83 results for tag: Jewish Identity
The Inspiration of Engaging Judaism
As a Jewish environmental educator, people often ask me if my work more Jewish or more environmental. I usually refuse to answer the question in the simplistic form in which it’s asked, and instead offer an answer about the complete interconnectedness of the material... But, today, just for you, Jewcology readers, I will answer the original question with a little secret.
While at my core, the cause I am working toward is environmental sustainability, the work is primarily Jewish education. Nature, ecology, environmental responsibility, are all tools to teach a Jewish value of responsibility for self, people, humanity and all Creation. ...
Chochma & Bina, Wisdom & Understanding
This week my wife and I are on Hornby Island, on the coast of beautiful British Columbia. It’s here, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean that I feel most in awe of the natural world and all its creatures.
A walk on the beach is a lesson in nature’s complexity. Whitecaps give way to waves churning onto the shore, where winter storms have deposited a year’s worth of driftwood and sea weed. Seals and sea lions maintain an ongoing truce as they patrol their respective aquatic territories for fish, and eagles soar and dive against a ever-changing cloudy backdrop. A few moments of observation is all it takes to realize that the ...
Getting Back to My Roots
Despair
Like so many of the people I know who are deeply concerned with the rapidly multiplying environmental issues confronting our world, I recently became discouraged by the inability of our government to take meaningful action. This feeling slowly morphed into disgust, which turned into anger, which then changed into fear. I kept thinking, if our leaders cannot even address the big environmental issues that are occasionally covered by the media, such as climate change and alternative energy, then we are in real trouble when it comes to the hundreds of other environmental issues that are never discussed. Every day I read articles ...