Owner of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope
Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and leader of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, a congregation without walls that meets outdoors all year long. She is the co-convener and coordinator of the Boston-area Jewish Climate Action Network, and the founder of the One Earth Collaborative, a program of Open Spirit in Framingham, MA.
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Earth Etude for Elul- Turning and Returning
by Daniel Kieval What is the shape of time? This question may sound strange, but it actually guides us to understand the process of teshuvah, our great task at this time of year. In one dimension, time is circular, repeating in endless cycles. “And the seasons they go round and round…” Every year in the natural calendar, the same seasonal patterns repeat at the same times. In the Jewish calendar, we observe the same ...
Earth Etude for Elul 19- Soul Accounting in the Year of Release
by Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips Ecology and economy, spirituality and social justice are directly connected in our Jewish values of heshbon (accountability). Every time we open our wallets or check our bank balances, we face issues of heshbon — no less than when we search our souls (heshbon hanefesh) during this Season of Turning. How are we “spending” each day of our lives? The ancient sage Ben ...
Earth Etude for Elul 17- Meditation on Elul
by Richard H. Schwartz Elul is here. It represents a chance for heightened introspection, an opportunity to do teshuva and improve our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High holidays” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to make ...
Earth Etude for Elul 16- The Compost Bin in Our Hearts
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen My compost bins are so much more than just a place where compost happens. The area beside the three wire and wood bins is place where I often feel my father’s spirit – he was raised on a farm, and though he became a professional, gardening was in his blood, and he spent much of his spare time in his garden and his orchard. Yet, it is not just the reminders of my father or the sense of his hovering spirit ...
Earth Etude 15- Looking at the Whole Picture
By Susie Davidson As a writaholic, I am also a readaholic. As we move forward in our chosen missions toward creating communities that feed, nurture and sustain (while protecting) all the inhabitants of the earth, I believe that it is also incumbent upon us to remain informed about the news of the day and the topics that affect underlying societal infrastructures. Certainly, some of these infrastructures seem entrenched to the point of ...
Earth Etude for Elul 14- Elul’s Comin”
by Judith Felsen In days of Av anticpatin’ I have done my exploration searching, seeking digging deeper all to clear the space as greeter. From the bottom of my looking I can sense great times are coming soon our King will sure arrive and in fields we both will thrive. Therefore now and always ever will this earth be seen as heaven by all those who now know its glitter shimmering sparks both there and ...
Earth Etude 13- The Flood
by Rabbi Dorit Edut The meteorologists predicted a possible heavy rainstorm and suggested bringing an umbrella to work. But as I drove home from an interfaith conference, I got a call from my husband announcing: “ You’ll have to swim home – everything is flooded here.” My heart stopped beating for a minute when I heard this, realizing that all my rabbinic books and papers, many photograph albums including those from my parents’ ...
Earth Etude for Elul 12- Growing Teshuva
by Maxine Lyons I am often looking for ways to connect to teshuvah even during the leisurely days of summer. Teshuvah for me is turning to those thoughts and actions that help me to become my better self, following those practices that nourish my growth to know peace - shalom - and to reach greater wholeness - sh'lemut. As I pursue personal growth, I resonate to the Hebrew word, hitpatchut, growth through an openness and receptivity to change.This summer ...
Earth Etude for Elul 10- Topsy Turvy Bus
by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein The world seems a little topsy turvy these days. A plane missing. 223 girls kidnapped in Nigeria. 3 teen agers kidnapped and murdered in Israel. A plane shot out of the sky. Israel in Gaza. Rockets in Israel. Too many children killed in the streets of Chicago. Too many deaths. When does it stop? In the Fox River Valley, Illinois, after a punishing winter of epic proportions, it is nice to be ...
Earth Etude for Elul 9 – A Cry in the Night: My Decision not to Consume Dairy
by Diana G. A memory: Our newborn is up again. I turn to the clock. It’s 4:25 am. Less than three hours since she last awoke. My husband and I are exhausted, and we lie quietly for a few moments, willing our daughter back to sleep. But her cries are persistent. Who knows if she’s hungry, cold, or simply distressed and looking for comfort? Regardless, we’ve reached our “give-her-a-moment” limit; there’s only so long ...
Earth Etude for Elul 8 – Waves on the Beach
by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen I stand on the beach. Waves-- I hear them, see them, rising, falling, splashing, foaming. Deep within me waves form, rise up, are released, unite with the ocean waves. Throughout my body sadness.... grief.... despair.... engulf me. The Earth is suffering. I cannot simply stand, sit, lie, relax. Act, I must, driven by my grief, by my love, by the waves, in order to ...
Earth Etude for Elul 7- Rosh Hashanah Shemittah Seder 5775
Created by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, to be shared, celebrated, and enjoyed Click here for a downloadable version to print out and use at your Rosh HaShanah dinner. Ever since the first breath of creation, time has unfolded in cycles of seven. Six days reach their crescendo in the seventh day, Shabbat - the Sabbath, the day of rest. Six years reach their crescendo in the seventh year, Shemittah - the sabbatical, the year of renewal. Seven ...
Living with Change
Earth Etude for Elul 6 by Rabbi Howard Cohen The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilisation. Ralph Waldo Emerson With the approach of the season of Teshuvah it is once again time to reflect on our relationship with the earth. In the past I would have asked myself questions such as ‘did I waste natural resources’; or ‘did I pour unreasonable amounts of carbon into the atmospher’; or ...
Giving Yourself an Autumn Break
by Andrew Oram This time of year always seems a hurricane of activity: coming back from vacation to reams of email, or starting school, or dealing with all the pent-up housework that went blissfully ignored during the easy summer months. Traditionally, Jews see this time of year very differently. Like typical Americans, this period is for them both an ending and a beginning: a recognition of the waning of life and an invigorating harbinger of new ...
Earth Etude for Elul 3 – Let it Rest
Earth Etude for Elul 3 - Let It Rest by Carol Reiman Let it rest-- the land that we have worked so hard, the grassy fare for geese now taken by the high tech labs, the water diverted far away to leave the old spot bare, the day diminished by our dense cramming, electronics robbing our eyes of moisture... Let it rest-- the fish sleep still near the bottom, the standing horse relaxes muscles, the cat stretches and curls... Let it ...
Earth Etudes for Elul – An Introduction and Etude 1
This evening the month of Elul begins, the month that leads us up to the first day of the new year, Rosh HaShanah 5775. The sun rises and sets, again and again, and with each cycle we get a day older, with each cycle the world brings pain and joy, anger and delight, frustration and calm, fear and trust. Soon those days will have added up, and we will be a year older than the last time we ate apples and honey together. We ask: How have I changed? What ...
Day 46: Netzach b’Malchut
Netzach b’Malchut by Maggid David Arfa How do we endure? How do we persevere for the lang haul, over decades? I remember how giddy I was during Earth Day 1990. I graduated from Michigan State with my brand new Bachelor degrees in Environmental Policy and Wildlife Ecology while at the same time, I saw Earth Day go mainstream! Newsweek, Time and dozens of other magazines had glossy covers with real information ...
Day 45: Tiferet b’Malchut
Day 45: Tiferet b’Malchut by Maggid David Arfa I witnessed the Holy Shabbat marriage of Tiferet and Malchut while in Jerusalem. Though, the funny thing is, it took me several months to realize it. You see, I prayed with the Judean Hills, during my year of Yeshiva study in Jerusalem. Our wonderful balconies were a great addition to our house of prayer and study, our room with a view (and a Torah). Overlooking the hills, I could ...
Day 44: Gevurah b’Malchut
Day 44: Gevurah b’Malchut by Maggid David Arfa Why did King David do it? Was it pride or piety? Arrogance or ignorance? What possessed him to think he could dig a deep well under the temple, to the very center of the earth? Did he actually imagine THIS was the way to allow the ritual waters of Sukkot to flow and in turn bring fresh healing rains to the earth? Self important Hubris! He had forgotten THE MYSTERY. He dug ...
Day 43: Chesed b’Malchut
Shalom! We enter this evening the last week of the Omer counting, week seven, Malchut - Sovereignty, Leadership, Kingship, Queenship. We welcome Maggid David Arfa, storyteller and teacher of storytelling, environmental educator, and teacher of Jewish experience with the Earth. Reclaiming the role of maggid has led David to leading outdoor services at the High Ledges, as well as telling storiesand sharing environmental teachings from ...
