etude for Elul 23- Teshuva and Beauty
- September 17, 2014
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by Lois Rosenthal The weekly Haftorah readings follow the story of the Israelites after they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. The writing styles vary greatly, from poetry to historical prose. Of particular note are writings from the time of the divided kingdom. Conquests of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah were seen by the prophets as divine punishment for failure to follow the Torah. The writings from this time are full of harsh rebukes and biting metaphors. This is the type of reading found in the weeks ...
Earth Etude for Elul 22- “Yeah, I Think We Should Kill Them All”
- September 16, 2014
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By Alexander Volfson I wasn't sure visiting Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, would leave an impression on me; after all, I had heard it all before. Not only that I had absorbed the notion that all of humanity's reckless violent ways were behind us. Genocide, alas, is so common that it has its own major in college, which, unfortunately, does not fall under archaeology. Remarkably, this practice continues to this day. The typical story arc of the Holocaust goes like this: those awful Germans wanted to murder all the Jews and almost got away with it. ...
Earth Etude for Elul 21- What Does Atoning and Returning to God Mean?
- September 15, 2014
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by Rabbi Judy Weiss Ps. 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my rescue. Whom should I fear?" For an entire month before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we focus on atoning and returning to God. But what exactly, in real life terms, does atoning and returning to God mean? We plan our path to return by adding Psalm 27 to our daily prayers. This psalm repeatedly affirms hope in God. It ends with: Ps 27:14 "Let your heart be firm and bold, and hope for the Lord." As Robert Alter comments, the Psalm opens and closes with the same sentiment "It begins by affirming trust in God ...
Earth Etude for Elul- Turning and Returning
- September 15, 2014
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by Daniel Kieval What is the shape of time? This question may sound strange, but it actually guides us to understand the process of teshuvah, our great task at this time of year. In one dimension, time is circular, repeating in endless cycles. “And the seasons they go round and round…” Every year in the natural calendar, the same seasonal patterns repeat at the same times. In the Jewish calendar, we observe the same holidays, rituals, and rhythms each year. In the process of teshuvah we return to our self, coming home to who we were before ...
Earth Etude for Elul 19- Soul Accounting in the Year of Release
- September 13, 2014
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by Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips Ecology and economy, spirituality and social justice are directly connected in our Jewish values of heshbon (accountability). Every time we open our wallets or check our bank balances, we face issues of heshbon — no less than when we search our souls (heshbon hanefesh) during this Season of Turning. How are we “spending” each day of our lives? The ancient sage Ben Zoma (Mishnah Avot 4:1) taught that the wise are those who learn from every person; the brave are those who control ...
