Growth and Re-Growth by Rabbi Shahar Colt ~I used to work in a building next to what appeared to be an abandoned parking lot. Mostly it was a sheet of broken up concrete. The lines separating parking spaces were barely visible, and a huge tree stood somewhere near the center.
50 Years Later, the Work Continues by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi ~When I was in junior high, I was in the Environment Club, and one of our activities was a monthly recycling drive for newspapers and magazines. People would save them, bring them to the school, and we’d load up the
Objects as Storytellers: CoEvolving with Thomas Berry by Cara Judea Alhadeff, Ph.D. This video excerpt made with Jay Canode and Shahab Zagari plays with the absurdity and complexity of our consumption-obsessed, waste-oblivious society–particularly in the midst of greenwashing, environmental racism / green colonialism, and the fallacious “renewable” energies movement. Dancing
Living in a Fragile World: A Torah Godly Play Story by Rabbi Michael Shire ~I wonder if you have ever looked up at the night sky and wondered how big it is…how far it stretches…..how immense the universe is……? Or how there are thousands upon thousands of suns, stars, planets
If you come across a bird’s nest on any tree or on the ground, and it contains baby birds or eggs, then, if the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with her young. You must first chase away the mother,
Canadian Wilderness by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein I am a lifelong Girl Scout. My love of the out-of-doors comes from many years camping, hiking, canoeing at Girl Scout camps throughout the Midwest, New England and yes Canada. All summer I have been haunted by an old camp song, known as
Creatress of Night and Day by Rabbi Louis Polisson ~Blessed is She Who causes day to pass and brings the night (1) May She raise up perfect healing to all who are struck (2) Whether they are silent, plant, a living animal, a speaking being (3) Light from darkness, darkness from light (1) May
Blessed by Judith Felsen, Ph.D. ~Blessed are we who have strayed and returned called back by Your mercy, awakened from selfishness to holiness, from cruelty to kindness. Unseeing we concealed, justified, perfected, means to reach our ends, claim desires, perhaps ignorant of damage done, unaware of straying far from You.
Priestly Atonement and Cleansing the Environment by Andy Oram ~Can you really have an impact on climate change by switching to veggie burgers or lowering the heat in Winter? How about making a change at work that shaves some of the carbon footprint off of your product? Do these really
The Ultimate Emergency is a Cancer on the Earth, but It Can Be Successfully Treated by Deb Nam-Krane ~In 2022, after a decade of worsening symptoms that included erratic energy as well as digestive issues – and plenty of gaslighting – I was diagnosed with colon cancer. It was serious
Turn it and Turn it Again by Leah Cassorla, Ph.D ~Our lives are marked by recurrences in time and season that nonetheless are not truly a circle, but rather a spiral, in which the return of the familiar sounds more like a harmonious echo than a repetition. Even Torah and
‘A Monument‘al Vacation by Rabbi Steven J Rubenstein During the late spring, my wife and I joined her son and daughter-in-law on a trip to Vancouver Island off the western coast of Canada, bordering Seattle, Washington. So many things reminded me of previous events in my journeys that are so
Perception of Time by Thea Iberall, Ph.D. ~I ’m driving home from Marblehead where we commemorated Erev Tisha B’Av. My trip home seems so much faster than the trip there, even though my GPS says travel time is 45 minutes each way. As I stare out the window, watching headlights cut
Join us for our Zoom Program on Thursday, August 24th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm EDT The 30 days of Elul (Elul 1 starts the evening of August 17) are a time for cheshbon hanefesh (soul searching) and teshuvah (return, repentance). They are a time to turn from the ways in which we
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen We’re noticing the sun is setting earlier each day. We’re lighting our Shabbat candles earlier each week. We’re rushing to pack into the remaining days of summer a last hike, a last day at the beach, a last cookout, a last camping trip. My daughter-in-law,
Review of Animal Theologians Animal Theologians, edited by long time British animal rights activists Andrew and Clair Linzey, has the potential to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path.
Below are my 4 articles on restoring and transforming the ancient. Jewish New Year for Animals. They were written several years ago, so I plan to write a new article updating the situation. Their titles are: An Audacious Initiative to Restore the Ancient New Year for Animals Top Ten Reasons for
Tikun Olam. What a wonderful Hebrew phrase! Once again, my very dear friend Richard Schwartz has imbued the saying with more potent meaning than I think I have ever seen. This 20th anniversary edition of Judaism and Global Survival elevates that concept—the “Healing of the World”—to its most relevant position in the
Shalom dear rabbi, I have been fortunate to be involved with many rabbis in my 89 years, and I have always found you all to be the most dedicated people, committed to getting as many Jews as possible to live committed Jewishlives, filled with mitzvot and tikkun olam.
A Tisha B’Av Message: How Do the Warnings Today Differ From Those of Jeremiah? Over 2,600 years ago, Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah about the importance of changing their ways, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, one of
