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Hazon’s Jewish Environmental Outdoor Programming

Hazon is getting people on bikes, getting people to think differently about transportation and cycling, nationally and in Israel. Our outdoor programs raise money for cutting-edge Jewish environmental projects in the United States and Israel. They also support Hazon’s community building projects and year-round programming. Visit our website to find out how you can participate in one of our annual rides. We ride in New York, California, and Israel. Check it out here!

Jewish Climate Change Campaign Resources

Here is a vast array of resources from the Jewish Climate Change Campaign site. They will help you teach, advocate, and use your assets to work on climate change in your own best way. Click on each link below. Theology, Tradition and Wisdom What We Have: Jewish Theology, Tradition and Wisdom Where We Are: What is Going on in The Jewish Community Now Vision for the Next Generation: Theology, Tradition and Wisdom Theology, Tradition and Wisdom Goals for Generational Change: September 2015 Education What We Have: Jewish Environmental Education Where We Are in Education: What ...

Statement on Water Quality

by Canfei Nesharim's Science & Tech Advisory Board View a print version. Summary Statement Without water life on Earth cannot exist. Yet, the amount, rate, and uses of water by human society have put a great strain on the quality and availability of this critical resource. This, in turn, has important implications for the health and well-being of people everywhere regardless of country or economic status. Among the main scientific concerns are: a) human-caused changes in the hydrologic (water) cycle due to aquifers being drawn down, diversion of water from lakes and rivers, and altered precipitation patterns ...

True Joy Through Water

True Joy: Through water Click here for a printable version (pdf format) of this article On Sukkos, we celebrate water through the Simchas Beis Hashoeva (Celebration of the Water Drawing Ceremony). It is said that anyone who has not participated in this celebration has not known true joy. (Sukka 51a). The Gemarrah discusses this concept along with other examples of great things that existed. (51b) Four things are cited as all the glory of their time: • The Beis Hamikdash for grandeur, • Jerusalem for “tiferet” • Simchat Beis Hashoeva for “true joy,” and • the ...

Water: A Sukkos Drash

by Dr. Akiva Wolff View a printer-friendly version. The Jewish people have a special relationship with water, which is especially evidenced during the Festival of Sukkos. The Mishna[1] tells us that on Sukkos the world is judged for water. Interestingly, on the last day of Sukkos, Hoshana Rabbah, the Midrash tells us there is a final sealing of the judgement for us as well[2]. This would seem to indicate a connection between the judgement for both water and for us. What is the connection between the two? The importance of water Water is absolutely necessary for all life. Because of its ubiquitous nature, we all too often ...

The Jewish Climate Change Campaign Ideas for Action

Ideas for Action To present large scale vision, small scale recommendations for action, and a framework for connecting the two, we use a 3x3 grid: This framework reflects a Jewish sensibility. According to the Talmud, “Great is study, because study leads to action.” (Kiddushin, 40b). Action is grounded in, and inspired by education. In the context of sustainability and climate change, action must have two arms; first, small scale changes in behavior and policy within our homes, communities and institutions; second, advocacy; speaking out publicly to persuade our leaders to take the large-scale steps that will be necessary to ...

The Jewish Climate Change Campaign Pledge

The Pledge 3790 People Have Signed So Far YES: I believe that the Jewish People can and should play a distinct role in responding to climate change and fostering sustainability between now and September 2015 (the end of the next 7-year sabbatical cycle in the Jewish calendar); YES: I call on all Jewish organizations, small and large, to create Green Teams that will draw up seven-year goals to effect change and specific steps to get started this year; YES: I believe we must integrate education, action and advocacy. So I commit every month to learn more about the environment and about Jewish teachings on sustainability; to ...

Kayam Program Offerings

These are Kayam Farm's program offerings - please be in touch if you have questions about our programs, would like to arrange a program with Kayam, or would like to collaborate on adapting some of our programming to your site, program or institution! Contact: Yoshi Silverstein, Kayam Education Director Yoshi@pearlstonecenter.org or 410.429.4400 x235

Kayam Curriculum – Kilayim Arugot Boxes

This is a sample lesson from Chai Ve'Kayam - a Curriculum Manual for Jewish Agricultural Education. Unit 1: Zera'im - Bringing Our Jewish Agricultural Heritage to Life. Unit 2, focused around Jewish Educational Gardens, is in development and we're hoping will be ready for printing in mid- to late-December 2010. It will include a revised edition of Unit 1, along with a slew of newly developed curriculum. Keep on the lookout for a sample lesson from Unit 2 to be posted on Jewcology in the near future! If you are interested in purchasing Unit 1, we have just a few copies left! Or, if you are interested in the new edition when it ...

Source Sheet: Praying for Rain

This source sheet accompanies "Shemini Atzeres Shiur: Rain as a Blessing in Our Prayers and Actions". This content originated at http://www.canfeinesharim.org/community/sukkos.php?page=12386.

Mayim Chaim Source Sheet

This source sheet accompanies "Mayim Chaim M'Yerushalayim: Exploring the "Nature" of the Simchas Beis Hashoeva Celebration". This content originated at http://www.canfeinesharim.org/community/sukkos.php?page=12386.

Mayim Chaim M’Yerushalayim: Exploring the “Nature” of the Simchas Beis Hashoeva Celebration

A Shiur on the Simchas Beis Hashoeva. The Mayim Chaim Source Sheet accompanies this shiur. This content originated at http://www.canfeinesharim.org/community/sukkos.php?page=12386.

Shemini Atzeres Shiur: Rain as a Blessing in Our Prayers and Actions

On Shemini Atzeres, we make a special blessing for rain. We also begin mention in the Amida of Hashem as the One who “makes the wind blow and the rain descend.” What does it mean for us to pray for rain? What does our praying for rain demand of us? And what role do rain and water play in our lives? This content originated at http://www.canfeinesharim.org/community/sukkos.php?page=12386.

True Joy Through Water: Study and Discussion Guide

Explore sources appreciating water. With Hebrew-English sources and discussion questions. Great for adult learning programs. This content originated at http://canfeinesharim.org/community/sukkos.php.

Water: Appreciating a Limited Resource

by Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1] Water and rain are deeply tied to the holidays of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. In the time of the Temple, on Sukkot the High Priest in Jerusalem would perform an elaborate ritual involving the raising of water from the spring below the Temple. On Shemini Atzeret, at the beginning of Israel's rainy season, we recite a special blessing for rain. We pray that the Divine bring beneficial rain, which falls at the right time to nourish our crops and fill our reservoirs. Sukkot is thus an important time to appreciate and protect our water resources. Human beings depend on a sufficient supply of high quality ...

Bal Tashchit: Optimism in a Time of Teshuva

By Candace Nachman As we enter the Hebrew month of Elul, each Jew has an opportunity for internal reflection. Elul, the month immediately preceding Rosh Hashanah, is a time for each of us to work on our own spiritual growth. In an age when our localized actions have global ramifications, it is time for each of us to sit back and reflect on how our actions affect the environment and those with whom we share this earth. During the month of Elul, we read parshat Shoftim, a good time to review the mitzvah of bal tashchit. Literally meaning “do not destroy”, bal tashchit has become the basis for a Jewish environmental ethic. &ldquo...

Our Gift for Earth’s Birthday

By: Rachel Neiman There is a debate in the Gemara, (Rosh Hashana, 10b), as to whether the world was created in the month of Tishrei or the month of Nissan. Clearly, we have come to accept the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer that on the first of Tishrei, when we celebrate Rosh Hashana, we are not only commemorating a new year, but the birth of the earth. In the mussaf prayer on Rosh Hashana, after the various blowings of the shofar, we repeat the refrain, "Hayom Haras Olam," "Today is the birthday of the world." However, in the Midrash Rabbah,(Vayikra 29:1), we discover that what Rabbi Eliezer meant by the ...

Rosh Hashana, Personal Change, and the Future of the Planet

By: Yonatan Neril Tekiah, teruah, tekiah: the central commandment on Rosh Hashanah is to hear the shofar blasts. What is so special about these three blasts? How do they relate to this being a period of tshuva-repentance-and self-reflection? How do they relate to the world we live in? Rabbi Moshe Teitlebaum, z'l, the previous Satmar rebbe,1 likens the three notes of the shofar to three stages of a person's actions. The first note-- tekia- hints at a simple sound, without distortion, because a person is born righteous, a Divine part from above. The second teruah sounding is comprised of three short blasts and ...

Parchat Chayei Sarah: Praying in the Fields

By Drew Kaplan View a Printable Verison | View a Source Sheet Since Yitzhak went to the field to pray in this week’s Torah portion, the world has not been the same. The Talmud offers two sources for our requirement to pray three daily prayers; one is the prayers themselves of the three forefathers of the Jewish people. Avraham is credited with instituting shaharit, the morning prayer; Yitzhak grants us minhah, the afternoon prayer; and Ya’akov gives us ma’ariv, the evening prayer. The Talmud cites a verse from the Book of Genesis to establish each prayer. For Yitzhak, on whom we will concentrate, it is written (Brahot ...

Parshat Shemot: The Power of Names

By Udi Hammerman View a Printable Version | View a Source Sheet Shemot, the Hebrew title of the Book of Exodus, means “names”, suggesting how significant the issue of identity will be as the saga of Jewish slavery, redemption and revelation unfolds. Shemot opens with a list of the names of the Children of Israel as they came down to Egypt, counting each individual within those families: “Now all those descended from Jacob were seventy souls, and Joseph, who was in Egypt.”[1] Shortly afterwards, “A new king arose over Egypt, who did ...