38 results for tag: Pesach / Passover


The Plight of Farm Workers

A few nights ago my wife and I watched a really intense episode of Law and Order SVU which focused on a disturbed couple who abused young children and used them as indentured farm laborers. My wife, who is a doctoral student in food policy at Rutgers University then emailed me the following link about a topic we have discussed several times over the past few years: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/09/137623954/the-troubled-history-of-the-supermarket-tomato. This book reveals disturbing details related to conditions in which farm workers often operate, something many who live in Florida have been hearing about for years. In the NPR article ...

White House Arrests; Bitter Herb, Matzah, & Healing Climate

Yesterday (March 21, 2013), along with 14 other religious folk, clergy and committed "laity," I was arrested for standing at the White House with Bitter Herb and Matzah, signs and songs, reciting the names of more than 100 people who had been killed by one result of the climate crisis: Superstorm Sandy. The action was organized by Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, of which The Shalom Center is a vigorously active member. We were calling on the president to act swiftly to heal our Mother Earth from the climate crisis, from the plagues that modern Pharaohs -- Big Oil, Big Coal, Unnatural Gas -- have brought upon us. Among those arrested ...

The Festival of Freedom #Pesach #AltBreak

Post by Faryn Hart, Group Leader for #AltBreak 2013 in New Orleans ————————————————————————————————— March seems to be a busy time in New Orleans. The days are long and perfectly warm, the streets are full with beads and lawn chairs for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Super Sunday, and colleges throughout the country bring throngs of students on Service Learning Alternative Spring Breaks to rebuild the city that has suffered much blight ...

Greening Passover

Passover celebrates the exodus of the Jewish people from slavery to freedom. It is also rooted in the agricultural cycle of the year and coincides this year with the beginning of spring. It references a time when our ancestors were more connected on a daily basis to the natural world. To become more connected to the Earth and go “eco friendly” for this holiday, consider following all or some of the tips below: Help the environment by reducing waste as you empty your home of chametz (leavened foods such as breads, pastas, etc). Give leftover bread and grain-based items to area food pantries rather than throwing them ...

Passover and Vegetarianism

Passover and Vegetarianism By Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. Passover and vegetarianism? Can the two be related? After all, what is a Seder without gefilte fish, chicken soup, chopped liver, chicken, and other meats? And what about the shank bone to commemorate the paschal sacrifice? And doesn't Jewish law mandate that Jews eat meat to rejoice on Passover and other Jewish festivals? An increasing number of Jews are turning to vegetarianism and are finding ways to celebrate vegetarian Passovers, while being consistent with Jewish teachings. Contrary to a common perception, Jews are not required to eat meat at the Passover Seder ...

Environmental connections to Passover

Environmental Connections to Passover By Richard H. Schwartz In view of the many current environmental crises that face the world today, this pre-Passover period is a good time to consider environmental messages related to the holiday and the events and concepts related to the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt: 1. Today's environmental threats can be compared in many ways to the Biblical ten plagues: * When we consider the threats to our land, water, and air, we can easily enumerate ten modern "plagues". For example: (1) climate change (2) rapid melting of glaciers and polar ice caps (3) destruction of ...

The New Plague: A Name Change for Climate Change

After reading the following article, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Climate-Change-Panel-Says-Expect-More-Extreme-Weather--144966925.html, titled “Climate Change Panel Says Expect More Extreme Weather,” it is hard not to make the immediate connection to the story of Pesach. “The 594-page report is the work of 220 authors from 62 countries. It cites thousands of scientific studies. Enough is known, the editors say, to make good decisions about how to manage risks of climate-related disasters.” It discusses the prediction of these scientists that “While no evidence connects global ...

Breaking Free from the Fossil-Fuel Pharaoh

The photovoltaic solar-panel array at Kibbutz Ketura is the first and currently only of its kind in Israel. (Photo by David Krantz) KIBBUTZ KETURA, Israel — During the first ever Passover we left Egypt and slavery, celebrating our freedom in the wilderness. It’s easy to forget that back then this stretch of the Arava Valley, a half-hour up the road from the hotels of Eilat, wasn’t part of the biblical Promised Land. No, this part of southern Israel was wilderness — our ancestors wandered through here after the Exodus. It was here, in the desert, where we gained our freedom from slavery to ...

Cleaning and Greening Our “House” for Passover

In the days before Passover, Jews around the world traditionally spend time cleaning and checking our homes for “chametz” – leavened foods forbidden during the holiday. It is also traditionally a time for soul searching, for clearing out old “stuff” and ways of doing things. During this season of renewal, we at Teva Ivri are finding ways to check not only our homes but also our “houses of prayer.” Along with the Council for a Beautiful Israeland Green Now, Teva Ivri has just announced the first “Greenest Synagogue Contest” ever held in Israel. By launching the contest during the ...

Curiosity = Freedom?

As we move towards Passover, we journey through the narrow places (mitzrayim) of Winter into the open, lush landscape of Spring. We can feel the season working its magic: the more time we spend outside, the more Spring does to us what it does to the cherry blossom trees! As we read in the Hagaddah (the Passover seder story), we are asked to celebrate our freedom and to remember: "Today, we are slaves. Next year, we will be free." The Exodus is a story of our past, but it is relevant today - for one, it's time to explore how we can more fully experience liberation and the world that we envision. Connecting with our land and community ...

PONDERING FREEDOM ON THE EQUINOX

The main theme of the upcoming holiday of Pesach is the issue of Freedom, in all its complexity. The Jewish people are brought out of slavery in Egypt (literally Mitzrayim, or narrow place) and we are commanded to remember this act of deliverance by G-d, and to teach it to our children. We are supposed to keep this memory of redemption always in our thoughts and words; the daily prayers and the Sabbath blessing over the wine contain passages remembering our deliverance from Egypt by G-d. It is during Passover, however, that this theme takes on the central significance. The Exodus is not just a historical remembrance, it is a ...

Equity or the Flood: Two Visions of Justice

It is now seven weeks to Passover and the Passover foods are already for sale in my local supermarket. My family is already planning when to do our shopping and whom to invite to the seder. Like many Jewish families, we put a lot of time and preparations into this holiday because we want to make it special and different from the rest of the year as was done when we were children. But our preparations are not only about shopping, cooking, invites and the changeover of dishes. Every year, we spend at least a little time considering what we should talk about at the seder table. We try to discuss something related to the ...

Teva Ivri Observes Passover with the Help of a Composter and some Happy Chickens

Pesach has passed, and in Israel everyone is recovering from a week of eating matzah and intensive family time. We are happy to share two recently published Passover-related ideas, both of which raise environmental awareness in the realms of general observance and Jewish law (halacha): Biur Chametz in a Composter – Removal of Leavened Products Before Passover Harav Yuval Sherlow, an active member of Teva Ivri’s steering committee and a well-known spiritual figure in Israel, issued an halachic (Jewish legal) ordinance stating that it is permissible to bury chametz in a composter three days before the holiday, in place of ...

May It Be Enough

May It Be Enough I have always loved the part of the Pesach Seder when we go through Dayenu. I think the fact that the prayer is so fun for children who get to take their voices from a whisper up to a roar makes it one of those moments every year that brings years of Pesach memories flashing back. However, as I have grown older I tend to focus on the word itself: Dayenu. I think the idea of being thankful for every step that the Jews took as they were able to leave Egypt, make their way towards Sinai to receive the Torah, and then into the Promised Land where the Holy Temple was eventually built, is important. It is a great lesson ...

Fracking Up Passover – The First Plague

Courtesy: Jim Lando, Dor Hadash Social Action Committee seder supplement 2011/5771 We offer this reading and letter writing opportunity for you and your guests this Pesach. Hag Sameach! The First Plague And the fish that were in the Nile died and the Nile stunk, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile, and the blood was in all the land of Egypt. – Shemot (Exodus) 7:21 The Nile was a miraculous source of life for the Egyptians. Worshipped as a God, it has no tributaries for its final 900 miles. It was the water of the Nile that drew Jacob’s family down to Egypt to escape drought and subsequently led to our ...

When Pesach & Earth Day Coincide

Dear chevra, On Monday night exactly one week before the first Pesach Seder, The Shalom Center sponsored an Interfaith Seder for the Earth. It was held at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia, the first independent Black church in American history. The weave of blessings, poetic texts from several religious and secular-ethical traditions, bursts of song, excellent vegetarian food, and activist letter-writing to several crucial Federal and state officials about fracking and the climate crisis was very powerful, and joyful rather than a “downer.” Earth Day is April 22, the fourth day of Pesach. Thursday evening April 21 ...

Famine in Egypt — Parallels to Today

With Passover approaching, the themes of freedom and liberation from bondage tend to be in the front of our minds. However, any true analysis of liberation must first ask the question of how and why we were put into the state of bondage in the first place. In order to be truly free, we must consider not only our current state of subjugation, but come to understand the causes of that subjugation in order to reconcile the exile and not repeat the same mistakes again in the future. Chapter 47 of Genesis, which describes the Children of Jacob settling in the land of Egypt and the plight of the Egyptians and Canaanites during the famine, provides ...

Clean Green this Pesach!

Pesach is coming! The first seder is Monday night, April 18. In the frenzy of cleaning, we sometimes forget the importance of protecting the environment. To keep you centered in this busy time, Canfei Nesharim offers resources to help you remember, and remind your community, to "clean green." Great resources to help you clean green this year: Recipes for green cleaning products, Links to eco-friendly cleaning products for order, Tips for healthy Pesach cleaning, and some reminders about what Pesach is really all about. Program Ideas Make a Clean Sweep this Pesach: resources to help ...