1988 results for tag: Uncategorized

Earth Etude for Elul 20: Unfinished Blessing

by Bill Witherspoon We were supposed to name all the animals. Lately we have gotten pretty good at it, While it begins to dawn on us that Even that slender branch of the tree of life (Let alone the one on which crawl the slime molds, Or the branch dotted with archaea microbes that turn salt ponds pink Or the one spread with green life that converts sunlight into food) Is just too prolific for words. Still, 500 animal species named since last Elul (150 of them the beetles of which She is “inordinately fond”) Is kind of impressive for an ape that, according to Earth time Only dropped from the fruit trees day ...

Earth Etude for Elul 19: Like the Wilderness

by Rabbi David Seidenberg The book of Numbers begins, “YHVH spoke to Moshe in the Sinai wilderness.” The midrash asks, why does it specify “in the Sinai wilderness”? Because the wilderness is ready to receive all people and belongs to no one. Just so, the Torah receives all people and belongs to no one, not even to the Jewish people. In the Shmitah year, we are similarly reminded that the land of Israel/Canaan/Palestine belongs to no one – that we are just “sojourners and temporary settlers” (gerim v’toshavim) on the land (Lev 25:23). The rabbinic word for belonging to no one is hefker. At the beginning of Passover, we declare ...

Earth Etude for Elul 18: Pine Needles

by Asher Hillel Burstein Of love’s immortal way they said, Cheat the grave her wonted siege. Garlands round your plot of earth, Home the wand’ring lights of I. Who now as all on edge of time, Toll the eager moonlit tide. No nuptial love has such a kind, That hopes for songs he cannot write. Nor knows a heart like his so dimmed, By sweet rejected notes; he aches. To share with one for whom he dies, By day, by night; so long the years. Of tears; his right to humble space, Immortal face, which none can see, For neither son nor song gives birth. To teeming trails of evergreen, But this, his woe, a ...

Ravage or Repair? Time to End Offshore Leasing

Should the oceans be sold to the highest bidder? Ki li ha'aretz, the land is sacred.

Earth Etude for Elul 17: Butterflies

by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein I live on the prairie, in the Prairie State of Illinois. Not a “Little House on the Prairie,” a big house, but there are vistas that remind me of that show. In a county that is known for its dairy farming. Borden Milk came from here. The library is the Gail Borden Public Library. That Borden. The house across from the synagogue is known as the “Butterman’s House” because the prices for butter as a commodity were set there. There was even a documentary called “From Dairies to Prairies.” Once, before it was farmland, it was mostly prairie. Now there are only 6 square miles of prairie in all of Kane ...

Earth Etude for Elul 16: Illuminating the fire of the burning bush.

by Carol C. Reiman Livestreaming ladder of angelic messengers. Protecting voice of the she-ass, female with the weight of responsibility, birthing words of courage, seer of boundaries This is the place in which we have walked, oblivious or called. Wandering, weeping by waters, reaching beyond and within. Nurturing what was pulled from the reeds, allowing the land and its tenders to rest, leaving food at the edges for those in the margins. Joy in first fruits, dancing in gratitudes, peace in the soul. Carol C. Reiman, making connections with old and new, takes in the world while visiting cats, ...

Earth Etude for Elul 15: Water is Life

by Dr. Mirele Goldsmith Not long ago, I visited Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River. I was awed by the revelation that the Mississippi watershed extends to 40% of the United States and the river itself is 2,340 miles long.  I was so moved that I spontaneously recited the blessing for fulfilling the commandement to immerse in living waters, the traditional blessing for visiting the mikveh (ritual bath.)  Jewish tradition teaches us to appreciate water.  Water, we are taught in Genesis, existed before the creation of the world – an insight that resonates with the current scientific understanding that the Earth’s water ...

Earth Etude for Elul 14: This Elul, We Express Gratitude to Israel’s Leading Environmentalist–Dr. Alon Tal

by David Krantz Dr. Alon Tal As Rosh Hashanah approaches, it’s customary for us to take stock — What have we done wrong? What could we be doing better? — but Rosh Hashanah is also a time to look back and consider the many ways we have been blessed. This Elul, as his time in Knesset likely (and unfortunately) comes to a close, we are particularly grateful to Aytzim cofounder and Knesset member Dr. Alon Tal, Israel’s leading environmentalist, for all he has done to improve the wellbeing of Israel’s land, plants, people and non-human animals. Aside from cofounding Aytzim in 2001, Tal also has founded or cofounded a slew of other ...

Earth Etude for Elul 13: The Spirituality of Coffee

by Rabbi Steven Rubenstein Each year I choose a theme for my High Holy Day thoughts for my community, which they receive in written form. They are a continuation of the div’rei Torah that I write each week. An administrative assistant revealed to me that she enjoyed sitting down at her table on Saturday morning with her cup of coffee in hand to read my comments and to reflect upon them. From this admission I decided to devote this year’s theme to the Spirituality of Coffee. When coffee first became popular in Europe, cafes were visited by intellectuals to discuss the politics of the day. Artisans gathered at night following their performa...

Earth Etude for Elul 12: Repentence for Earthlings

by Rabbi Mike Moscowitz The story is told about two people who are disputing ownership over a piece of land, each claiming that it belongs to them. A rabbi is consulted to offer a ruling in Jewish Law to decide the case. After carefully listening to the arguments of both sides he says “Ok, now I need to hear what the land has to say about it.”  With quite a bit of hesitation, both parties finally agree to accompany the Rabbi to the parcel of land in question. The Rabbi kneels down, gently placing his ear to the ground. After a few moments, the Rabbi stands up and relates to the two concerned litigants: “The land says that you are both ...

Earth Etude for Elul 11: It’s Done, It’s Not Done

by Judith Black Our beautiful planet will survive and rehabilitate itself. We will not. Not the animals, not the insects, not the glaciers, not the poles. Seeing one’s own extinction Standing on that precipice We still have a choice to make Will I sink into the couch Despair invading every pore Weeping for the duration Will I fight like hell Pushing legislators and industry Creating clean, healthy, just alternatives Will I tend my garden Caring and nurturing what remains Sharing my carrots Will I burrow into my soul re-connecting with the spirit of love turn into and radiate G-d’s love Ma...

Earth Etude for Elul 10: We’re in This Together

by Rabbi Marisa Elana James Maybe you’ve experienced the moment that I sometimes do, back pressed to the earth, suddenly feeling that I’m getting a taste of the planet’s perspective, that the clouds aren’t moving at all, but instead I’m the one slowly rotating on my axis and spinning in space. The clouds stand still, while I roll backwards into the universe, dizziness setting in as this new orientation disorients me. Some moments that make us feel small and insignificant are terrifying. This is the opposite. To feel not only how tiny I am, but also how tiny the Earth is in the vastness of the universe, can be glorious, soul-expa...

Earth Etude for Elul 9: On the Mountain

by Rabbi Robin Damsky Here I sit on top of the Mountain, watching the sunset. It is spectacular. Sunsets here always are. This one is that much more extraordinary as it tops off a powerful thunderstorm, a storm in which a vague sun was visible throughout, just trying to set and get ready for tomorrow. My partner and I moved to the Mountain in December. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but we wanted enough land to start a food forest, raise hens and design a meditation labyrinth of natives and pollinators, so we can teach Body-Spirit-Gaia: mindfulness, physical well being, regenerative agriculture, composting, permaculture… the work of ...

Earth Etude for Elul 8: Le’ovdah ule’Shomrah

by Rabbi Louis Polisson and Gabriella Feingold The link below will play this beautiful song: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jkbJ2voDRh2VzOOkgBErU8tie1gTCFeU/view Le’ovdah ule’shomrah (x2) [Repeat x3] The storms, they crash, and the fires burn The rivers flood, and you don’t know where to turn Give me your hand And we’ll stand together For a better day Le’ovdah ule’shomrah (x2) We will serve the earth and protect our home Stand for truth, for justice, for hope They may turn away and pretend that they don’t see But still we say “for our children to be free we must change our course, let ...

Earth Etude for Elul 7: Between Pharaoh’s Army and the Sea: “Normal” Subjugation or the Unknown

by Rabbi Arthur Waskow The world is in super-crisis, standing where the ancient Israelites stood at the climax of Exodus: Ahead, a stormy Reed Sea and an Unknown Wilderness. Behind, the hoofbeats of Pharaoh’s horse-chariot Army, offering submission as the price of normalcy. It took an adventurous activist, to step one – two – a dozen --- steps into the water, up to his nose, on the verge of drowning, before the rush of waters broke, divided, and a path opened up from what had become a Taut Place to signal that the birthing into Unknown could begin. There are some prophetic voices today who will take the first steps into the Unknown to ...

Earth Etude for Elul 6: Ode to a Woodchuck

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Woodchuck— you who make your home in my yard, I see you wandering, and eating, always eating— eating the grass (which is fine), or the flowers I so carefully planted, or the vegetable plants I’d thought would be safe— this year you seem to especially enjoy zucchini, having devoured their leaves not just once, or twice, or thrice, but already four times, and it’s only July. I remember in the past when I hated you— or perhaps it was your grandmother, or great-grandmother, or great-great-grandmother— when I wanted you removed from my yard, and I ...

Earth Etude for Elul 5: Early

by Rabbinic Pastor De Fischler Herman Leaves yellow, wither, and fall Acorns drop, clacking on the street It is only the middle of August The creek shrinks, stalls, and stagnates Leaves floating, halt, holding in place We wave the flag for Independence Day Air swells, heats, and suspends Strawberries redden, picking time already And it’s not yet June Azaleas bloom and leaves unfurl Long before Mother's Day Cherry trees blossom, the river retreats And April’s parade is weeks away March winds don't blow February's snow pays no visit January's weather brings forth no complaint Hineni—Here I ...

Earth Etude for Elul 4: We Must Try to Finish the Work

by Harvey Michaels There is a tradition that in the month preceding the Jewish New Year in September, we begin our contemplation about our failures, and returning to our true selves - our Teshuvah.  We can consider climate change a failure that we all share; a problem created by us all. And since we haven’t yet healed the Earth’s climate, we have more frequent extreme weather, fires, drought, floods, glacier melts, sea level rise, habitat displacement, infestations, and diseases, and the devastation that these cause in some places. But we all feel environmental loss: we recall wonderful days in beautiful places, especially with those ...

Earth Etude for Elul 3: How will seeds of light and kindness grow?

by Rabbi Michael Birnholz It is an adventure to be a garden educator. For me, while I plant produce for food for my home table, I am also planting on my synagogue campus to use the garden to teach Jewish values and the Jewish values of taking care of the garden and appreciating nature. Like many gardeners, I do plan my beds and planting spaces. I have many copies of elaborate maps so the right plant gets into the right spot. However, like many garden educators, hoping to bring my students into the planting experience, the outcome of the planting seldom matches my (elaborate) plans. How often do we say “Humans plan, God laughs?” I have ...

Earth Etude for Elul 2: How do we hear the silent sound of the Earth?

by Andy Oram The Unetanah Tokef prayer we say at High Holidays contains the famous phrase "a tiny silent sound" (translated in many ways) from I Kings 19:12. The phrase always grabs our attention because of the unexpectedness of the image. Let's look back at the context of the original phrase in Kings to see how it might help us deal with the onslaught of climate disasters. I Kings 19 describes the flight of Elijah after he has pulled off the biggest miracle since the fall of Jericho: an extravaganza that brings fire down from heaven to strike a blaze on an altar drenched with water. Elijah's spectacular performance, however, did nothing to ...