Young Adults – Page 15

Making our Confession Real: Tools for On-going Teshuvah – Part 1

October 23, 2014 No Comments

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Just before Yom Kippur, I posted Al Chet – Confessional for the Earth. So many are the deeds, misdeeds, and non-deeds in relation to the Earth for which we must confess, and then, hopefully, do teshuvah. With this post I begin a series of suggestions for how to implement changes that can help to make our confessional meaningful beyond its words, into actions. I begin with a response to this phrase: For the sin we have committed against You by believing we are doing enough. Do you believe you are doing enough? I think many of us feel we are not. Maybe we even have in our heads ideas of what we should be doing, but we have a hard time getting motivated. Maybe we are scared, or just stuck, or overwhelmed by the many options running through our heads or coming at us in email blasts and other social media. How do we find our own path? For it is our own path we must follow – the on-going process teshuvah is a very individual one, and that is what we are talking about – re-turning to G!d in a way that really alters our actions. So I offer for you a meditation to help you solidify your understanding of your way forward to a more complete relationship with the Holy One of Blessing and the Earth. Meditation for a Stronger and More Active Earth Connection Step outside. Make yourself comfortable in a comfortable place. Give yourself a few minutes to settle in. Relax your breathing. Breathe in deeply. Breath out, slowly exhaling. Repeat, using the breathy word Yah – G!d – the Breath of Life. Now feel the Earth beneath your feet. Focus on the connection between your feet and the ground beneath. Feel your connection to Earth flowing up from below. Then feel the Earth’s connection to you flowing downward from yourself. Return to a few breaths of Yah. Look upward at the sky. Feel your connection to the heavens – the Sun, the stars, the Moon. Focus on that connection. Allow the energy of your connection to the heavens to flow down from above. Then feel the sky’s connection to you flowing upward from yourself. Breathe deeply. Close your eyes. Visualize your connection to beloved places, to important people in your life, to other living things. Allow their connection to you to flow inward to your heart. Allow your connection to them to flow outward in return. Breathe deeply. Use your own language and images. Feel a sense of gratitude. Ask G!d for strength and direction. Hold the silence. Hold the stillness. Hold the strength. Let the answers come. Breathe deeply. When you are ready, open your eyes. Feel yourself blessed and energized. When you are ready, move onward to what is next. You may wish to repeat this, to modify and make it your own. Perhaps you want to add words – or a word – of prayer. Play with it until you feel a new sense of resolve and strength and courage to move forward. Remember that the Confession for the Earth ends with these words:”we are the ones we have been waiting for.” You can do it. I can do it. Together, we can do it. And we will. Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and leader of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope in Wayland, MA, and a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is the co-convener of the Jewish Climate Action Network, a member of the Jewcology.org editorial board, a board member of Shomrei Bereishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth, and the co-creator of Gathering in Grief: The Israel / Gaza Conflict.

Cranberry Shabbat with Mayan Tikvah

October 5, 2014 No Comments

Cranberry Shabbat Saturday, October 25, Raindate, November 1 Wachusett Reservoir, Boylston Join us for our annual Cranberry Shabbat. We will intermix songs and prayers with wild cranberry picking, and share a picnic lunch at the end. Please bring something to share and your own drinks and utensils. (Warm soup sounds good for a picnic in October!) Also bring containers for the cranberries. Most of our pickings will be given to a homeless shelter for their Thanksgiving dinner. There may be muddy spots, so be prepared footwear-wise, and it could be windy and chilly along the water. Please RSVP to Ma’yan Tikvah for details.

Sukkot and Shmita Resources and Events

October 3, 2014 No Comments

SUKKOT AND SHMITA RESOURCES AND EVENTS for 2014-15 contributed by all the organizations and initiatives on “the Map” http://jewcology.org/map-of-initiatives/ Here’s a quick bit of Sukkot Torah to start us off: “The four species of the lulav represent the four types of ecosystems in the land of Israel: desert (date palm), hills (myrtle), river corridors (willow), and sh’feilah, the lowlands (etrog). Each species has to be fresh, with the very tips intact – they can’t be dried out, because they hold the water of last year’s rain. Together, they make a kind of map of last year’s rainfall, and together, we use them to pray for next year’s rains.” I hope everyone enjoys the wonderful array of activities and ideas we are generating. We are a strong and beautiful network. Please add more to this list if you like: write to and I’ll update this page. I will also be updating the format and fixing the fonts — I don’t have time Erev Yom Kippur to do more than simply share this content. Thank you to everyone who shared, and g’mar chatimah tovah! Rabbi David Seidenberg, neohasid.org Resources from Judith Belasco, Hazon http://hazon.org/educational-resources/holidays/sukkot/ Hazon also has an incredible array of resources on Shmita linked at: http://hazon.org/shmita-project/educational-resources/resource-library/ from the Religious Action Center “Eco-Friendly Sukkot” http://resources.rj.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1369 “Table Texts about Food Justice” http://rac.org/pdf/index.cfm?id=23602 from Max Arad and Rabbi Carol Levithan, The Rabbinical Assembly “The Sukkah as Shelter: A Source Sheet” http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/jewish-law/holidays/sukkot/sukkah-as-shelter.pdf See also: http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/jewish-law/holidays/sukkot from Jeffrey Cohan, Jewish Vegetarians of North America “Sukkot, Simchat Torah, and Vegetarianism” http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/hlydysu.html from Rabbi Katy Z. Allen, Ma’yan Tikvah Ushpizin for an Ecological Sukkot by Laurie Levy https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzF1ISt_50TyVG9lWE0zOXJpd1k/edit from Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Shalom Center 14 articles on Sukkot at: https://theshalomcenter.org/treasury/114 including “Reb Zalman’s Prayers for the Earth on Hoshana Rabbah” and “Spread over all of us a Sukkah of shalom, salaam, paz, peace!” from Rabbi David Seidenberg, neohasid.org “How-to Build a Sukkah For Under $40” http://www.neohasid.org/sukkot/a_simple_sukkah/ more links at: http://neohasid.org/zman/sukkot/ including “Eco-Torah for Sukkot”, “Hoshanot, the Original Jewish Earth Prayers”, and “Egalitarian Ushpizin with a Prayer for the Earth” from Canfei Nesharim via Rabbi Yonatan Neril resources can be found at http://canfeinesharim.org/sukkot/ and on Jewcology http://jewcology.org/resources/sukkot-shemini-atzeret-resource-and-program-bank/ also from Rabbi Yonatan Neril, for Jewish Ecoseminars http://www.jewishecoseminars.com/let-the-land-rest-lessons-from-shemita-the-sabbatical-year/ from Nati Passow, Jewish Farm School Two resource sheets for Shmita to be posted on Jewcology — look for them on Monday before Sukkot from Anna Hanau, Grow and Behold Foods Recipes (meat): http://growandbeholdblog.wordpress.com/tag/sukkot/ Events We have three big regional festival events going on, Sukkahfest, Sukkot on the Farm, and Sukkahpalooza, and lots more local events: from Judith Belasco, Hazon/Isabella Freedman Oct 8-Oct 12, Sukkahfest at Isabella Freedman Retreat Center http://hazon.org/calendar/sukkahfest-2014/ from Pearlstone Oct 8-Oct 12, Sukkahpalooza http://pearlstonecenter.org/signature-programs/sukkot/ from Sarai Shapiro, Wilderness Torah Oct 9-Oct 12, Sukkot on the Farm, Green Oak Creeks Farm, Pescadero CA http://www.wildernesstorah.org/programs/festivals/sukkot/ local events and projects: from Hazzan Paul A. Buch, Temple Beth Israel, Pomona CA Our synagogue will break ground during Sukkot on a 1/2 acre urban farm on our property, in cooperation with a local NGO. The farm will be fully managed by the NGO at no cost to us, and all workers are paid a living wage. The produce grown will be available for purchase to our congregation and sold at farmers markets in the area. A portion will be dedicated to those who are food insecure. Question for everyone: Do you know of any other synagogues who have dedicated their land in a similar way? Please note this is not an urban garden, but a functioning not-for-profit commercial project. from Becky O’Brien, Boulder Hazon Oct 6, at 5:30 pm, family sukkot program, in partnership with the south Denver JCC Oct 12, at 4:00 and 7:00 pm, screenings of “Road to Eden”, co-sponsored with the Boulder JCC Oct 16, Sukkot Mishpacha, a program for young families at a local organic farm Rabbi Julian Sinclair stopped in Denver/Boulder on his recent book tour promoting Shabbat Ha’aretz; we hosted five programs with him earlier this month. We are leading a shmita hike for local staff of Jewish organizations to help them decompress from the hectic time of the high holidays. We expect that many shmita-related programs will arise throughout the year but we don’t yet know what they will be. from Helen Bennet, Moishe Kavod House Fri Oct 10, Shabbat in the sukkah Tues Oct 14, Sukkot Festival dinner, co-hosted with Ganei Beantown (Leora Mallach). Moishe Kavod is planning to run a series of learning and DIY sessions on shmita starting in November, with focuses on economic justice, food and ag system, and chesed/caring community principles. from Gail Wechsler, St. Louis Jewish Environmental Initiative (JEI) Sun Oct 12, 4-6 PM, screening of the film “Fire Lines”, about joint Israeli and Palestinian fire fighting efforts during the Carmel fire of December 2010. The film includes environmental themes as part of the reason for the fire was overforestation of the affected area. The director, Avi Goldstein, will speak after the film. In partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council, Webster University and the JCC. followed by: Sun Oct 12, 6-7:30 PM, organic potluck Sukkot dinner. In partnership with the JCC and its Garden of Eden, a community garden that grows organic fruits and vegetables to benefit the clients of the nearby Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. Both events at the Jewish Community Center Staenberg Arts & Education Building. from Michael Rosenzweig, Boulder JCC We have a great event each year called Sukkot Mishpacha, where we partner with a local farm so the children and families can learn about environmental issues, do fun arts and crafts projects, and pick their own gourds. http://www.boulderjcc.org/events/2249/2014/10/14/boulder-jcc-events-calendar/sukkot-mishpacha/ Note: I have not included narrative detail in general here, but I found Rhonda Ginsberg’s description so delightful to imagine and I just didn’t think I could condense it. So here is what she wrote to me, with some minor editing: from Rhonda Ginsberg, teacher, Carmel Academy, Greenwich CT For Sukkot we do a 4 year rotation focusing on different aspects of the holiday. The first year of the cycle we invite

Al Chet – Confession for the Earth

October 3, 2014 No Comments

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Eternal God, You created earth and heavens with mercy, and blew the breath of life into animals and humans. We were created amidst a world of wholeness, a world called “very good,” pure and beautiful, but now your many works are being erased by us from the book of life. Not by our righteousness do we plead our prayers before You, Holy One of All, for we have sinned, we have despoiled, we have destroyed. And so we confess together our collective sins, and ask for forgiveness: For the sin which we have committed before You intentionally or unintentionally; And for the sin which we have committed before You inadvertently; For the sin which we have committed before You openly or secretly, And for the sin which we have committed before You knowingly or unknowingly; For the sin which we have committed before You, and before our children and grandchildren, by desecrating the sacred Earth, And for the sin which we have committed before You of going beyond being fruitful and multiplying to overfilling the planet; For the sin which we have committed before You by putting comfort above conscience, And for the sin which we have committed before You by putting convenience above compassion; For the sin we have committed against You by believing we are doing enough, And for the sin which we have committed before You by reaping the dividends of unsustainability; For the sin which we have committed before You through fear of speaking out, And for the sin which we have committed before You by eating and drinking without concern for Earth and its hungry and thirsty; For the sin which we have committed before You by saying we don’t have time, And for the sin which we have committed before You by staying alive beyond the boundaries of our allotted life span: For all of these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us. For the sin which we have committed before You by not pressuring our elected officials, And for the sin which we have committed before You by gaining wealth through fossil fuels; For the sin which we have committed before You by denying the impact of our white privilege, And for the sin which we have committed before You by closing our hearts and eyes to injustice; For the sin which we have committed before You by filling land and ocean with filth, toxins and garbage, And for the sin which we have committed before You by extinguishing forever species which You saved from the waters of the flood; For the sin which we have committed before You by razing forests and trees, rivers and mountains, And for the sin which we have committed before You by turning the atmosphere into a chastening rod; For the sin which we have committed before You by making desolate habitats that give life to every living soul, And for the sin which we have committed before You by a confused heart; For all of these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us. For the sin which we have committed before You by thinking separately of US and THEM, And for the sin which we have committed before You by using more than our share of Earth’s resources; For the sin which we have committed before You by considering human life more important than other forms of life, And for the sin which we have committed before You by being deceived by those with power; For the sin which we have committed before You by not finding the courage to overcome the reality of the lobbies, And for the sin which we have committed before You by wanting to act only in ways that will serve us economically; For the sin which we have committed before You by failing to create sufficient local, green jobs, And for the sin which we have committed before You by trying to convince people rather than drawing them in; For the sin which we have committed before You by not thinking into the future when we act, And for the sin which we have committed before You by living in relative safety and not being caring of others; For all of these, God of pardon, pardon us, forgive us, atone for us. And yet, we know that we can only achieve forgiveness from You, O G!d of All That Is after we have sought forgiveness from our fellow living beings, and so, in order to achieve atonement, forgiveness, and pardon, Help us, Holy One, to enter into loving respectful conversation, Help us to create deep conversations, And help us to listen to people. Help us, Merciful One, to become empowered to talk and to connect, Help us to be creative in how we start the conversation, And help us to use our sacred texts as a foundation for our conversations. Help us, Compassionate One, to start where people are and transition to climate change, Help us to use humor as a vehicle of engaging people, Help us to start with experience of nature and end with responsibility of saving world. In order to achieve atonement, forgiveness, and pardon, Help us, Holy One, to acknowledge that we are all in this together, Help us to celebrate the positives happening in the world. Help us, Source of All, to build coalitions, Help us to create partnerships where we see other people’s needs. Help us, Eternal One, to organize local solutions, And help us to recognize that ownership and collective action are important. Open our eyes to see the majesty of Your creation! Then we will praise you as it is written: “How manifold are Your works, Holy One! You made them all with wisdom; the earth is filled with what you hold.” Please, Source of All, protect all living beings, in the shade of your wings give us refuge. Renew the face of the earth, save the weave and fullness of life. Please, Mysterious One, remove

Tips for an Eco-Friendly Simcha

October 1, 2014 No Comments

Planning a simcha, such as a wedding, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or bris, offers many opportunities to make an environmental impact. Every choice you make in planning your event can be a chance to make a statement about the importance of respecting and preserving God’s creation, the Earth. Here are some ideas of ways to reduce waste as you prepared for the big day. Reduce paper use: Consider using the Internet for all or some of your announcements about your event. Invitations can be sent electronically. RSVPs also can be sent to a specially designated email address rather than by using a pre-printed card. If you prefer to use a printed invitation, use recycled unbleached paper and soy-based ink. For a wedding or B’nai Mitzvah, consider creating your own app and/or website with information on where to stay and what to do for out of town guests, rather than printing this information. Be eco-friendly in your decor: Use real china plates and reusable cups and glassware, rather than items you throw away. If you are considering flowers, order those locally grown and in season, rather than buying from a florist who will order items flown from far away. Another alternative is to decorate with plants, which can be kept and planted or re-potted after the event. Make your own centerpieces from recycled items. Food: Where possible, use a caterer who relies on locally sourced, organic food. Consider purchasing fair trade coffee and tea for the reception. Find out if it is possible for food waste to be composted. For pre-wrapped items, such as bagels or sandwiches, do not open unused wrapped food unless or until needed. Unused wrapped food can be donated to area food pantries if not eaten, reducing waste and helping those in need. Energy use: Hold the ceremony and reception at the same location or have the events at locations not far from one another, to reduce travel and minimize gas use. Encourage your guests to carpool to your event. Enjoy your eco-friendly simcha!

Earth Etude for Elul 29- Shanah Tovah

September 24, 2014 No Comments

photos by Gabi Mezger text by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen May you find yourself in the new year constantly in motion… surrounded by love like a seal in water… reflecting light visible even in the light of those around you… moving slowly when necessary, yet always steadily… raging ferociously against the ills and injustices of the world… with unending energy, unceasing in your efforts like the constantly moving waves… zeroing in on what is most beautiful and most nourishing… spreading your wings as wide as possible… leaping as high as the highest waves… picking yourself up after the inevitable falls… soaring with grace and beauty… at times alone, but always in the direction that is right for you… traveling often in the company of others… treading gently when you must… and always remembering who and what you are. Wishing you shana tova – a good year – from the bottom of our hearts. Rabbi Katy and Gabi

Climate on Rosh Hashanah – an existential threat to Israel

September 23, 2014 No Comments

As we approached Rosh Hashanah last week, we read the double Torah portion called Nitzavim–Vayelekh, which includes the verse, “Life and death I set before you, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, in order that you and your seed will live!” (Deut. 30:19) The next day, four hundred thousand people, from across the country and continent, marched in New York City to pray and demand that our governments choose life. Among the contingent of religious groups, there were thousands of Jews (from all varieties of Judaism, from Orthodox to humanistic), and many thousands more were marching in groups under other banners. It was an awesome and inspiring experience, a feeling of awakening from deep slumber. Yet for many Jews, climate change is still not seen as a “Jewish issue”. Now, to me it seems obvious that the decimation of life on our planet is as fundamentally important to Jews and Judaism as any explicitly Jewish issue. And the possible extent of impoverishment, disaster, and famine that could be brought on by climate change must be a Jewish issue if justice is a Jewish issue, which it surely is. But in case that simple logic doesn’t work for you, let’s be absolutely clear about what the specific Jewish implications might be. According to a Ben Gurion University study, if we enter an era of what scientists consider extreme climate change – meaning an increase in average global temperature of more than 2 degrees – the Negev desert will expand 200 km northward. That means the desert will stretch far beyond Beersheva, beyond Raanana and Haifa, all the way into Lebanon. Almost all of the sh’feilah – the agriculturally productive lowlands – could be gone. On top of that, Tel Aviv will be under water due to rising sea levels. If that’s not an existential threat to Israel than nothing is. So if you’re a Zionist or you care about the Jewish people and you think that the issue of climate change is not as important as “energy independence”, you have your values upside down. If you think the natural gas boom caused by fracking is good for Israel, or tar sands oil is good for Israel, then your picture of the world is missing some essential facts. Protecting Israel doesn’t just mean getting off of Arab petroleum, it means getting off of all petroleum. If you’re not advocating for that, you might as well be calling for the destruction of the state. This week we will be praying for another year of life. We will blow the shofar to recall God’s original act of creation, and to herald the yearly renewal of Creation. This week we will also be ushering in the next Sabbatical year, the Shmita, when debts are canceled, the land is released, and the power that comes from possessing the land is lifted. And yet we still live in a world where mountains, along with all their ecosystems, are torn off in order to tear out coal. We still live in a land where polluted water is not considered too high a price to pay in order to extract oil and gas that will pollute our atmosphere. Where the debt to nature we incur will be paid by future generations, or, to use the Torah’s expression, where “we eat the flesh of our sons and daughters”. (Lev. 26:29) Let’s make this Rosh Hashanah, and this Shmita, the year when all of that changes. Let’s get our institutions and portfolios to divest from Big Oil. Let’s get our synagogues and communities to stand up for the Earth. Let’s repay our debt to the planet with blessings and gratitude and right actions. Let us listen to the wake up call of the shofar and respond: “Hayom harat olam!” – “today, a new world is conceived!” Rabbi David Seidenberg is the author of Kabbalah and Ecology: God’s Image in the More-Than-Human World, published by Cambridge University Press, and the creator and director of neohasid.org. An earlier version of this article appeared in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.

Earth Etude for Elul 17- Meditation on Elul

September 11, 2014 No Comments

by Richard H. Schwartz Elul is here. It represents a chance for heightened introspection, an opportunity to do teshuva and improve our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High holidays” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to make positive changes. How should we respond to Elul today? How should we respond when we hear reports almost daily of severe, often record-breaking, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and storms; when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have reached 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in human history, far above the 350 ppm that climate experts believe is safe, when polar ice caps and glaciers are melting far faster than projections of climate experts; when some climatologists are warning that we could be close to a tipping point when climate change could spiral out of control with disastrous consequences, unless major changes are soon made; when we appear to also be on the brink of major food, water, and energy scarcities; and when, despite all of the above, so many people are in denial, in effect “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic as we approach a giant iceberg”? I believe that we should make it a priority to do all that we can to awaken the world to the dangers and the urgency of doing everything possible to shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path. We should urge that tikkun olam (the healing and repair of the world) be a central focus in all aspects of Jewish life today. We should contact rabbis, Jewish educators, and other Jewish leaders and urge that they increase awareness of the threats and how Jewish teachings can be applied to avert impending disasters. We should write letters to editors, call talk shows, question politicians, and in every other way possible, stress that we can’t continue the policies that have been so disastrous. The afternoon service for Yom Kippur includes the book of Jonah, who was sent by God to Nineveh to urge the people to repent and change their evil ways in order to avoid their destruction. Today the whole world is Nineveh, in danger of annihilation and in need of repentance and redemption, and each one of us must be a Jonah, with a mission to warn the world that it must turn from greed, injustice, and idolatry, so that we can avoid a global catastrophe. Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of College of Staten Island, author of Judaism and Vegetarianism, Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet, other books, and 200 articles at JewishVeg.com/schwartz, President Emeritus, Jewish Vegetarians of North America (www.JewishVeg.com); President, Society Of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV), and associate producer of A SACRED DUTY (www.aSacredDuty.com).

Earth Etude for Elul 14- Elul’s Comin”

September 8, 2014 No Comments

by Judith Felsen In days of Av anticpatin’ I have done my exploration searching, seeking digging deeper all to clear the space as greeter. From the bottom of my looking I can sense great times are coming soon our King will sure arrive and in fields we both will thrive. Therefore now and always ever will this earth be seen as heaven by all those who now know its glitter shimmering sparks both there and hither. May we join in joyful meeting in all lands we’ve tilled this season. Welcome King, we greet your visit together harvest is on our list. Earth Your place which is our home hosts us as now our thanks we show. With gratitude to our King, on whom we are joyfully dependent, and to the planet He offers with us which we call our home. Copyright 2014 Judith Felsen, Ph.D. Judith Felsen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, certificates in hypnotherapy, NLP, Eriksonian Hypnosis, and Sacred Plant Medicine. She is a dancer of sacred circle dance, an AMC kitchen crew , taril information volunteer, trail adopter, and daily student of Torah and Judaism. She is enrolled in Rabbinical Seminary International. She has studied Buddhism, A Course in Miracles, and other mystical traditions. She is a hiker, walker, runner, and lives in the White Mountains with her husband and two large dogs. Her life centers around her Jewish studies and daily application.

Earth Etude for Elul 10- Topsy Turvy Bus

September 4, 2014 No Comments

by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein The world seems a little topsy turvy these days. A plane missing. 223 girls kidnapped in Nigeria. 3 teen agers kidnapped and murdered in Israel. A plane shot out of the sky. Israel in Gaza. Rockets in Israel. Too many children killed in the streets of Chicago. Too many deaths. When does it stop? In the Fox River Valley, Illinois, after a punishing winter of epic proportions, it is nice to be outside. Six congregations, part of the nascent Prairie Jewish Coalition, sponsored the Topsy Turvy bus. What is a topsy turvy bus? It is a school bus, bright yellow, with half of another school bus on top, welded together and running entirely on used food oil. It is a project of Hazon to draw attention to climate change. Draw attention it does. You have never seen anything like it. Part school bus, part RV, part camper, five people (and two support staff) are driving this bus from Colorado to Isabella Friedman Retreat Center in Connecticut. Inside the bus there are sleeping quarters, a kitchen, storage space and even a library! Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s commissioned the bus. The first tour raised awareness of wasteful spending at the Pentagon. Maybe this Topsy Turvy bus can bring peace! The second tour promoted the White House Organic Farm project. So it makes sense that on a sunny, Sunday afternoon, my congregation, Kneseth Israel, and Pushing the Envelope Farm have come together to host this event. The residents, drivers, educators engaged all ages who turned out. There were yummy blueberry smoothies made by a bicycle blender. Even better vegan chocolate chip cookies made with three different models of solar cookers. This led to an interesting debate about whether you could use a solar cooker to cook a chicken for Shabbat. The solar cooking and the bicycle smoothies remind me that I want to install a solar ner tamid, eternal light at our synagogue. The brainchild of Rabbi Everett Gendler, one of the first Jewish environmentalists, Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley installed the first one in 1978. It raises awareness about the power of the sun and the need to protect our environment, to be caretakers with G-d, in this glorious creation.. People could tour Pushing the Envelope Farm, owned by Rabbi Fred Margulies and his wife Trisha who built the farm from spare acreage on their Continental Envelope Company land in Geneva, IL. They are using it primarily as a teaching farm, with programs for schools, synagogues, churches and scout troops. With 14 acres, there is an organic CSA, various crops and farm animals. A portion of everything they grow goes to the nearby Northern Illinois Food Bank. The kids who came loved playing with the chickens and the goats. They loved making their own smoothies and solar cooked cookies. I loved seeing the signs in English, Hebrew, Spanish. And while the bees are critically important, to sustainability and our celebrations of Rosh Hashanah, I gave them a wide berth as I hiked by. But maybe what I loved most is how this Topsy Turvey bus got all of us—from six congregations and from two years old to eighty, outside on a beautiful, summer day. It would seem that the world is not so Topsy Turvey. Maybe there can even be peace. Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein is the rabbi of Congregation Kneseth Israel in Elgin, IL, and the author of A Climbing Journey Toward Yom Kippur. She blogs as the Energizer Rabbi, at http://www.theenergizerrabbi.org.

Earth Etude for Elul 8 – Waves on the Beach

September 2, 2014 No Comments

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen I stand on the beach. Waves– I hear them, see them, rising, falling, splashing, foaming. Deep within me waves form, rise up, are released, unite with the ocean waves. Throughout my body sadness…. grief…. despair…. engulf me. The Earth is suffering. I cannot simply stand, sit, lie, relax. Act, I must, driven by my grief, by my love, by the waves, in order to live with myself, with the Holy One of Blessing– who is able to quiet waves, in the sea, in my soul– who continues to command me, always. .אני עומדת על חוף הים –גלים ,שומעת אני אותם רואה אותם ,גואים, יורדים .זוהרים, בועים בעמקים פנימיים ,גלים נוצרים ,גואים ,יוצאים .מתאחדים עם גליי הים בכל גופי …..עצב ….אבל ….יגון .מתפשטים בתוכי .כדור הארץ סובל ,עסור לי רק לעמוד ,לשבת ,לשכב .להירגע ,לפעול חובה עלי ,נדרשת מאבלי ,מאהבתי ,מהגלים ,כדי לחיות עם עצמי –עם הקדוש ברוך הוא ,שמסוגל לשבח גלים ,בים –בנפשי ,שממשיך לפקוד אותי .תמיד Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and leader of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope in Wayland, MA, and a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is also the co-convener of the Jewish Climate Action Network and the co-creator of Gathering in Grief: The Israel / Gaza Conflict.

Outdoor High Holiday Services with Ma’yan Tikvah

September 2, 2014 No Comments

Outdoor High Holiday Services with Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Thursday, September 25, 9:30 AM, Cedar Hill Camp 265 Beaver Street, Waltham, (accessible by MBTA bus) Click here to carpool to this service. Rosh HaShanah Potluck Dinner and Shmita Seder, Thursday, September 25, 6:30 PM, Location TBD, in Wayland Rosh HaShanah Day 2, Friday, September 26, 10 AM, Greenways Conservation Area, 60 Green Way, Wayland Kol Nidre Service, Friday, October 3, 6:45 PM, Church of the Holy Spirit, 169 Rice Road, Wayland Click here to carpool to this service. Yom Kippur Morning, Saturday, October 4, 9:30 AM, Cedar Hill Camp, 265 Beaver Street, Waltham, (accessible by MBTA bus) Click here to carpool to this service. Neilah Service and Break-fast, Saturday, October 4, 6:30 PM, Church of the Holy Spirit, 169 Rice Road, Wayland; Break-fast will be at a nearby private home Ma’yan Tikvah celebrates the High Holidays in the woods with morning services on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur as well as Kol Nidre services on Erev Yom Kippur. The services are led by Rabbi Katy Allen and are a combination of traditional and nontraditional; they are informal and participatory for those who wish to add their voices. Morning services are held outside, or if the weather requires it, under an outdoor pavilion. There is time to sing, to appreciate the natural world around us, to meditate and pray, to read and discuss the Torah portion, to hear the sound of the Sofar on Rosh HaShanah, and to remember our loved ones during Yizkor on Yom Kippur. On the first day of Rosh HaShanah, our services are followed by a pot-luck lunch and then tashlich. We will have a very different service on the second day of Rosh HaShanah – a hike interspersed with meditations, prayers, discussion, and the blowing of the shofar, and the day will include a picnic lunch – bring your own. We will through the fields and woods and end with a picnic near the Sudbury River. Our Kol Nidre service is mostly indoors, but if weather permits we go outside for part of the service. We will also have a short Neilah service at the end of Yom Kippur followed by a pot-luck break-fast. All are welcome, including families with children. The sites for the first day of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are handicap accessible. For more information or to register, go to www.mayantikvah.org and click on Shabbat, Holidays, and Classes, or call 508-358-5996 or email .

Living with Change

September 1, 2014 No Comments

Earth Etude for Elul 6 by Rabbi Howard Cohen The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilisation. Ralph Waldo Emerson With the approach of the season of Teshuvah it is once again time to reflect on our relationship with the earth. In the past I would have asked myself questions such as ‘did I waste natural resources’; or ‘did I pour unreasonable amounts of carbon into the atmospher’; or ‘did I speak out against corporate environmental abuse’. These questions are important but I believe that there is another set of questions equally or more important that we should start asking ourselves. This year I am asking ‘how prepared am I to live in an ecologically changed/damaged world’ and ‘how am I helping others cope with the environmental changes we fear that are now a part of our reality’. Humans have already irreversibly and negatively impacted the ecology and environment of the earth. Perhaps we can mitigate to some degree future damage, but we cannot undo what has been done. Thus, the most important existential challenge today is how to live in our environmentally affected world. Sadly, the environmental movement has failed. This is not because Truth and science are not on its side, nor because it lacked resources or organization. It failed because it was essentially a messianic movement. Like all messianic movements it focused on final outcomes: If we don’t change our ways terrible things await us (think Jonah and his commission from God to the Ninevites). But if we change (teshuvah) our ways we can avoid this horrible fate and enjoy heaven on earth. Alternatively it was messianic because it was built upon the belief that in the end if we do right we can return (teshuvah) the earth and all therein to a time when it was much more like the days of the Garden of Eden. (Think Shabbat as a taste of the Olam HaBa, that is, in the Garden of Eden). The environmental movement failed because messianic movements always fail. This is a dark message if we are afraid of the unknown. This is a depressing message if we do not prepare for the changes scientist are quite confident will almost certainly come. That is why this year when I reflect on my earth/nature relationship instead of asking what can I do better next year to stop the inevitable changes from happening, I am going to ask how can I live with and help others live with the changes already under way. Learning to live within a changed environment can be empowering, inspire hope and stimulate creativity. It is not, nor does it need to be depressing. Rabbi Howard Cohen runs Judaism Outdoors: Burning Bush Adventures, through which he takes people into the wilderness for an unforgettable experience of God, Judaism, and wilderness,

Giving Yourself an Autumn Break

August 31, 2014 No Comments

by Andrew Oram This time of year always seems a hurricane of activity: coming back from vacation to reams of email, or starting school, or dealing with all the pent-up housework that went blissfully ignored during the easy summer months. Traditionally, Jews see this time of year very differently. Like typical Americans, this period is for them both an ending and a beginning: a recognition of the waning of life and an invigorating harbinger of new possibilities. But in place of the chaotic hurricane that starts for us after Labor Day, many Jews launch a period of quiet, internal reconstruction four days earlier on the first day of Elul. Leaving mental space and physical time for self-reflection—and doing it now, precisely because this is such a busy time of year—represents an excellent discipline that can preserve mental and physical health throughout the year. The change of seasons also teaches about of the amazing balance in the Earth that gives us food, clean air, and all good things. We don’t need to lament the end of warm weather and the reminder that in a few months we will be buried in snow. Snow is one of the great blessings of God–not just because we enjoy winter sports, but because it forms the perfect storage medium that, when the climate works right, preserves the water coming from Heaven that is needed months later for the plants that sprang up on the third day of Creation. We don’t have to approach Elul through the traditional obsession with the S-word (sin). We can look back at what we wanted to accomplish during the year, and measure how far we have come. We can recall what unanticipated challenges and woes came up, congratulate ourselves for making it through them, and give a thumb’s up to the greater force that might have helped. We can ask why it is (if so) we do more Jewish stuff during High Holidays than the rest of year, and consider incrementing our Jewish practice and thinking year-round. And most of all, we should take a vow to devote part of the year to the preservation of the Earth, so that our descendants can enjoy High Holidays three thousand years from now. Andrew Oram is an editor and writer at the technology company O’Reilly Media, a member of Temple Shir Tikvah of Winchester, Massachusetts, and an activist in the Jewish Climate Action Network and other local (This is adapted from an article originally published in the newsletter of Temple Shir Tivkvah, Winchester, Mass.)

Jewish literary theorist coins ‘cli fi’ genre term for climate change awareness

August 31, 2014 No Comments

Danny Bloom grew up in western Masschusetts in the 1950s, studied Jewish ideas under Rabbi Samuel Dresner, was bar-mitvahed in 1962 under the cantorial direction of Cantor Morty Shames and then started travelling. France, Israel, Greece, Italy, Alaska and Japan. Now he’s 65 and working on what he calls a very Jewish project, Jewish because it comes out of ideas and values about having a vision and being a dreamer that he picked up on his way to becoming a bald, goateed senior citizen. Bloom lives in Asia now working as a public relations writer and doing his best as a climate activist to push a new literary genre to the fore. He calls it “cli fi,” from the earlier sci fi term, and it stands for climate fiction novels and movies. It’s more than just a daydream or an idle thought. Cli fi is actually catching on with the likes Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood backing the idea and a host of newspapers and websites agreeing that its time has come. Wired magazine discusses it on page 33 of its December 2013 issue in the Jargon Watch corner edited by Jonathon Keats. Post-Sandy and post-Haiyan, cli fi literature resonates as a literary term, Bloom says, adding that promoting the genre is ”now my life’s work, come what may.” Earlier this year, two major news outlets in the U.S. and Britain, NPR (National Public Radio) and the Guardian, ran stories about the term. While some commentators have said it is a new genre, others have said it is just a subgenre of science fiction. NPR put it this way: “Over the past decade, more and more writers have begun to set their novels and short stories in worlds, not unlike our own, where the Earth’s systems are noticeably off-kilter. The genre has come to be called climate fiction — cli fi, for short.” British writer Rodge Glass noted in his piece in the Guardian that the literary world is now witnessing the rise of cli fi worldwide. After the NPR and Guardian news stories went through the usual social media stages of tweets and retweets, a literature professor at the University of Oregon, Stephanie LeMenager, announced that she had created a seminar that she will teach early next year titled “The Cultures of Climate Change” using the cli fi theme as a main theme of the class. Bloom says that cli fi is a broad category, and it can apply to climate-themed novels and movies that take place in the present or the future, or even in the past. And cli fi novels can be dystopian in nature, or utopian, or just plain ordinary potboiler thrillers. With carbon dioxide emissions in terms of parts per million (ppm) now hovering at around 400ppm, cli fi writers have their work cut out for them, Bloom says. Post-Sandy and now post-Haiyan, there has never been a more opportune time than now to pay attention to the emergence of this newly-minted literary genre dubbed “cli fi.” Not sci fi, but cli fi — for ”climate fiction” novels. From Barbara Kingsolver’s “Flight Behavior” to Nathaniel Rich’s “Odds Against Tomorrow,” and with over 300 novels already on a growing list, including some that take a contrarian view of global warming, cli fi novels are increasingly becoming a part of the literary landscape. Short stories, novels, movies: cli fi is an apt term for what’s coming down the road year by year as the 21st Century heads towards the 22nd Century — in terms of coming to grips with climate change and global warming issues, and from various points of view as well. In “State of Fear,” Michael Crichton’s 1994 cli fi novel, the author used his story to criticize climate activists and dissed global warming as a non-issue. Bloom says all points of view are welcome in the cli fi stable, even though he himself does not agree with Crichton’s thesis. ”Just as sci fi has had a variety of themes and practicitioners, cli fi novels cannot be bundled into one convenient bookstore shelf. In fact, like Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” cli fi novels will also rest on authors’ individual perspectives, and not every author will toe the line. That’s to be expected. Literature should be open to all.” he says. But post-Sandy, and post-Haiyan, cli fi arrived in its own quiet way. And the next 100 years, we will see more and more of this kind of literature, Bloom says, adding that Hollywood movies will follow the trend as well. Expect cli fi movies like Jewish director Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah,” set in the distant past of the Hebrew Bible story and scheduled for a March 2014 release and expect literary critics and academics to turn cli fi into a much-talked-about genre. Does cli fi have a future? “Yes,” says the travelling PR man. “Yes.

Earth Etudes for Elul – An Introduction and Etude 1

August 26, 2014 No Comments

This evening the month of Elul begins, the month that leads us up to the first day of the new year, Rosh HaShanah 5775. The sun rises and sets, again and again, and with each cycle we get a day older, with each cycle the world brings pain and joy, anger and delight, frustration and calm, fear and trust. Soon those days will have added up, and we will be a year older than the last time we ate apples and honey together. We ask: How have I changed? What have I done? What do I wish I had done? What do I hope to do in the future? How has the world changed? How did I impact the world? How do I want to impact it? It is time for heshbon hanefesh, examining our hearts and souls, determining where we’ve been and what we’ve done and what we wish to do better in the future. It is time for teshuvah, turning and re-turning to G!d. It is time for us to begin to make atonement for the things we wish we had or hadn’t done, and renewing ourselves, to do all we can to get ourselves to change. To aid us on our journey, Ma’yan TIkvah is once again offer you a series of Earth Etudes for Elul for most of the days of the month of Elul. Each of the Etudes connects in some way to the Earth and to teshuvah, reminding us that we cannot disconnect ourselves from all that surrounds us, reminding us that we are part of an intertwined whole that is so incredibly diverse and rich and amazing, reminding us that we are not alone. And since this coming year, 5775, is a shmitah year, the one year in seven that the Torah commands that we let the Earth rest, our debts be forgiven, and our relationships renewed in special ways, some of our writers will focus on this Shabbat year for the Earth. As you journey through the month of Elul, may you go from strength to strength, and may you find new ways to be in relationship to yourself, your loved ones, the Earth, and the One Source of All. Chodesh tov – have a good month, and welcome to the Earth Etudes for Elul Rabbi Katy Z. Allen Earth Etude for Elul 1 – The Shmita Year by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen In the Torah, we find three cycles of seven that mark the Jewish way of being in the world: Shabbat, a day of rest for humans and animals after six days of work, shmita, a year of rest for the Earth and the community after six years of agriculture and economic interactions, and the Jubilee Year, the end of seven cycles of shmita, the year of freedom. Does a day of rest each week have meaning to you? For many of us, such a frequent and regular segment of time to set aside for rest can be a challenge. Then what about a year of rest? That is even harder to wrap our brains around! What would it mean in today’s world to have a year that is set aside to be experienced differently than the previous six years and the upcoming six years? For the land around us and for the way we interact within our communities? To give us a start in thinking about this complex idea as we enter into the month of Elul, here are the Biblical texts* that form the core teachings of Shmita, in some cases set in the context of the verses around it. I invite you to read, to consider, and to process these verses. 1 You are not to take up an empty rumor. Do not put your hand in with a guilty person, to become a witness for wrongdoing. 2 You are not to go after many people to do evil. And you are not to testify in a quarrel so as to turn aside toward many-and thus turn away. 3 Even a poor-man you are not to respect as regards his quarrel. 4 Now when you encounter your enemy’s ox or his donkey straying, return it, return it to him. 5 And when you see the donkey of one who hates you crouching under its burden, restrain from abandoning it to him- unbind, yes, unbind it together with him. 6 You are not to turn aside the rights of your needy as regards his quarrel. 7 From a false matter, you are to keep far! And one clear and innocent, do not kill, for I do not acquit a guilty-person. 8 A bribe you are not to take, for a bribe blinds the open-eyed, and twists the words of the righteous. 9 A sojourner, you are not to oppress: you yourselves know well the feelings of the sojourner, for sojourners were you in the land of Egypt. 10 For six years you are to sow your land and to gather in its produce, 11 but in the seventh, you are to let it go [tishm’tenah] and to let it be [u’nitashta], that the needy of your people may eat, and what remains, the wildlife of the field shall eat. Do thus with your vineyard, with your olive-grove. – Exodus 23.1-1 1 The Lord spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai, saying: 2 Speak to the Children of Israel, and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land is to cease, a Sabbath-ceasing to the Lord. 3 For six years you are to sow your field, for six years you are to prune your vineyard, then you are to gather in its produce, 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of Sabbath-ceasing for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord: your field you are not to sow, your vineyard you are not to prune, 5 the aftergrowth of your harvest you are not to harvest, the grapes of your consecrated-vines you are not to amass; a Sabbath of Sabbath-ceasing shall there be for the land! 6 Now the Sabbath-yield of the land is for

70+ Rabbinic Call to Move Our Money to Protect Our Planet

April 30, 2014 No Comments

Dear chevra, By April 30, 2014, more than 70 Rabbis and other Jewish spiritual leaders have signed this Call. Now we appeal to all members of the Jewish community to join in this effort. To do so, please click to: <https://theshalomcenter.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=11&reset=1> We — Rabbis, Cantors, and other Jewish spiritual leaders — call upon Jewish households, congregations, seminaries, communal and denominational bodies, and other institutions: Move Our Money to Protect Our Planet. In the ancient tradition from Sinai, naaseh v’nishma: Let us act, and as we do let us listen and learn. Let us act: To Move Our Money and Protect Our Planet, we call on the Jewish community to: Move Our Money (household and congregational) away from purchasing oil and coal-based energy and moving instead, wherever possible, to buy energy from wind and solar sources. Move Our Money (household and congregational) away from savings and checking accounts in banks that are investing our money in Big Carbon, moving it instead to community banks and credit unions; Move Our Money (household, congregational, communal, and denominational) away from actual investments in the stocks and bonds of death-dealing Big Oil, Big Coal, and Big Unnatural Gas, and move it instead to investments in stable, profitable solar and wind-energy companies and in community-based enterprises that help those who suffer from asthma and other diseases caused by Big Carbon; Organize our congregants and members to insist that local and state governments similarly Move Our Money – often in large pension funds — from investments in death to investments in life. Insist that Congress Move Our Money — money we pay in taxes — away from subsidies to Big Oil, Big Coal, and Big Unnatural Gas, and instead to supporting research, development, and production of life-giving renewable energy. Let us learn: We are a world people who still bear the wisdom of indigenous farmers and shepherds, meditators and sages, cooks and city planners: Our festivals dance with the rhythms of Earth, Moon, and Sun; Our Shabbat points the way toward a sustainable rhythm of work and rest; Our kashrut points the way toward sacred limits and practices in consuming not only food but other gifts of Mother Earth; Our long long history of resistance to the pharaohs that oppress human beings, lift up idols to worship, and bring plagues upon the Earth gives us a reservoir of commitment and clarity in political action. And when as a world/indigenous people we join words and foods in the Pesach Seder, we find twin powerful passages of the Haggadah: In every generation, some new versions of “pharaoh” arise to endanger us. In every generation, we ourselves must act to win our freedom from destruction. In our generation, these Pharaohs are global corporations of Big Carbon that are bringing the Plagues of climate crisis upon all life-forms on Planet Earth — a crisis of a breadth and depth unprecedented in the history of the human species. And in our generation, we can resist these new pharaohs by moving our money to places where it will serve life and heal our wounded Earth. Moving from what is deadly to what is life-giving echoes the deepest transformation of our history: In the very process of freeing ourselves from Pharaoh, we learned to shape a new kind of society — Beyond the Red Sea, we moved to Shabbat and Sinai. Half a century ago, the American Jewish community joined with other religious communities to challenge racism, and together we were crucial in taking a great step toward healing America. Today the Holy One and the Earth need us again to join with other religious, spiritual, and ethical communities to make ourselves a crucial part of the movement to heal our planetary climate. As Rabbi Akiba taught, facing the dangerous Caesars of his day: “Which is greater, study or action? Study, if it leads to action.” (Kiddushin 40b) So we — Rabbis, Cantors, other Jewish spiritual leaders, and students in these sacred callings — not only join in this Call but also undertake a campaign to bring this life-giving vision of Torah into the hills and rivers, streets and forests, newspapers and videos, homes and campuses, neighborhoods and synagogues, of our generation. By April 30, 2014, more than 70 Rabbis and other Jewish spiritual leaders have signed this Call. The Initiating Signers are below; to see the full list of signers, please click to <https://theshalomcenter.org/content/rabbinic-call-move-our-money-protect-our-planet > Now we appeal to all members of the Jewish community to join in this effort. To do so, please click to: <https://theshalomcenter.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=11&reset=1> Initiating Signers: Rabbi Katy Allen Rabbi Phyllis Berman Spiritual Dir Barbara Breitman Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin Rabbi Howard Cohen Rabbi Elliot Dorff Rabbi Nancy Flam Rabbi Everett Gendler Rabbi Marc Gopin Rabbi Arthur Green Rabbi Lori Klein Rabbi Michael Lerner Rabbi Mordechai Liebling Rabbi Jan Salzman Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Kohenet Holly Taya Shere Rabbi Sidney Schwarz Rabbi David Shneyer Rabbi Ariana Silverman Rabbi Ed Stafman Rabbi Margot Stein Rabbi Susan Talve Rabbi Lawrence Troster Rabbi Arthur Waskow Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg Cantor Greg Yaroslow Rabbi Shawn Zevit ___ Please add my name as a signer of this Call: Sign online at <https://theshalomcenter.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=11&reset=1>

The Seder’s Innermost Secret — Charoset: Earth & Eros in the Passover Celebration

April 8, 2014 No Comments

There it sits on the Seder plate: charoset, a delicious paste of chopped nuts, chopped fruits, spices, and wine. So the question would seem obvious: "Why is there charoset on the Seder plate?" That's the most secret Question at the Seder – so secret nobody even asks it. And it’s got the most secret answer: none. The Haggadah explains about matzah, the bread so dry it blocks your insides for a week. The Haggadah explains about the horse-radish so bitter it blows the lid off your lungs and makes breathing so painful you wish you could just stop. The Haggadah even explains about that scrawny chicken neck, or maybe the roasted beet, masquerading as a whole roast lamb. But it never explains charoset. Yes, there's an oral tradition. (Fitting for something that tastes so delicious!) You've probably heard somebody at a Passover Seder claim that charoset is the mortar the ancient Israelite slaves had to paste between the bricks and stones of those giant warehouses they were building for Pharaoh. But that's a cover story. Really dumb. You think that mortar was so sweet, so spicy, so delicious that every ancient Israelite just had to slaver some mortar on his tongue? You think it wasn't leeks and onions they wailed for after they crossed the Sea of Blood, but the mortar they were pasting on their masters' mansions? You think they were whining, "Give me mortar or give me death?" Forbid it, Almighty God! OK, maybe it’s a midrash? Those bitter-hearted rabbis, always fresh from some pogrom or exile, claiming that to the Israelites, slavery was sweet? So sweet that it reminds us that slavery may taste sweet, and this is itself a deeper kind of slavery? No. The oral tradition transmitted by charoset is not by word of mouth but taste of mouth. A kiss of mouth. A full-bodied, full-tongued, "kisses sweeter than wine" taste of mouth. Charoset is an embodiment of by far the earthiest, sexiest, kissyest, bodyest book of the Hebrew Bible —- the Song of Songs. Charoset is literally a full-bodied taste of the Song. The Song is the recipe for charoset. You think they were going to tell you that when you were six years old, just learning how to stumble through "Mah nishtanah," the Four Questions? Or maybe when you were fourteen, just beginning to eye that good-looking cousin sitting right across the table? Or maybe when you were 34 and they were all nagging you to settle down already, get married –– that's when you thought they might finally tell the truth about charoset? Face it: They were never going to tell you. Maybe, without ever asking or answering about charoset, they might mention something that seemed entirely different: that the olden rabbis thought the Song of Songs should be recited during the festival of Passover, but quickly they'd explain that what seems so erotic in the Song was really about God's loving effort to free the Israelites from Pharaoh. And – especially important in our generation: The Song is by far the likeliest candidate of all Biblical books to have been written, or collated, or edited, by a woman. A woman’s experience is central to it. AND – it is filled with love not only between human beings but between human beings and the Earth. The luscious tastes of fruit, nuts, spices, wine – are the delicious savors and flavors of the Earth. Time to tell the passionate truth: The Song of Songs is the recipe for charoset, and charoset is the delicious embodiment of the Song. Verses from the Song: "Feed me with apples and with raisin-cakes; "Your kisses are sweeter than wine; "The scent of your breath is like apricots; "Your cheeks are a bed of spices; "The fig tree has ripened; "Then I went down to the walnut grove." There are several kinds of freedom that we celebrate on Pesach: The freedom of people who rise up against Pharaoh, the tyrant. The freedom of Earth, the flowers that rise up against winter. The freedom of birth, of the lambs who trip and stagger in their skipping-over, passing-over dance called “pesach.” The freedom of sex, that rises up against the prunish and the prudish. The text of the Song subtly, almost secretly, bears the recipe for charoset, and we might well see the absence of any specific written explanation of charoset as itself a subtle, secret pointer toward the "other" liberation of Pesach –- the erotic, Earth-loving freedom celebrated in the Song of Songs, which we are taught to read on Passover. The Song of Songs is sacred not only to Jews, but also to Christians and to Muslims, and especially to the mystics in all three traditions. Its earth-and-human-loving erotic energy has swept away poets and rabbis, lovers and priests, dervishes and gardeners. Yet this sacred power — "Love is strong as death," sings the Song — has frightened many generations into limiting its power. Redefining its flow as a highly structured allegory, or hiding it from the young, or forbidding it from being sung in public places. Even so, long tradition holds that on the Shabbat in the middle of Passover, Jews chant the Song of Songs. Why is this time of year set aside for this extraordinary love poem? At one level, because it celebrates the springtime rebirth of life. And the parallel goes far deeper. For the Song celebrates a new way of living in the world. The way of love between the earth and her human earthlings, beyond the future of conflict between them that accompanies the end of Eden. The way of love between women and men, with women celebrated as leaders and initiators, beyond the future of subjugation that accompanies the end of Eden. The way of bodies and sexuality celebrated, beyond the future of shame and guilt that accompanies the end of Eden. The way of God so fully present in the whole of life that God needs no specific naming

And on Day Eight of Creation, We Advocated for Change…

March 25, 2014 No Comments

This year, my attention is on the power of advocacy and the opportunity for us to make a difference, as a Jewish community, in environmental policy. After spending a year with Jewcology and Canfei Nesharim focusing my attention on Jewish learning on the environment, and a second year focusing on action, I’ve come to understand that real change also requires a third piece: joining with others as citizens to make a difference. That is why, this year, we’re focusing on a Year of Jewish Policy Engagement on the Environment. We are blessed to live in a democracy like the United States, which gives us the power to influence our politicians by our votes. No matter how much money is poured into politics, it won’t rule the day if all citizens take their responsibility seriously, learn the issues, speak their mind and vote their conscience. Unfortunately, many of us have been cowed by confusion and perceived corruption, and distracted by entertainment and day-to-day pressures. If we give our power away, there are many who will be glad to take it from us. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to express this view on Sunday, March 9 at the closing plenary of the 6th Annual Pearlstone Beit Midrash. We had spent the weekend learning Torah on each of the days of the creation of the world, including some explorations of our own opportunities for individual action. At the closing plenary, the continuation of action on “Day 8,” we took the next step by exploring our own advocacy potential. We began with a dvar Torah from Rabbi Fred Dobb of Adat Shalom Congregation in Bethesda. Then, we looked at what makes advocacy seem hard, such as uncertainty about how and when to get involved, disagreement on specific issues within our communities, and the need to fight against other powerful interests. We also looked at why advocacy is so important, and realized that we can make a real difference if we join together as a community – but if we don’t claim our power, others will. Joelle Novey, from Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL), explained the opportunity to become an ally community as part of other, broader campaigns. She invited participants to build relationships with other environmental organizations, such as Interfaith Power and Light, that are working in their local region, so that they will hear about the most important activities where their communities can make a difference. These ally relationships have the benefit of creating trust so that we don’t have to learn every detail about every single topic, or run our own independent campaigns, but be deployed in larger campaigns where our participation can make a meaningful difference. I shared a story of my experience working with GWIPL in my local community in Silver Spring, MD, which spoke directly to this point. Here is that story, in part: In 2010, I decided to create a “sustainability circle,” a group of people in my local Jewish community who care about the environment. It was a kind of book club where we would talk about different environmental topics – and a kind of support group for environmentalists. We learned about local recycling rules, composting, and community supported agriculture. We heard from local members who were raising goats and chickens. We formed connections with each other and created a place in the community for these dialogues. We also formed a relationship with the local Interfaith Power and Light, led by Joelle Novey. One day in the fall of 2011, Joelle came to me and said we had this amazing opportunity. There was an important Offshore Wind Power bill in committee in the Maryland House of Delegates and our local representative, Delegate Ben Kramer, would play an important role in the committee vote. We just needed to use our existing community networks to encourage people to support wind power. We had a presentation from someone in the Maryland Energy Administration. We made calls at the key time. I was able to speak, representing our community, at a Town Hall Meeting. And then, in 2012, we sent Del. Kramer his first ever Tu b’Shevat card, thanking him for his support of sustainable energy. The news was even covered in the Washington Post. That year, Del. Kramer changed his position to supporting the bill. The next year, the wind power bill passed, and we’re on our way to having offshore wind in MD. What I learned from this process is the difference that can be made when I build networks in my own community, and offer them as an ally community to be deployed as part of a larger campaign. At the end of the session, Rabbi Baruch Rock of Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, VA, facilitated an exercise in which each person recognized the difference that they have made through their actions. We realized that although sometimes we think it’s difficult to have an impact, we’re actually touching people’s lives and bringing goodness into the world with so much of what we do. If we’ve been able to do that without even trying, imagine what we could accomplish if we joined together! I’m so grateful to the coordinators of the Pearlstone Beit Midrash, who welcomed the opportunity to begin the conversation about advocacy with participants who had spent most of the weekend learning Torah. It’s a recognition that while Jewish learning and action are very important, if we are truly committed to environmental change, we also need to be willing to think bigger. I hope this is a direction into which the Jewish environmental movement can continue to grow in the coming years. Learn more about the Basics of Advocacy for Jewish Environmentalists, and sign up for our latest webinar on March 31!

Basics of Advocacy for Jewish Environmentalists

February 28, 2014 No Comments

As part of the Year of Jewish Policy Engagement, COEJL, Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology are proud to present: Basics of Advocacy for Jewish Environmentalists: A Citizen Training Webinar To build a more sustainable society, we need more than just individual action: we also need sustainable policies at the local, state and national level. Many Jewish environmentalists want to get involved with advocacy, but aren’t sure exactly where to start. The advocacy world can feel like a confusing maze. When should I call my representative? What kind of letter will make the most difference? How do you schedule a meeting? Join COEJL, Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology for “Basics of Advocacy for Jewish Environmentalists,” an opportunity to learn about the basic tools of advocacy and how you can make a difference. We explored the challenges and opportunities of advocacy, tools to help you, and practice some specific skills to help you get started. Next webinar: Monday, March 31 at 8:00-9:30 pm. Register here! Want to hear about future opportunities? Let us know. This training requires your active participation, so please plan to have computer, internet and telephone available and to be present for the full 90 minutes. Space is limited. This webinar is free, thanks to the generous support of our Year of Engagement sponsors.

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