Holidays Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on Jewish holidays.
From the Blogs
Equity or the Flood: Two Visions of Justice
- February 19, 2012
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 year as was done when we were children. But our preparations are not only about shopping, cooking, invites and the changeover of dishes. Every year, we spend at least a little time considering what we ...
Tu B’Shevat Saplings
- February 7, 2012
Dear Friends, Our cliffhanger (see part 1 here ) left us with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge firmly planted not within Tu B’Shevat, but within the middle of Mi Chamocha our blessing-song for redemption. Mi Chamocha is invoked in every prayer service directly after the Shema. We’ll begin by trying to make sense of this very old word, redemption, and then offer some ideas why Reb Elimelech of Grodzisk (d. 1892) might have placed his wisdom of the two trees there. Ready to wade in the water? As we get our toes wet, let’s first ...
Last Day to Order Free Haggadot
- January 25, 2012
Good Chodesh! Today is Rosh Chodesh Shevat; according to Beit Shammai, THIS is the new year of the trees! In any case, we wish you a good and green new month. Tu b'Shevat is in just two weeks, on Tuesday-Wednesday February 7-8! Today is the final deadline for orders of free haggadot this year. You can order up to 25 Haggadot absolutely free by posting your request on our facebook page. Please post the number of haggadot you are requesting, your location, and the community where the materials will be ...
Tu B’Shevat Seeds
- January 23, 2012
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Dear friends, The origins of this post began over a year ago when I came across a quote that looked to me like Rabbi Heschel challenging Martin Buber’s masterpiece, I and Thou. Unbelievable, right? Like two superheroes fighting. I was compelled to explore deeper. Here’s what Rabbi Heschel said: “…I am not ready to accept the ancient concept of prayer as dialogue. Who are we to enter a dialogue with God?” He then declares that he is only an “it” immersed within the all that is God and can not be an ‘I’. ...
Tu B’Shvat Fruits — Meaningful Foods!
- January 18, 2012
It is a widespread custom on Tu B’Shvat to eat of the seven species – five fruits and two grains – associated with the Land of Israel. The Land of Israel is described in Deut 8:7-10 in terms of the resources that it offers, “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are ...
Feb 6: COEJL’s declaration signing ceremony
- January 17, 2012
The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) invites you to the official signing ceremony of the “Jewish Environmental and Energy Imperative” declaration, part of its Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign. Two days before the Jewish celebration of Tu B’shvat, the New Year for trees, leaders of the Jewish community will set the community-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 14% by 2014. Who: On behalf of a broad spectrum of national Jewish leaders, Rabbi Steve Gutow, president and CEO, Jewish Council for Public ...
Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment
- January 1, 2012
Core teachings on 18 topics linking Torah and the environment were released between Tu b'Shevat 5772 and Tu b'Shevat 5773 as part of Jewcology's Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim and a host of other organizations who shared materials across the Jewish community. The materials were shared at least 145 times on the web, in at least 99 social media postings, and reached over 51,000 people during the course of the year, as part of a Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment. The materials comprise the most comprehensive set of ...
There’s Light.
- December 20, 2011
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We love this time of year. The opportunity to share special moments with family, lighting candles, eating latkes, and sharing special community celebrations. As we come together to celebrate happy moments, Chanukah is a great time to share Torah learning and to remember to be mindful of our energy actions. Chanukah reminds us that even when things may seem dark, there's light. To share the light this year, Canfei Nesharim's website features the following resources: • The Miracle of the Vessels, a Torah teaching to learn with ...
The Festival of Lights: The Spiritual Dimension of Energy
- December 18, 2011
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Oh, Lord, my God, You are very great; You are clothed in glory and majesty, Wrapped in a robe of light; You spread the heavens like a tent cloth. (Psalm 104:2) Hanukkah which means “(re)dedication” has also been called the “Festival of Lights” at least since the 1st Century CE as the earliest reference to this name is found in the historian Josephus: And from that time [the purification of the Temple by the Maccabees] to the present time we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights. I suppose the reason was, ...
AS I SEE IT: Ways to green the upcoming holidays
- December 13, 2011
AS I SEE IT: Ways to green the upcoming holidays Originally posted in in the Princeton (NJ) Packet (http://bit.ly/sy6DlG) By Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins Dr. Dov Peretz Elkins is rabbi emeritus of The Jewish Center of Princeton and a member of Sustainable Princeton (www.SustainablePrinceton.org). His most recent book is “Simple Actions for Jews to Help Green the Planet", which can be purchased at http://bit.ly/uoUGDx. Why is a rabbi writing about Christmas? Hanukkah, sure . . . but Christmas! Answer: ...
The apples are finished.
- October 10, 2011
Each year, before Rosh Hashanah, my family goes apple picking. It's a special tradition for each of us. Most of the other families are here to pick a few apples to be dipped in honey. Not us! As my husband likes to say, "we're hard core." When we get to the farm stand, we're here to pick apples. Maybe you’ve been there: You stand in between the trees that seem to go on and on forever. The apples beckon to you. After only 30 minutes, you probably have enough for Rosh Hashanah. But you’ve only just arrived! Once upon a time, we had to stop ourselves around ...
Isaiah’s Fast: This Yom Kippur, Volunteer, Donate & Mobilize
- October 6, 2011
Yom Kippur, the ‘holiest’ day of the Jewish year. Millions of Jews worldwide get dressed up in white or their best attire and sit together in synagogue, hungry, lamenting all the bad things we have done as a community of flawed individuals. When the average person is asked about Yom Kippur, fasting is first on their mind. Fasting has become a central tenet of Yom Kippur practice, but what is a fast and why do we do it? Three of the most common modern arguments for fasting include: Through the act of fasting we cleanse our bodiy and soul; we keep ...
Teva Ivri – Shana Tova
- October 6, 2011
Teva Ivri - Jewish Nature – social-environmental regeneration in Israel "After the Holydays, all will be renewed Regular weekdays will return, renewed, Air, soil, rain and fire, You too, you too Will be renewed". (Naomi Shemer) "After the Holydays, all will be renewed" – thus tells us the late Naomi Shemer, one of Israel's leading songwriters, and indeed the season of the High Holydays creates a vivid sense of a "transition period" leading to change and renewal. Rosh Hashanah, the ...
The Sacred Trees of Betar
- October 3, 2011
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Dear Friends, I love how stories contain so much more than just what they are “about”. Like seeds from an ancient world, they have the ability to surprise and grow in unpredictable ways. Check out this obscure story from the Talmud (Gittin 55a, from Ein Yaakov, 1999 English translation): “Because of a (broken wheel) from a carriage, Betar was destroyed. [How did that happen?] It was the custom in Betar that when a boy was born the parents would plant a cedar tree, and when a girl was born they planted a pine tree. When they got married the ...
This Year We Meditate
- September 28, 2011
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We've been building towards this event for a long time. On October 18th, in the year of 5772, we will have a different kind of Sukkot. We will be building a Sukkah on our organic fertile land, on the land that we cultivated in West Rogers Park, the land that has given us our strong backs. And we will be collaborating with the Center for Jewish Mindfulness and participating in a community meditation led by Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell. I know, I know, a Sukkah is meant to be dwelled in according to the mitzvot. But, I wasn't raised in a community ...
What’s this Rosh HaShanah thang?
- September 28, 2011
Dear chevra, When the Talmud takes up Hanukkah, it begins, “Mah zot Hanukkah, What’s this Hanukkah, anyway?” The ancient Rabbis did not like its military overtones. But they took great delight in Rosh Hashanah. It’s more than a “new year”: “Rosh” means “head” or top,” but “shanah” is from a root that means both “change” and “repetition.” Only makes sense if you think of a spiral, where a new turning grows from an older reality. Transformation. We ...
Burning Bush Adventures: Wilderness Trips Good for the Body and Soul
- July 25, 2011
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Wilderness Trips Good for the Body and Soul Combining Judaism and Wilderness Camping since 1990 Burningbushadventures.com Burningbushadventures@gmail.com 413-652-7086 Wilderness Canoeing in the Northeast Dog Sledding in Maine Now Accepting Registrations for: Rosh Hashanah & Shabbat Shuvah in the Green Mountains: Sept. 28 - Oct. 2 & Sukkot on the Delaware River: Oct. 14 - 16
On Technology and Faith
- July 20, 2011
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I have worked myself up into a state of near-frenzy lately, driven by my concern for the state of the world and its inhabitants. Despite my best efforts to remain calm, it seems to me that Chicken-Little’s call of, “The Sky is Falling” rings truer every day. From widespread environmental destruction to pending economic collapse to illegal and unconstitutional U.S. military aggression, the future of the humanity is looking gloomier on a daily basis, headed, it seems, for a catastrophe of biblical proportions. This is perhaps an appropriate ...
A Sense of Place
- July 19, 2011
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Modern American culture doesn’t have much to say about the importance of place. Of course, we have landmarks: the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, Mount Rushmore, to name a few. But what is important about those places is what is there, or what once happened there. It’s not the place itself that claims us. It’s a combination of monument and memory. As Jews we are more likely to have a real sense of what place means. We’ve been to Israel, a land that has been a part of our history for millennia, and that today ...
Teva Ivri Observes Passover with the Help of a Composter and some Happy Chickens
- April 27, 2011
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Pesach has passed, and in Israel everyone is recovering from a week of eating matzah and intensive family time. We are happy to share two recently published Passover-related ideas, both of which raise environmental awareness in the realms of general observance and Jewish law (halacha): Biur Chametz in a Composter – Removal of Leavened Products Before Passover Harav Yuval Sherlow, an active member of Teva Ivri’s steering committee and a well-known spiritual figure in Israel, issued an halachic (Jewish legal) ordinance stating that it is ...
