Jewish Identity Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on jewish identity.
Blogs
Giving Yourself an Autumn Break
- August 31, 2014
by Andrew Oram This time of year always seems a hurricane of activity: coming back from vacation to reams of email, or starting school, or dealing with all the pent-up housework that went blissfully ignored during the easy summer months. Traditionally, Jews see this time of year very differently. Like typical Americans, this period is for them both an ending and a beginning: a recognition of the waning of life and an invigorating harbinger of new possibilities. But in place of the chaotic hurricane that starts for us after Labor Day, many Jews launch a period of ...
Join Jewcology at the Teva Seminar!
- April 8, 2014
Jewcology is proud to be a partner in the 20th Annual Teva Seminar on Jewish Outdoor, Food, and Environmental Education! Monday, June 9 – Friday, June 13, 2014 at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center Join us for a week dedicated to renewing our relationship with the earth, gaining garden education skills, and studying eco-Torah. The Teva Seminar is the premier annual professional development opportunity in the field of JOFEE: Jewish Outdoor, Food, and Environmental Education. Featuring leaders in the JOFEE field: Nili Simhai, Mordechai Leibling, Jakir ...
The Urban Adamah Fellowship Now Accepting 2014 Applications
- October 17, 2013
Connect to Something Bigger: Earth, Community, Social Justice, Jewish Spirituality The Urban Adamah Fellowship, based in Berkeley, CA, is a three-month residential training program for young adults (ages 21–31) that combines urban organic farming, social justice training and progressive Jewish learning and living within the setting of an intentional community. Through the operation of Urban Adamah’s one-acre organic farm and internships with social justice organizations, fellows gain significant skills, training and experience in all aspects of ...
Jewish Energy Guide: Washington’s Green Shuls
- March 20, 2013
By Joelle Novey Every Jewish community I have visited strives to honor the words of the Torah. Physically, we adorn the scroll beautifully, carry it carefully, touch it lovingly and read from it publicly. Spiritually, we pray that our hearts will open to its teachings, we study its words and generations of commentary on its words, and we affirm in community that its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are paths of peace. To many Jews, the thought of a ripped or damaged Torah scroll is almost physically painful. In the Tanya, a classic work of Hasidic ...
A Vision for Judaism in this Time of Multiple Crises
- February 18, 2013
A Vision for Judaism in This Time of Multiple Crises Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. Here is my long-held vision for Judaism in this time of multiple crises: To be a Jew is to see the world through the eyes of God, to be unreconciled to the world as it is, to be discontented with the status quo and unafraid to challenge it. To be a Jew is to be a co-worker with God in the task of perfecting the world, to know that the world remains unredeemed and that we must work with God to redeem it. To be a Jew is to feel deeply the harms done to others, to speak out in the ...
Meet and Greet The Beet-Eating Heeb
- November 5, 2012
The Beet-Eating Heeb is here to save the day! Or at least to fill a void. Blogs devoted to vegan and vegetarian Judaism have all but vanished. Consider: Heeb ‘n’ Vegan, once a thriving place in cyberspace, hung an “out-of-business” on its door in 2010. Shalom Veg, another favorite of meat-abstaining Jews, has gone months without posting new content. The last thing the world needs is another blog. Except in this case. As interest in all things vegan and vegetarian continues to grow, the Beet-Eating Heeb (BEH for ...
Shabbat Noach is Coming!
- October 16, 2012
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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 generat...
Earth Etude for 27 Elul
- September 14, 2012
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The Known and the Unknown by Rabbi Anne Heath I celebrated my first Hanukkah amongst my siblings and their children celebrating yet another family Christmas. We had gathered for winter break in Santa Fe, NM, at our brother's home, glad to be together after travels of varying distances and difficulties. My lengthy, made-it-in-one-day drive from St. Louis culminated in a wondrous night sky display. My younger daughter and I approached Santa Fe well after midnight. The cold, crisply clear night made for ...
Earth Etude for 14 Elul
- August 31, 2012
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Elul Greening by Judith Feinstein Have we done the reparation so to take the consolation and digest it all and well? Have we psalms we want to hear releasing some for other's ears while disregarding somber prohets' words? Can we see Akiva's vision, crumbling Temple fox is running as a sign Moschaiach's coming or do we yet deny our state? Do we choose to not attend to what this month we must amends do so that we are then released from martyr's fate at our own hands. We do not ...
Earth Etude for 13 Elul
- August 30, 2012
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Swimming on Our Backs by Rabbi Judy Kummer All week long, a challenge with a family member plagued me. I stewed over it, allowed it to twist my kishkes into tight knots and my body into a ship tossing on waves of wakefulness in nighttime. I even watched it tug at my mind and heart during long lake swims thru otherwise placid waters. Tears and fresh water mixed, a potent cocktail of sadness. And then, during one swim at dusk, as I flipped over onto my back to reach into back crawl, I looked up and saw the most glorious sunset ...
Earth Etude for 11 Elul
- August 29, 2012
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Maintaining the Climate by Lois Rosenthal “If you go by my statutes and keep My commands and do them, I shall give you rains in their season and the land will give its yield…” Lev 26:4 The ancient Israelites trusted G-d to maintain the seasons in a fixed and repeatable way. They had worked out their lunar/solar calendar and holidays based on planting/harvesting seasons. Droughts were certainly a constant worry, but timing of planting and harvest was consistent enough year after year to be considered fixed by G-d. Suppose they ...
Earth Etude for 5 Elul
- August 22, 2012
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Personal Reflections for Elul: Mindful Turning to the Path of Love Rabbi Jeff Foust For me, the key to the entire Jewish New Year period comes in the month of Elul, the Hebrew month which precedes Rosh HaShanah. I often have heard people complaining about being weighed down by all the emphasis during the holiday on the mistakes and wrong doings in our lives that we need to repair. Elul reminds us that the very foundation for the spiritual work that we do at this time of year is returning (in Hebrew Teshuvah) to a loving relationship with ...
Immediate Action Required! Call your Senator for a Just Farm Bill!
- June 17, 2012
As we speak, the Senate is debating the contents of the Farm Bill, which will substantially affect the next five years of US food policy. It is upon us to call our Senators and let them know that as Jews, we and our organizations support Farm Bill legislation that: reduces hunger and improves nutrition in the United States. promotes conservation and proper stewardship of the land. enables farmers in both the United States and the developing world to earn sustainable livelihoods. Every call makes a tremendous difference! The ...
To the Stars and Back – Our Quest for Connection / Part 2 of 7
- May 29, 2012
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Each of us searches for our identity amidst a sea of human faces. Who are these people around us? How are we connected to them? How much do we overlap in our experiences of life? The questions are complex and the answers not obvious. In my work as a hospital chaplain, visiting patients no matter what their religious persuasion, their country of origin, their cultural background, or their diagnosis, I find both moments of profound connection and moments of total lack of connection. Sometimes the inability to connect feels related to a religious or cultural differ...
How Energy uses Water
- May 16, 2012
Tonight there is a great Midwestern thunderstorm in the sky. Lightning bolts are flashing, and the rain is pouring down. This has put me in a mood of wonderment at the awesome power of the Heavens, and has 'sparked' my curiosity regarding the relationship between electricity (lightning) and water (rain). While there can be rain without lightning and lightning without rain, the combination of the two is a fairly common occurrence lately, and provides a 'striking' illustration of the connections between these two powerful forces that are so ...
Jewish Outdoor Adventures: Burning Bush Adventures
- May 15, 2012
Burning Bush Adventures has been a leader in combining wilderness and Jewish experiences for 20 years. To learn more about BBA visit our web site at: www.burningbushadventures.com June 8 - 10: Delaware River Water Gap canoe shabbaton: We will paddle a stretch of the Delaware River entirely within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DWGRA). There is an abundance of wildlife (no promises we’ll see any) and the river is lively, offering several exciting stretches. The trip includes baking challah in a dutch oven, kabbalat shabbat services ...
Support Sustainability and Community in Chicago
- April 28, 2012
Support Sustainability and Community: Purchase Your Organic and Heirloom Plant Starts at The Gan Project’s 2nd Annual Spring Plant Sale CHICAGO, Ill. -- Looking for locally grown, organic, heirloom plant starts for your garden or patio planter? The Gan Project will be having their 2nd Annual Spring Plant Sale with proceeds going to support the creation of a local, just, and sustainable food system in the Chicagoland region. Many varieties of vegetables and herbs will be available for purchase. The Gan Project grows ...
Report from Tribefest 2012
- April 5, 2012
- 1 comment
This past week, 1516 Jewish Young Adults from across North America descend on Las Vegas for a Jewish conference like no other. Most were focused on gambling, night clubs and meeting other Jews, but a small but dedicated group were there to find other eco-conscious Jews and get connected with the Jewish environmental movement. Two sessions where held on environmental issues, with more than 60 people attending at least one of the sessions and hundreds visiting the Jewish environmental table and taking information. A good response considering participants had to ...
Those Who Plant in Joy – Tu b’Shvat and the Social Justice Protests
- January 31, 2012
A.The Israeli media has recently been occupied with the six-month anniversary of the past summer’s social justice protests, in which scores of young activists (me included) declared themselves the “New Israelis.” “We are the New Israelis,” we called from the stages and street marches, “and we have a dream – to live in this land, to build our homes here, to raise our children here, and to weave our life story out of it.” This is how we “New Israelis” feel – a new generation not locked into stereo...
Why Tu B’shvat Matters in 2012
- January 26, 2012
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The economy is in crisis across much of the USA and Europe, governments are killing their citizens in Syria and Bahrain, and organized crime is dominating Mexico and Central America… This Tu B’shvat how can we worry about environmental issues, when there are so many pressing social issues face our society? Indeed, environmental concerns seem to be fairly low on the international priorities list these days. Look at the recent failure of the Durban conference, in which governments, (most notably my own Conservative Canadian government), were unwilling ...
