Peace Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on peace.
Blogs
Shabbat (Haaretz) Shalom
- September 16, 2021
Renewed themes in the commandment of the shmita, in light of the climate crisis This year 5782 is a shmita year - a special period in the Hebrew calendar that recurs once every seven years. This year we face a harsh reality - the IPPC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report published in early August claims that the climate crisis is already here and directly linked to humanity’s treatment of our natural resources. In recent months, multiple natural disasters occurred around the world, further stressing the urgency of the matter. Add to that the Covid-19 ...
Earth Etude for Elul 27: At the Edge of the Sea
- September 3, 2021
by Rabbi Louis Polisson (Hebrew translation is after the English) At the edge of the sea On the sand, on the stones, on the shells I stand In prayer But where should I look What am I supposed to see ~ I want to contemplate The sea The reflections of the sun in her waves Illuminate and entice my eyes _ But the obligation of the East Onward, eastward Arises in my mind And draws me To turn away from the sea To turn around Facing the sun ~ I long To believe and to witness The day when the sun and the ...
Earth Etude for Elul 26: The Teshuvah I Seek
- September 2, 2021
by Maggid David Arfa Averot - Transgressions committed under duress, with the awareness that the act is a transgression. Distinguished from those transgressions committed without awareness (chayt) or those committed in willful rebellion (p’sha’eem). --Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi1 Moral Injury- In the complex social arenas of daily living, we make constant trade-offs between what we think is best and what we actually do. The gap that arises in this territory is a form of moral injury that over time can coagulate into hardening of our moral arteries, so to ...
Earth Etude for Elul 24: Harachaman for Shmita
- August 31, 2021
by Rabbi David Seidenberg As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we are also fast approaching the next Shmita year, when all the land in Israel was supposed to rest, all debts were supposed to be canceled, and all food was to be shared, even with the wild animals. Just like Elul through the High Holidays, the Shmita year itself was a long journey of t’shuvah, returning to God, during which our sense of business-as-usual could fall away, revealing what it means to be in community with each other and with the land. A human world that observed Shmita fully is a world that ...
Earth Etude for Elul 15: Counting to the Next Shmita Year
- August 22, 2021
by David Krantz Among our more under-appreciated traits, we Jews are counters. We count for a prayer quorum, we count the omer, we count the days of the months to know when our holidays are. We might know the days of the week by their names – Sunday, Monday — but in Hebrew they are Yom Rishon, the First Day, and Yom Sheni, the second day. And before borrowing their current names from the Babylonian calendar, the Jewish months were numbered. What we now know as Elul was once the Sixth Month, leading to the Seventh Month that we now call Tishrei. Counting can ...
Earth Etude for Elul 13: Crater Lake
- August 20, 2021
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by Rabbi Shira Shazeer Many months after the world changed After worry, adjustment, connections lost and found Relearning how to live How to work How to family How to community ~ After holding on Holding together Holding, holding, ~ I took to the open road Family in tow To see the land and the wonder it holds ~ To reach out and in and rediscover Who am I Wherever I am In this world ~ I am no Thoreau Not Diana of the Dunes Alone with the world In quiet contemplation Rugged self ...
Earth Etude for Elul 4: A Letter to Mother Earth
- August 11, 2021
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by Rabbi Judy Schindler Dear Mother Earth, As we spiritually make our way through the month of Elul and approach the anniversary of your and our creation, you are in our prayers for healing. An illness extends across the globe – COVID-19. We know that you can feel it. You wonder why people wear masks when the air should be so perfect to inhale. You cringe that we have come to fear rains and their floods, winds and their consequent hurricanes, when instead we should stand in awe of the miraculous cycles of your natural world. We have ...
An upcoming Zoom event that will help promote veganism.
- August 4, 2021
Please share widely. The Compassion Consortium is proud to feature the free Jewish Veg documentary A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World, and Dr. Richard Schwartz’s new book Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalizing Judaism, for your consideration. So, check out the film (links below) and read the book. Then join us at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on August 15, 2021 via Zoom as Dr. Schwartz and Lionel Friedberg, the film’s writers and producers, discuss the book and film and the historical and contemporary issues on Judaism, environmen...
My cover story in the August 9, 2021 Jerusalem Report on “Why Jews Should be Vegans”
- July 28, 2021
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https://www.jpost.com/jerusalem-report/heres-why-jews-should-be-vegans-675135 Since you may not be able toopen the link because you are not a Jerusalem Report subscriber, I have pasted the article below. Why Jews Should Be Vegans Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D I am proud to live in Israel, the eternal home of the Jewish people and arguably the vegan ...
Four-page review of my latest book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING OUR WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM, in the semi-annual journal of the Central Conference of American rabbis (CCAR), a publication that goes to US reform rabbis
- June 1, 2021
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The Vegan Revolution by Richard Schwartz (Brooklyn, NY: Lantern Publishing and Media, 2020), 272 pp. I’ve been a vegetarian for forty years. Inspired by a college boyfriend, I then fully committed to it the year I was at HUC-JIRJerusalem, walking down the meat aisle of the Old City Shuk with its hanging animal carcasses. I married a man who was already a vegetarian (thank goodness no “training” required!) and we raised three vegetarian children who now, as adults, have all retained their commitment to it. In true family dynamics, two of ...
1,600 word excerpt from my book, VEGAN REVOLUTION, SAVING OUR WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM
- March 17, 2021
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LIVING AS A JEWISH VEGAN In this book, I have attempted to present evidence that the world is in the throes of a climate catastrophe. Selfreinforcing positive feedback loops (vicious cycles) are moving the climate system toward irreversible tipping points. If we fail to act rapidly and decisively, these will bring massive climate disruptions, with calamitous results for all life on Earth. Because animal agriculture is a major cause of global warming, a shift toward veganism is key to the effort to avert this climate catastrophe. Such a shift is becoming ...
Latest Review of My Newest Book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING OUR WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM
- March 11, 2021
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Richard H. Schwartz, Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, RevitalizingJudaism. Brooklyn, NY: Lantern Publishing, 2020. xxxiv +230 pages.$20.00 softcover. This review appeared in the March/April online Quaker Publication, "Peaceable Table." This is now one of the basic books on veganism and Judaism for thegeneral reader. With the passion of a convert--Schwartz becamevegetarian Jan. 1 1978 at the age of 41 and vegan in 2000--the authorpresents a convincing case for Jewish observance of a plant-baseddiet. Along with the passion, he is always ...
Complete text of my latest book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING OUR WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM
- March 9, 2021
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“I consider it an honor and a mitzvah to commend Professor Richard Schwartz’s work and all his endeavors to bring Jewish teachings on diet, health, the environment, and related issues to public attention, especially to those of us who seek to lead a religiously observant lifestyle, in keeping with the precepts and goals of the Torah. May his efforts merit Divine blessing and success.”—Rabbi David Rosen, Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland; President for Israel of the International Jewish Vegetarian Society“Few books have ever been more timely or more needed than this ...
Applying Jewish Values To Help Heal the World: Review of Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s book, “Dancing in God’s Earthquake”
- February 28, 2021
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Dancing in God’s Earthquake: The Coming Transformation of Religion Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow Orbis Books, 2020 US $25 I looked forward eagerly to reading Rabbi Arthur Ocean Waskow’s latest book, Dancing in God’s Earthquake, for two reasons. First, as one who has long argued that Jews should be doing far more to apply Jewish teachings in response to current environmental and other threats, I was intrigued by the book’s subtitle, “The Coming Transformation of Religion.” Second, I have been reading many ...
A Dialogue Between a Jewish Vegan Activist and a Rabbi
- December 2, 2020
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Dialogue Between a Jewish Vegan Activist and a Rabbi It is vital to conduct respectful dialogues within the Jewish community on whether Jews should be vegtarians, or even vegans. I have imagined a dialogue as a means of encouraging readers to conduct such debates with local rabbis, educators, and other Jewish leaders. Scene: A Jewish vegan activist meets his or her rabbi in the latter’s office. Jewish Vegan Activist (JVA): Shalom, Rabbi. Rabbi: Shalom. Good to see you. JVA: Rabbi, I have been meaning to speak to you for some time about an issue, but I ...
Eighteen Reasons Jews Think They Should Not Be Vegetarians or Vegans (and Why They Are Wrong)
- November 29, 2020
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Below are 18 reasons why many of my fellow Jews think they should not be vegetarian or vegan (henceforth veg*an) and my rebuttals to the reasons: 1) The Torah teaches that humans are granted dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26), giving us a warrant to treat animals in any way we wish.Response: Jewish tradition interprets “dominion” as responsible guardianship or stewardship: we are called upon to be co-workers with God in improving the world. Dominion does not mean that people have the right to wantonly exploit animals, and it certainly does not permit us to breed ...
What Diet Does God Prefer for People?
- November 26, 2020
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What Diet Does God Prefer for People? The most basic line of demarcation in the realm of Halacha (Jewish law) is the one between the permitted and the forbidden. Yet, in the realm of the permitted, we also find a further line between the accepted and the ideal. At this point, we do not simply ask what does God allow but what does God prefer. Within this context, it is essential that we not only ask which foods God permits but that we also consider the diet that God prefers for us. The following arguments are submitted in furtherance of my view that God's ...
Interview of me about my newest book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING THE WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM
- October 5, 2020
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Shalom, An interview of me about my just published book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING THE WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM on “Vegan Stories Podcast’ can be heard by visiting veganstoriespodcast.com. . The promotion message by interviewer Jeff Rosenblum is: I am so proud and honored to share Episode 7 of Vegan Stories Podcast (published this morning) with my guest, Richard H. Schwartz, who I interviewed (remotely from Israel) last Tuesday (the day his new book was published). I'll let the title, subtitle and, of course, Episode 7 (see link below) speak ...
My latest book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING THE WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM, just published
- September 27, 2020
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Shalom, I am delighted that my latest book, VEGAN REVOLUTION: SAVING THE WORLD, REVITALIZING JUDAISM, has just been published!! I have started a comprehensive, unprecedented, potentially transformative campaign, in conjunction with the book’s publication, to get vegetarianism and veganism, animal rights, health, environmental sustainability, and related issues solidly onto the Jewish agenda (and other agendas), and to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. I would VERY much welcome your involvement in this campaign. This would be very helpful in ...
Earth Etude for Elul 2: Reflections on The Challenges of Living with Fear and Hope
- August 21, 2020
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by Maxine Lyons I find new signs of hope and gratitude for the changes that I feel are beginning to surface despite the anxieties and sadness I feel for the families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19, and for the heightened consciousness of racism. We are living through a time when many forces are coming together with the potential to change our daily lives, setting in motion systemic reforms to our institutions that could dismantle systemic racism. I feel fearful that social upheaval or outright rebellion could de-stabilize us as a country or alternatively, could ...