Richard Schwartz For many years Danny Shapiro looked forward to staying up all night at his synagogue with his friends on the first night of Shavuot, hearing talks about and discussing Torah teachings. This year he especially anticipated this annual commemoration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, because Rabbi Greenberg would be meeting with Danny and other c... read more.
Shavuot and Vegetarianism By Richard H. Schwartz There are many connections between vegetarianism and the important Jewish festival of Shavuot: 1. Shavuot is described as "z'man matan Toratenu" (the season of the giving of our law (the Torah)). It is this Torah that has in its very first chapter God's original, strictly vegetarian, dietary regimen: "And God said: 'Behold, I have gi... read more.
On the of the biggest campaigns of 350.org is its Fossil Free campaign (http://gofossilfree.org/) which seeks to have many institutions including religious one divest their holdings from 200 publically held companies that hold 200 publicly-traded companies hold the largest amount of the world’s carbon-based energy reserves. The campaign, which has become quite successful in organ... read more.
This year as in previous years at my Passover Seders, I raised my silver goblet, my Kiddush cup with my name engraved on it, for the traditional four cups of wine, and I remembered how I got it. It was a Bar Mitzvah present from a group of old ladies. When I looked at the goblet and the card that came with it, I learned that it came from the “Malbishis Arurum Society.” I la... read more.
Darkness upon the Face of the Deep –חשך על פני תהום Rabbi Ed Rosenthal “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was null and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God hovered on the surface of the water.” (Gen.1:1-2). While we are taught that God is om... read more.
Elul Greening by Judith Feinstein Have we done the reparation so to take the consolation and digest it all and well? Have we psalms we want to hear releasing some for other's ears while disregarding somber prohets' words? Can we see Akiva's vision, crumbling Temple fox is running as a sign Moschaiac... read more.
This week I was alerted to an issue that resonated deeply with me. I was asked to sign a petition in support of the Shaar Hagai Kennels, who are facing eviction by the Israel Government Lands Authority. Tied up in this legal battle is the fate of the Canaan dog, a breed of dog most closely related to the dogs depicted in the bible. After reading of how the kennel owner move... read more.
It is now seven weeks to Passover and the Passover foods are already for sale in my local supermarket. My family is already planning when to do our shopping and whom to invite to the seder. Like many Jewish families, we put a lot of time and preparations into this holiday because we want to make it special and different from the rest of the yea... read more.
(reposted from Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin's Blog: http://blog.bjen.org/, dated January 25, 2012) Below is Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin's presentation at the annual Maryland Legislative Environmental Summit, held January 24, 2012, in Annapolis, MD. We live in the midst of a 4-billion year old mystery, an on-going miracle that we call Earth. For all we know, n... read more.
The economy is in crisis across much of the USA and Europe, governments are killing their citizens in Syria and Bahrain, and organized crime is dominating Mexico and Central America… This Tu B’shvat how can we worry about environmental issues, when there are so many pressing social issues face our society? Indeed, environmental concerns seem to be fairly low on t... read more.
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