Interfaith Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on interfaith.
From the Blogs
Jewish literary theorist coins ‘cli fi’ genre term for climate change awareness
- August 31, 2014
Danny Bloom grew up in western Masschusetts in the 1950s, studied Jewish ideas under Rabbi Samuel Dresner, was bar-mitvahed in 1962 under the cantorial direction of Cantor Morty Shames and then started travelling. France, Israel, Greece, Italy, Alaska and Japan. Now he's 65 and working on what he calls a very Jewish project, Jewish because it comes out of ideas and values about having a vision and being a dreamer that he picked up on his way to becoming a bald, goateed senior citizen. Bloom lives in Asia now working as a public relations writer and ...
Earth Etude for Elul 3 – Let it Rest
- August 28, 2014
- 1 comment
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 rest-- the yawn exchanges stale air for fresh, cells grow, the blood flows with its passengers for new destinations, ...
Earth Etudes for Elul – An Introduction and Etude 1
- August 26, 2014
-
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 have I done? What do I wish I had done? What do I hope to do in the future? How has the world changed? How did I...
70+ Rabbinic Call to Move Our Money to Protect Our Planet
- April 30, 2014
Dear chevra, By April 30, 2014, more than 70 Rabbis and other Jewish spiritual leaders have signed this Call. Now we appeal to all members of the Jewish community to join in this effort. To do so, please click to: <https://theshalomcenter.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=11&reset=1> We — Rabbis, Cantors, and other Jewish spiritual leaders — call upon Jewish households, congregations, seminaries, communal and denominational bodies, and other institutions: Move Our Money to Protect Our Planet. In the ancient tradition ...
Speaking Out Faithfully: A Green Sheep Webinar from Interfaith Power and Light
- April 29, 2014
- 2 comments
On Thursday night, April 24, I had the privilege of participating in the Green Sheep Webinar for the Interfaith Power & Light chapter in my region (DC, MD, NoVA). The theme of the webinar was “Speaking Out, Faithfully,” and -- consistent with our Year of Jewish Policy Engagement on the Environment -- the focus was on raising our voices together as people of faith to make a difference in environmental advocacy. One of the lovely things about being on an interfaith webinar is getting to interact with a group of people with shared values and different ...
Environmental Tip of the Week: Replace one or more store-bought, chemical-filled body-care products with something homemade and natural!
- January 30, 2014
Cross posted in Environmental Tip of the Week This is a great resource to get you started: http://www.jewcology.com/content/view/Do-It-Yourself-Body-Care-for-the-New-Year
Environmental Tip of the Week: Apology and this week’s tip: Dumpster Adventures
- December 11, 2013
-
http://environmentaltip.blogspot.com/2013/12/apology-and-this-weeks-tip-dumpster.html I'm not blogging much lately due to certain matters going on in my life. Sorry, I know this is supposed to be a weekly post but life happens.... Anyway, here's this week's tip. This applies if you live in a place where there's a central dumpster where people dump their garbage: When you take out the garbage, keep your eyes open for things that might not really be garbage but perhaps someone was just trying to get rid of the item without it occurring to them that maybe someone else could ...
Transformative Judaism and our Planetary Crisis
- October 21, 2013
-
Since human action has endangered the web of life on earth, human action can heal it. And the religious and spiritual communities of our planet have the wisdoms and the tools to do the healing. Judaism is especially relevant because, unlike most world religions, we preserve the teachings of an indigenous people in the biblical tradition –- the spiritual wisdom of shepherds and farmers. And yet as a world people, we can now apply the earthiness of our origins to the Whole Earth. That does not mean simply repeating the ancient practices. For instance, ...
The Meaning of This Hour: Confronting the Coming Cataclysm of Global Climate Change
- September 16, 2013
- 1 comment
In March 1938, Abraham Joshua Heschel delivered a speech to a conference of Quakers in Frankfort (it was later expanded and published in 1943) called The Meaning of this Hour. Heschel had been living in Berlin for some years, acquiring his Ph.D. and a liberal rabbinic ordination (he had already gotten a traditional ordination when he was a teenager in Warsaw). During his years there, he was a witness to rise of Nazism even while he taught and began to publish his work. In 1938, it was clear to many people that war in Europe was coming. In the very month that ...
Do Animals Go to Heaven? Reflecting on Our Relationship to Non-Human Life
- July 15, 2013
-
Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? When we ask such a question or “Do animals have souls?” what are we are really saying? We are revealing a deeper existential and theological question about how human beings relate to other living creatures. No one can know the actual reality of the afterlife, but what we believe about it says something about what we believe about life. Our ideas about animal “souls” is, therefore, really about whether humans are unique among living creatures and determining the spiritual distance or ontological gap between humans and ...
Time For Faith Communities to Step Up the Fight
- January 27, 2013
I was surprised to learn that President Obama had focused part of his inaugural address on climate change. When I heard the speech I was particular struck by the language he used in calling for action. President Obama stated the following: "We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can ...
Faith Communities Must Protect the Vulnerable During Land Use Discussions
- December 30, 2012
-
With every passing day I become less of an optimist and more of a realist. This past year has provided many of us a glimpse of the chaos and destruction that might be in store for us all if no meaningful action is taken on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Although I am encouraged by the outpouring of support for devastated regions, I am losing faith in our government's ability to pass any legislation, nevertheless a meaningful energy/climate bill. There will be no national strategy to tackle the inevitable consequences of climate change, and as we ...
Pray-in for Climate at White House — Tuesday January 15
- December 25, 2012
- 1 comment
-
Call To Action: A Pray-in For the Climate Dear Friends, We are facing a Climate Cliff, and we are calling upon religious and spiritual leaders, other believers and all people of good will to join us to address its danger by participating in “A Pray-in for the Climate” in front of the White House on Tuesday, January 15, 2013. Super-storm Sandy, the drastic droughts in our corn country, record-breaking Arctic ice melt, and unheard-of floods in Vermont, let alone disasters in Australia, Russia, Pakistan and Africa, all warn us: the disruption of ...
The Tevet Solstice: Interfaith Understanding and the Holiday Season
- December 13, 2012
Post by Jewish Farm School Rabbinic Intern, Josh Boydstun - Reposted from Jewish Farmer's Almanac As Chanukah draws to a close, we enter the month of Tevet (December 13, 2012-January 11, 2013). For many American Jews, this is a challenging time of the year. Christmas may seem ubiquitous, whether framed as a specifically Christian holy day or as a secular, commercial, all-American holiday. While some American Jews celebrate Christmas with relatives, others feel deeply alienated and alone. For many of us, December is the month when our difference and minority ...
Climate Action at White House on Jan 15
- November 27, 2012
-
Acting for The Shalom Center, I have been named to the steering committee of Interfaith Moral Action on Climate (IMAC ). IMAC has a major project under way that may be especially interesting to environmentally committed members of the Jewish community. IMAC is planning a prayerful gathering the afternoon of January 15 at the White House to call on the President to take five steps on the climate crisis: 1. Permanently refuse permits for the XL Tar Sands pipeline, because tar-oil is among the most dangerous of the planet-heating forms of carbon. 2. ...
Lessons From Sandy
- November 4, 2012
-
As a New York City resident with friends living through New York and New Jersey, the past week has certainly been intense and tragic. The truth is that for my wife and I, Sandy brought days of downtime because we did not lose power or suffer any damage to our apartment or car. We feel incredibly lucky but at the same time so awful for the millions impacted by the storm. During the past week I have seen images on television and heard stories on NPR about so many heartbreaking experiences. But at the same there have been an equal amount of stories about people ...
New Interfaith Ecology Video “One Home”
- July 26, 2012
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development based out of Jerusalem has recently released a new video entitled "One Home." This unique interfaith eco viral video features world religious leaders speaking out on environmental sustainability. Faith leaders including Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Dalai Lama, and others deliver a message of hope and inspiration on the importance of protecting the earth, our common home. Please share this video with your family, your friends, and your community and help promote a sustainable future! bit.ly/onehome1
Maryland Legislative Environmental Summit
- January 31, 2012
(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, no such miracle exists anywhere else. Whatever we may be skilled enough to find out there, there is likely not to be another Planet Earth, or another you, or another me, or another Bay or the ...
Schools Measure Footprints (CJN April 2011)
- January 18, 2012
This "Sustainable Jew" column originally appeared in the Canadian Jewish News, April 14, 2011 Ontario EcoSchools is an environmental education program for kindergarten to Grade 12. Developed and run by school boards,the program allows students to acquire ecological literacy and learn about practices that will make them environmentally responsible citizens. In addition, Ontario EcoSchools helps to improve operations within school buildings in order to reduce environmental impacts. (http://bit.ly/tsj1104-01) Several Toronto Jewish day schools partici...
Third Annual MLK Weekend Food Justice Symposium “From Plant to Plate – Grow Local As Social Action”
- January 11, 2012
After a year in which the KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation Social Justice Committee grew, harvested and donated over a ton of organic produce and garnered three awards, they will honor the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. with a weekend long education and advocacy program focused on food justice and sustainability January 13th - 15th, 2012. Among the highlights are a Friday night service, a Saturday panel discussion and Sunday workshops on local food production and urban ecology. All events are held at KAMII at 1100 East Hyde Park Boulevard and are free and open ...
