Summary: Dr. Mirele Goldsmith explains the background, purpose, and stunning accomplishments of the first cohort group of the Jewish Greening Fellowship, a campaign of the UJA-Federation of New York to green Jewish institutions. The Jewish Greening Fellowship was designed, implemented and directed by [Rachel] Jacoby Rosenfield. A key decision was made to provide funding directl... read more.
The Rambam (Maimonides) suggests that our character is not fixed, but that our actions shape our character. We have free will, and we choose what activities and actions we take. “Some traits are not innate but have been learned from other people, or are self-originated as the result of an idea that has entered the person’s mind, or because he has heard that a cer... read more.
Did you know? According to ENERGY STAR (www.energystar.gov/congregations), most congregations can cut energy costs by up to 30% by investing strategically in efficient equipment, facility upgrades and maintenance. It's the perfect program for your congregation to join as part of the Year of Action. With free information and technical support from ENERGY STAR, your synagog... read more.
The opportunity to live and work in an immersive Jewish community first drew me to the Pearlstone Center in the winter of 2012. When a few months later conversation about creating a seven month immersive experience began to percolate I was ecstatic about the opportunity to be a part of making it come to life. Today Pearlstone’s Integrated Sustainability Apprenticeship is sev... read more.
Blog post and photos by Avi Katzman, Farm Educator Apprentice ————————————————————— As a “still-feeling-semi-new” Farm Educator Apprentice here at Eden Village, I feel I’ve been learning exponential amounts of new. Post first week a... read more.
By Rabbi Lawrence Troster Summary: Synagogues are important community spaces, but also important spaces for demonstrating a commitment to environmental values. Rabbi Lawrence Troster, the rabbinic director at J Street, provides detailed instructions on how to green your synagogue. It is often the case that many religious communities have an initial burst of environmental programming ... read more.
The Next Industrial Revolution William McDonough – A Voice Crying in the Wilderness Left-wing organizations such as Greenpeace use non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and advocate for solutions. Local activist Nina Beth Cardin writes in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation magazine that a “new ethic calls for nature ... read more.
Blog post by Joshua Boydstun, Jewish Farm School Rabbinic Intern ----------------------------------------------------------- As a rabbinical student, I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about metaphorical “roots”: What is “the root of an idea”? Are texts and traditions “rooted” in a particular time or place? Is it dangerous to be “ro... read more.
By Rabbi Natan Levy During the 2011 riots here in London, teachers and social workers were said to have been among the looters. British Prime Minister David Cameron called them opportunistic criminals. Perhaps temptation simply got the best of them. Yielding to temptation may be pandemic in our culture. When we argue about mitigating climate change, the discussion is ofte... read more.
Shavuot, “the feast of weeks”, unlike all of our other festivals, is given no calendrical date; rather, we arrive at this holiday by counting “seven full weeks” from a particular starting time. But even the starting time is ambiguous: “From the day after the Sabbath”. Which Sabbath? And why is there a reference to a Sabbath at all? The previous passa... read more.
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