1988 results for tag: Uncategorized

A Sustainable Jewish Nation

This week we celebrated Lag B’Omer, the Jewish “bonfire” holiday. Many of my environmentalist friends oppose Lag B’Omer celebrations due to the heavy air pollution caused by the large and numerous bonfires. Yet I actually like this holiday, despite its negative environmental impact. I find great value in sitting together under the stars, around the fire, sharing song, food, and conversation. Perhaps it’s the proximity to natural warmth, or maybe it’s the essence of sitting together in a circle…but time after time, when I sit by a bonfire, I feel like my heart opens I experienced this kind of ...

Deadlines Approaching for Leadership Training!

Join us for a new leadership training which will empower you to engage your community in Jewish-environmental learning and action. Spaces are filling up: register today! Scholarship deadline extended to MONDAY, MAY 23. Registration deadline: Friday, May 27! The seminar will take place on Thursday, June 2 at the Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education in Cold Spring, NY. Participating in the Teva Seminar?Sign up for the Jewcology training! If you are not attending the seminar,you can still join us just for the day and take advantage of this excellent training. In this full-day session, we will: learn how to share the ...

Moving Beyond the Global Warming Debate

Perhaps this is heretical talk for an environmental blog, but I have always been skeptical of Global Warming alarmists. From the start, I have felt this issue was a distraction from the more pressing environmental issues of our time. What does it matter if sea levels are going to rise decades from now, I thought, if there is already no healthy food to eat, no clean water to drink, few rainforests left in which to preserve rare & endangered species, and the air and land have all been poisoned with toxins and radiation. In other words, I have always felt that Global Warming diverted people’s attention from more immediate and ...

Rainbow Day is coming! Celebrate, learn, create!

I'm so excited to let people know about Rainbow Day – the 27th of Iyyar, and the 42nd day of the Omer. For a few years now I've been working to make Rainbow Day a reality in the Jewish world. Rabbi Arthur Waskow first came up with the idea of using the dates of the flood story in 1981. But now I think we (the Jewish world) are ready to make it happen. I've been collecting prayers and rituals, lesson plans about seed-saving and hydrofracking, learning from Hoshea and Ezekiel, from Kabbalah and midrash, and project ideas that you can use to celebrate Rainbow Day and to remember God’s covenant with all creation. Many of the environmental groups ...

Teva Shabbat Retreat June 3-5

May 15, 2011 | Iyyar 11, 5771 Hi Teva Friend, Teva invites you to join us for the First Ever Teva Seminar Shabbat Retreat in Nature from June 3rd through June 5th, 2011. Come celebrate creation and community with inspiring prayer and learning. Register now and save $50! Click here to learn how. Delve into the ecological dimensions of Shabbat and Jewish cycles of work and rest. Learn how to craft challah, candles and havdallah sets, and rest and relax ...

The Smaller Stories

Please Read First: 1. Diabetes is a Time Bomb in the Arctic Research Shows Pollutants linked to Type 2 Diabetes http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/06667_diabetes_is_a_time_bomb/ 2. New Study Warns of Arctic Mercury Pollution: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g1c7x73hsUhq24krg1-3ceMSkLVg 3. Environmental Illness in Kids Costs Billions: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/26306 So I know the above request seems like I am providing you a homework assignment, but these articles help give a bit of context to this post. The three articles above highlight a point that ...

Honey from the Rock: Righteous Foundation

Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 248:1(Code of Jewish Law) “Everyone is obligated to give Tzedakah. Even people supported by tzedakah must give from what they receive. Anyone who refuses to give tzedakah or gives less than what he should give, the court pressures him until he gives the amount he has been assessed. The court may confiscate his possessions and deduct from them the appropriate amount (for Tzedakah).” How can a court force someone to give tzedakkah? Tzedakah is commonly translated as charity which is given in a non-coercive manner. However, charity and tzedakah are different. The root of the word tzedakah is ...

Teva Seminar – 66% Discount through the Jewish Education Project!

May 12, 2011 | 8 Iyyar, 5771 Hi Teva Friend, The Teva Seminar on Jewish Environmental Education is one of the best professional development opportunities for meaningful, inspirational, experiential Jewish education. Each year the Seminar provides educational directors and teachers dozens of amazing new ideas, lessons, and techniques to take home to their own school or instituion. And this year, the Jewish Education Project (JEP) is offering grants for scholarships of up to 66% OFF the registration fees for ...

Jewish Farm School Intensive! Natural Building and Herbal Medicine

These four-day hands-on workshops will take place simultaneously with the Jewish Farm School on the Farm at Eden Village. Come learn and work with the earth's medicine and nature's building materials. Enjoy the beuaty of Eden Village's 250 acres in the Hudson Valley. Food will be mostly organic, vegetarian and cooked by our fabulous chefs. Monday, June 13th - Thursday, June 16th Start and end time at 12pm 25% discount is you mention Jewcology Please register here Pick a track! Natural Building with Jonah Vitale-Wolff You will learn how to build a beautiful and durable earth ...

Teva’s Roots – Camp and Wilderness at the Seminar

Shalom! Today is 17th day of the omer, Tiferet of Tiferet, or Compassion in Compassion, with only 33 days until Shavuot. Is your compassion for the earth beautiful? If so, you should know of another great countdown - the countdown to the Teva Seminar. There are only 25 days left until the Teva Seminar, the greatest opportunity for you to connect your compassion for the earth with Teva at its roots in the Camp & Wilderness track. This year, veteran Teva educators Mollie Andron, Pesach Stadlinand Elan Margulies among others, will be our guides on a wild ...

Question of the Week #20

David Marks, co-director of Teva Learning Center, asks "What environmental Torah portion has the biggest impact on addressing global climate change, and why?"

Environmental Tip of the Week: Apology and a short tip for this week

Cross posted in Environmental Tip of the Week Apology and a short tip for this week Things have been crazy for me for awhile and I didn't post here! Here's a short tip, as I'm running late now: It's still a bit chilly at times here in Seattle. Next time you're tempted to turn up the thermostat, try grabbing a sweater instead. You'll save energy, and cut down your bill, too!

Green is still a color – 2

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Green is still a color Today I received a letter in the mail addressed to "Green Bubbie(TM)" You know, even a great idea is only an idea. Even if you write about it, you need to see if it resonates with others outside of your own head. Do other people ever know what you are imagining? As a 'visionary' thinker, I can tell you that there is nothing more exciting then to see/know that your idea is understood by others, and used by them. So, imagine my delight when during my recent visit to my grand daughter's kindergarten, I was asked by the teacher what I would like the ...

Green is still a color

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Green is still a color Today I received a letter in the mail addressed to "Green Bubbie(TM)" You know, even a great idea is only an idea. Even if you write about it, you need to see if it resonates with others outside of your own head. Do other people ever know what you are imagining? As a 'visionary' thinker, I can tell you that there is nothing more exciting then to see/know that your idea is understood by others, and used by them. So, imagine my delight when during my recent visit to my grand daughter's kindergarten, I was asked by the teacher what I would like the children to call me. Finally, my chance to try this 'green ...

“Eretz Israel sheli yafa vegam porachat”

For those who did not learn that song when you were little kids at school, this song means “My Land of Israel is beautiful and blooming”. The reason I did not write last month’s blog is because I was pretty busy preparing for one of the most important steps in my life: I made aliyah! Just before Pesach. I came back to Israel just for aviv-spring time, the time of blooming. Being honest, one of the hard things of leaving Chile, was to leave its natural wonders (just to mention an example, from my window, I could enjoy the view of the Andes every single day). That’s why I feel so blessed for getting here just in time for ...

Three (Jewish) Communal Actions with Impact!

Fair Food Network is excited to be partnering with Hazon on the following three calls to action. You can learn more about all of these issues by reading Oran Hesterman’s Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All. Together, we can move from being conscious consumers to engaged citizens and transform our food system! The first call to action is in your kitchen. Make a commitment to spend an additional $10 per week on food the source of which you can trace and trust. It may be $10 at the farmers’ market where you’ve just had a discussion with the grower; it may be $10 toward a buying club or a CSA. This ...

A People of Two Lands

The Jewish people were, for much of the last century described as “a people without a land,” but that is not totally accurate. Many would say that in fact that many Jews were and continue to be “a people of two lands.” Even before the founding of the modern State of Israel, Jews around the world found themselves with torn allegiances. As Diaspora Jews we have always found ourselves with emotional, spiritual and historic ties to the land of Israel, while simultaneously possessing physical, economic, and societal ties to our resident countries and regions. The situation is no less true today for American, Candain, British, ...

Spring reflections from one of Eden Village’s farm interns, Faryn Hart…

As Spring settles in and the new growing season is well on its way in the Hudson Valley, we at Eden Village Camp and the Jewish Farm School have begun cultivating the fields and planting seeds in the thawed soil and in the eager minds that have joined us for our Spring programs. Arriving onsite as a farm apprentice just a few weeks ago, I was beyond excited to get my hands dirty again growing the food that will feed us this season, and helping create programs to energize and educate people of all ages through the Spring, Summer and Fall. It was inspiring noticing which perennials survived the winter, the daffodils piercing the brown forest with ...

Reflections on a Religious School year almost past

It seems hard to believe, but with the Pesach holiday having past, there are only 2 weeks of classes remaining in my Religious School calendar. This being my 6th year teaching a Jewish / Environmental education curriculum to 6th graders, I feel I have developed a pretty good set of teachings which I have presented & discussed with my class. However, I can’t avoid the feeling that there is still so much left to teach these students that we haven’t yet had time to cover. With only 2 classes left, I am faced with the decision of how best to spend the remaining time. I am considering whether to attempt to cram in some new themes, or ...

Question of the Week #19

Lauren Freedman, board member of the Green Zionist Alliance: The Grassroots Campaign for a Sustainable Israel asks the Jewcology question of the week: What do you think is the most important environmental challenge today?