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Pesach/Passover Resource and Program Bank

Pesach, the holiday of our liberation. Too often, our efforts to clean and prepare for Pesach cause unnecessary environmental damage, and there is much that can be done to prevent the waste. This year, Canfei Nesharim offers some suggestions for a cleaner, healthier, kosher Pesach. Elevating the Holy Sparks in Wealth: The Exodus, Pesach, and Our Lives Many everyday cleaners contain harsh chemicals that are destructive to the environment, and toxic to us. Some chemicals cause only temporary irritation, while others have long ...

Passover Cleaning Tips

By: Ora Sheinson Pesach. The holiday of our freedom! Too often it becomes the holiday of our environmental degradation, beginning with toxic cleaning supplies and ending with bags full of plastic and aluminum trash. Below are some basic tips covering a few of the many ways to reduce the personal stress and environmental impact often associated with Passover, while celebrating a happy and kosher holiday. Personal Stress Reduction: I would like to echo the statement of many, many Rabbanim and state that Passover cleaning is much less intensive than spring cleaning. For spring cleaning, one might clean the top of a six foot bookshelf and ...

Suggested Community Activity: Make a Clean Sweep for Pesach

Everyone is busy cleaning for Pesach this time of year and the trash cans are overflowing! But, there may be many unwanted things you find in your home while clearing out that chametz that can be disposed of in other, more environmentally friendly ways. Canfei Nesharim suggests that you organize a “Clean Sweep” program in your Jewish community to help people reduce waste during pre-holiday cleaning. Many items that would normally end up in a landfill during the pre-Pesach cleaning frenzy can actually be reused or recycled. There are many companies and organizations that collect and then reuse or refurbish these items. This ...

Children’s Activity: Make Your Own Green Cleaners

Children's Activity: Make Your Own Green Cleaners (for Children Ages 6-10) Pesach is right around the corner and there’s loads of cleaning to do! Have the children in your class help their parents get ready for Passover by creating their own green cleaning supplies. Hopefully their little ones’ efforts at making these eco-friendly cleaners will encourage the adults to clean green this year! Instructions for Teachers/Program Leaders In advance: Teachers/program leaders send out a notice to parents explaining this project, and asking for empty cleaner bottles. Explain the importance ...

Elevating the Holy Sparks in Wealth: The Exodus, Pesach, and Our Lives

By: Yonatan Neril The Exodus from Egypt contains some profound insights into Divine-aware living. In this dvar Torah I will present a Jewish perspective on material consumption rooted in lessons from the Exodus. It is based primarily on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's main student, Rabbi Natan, in his book Likutei Halachot.[1] Rabbi Natan said that Egypt was the heart of materialism-and was pervaded by a lust for money so intense it became idol worship.[2] This powerful material desire led to the enslavement of the Israelites to build Egypt's material infrastructure. Egypt's abundance-due to the ...

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle This Purim

Tips to reduce waste this Purim! REDUCE: - Avoid individually wrapped candies. No one needs 50 Reeses peanut butter cups and 65 Kit Kats a month before Pesach. - Make smaller Mishloach Manot with a couple more expensive (or homemade) goodies. It costs the same or less as a lot of junk, and is often appreciated more. REUSE: - Use cheap Tupperware to hold Mishloach Manot. It looks nice, is reusable, and will keep your baked goods fresh without using plastic bags. Check Odd Lot or your local 99 cent store. - Use paper decorated by your children, comics, and old wrapping paper to package your treats. Your kids can even decorate the ...

Exploring Modern Jewish Food Ethics Through the Example of Our Muslim Brothers

Materials: Film: Renewal TV & DVD or other technology to view film paper pencils or pens Procedure: 1) Watch the Chapter "Food For Faith" from the movie Renewal, www.renewalproject.net. (See preview below) Direct Students to jot down each of the ideas they hear that they think is also a Jewish value. 2) Divide into groups of 3 - 5 students 3) Distribute the Jewish food ethics text sheets, 1 per person. 4) Ask each group to read and discuss 3 or 4 quotes from an assigned section of the worksheet 5) Ask students to present the values that there quotes taught making sure to include ...

Bibliography of Jewish Environmental Books

New Materials are coming out all the time, please let me know if you identify anything missing from this list. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Benstein, Jeremy, The Way Into Judaism and the Environment, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008 Bernstein, Ellen, Editor. Ecology and the Jewish Spirit. Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1998. Bernstein, Ellen and Fink, Dan. Let the Earth Teach You Torah. Pennsylvania: Shomrei Adamah, 1992. Bernstein, Ellen, Splendor of Creation: A Biblical Ecology. Pilgrim Press, 2005 Comins, ...

Jewish School Environmental Mission Statement

This is an example of a mission statement, every school must develop their own to suit their specific needs. Hang the mission throughout your school, distribute it to teachers and students with introductory information. Have students and faculty commit to it, sign it, etc. Remember, make it as specific to your school and your setting as possible. Some schools find a one or two line slogan works better than a full mission statement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It’s not up to you to finish the task, but neither are you free to ...

Our Responsibility to Act Activity – The Nachson Story

Goal:To learn Jewish values of responsibility and necessity of action Duration:15 minutes Audience: All Ages Procedure: 1) Tell the Nachson Story: When it came time to cross the Red Sea, Moses and the Jews approached the edge and nothing happened, no miracle. Moses put his staff in the water and still nothing happened. The people started the panic, the Egyptians were coming and there was no miracle in sight. One man of incredible faith, Nachson, decide to just walk into the water. He walked announcing that God would bring a miracle, but still nothing happened. He walked in deeper and deeper. The water passed his ...

Tzar Baalei Chayim Activity – Jewish Laws Concerning Animal Wellbeing

Goal: To familiarize students with Jewish laws concerning animal well being. Duration: 20-30 minutes Materials: Worksheets; Pens, pencils, markers or crayons Audience: Grades 1-4 Procedure: 1) Divide students into groups of three 2) Pass out worksheets (below) with an individual Jewish law (chosen from list below) related to animals. Be sure to attach or copy a law from the list onto each group’s worksheet before the activity begins. 3) Explain the question to students if necessary 4) Share/discuss drawings and answers 5) Perform commercials/skits Materials developed by Noam Dolgin, ...

My Personal Web of Life, Who and What I am Connected To

Goal: To explore our personal connections and dependency on people, places and natural resources Duration: 15 minutes Materials: My Personal Web of Life Worksheet (1 per student), pencils or pens Audience: All Ages Procedure: 1) Have students complete the personal web of life worksheet below. 2) Discussion: Everything is interconnected, through friends, family, air and water we are all connected. Materials developed by Noam Dolgin, www.noamdolgin.com. All content is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (Ie. Tell other where you got it from and don't ...

Shema Sound Maps, Hearing Godliness in the World

Goals: To introduce the Shema blessing; To explore sound as an expression of Godliness; To use our sense of hearing to interact with the natural world Duration: 15minutes Materials: Blank paper Pencils or pens Audience: All Ages Procedure: 1) Begin by asking one student to recite the words of the Sh’ma opening line. 2) What sense do they associate with this prayer? Answer: Sound or Hearing 3) Why do they think hearing is the sense we focus on for the most important prayer in Judaism? 4) What are examples from the Torah of hearing God? ...

Pokeiakh Ivrim /Human Camera Activity – Learning to See with New Eyes

Goal:To use senses of sight to explore the natural world in new ways. To foster an increased sense of trust between students. Duration: 20 minutes Materials: Blindfolds Audience: All Ages Procedure: The name of this exercise is taken from Birchot HaShachar, a morning prayer in which we thank God for the restoration of our senses upon waking. These senses include bodily mobility as we wake, stretch, dress and begin our day. One bracha (blessing) ends in, Pokeiach Ivrim, which means, “who opens our eyes”, thanking God for the gift of sight. The full blessing reads: Baruch Atah HaShem, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam ...

Eitz Chayim He, Meet a Tree Activity

Based on an activity by Joseph Cornell Goals:To develop tactile senses, to introduce the symbol of the tree as a Jewish metaphor, to foster the development of a personal relationship with a tree, and ability to see a tree’s uniqueness. Duration: 15 - 30 minutes Materials: Blindfolds; Trees Audience:All Ages Procedure: 1) Ask students: What is the forest filled with? Answer: trees! (and much more) Trees are all over the place, but has anybody here ever really gotten to know a tree? Just like people, trees look alike, but are actually very different. In this activity, we’re going to get to know a tree so ...

Fourfold Song Discussion & Art Activity

Materials: 4 Fold Song by Rav Kook; Paper; Pencils/pens, Markers, colored pencils, or pastels Goals: * To explore relationships and responsibility between self, community, humanity and the world. * To focus participants on personal practices and beliefs. * To create an ethical framework of integration of all levels of creation. Audience: Teens or adults Program Details: A) Distribute paper, pencils and markers to all participants Have participants divide paper in 4 sections (do not need to be square quarters) Write one of the following in each section: Self, People Israel, Humanity, All Creation. Self: ...

Purim as a Model for Making a Difference

By: Rabbi Akiva Gersh Purim comes at an auspicious time in the Hebrew calendar. Falling on the full moon in the month of Adar, it occurs exactly one month, one cycle of the moon, after Tu B'Shvat, and one month, one cycle of the moon, before Pesach. Three holidays falling on three consecutive full moons, each one offering their own commentary on our relationship with the natural world. On Tu B'Shvat we enjoy the fruits of Eretz Yisrael and reflect upon the divine beauty and wisdom that Hashem placed into all of creation. On Purim we are reminded of the divine hand that guides all of nature as well as human history and our own ...

Ideas for Eco-Friendly Mishloach Manos

Ideas for Eco-Friendly Mishloach Manos Green Purim Sameach! Canfei Nesharim has developed a selection of five eco-friendly and fun Mishloach Manot themed package ideas for you or your group to prepare and distribute to your constituents on Purim. Our aim was to create healthy, earth-friendly, and economical Mishloach Manot without the waste. To make this as easy as possible, we found many of the products on the web. You can order them directly by clicking the links below! New! You can also include a simple printable message in your mishloach manot, explaining why you've chosen to be "green" this Purim. Simple, ...

Library of Tu b’Shevat Resources

Tu b'Shevat 5773 falls on January 25-26, 2013. Canfei Nesharim offers a range of great resources for your community: Learning Resources for your Tu b'Shevat Seder I want to run a program, but a Tu b'Shevat Seder is not right for my community. What do you have for kids? (additional activities can be found on the full list of Tu b'Shevat resources) Learn Torah with our Full Library of Articles on Tu b'Shevat Explore our full list of Tu b'Shevat Resources “Using Canfei Nesharim’s Materials this Tu b'Shevat? Please fill out a simple form to tell us about your participation, ...

Creating Besamim Bags – Kids’ Activity

This is a fun activity that could be done to make spice at a Tu B'shevat seder. This spice could then be used for smelling in world four. Materials (one bag for each person) 3x4” Ivory-colored, iridescent, mesh, with ribbon pull-string, Wedding favor bags (12/pkg) (can find these at craft stores) Iridescent fabric paints (a multiple-colored set or multiple-colored singles) Cardboard pieces (1 per bag) cut out from facial tissue boxes (sizes of cardboard pieces should be slightly smaller than the dimensions of the favor bag, so that they can easily slip into bags to protect the front and the back of the bags ...