Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2011, 10:10pm - 2 years ago
It’s official, Camp Sprout Lake in changing the world through gardening. Today, the campers had a crash course in Rambam’s levels of Tzedakah, Pe’ah— a Jewish agricultural law regarding mandating the corners are the fields are left for the poor— and the pandemic of hunger plaguing the world. Campers began the activity not understanding the importance of justice, not willing to share their privileged lives in the form of tzedekah, or indifferent to it all. They left running up to other friends telling them we are all able to change the world with our own two hands.
Today we did not just discuss ideas; rather, we planned out our giving. The children, with no prodding from myself, decided to dona... Continue »
Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011, 8:50pm - 2 years ago
To those living in the world of social justice, the idea of a violent revolution seems repulsive. Taking the lives of many to improve the lives of others is oxymoronic, paradoxical, a nightmare. We live in the world in which we dream of peaceful revolution, one of love, respect, and gardens. To wrap up the first session of the gardening and environmental education at Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake, I decided to welcome participants into the ever growing, ever changing revolution of Jewish environmentalism. To my heart’s dismay, when I asked the campers what came to their mind when they heard the world revolution, their minds only went to historical examples of war, bloodshed, and death. These children, ages seve... Continue »
Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011, 10:51am - 2 years ago
Today was political action day in the Amir project garden at Camp
Sprout Lake. Over 100 letters were written to the senators of New
York, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
tackling issues of litter, climate change, rainforest preservation,
safe water and hydrofracking. As the eleven and twelve year olds were
busy listening to protest music while trying to convince their
parents’ elected officials that those in generations to come must be
given a voice, the voice of a prophet came over the speakers. He sang,
“Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call, don't stand in the
doorway, don't block up the hall, for he that gets hurt, will be he
who has stalled... Continue »
Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011, 10:50am - 2 years ago
Today was political action day in the Amir project garden at Camp
Sprout Lake. Over 100 letters were written to the senators of New
York, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
tackling issues of litter, climate change, rainforest preservation,
safe water and hydrofracking. As the eleven and twelve year olds were
busy listening to protest music while trying to convince their
parents’ elected officials that those in generations to come must be
given a voice, the voice of a prophet came over the speakers. He sang,
“Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call, don't stand in the
doorway, don't block up the hall, for he that gets hurt, will be he
who has stalled... Continue »
Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011, 10:50am - 2 years ago
Today was political action day in the Amir project garden at Camp
Sprout Lake. Over 100 letters were written to the senators of New
York, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
tackling issues of litter, climate change, rainforest preservation,
safe water and hydrofracking. As the eleven and twelve year olds were
busy listening to protest music while trying to convince their
parents’ elected officials that those in generations to come must be
given a voice, the voice of a prophet came over the speakers. He sang,
“Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call, don't stand in the
doorway, don't block up the hall, for he that gets hurt, will be he
who has stalled, ... Continue »
Posted on Thursday, July 7, 2011, 10:03pm - 2 years ago
Jews love blessings. We bless our food, our weather, and our new clothes-nearly everything. Why then do we not have a blessing for planting? Today at camp, we began planting our garden. Campers were able to dig their hands—too often used for texting and videogames— into rich soil. They planted tomatoes, brussel sprouts, sweet peppers, basil, cabbage, and kohlrabi, but before we put these life-sustaining plants into the ground, we took a step back to surround our actions with consciousness and purpose.
I had all the campers write their own blessings for planting, our garden, and the earth. The prayers children, aged seven to thirteen produced were beautiful, on par with King David’s psalms, and full of hope. The extrem... Continue »
Great post Jesse! A thought inspired by your question, 'Why no blessing for planting?': The root of the Hebrew word for blessing (bracha) is Beit-Reish-Kaf, meaning "knee," which referes to the practice of bowing (bending your knees). When we bless something we are symbollically 'bowing' to its source (G!D), showing reverance, appreciation and awe. When we plant something we also bend our knees and if paying attention, appreciate the awesome reality that all food begins life as a tiny seed, hungry for sun and water. It hit me reading your words that gardening, planting, and farming are bowing practices, types of blelssings in motion. The Hebrew, bracha, teaches that dual meaning of a blessing - part speech and part action. So perhaps your conscious planting is a blessing in need of no words. Just a thought...
Posted on Friday, July 1, 2011, 10:21am - 2 years ago
The kids are here. 183 screaming, excited and overly energetic 2nd-8th graders, and they are ready to change the world. Rather, we want them to be ready, but, is it reasonable for adults to expect these campers to make significant social change from our camp bubble in upstate New York? Is it fair of us to ask them to attempt this mission that my generation and the generations before have failed at? I am not sure, but I do know that we can and must expect a higher level of compassion and caring this summer.
Yesterday, while staking the pepper plants growing in our garden, I for the first time, started to understand Rav Soloveitchik’s z’l comparison between man and plant. Maybe it was the morning of dealing with homes... Continue »
Posted on Thursday, June 23, 2011, 10:47pm - 2 years ago
It has been three days of hard work, blisters, and buckets of sweat, but it is almost time to sprout, literally. Next week, the campers of Young Judea Sprout Lake in upstate New York will arrive. For this eight-week summer, I have one goal in mind, to make clear the intimate connection our tradition has with the earth. As staff has slowly trickled in from across Israel, Canada and the United States, I am impressed by the continual excitement when they meet “the Garden Guy”. The desire to dig, plant and labor is ever present. I believe this spirit is driven by the idea of A.D. Gordon, a leader of labor Zionism, who coined the phrase, “To build and to be built.” If this camp experience is rep... Continue »
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