342 results for tag: Community Leaders

The Meaning of This Hour: Confronting the Coming Cataclysm of Global Climate Change

In March 1938, Abraham Joshua Heschel delivered a speech to a conference of Quakers in Frankfort (it was later expanded and published in 1943) called The Meaning of this Hour. Heschel had been living in Berlin for some years, acquiring his Ph.D. and a liberal rabbinic ordination (he had already gotten a traditional ordination when he was a teenager in Warsaw). During his years there, he was a witness to rise of Nazism even while he taught and began to publish his work. In 1938, it was clear to many people that war in Europe was coming. In the very month that Heschel spoke came the Anschluss, the Nazi takeover of Austria. Heschel was ...

Earth Etude for Elul 2 – Elul Writing Project

by Molly Bajgot We’re nearing a time when the Earth will not provide as bountifully as it has in the past. In exchange for a loss of resources, I believe the Earth is pleading for us humans to return to ourselves, our deep souls, so we recognize a bounty that lives within us. Could this lead to the feeling of fertility in the human spirit, we may extend the times of plenty. Answering this call is not easy. We cannot stop deadlines so we may each have the time return to ourselves as a form of resiliency. It’s a necessary evil to take this time. We may feel that we’re missing out on other activities, events, or conversatio...

Shmita Today: From Farm to Hypertech

Our society is more and more deeply concerned that intrusive human action toward the Earth is turning into a weapon endangering Humanity itself as well as the earthy web of life. Is this danger new, or is it an extension of a long-felt weakness arising from a strength too far? Torah warns against overworking the earth, as well as overworking ourselves and each other. It provides that not only every seventh day but every seventh year is to be a time to pause from working. The seventh year is to be Shabbat Shabbaton, Restfulness to the exponential power of Restfulness. (Lev. 25). The passage calls special attention to its teaching by beginn...

Seeking Venues for Jewish Environmental Speaking Tour

I am planning a Jewish environmental speaking trip for next month (December) and seek help in finding Jewish institutions or groups that are interested in my speaking at their institution in New Jersey, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco areas. I founded and direct the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), which accesses the collective wisdom of the world’s religions to promote co-existence, peace, and sustainability through education and activism. ICSD’s Jewish Eco Seminars branch works within the Jewish community to promote Jewish environmental awareness and action. I plan to be in ...

Shabbat Noach is Coming!

In celebration of Parshat Noach this coming Shabbat, Jewcology is proud to share a wealth of resources on the topic of Noach. Please enjoy and share these resources from many of our partners and participants so we can all benefit from the lessons of Parshat Noach. Explore all of our Parshat Noach resources Here's a sampling: Countering Destruction - Lessons from Noah Although the flood and the life of Noah occurred thousands of years ago, the story of Noah offers important lessons about how our actions affect the world. The Torah teaches that ten generations after Creation, all life on the planet had "corrupted its way on the earth"...

New Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment Materials Released!

The Twelfth topic in the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, Genesis and Human Stewardship of the Earth, has just been released! In the first chapter of Genesis, twice in three verses, G-d speaks of humans ruling over other living beings. In the second instance, after creating Adam and Eve, G-d blesses them, saying "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." What does it mean for humans to subdue the earth and have dominion over other creatures? See all Genesis and Human ...

Webinar on Becoming a Jewish Energy Champion in Your Community

ANNOUNCING COEJL’S JEWISH ENERGY NETWORK! Webinar on Becoming a Jewish Energy Champion in Your Community Tuesday, October 16 at 2:30 pm est Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/487930350 Learn about COEJL’s new Jewish Energy Network and how you can take action on renewable energy and energy efficiency in your Jewish community. Hear about successful Jewish environmental initiatives. Panelists will share their insights on how to achieve energy goals while also meeting the needs of your synagogue or organization. This webinar will help you brainstorm energy ...

Earth Etude for 24 Elul

MEDITATION on ELUL by Richard H. Schwartz Elul is here. It represents an opportunity for heightened introspection, a chance to consider teshuva, changes in our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to consider positive changes. How should we respond to Elul today? How should we respond when we hear reports almost daily of severe, often record-breaking, heat ...

Being Enough: Reflections on a Leadership Training

On Thursday, June 14, I had the privilege of leading the Jewcology Public Narrative Training at the Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education. With my amazing team of co-facilitators, we organized a full-day training which taught 12 Jewish environmental leaders to tell their leadership story. Videos from the different parts of the training – including model stories – can be found on Jewcology’s website at http://www.jewcology.org/content/view/Videos-From-the-Recent-Jewcology-Public-Narrative-Training. For me, this was the first time I’d ever led a full-day training. I’ve led dozens of 45 minute, ...

Day 47 of the Omer

Today we reach the fifth day of the seventh week, and we focus on Hod in Malchut, Humility in Leadership. In gazing at the stars, we often see "stars" that are not really stars. At times, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn shine in the evening, night, or early morning sky near the horizon, and to the naked eye they look exactly like bright stars. In fact, these "stars" are planets, and the light they seem to give off is actually the result of their illumination by the Sun. Unlike the Moon, they appear as dots or "stars" because of their greater distance from the Earth. In exhibiting leaders...

Day 46 of the Omer

On this fourth day of the seventh week of counting the Omer, we turn our thoughts to Netzach in Malchut, Endurance in Leadership. Our Sun is a star, and by star standards it is no big deal. There are many other stars that are similar to it. But for those of us here on Earth, it is the Sun that counts, it is the Sun that makes life possible. One could say that the Sun is middle-aged. It is about 4.5 billion years old, and it will continue to burn hydrogen for another 5 billion years or so. In terms of a human life, or even all human life, this is a fantabulous amount of time. In terms of the evolution of all life on ...

Day 44 of the Omer

On this second day of the last week of counting the Omer, we focus on Gevuarh in Malchut - Restraint in Leadership. The amount of energy involved in the Big Bang was so unbelievably huge as to be beyond our comprehension. Today, the brightest events in the sky - those releasing the most energy - are supernovae, or exploding stars, which also involve an unfathomable (though significantly smaller) amount of energy, so much energy, in fact, that they may outshine all the stars in their galaxy. Even if we can't see a galaxy from Earth, we might be able to see a supernova in that galaxy. When a star explodes, either a black hole or ...

Day 43 of the Omer

Today we begin the last week of counting the Omer, and all during this week, as we count the last seven days until Revelation, we focus on Malchut - Leadership, beginning with Chesed in Malchut, Lovingkindness in Leadership. And this week we focus on the stars. When we look into the night sky, we see only a tiny fraction of the stars in our galaxy, and there are billions of other galaxies out there that we also can't see, each of which has billions of stars. All the matter in that distant space beyond what we can see and in those stars and galaxies that we can't see formed in a way that is hard for most of us to even begin ...

Day 42 of the Omer

As we reach the end of the fifth week of counting the Omer, we focus on the Divine Attributes of Malchut in Y'sod, Leadership in Bonding. As I walk through the woods today, I am suddenly struck by the dead trees. They are dead, certainly, and yet they are home to so much life. Most readily visible are the bracket fungi I see on some, forming small shelves all the way up the still-standing tree trunk. In one place, I see the remains of a tree so thoroughly decayed and integrated into the forest floor that it is barely recognizable as a fallen tree. I'm on a brisk walk today, so I don't stop to look, but I know from past ...

Peter Yarrow (from Peter, Paul & Mary) invites you to his NYC home for an Eden Village fundraiser!

Dear Friends, I'm very pleased to invite you to my home in Manhattan for a benefit supporting the extraordinary work of Eden Village Camp, the innovative Jewish farm-to-table & arts camp an hour north of NYC. Monday, April 30th 6:00 - 8:00pm Near Columbus Circle in Manhattan, NYC Local organic Kosher hors d'oeuvres & wine served Click here to buy your ticket: http://peteryarrowedenvillage.eventbrite.com/ The happiness, excitement and heartfelt way in which the Eden Village campers and staff interact is moving and beautiful. As founding president of Operation Respect, a non-profit working to assure each ...

Jewish Farm School Launches College Accredited Experiential Learning

The Jewish Farm School and Hebrew College are partnering to offer you a weeklong, intensive course exploring the intersection of Judaism, agriculture and contemporary food justice. In this week-long, service learning experience, participants will explore the relationship between Judaism, agriculture and contemporary food justice issues. This unique seminar will include farm work, text study and meetings with activists, community leaders, and business people. On the farm, you will gain hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture techniques such as planting, harvesting and soil building. In the bet midrash (study hall), you will explore a ...

Tell Your Story and Motivate Your Community!

"You have to claim authorship of your own story and learn to tell it to others so that they can understand, appreciate, and share the values that move you to act, because it may move them to act as well." (Marshall Ganz, developer of the Public Narrative training) Jewcology is partnering with the Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education to bring back our engaging and effective Public Narrative Leadership Training. In 2011, nearly 50 Jewish environmental leaders were empowered to tell their stories and the stories of their communities, and to motivate their communities to meaningful, shared action. Date: Thurs., ...

Photo Slide Show of Samar Sand Dunes

SAMAR SAND DUNES, Israel — A barbed-wire fence runs along the edge of the dunes here, but it's not to protect them — it's to keep people from accidentally walking across the country's border with Jordan. Not that Samar hasn't needed the protection — the government was poised to raze the dunes and turn them into concrete for hotels and sidewalks. But barbed wire would not have been strong enough to hold back bulldozers. No, the bulldozers were stopped by something far more powerful: You. Thanks to the efforts of the Green Zionist Alliance, our partners in Israel and all of our supporters — ...

A Jewish Environmental Proclamation

When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: “Look at my works! See how beautiful they are – how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it. - Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 1 (on Ecclesiastes 7:13) We are witnessing a time in which the future of the planet is at stake. The climate crisis is escalating, and it is upon each one of us to do what we can to change course. In the Torah it is written, “And you shall choose Life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Today ...

Job Posting: Greater Boston Area

jbrosenbloom@yahoo.com Wanted: Jewish Outdoor Educator: Greater Boston Area WHO WE ARE: we are an alternative, soulful jewish community with a delightful small group of children who gather to celebrate Shabbat twice a month WHO WE WANT: a kid loving, dynamic, jewish, nature lover who is creative and inspires fun and meaningful exploration of the great outdoors WHAT WE ARE HOPING FOR: someone to offer a small group of children (ages 3-10) opportunities to connect with each other, our greater ...