Peace Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on peace.
From the Blogs
Alon Tal tells why it is important to vote for Green Israel Now!
- April 27, 2015
- 1 comment
Last chance to help us make Israel a greener, environmentally healthier land: Until the end of April you can vote online for the upcoming World Zionist Congress. The results determine, among other things, the division of power at the Jewish National Fund’s international board. For the past decade I have sat on the JNF board, largely because of the support and intervention of the Green Zionist Alliance – a wonderful group of young environmentalists who decided to get involved and improve Israel’s environmental performance. This support has allowed me to ...
Adam Sandler’s New Shanda – Racism Against Native Americans – Is A Reminder For Jewish Justice Activists
- April 26, 2015
- 2 comments
by Wendy Kenin @greendoula News broke last week that a dozen Native Americans and a cultural consultant walked off the set of Adam Sandler’s new Netflix film under production because it was misrepresenting Apache culture and spouted derogatory lines about women and indigenous people. I stand with them! It gets personal for us Jews who are activists for social justice when successful Jewish business persons in the entertainment industry perpetuate racism in mainstream society. On the heels of a long term campaign which erupted last year to change the name of the ...
What American Jews Can Do for Israel’s Democracy
- April 9, 2015
Voting green in elections for the World Zionist Congress can help repair the damage done by PM Netanyahu with his campaign rhetoric.
Vote for Green Israel in the WZC Election before April 30th!
- March 27, 2015
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You can support the Israel you want to see. All American Jews can vote in the World Zionist Congress election going on right now. One of the most common questions, we get is why it costs $10 to vote. As Mirele Goldsmith, a Green Israel slate member answers: "The American Zionist Movement has contracted with an independent company to run the online election. This is to insure that the election is fair. The registration fee is being used exclusively to pay for the election. It is not a donation to the WZO. I wish there was no fee, but it is a small price to pay ...
Do we choose well? My personal campaign
- March 19, 2015
I do not know exactly when my inner emotional life first became coupled with our national situation. It certainly wasn’t as a child or teenager – when I was completely self-centered around my personal life experiences. Later, as a bleary-eyed young mother I had begun speaking about the “situation,” but with the kind of emotional detachment of someone who has too little time and is overloaded building home and career. But somehow and at some time it just happened: I saw the direct connection between what happens to us as a people, and what I was going through ...
Eden Village is hiring farm educator apprentices for 2015 growing season!
- January 26, 2015
Eden Village Camp is Hiring! Submit Your Application About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff ...
Outdoor High Holiday Services with Ma’yan Tikvah
- September 25, 2014
Outdoor High Holiday Services with Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope Rosh HaShanah Day 1, Thursday, September 25, 9:30 AM, Cedar Hill Camp 265 Beaver Street, Waltham, (accessible by MBTA bus) Click here to carpool to this service. Rosh HaShanah Potluck Dinner and Shmita Seder, Thursday, September 25, 6:30 PM, Location TBD, in Wayland Rosh HaShanah Day 2, Friday, September 26, 10 AM, Greenways Conservation Area, 60 Green Way, Wayland Kol Nidre Service, Friday, October 3, 6:45 PM, Church of the Holy Spirit, 169 ...
Earth Etude for Elul 26- We Will be the Change We Want to See
- September 20, 2014
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We will be the change we want to see I am squatting I am wringing laundry with my hands I am picking chunks of dirt from the soles of my feet I am learning to smell the open sewer when I breathe in and out I am walking I am jostling in a vikram, in a small car that must have the air conditioning switched to off in order to make it up the Himalayan Mountain where love calls I am exhausted I am exhilarated I am joyful I am fretting as we weave ourselves up the steep slope and you can ...
Earth Etude for Elul 16- The Compost Bin in Our Hearts
- September 11, 2014
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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 that gives meaning to my compost bins. They are symbolic of so much – which may be more the truer reason that I think ...
Why Jewcology Matters
- September 10, 2014
It feels good to be back blogging on Jewcology after a 6 month hiatus. During this period, my wife gave birth to a baby boy and we moved from NYC to Maryland. Although it has been a very hectic time, as those with children or nieces/nephews know, the birth of a child changes one's perspective on the world. I have been involved with Jewcology since its inception and think it serves a very important purpose. I am thrilled that a new group of individuals has become involved, breathing a new sense of energy into the movement, including the launching of the redesigned ...
Earth Etude for Elul 12- Growing Teshuva
- September 6, 2014
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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 I have focused on ways to practice with greater compassion in how I spend my time and focus my energy as I take on ...
Earth Etude for Elul 10- Topsy Turvy Bus
- September 4, 2014
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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 outside. Six congregations, part of the nascent Prairie Jewish Coalition, sponsored the Topsy Turvy bus. What is a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 9 – A Cry in the Night: My Decision not to Consume Dairy
- September 3, 2014
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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 one can ignore an infant baby’s cries. My husband grabs for his glasses, makes his way to the nursery, and returns ...
Earth Etude for Elul 8 – Waves on the Beach
- September 2, 2014
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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 live with myself, with the Holy One of Blessing-- who is able to quiet waves, in the sea, in my soul-- who continues ...
Giving Yourself an Autumn Break
- August 31, 2014
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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 possibilities. But in place of the chaotic hurricane that starts for us after Labor Day, many Jews launch a period of ...
Earth Etude for Elul 3 – Let it Rest
- August 28, 2014
- 1 comment
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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, ...
What Would Herzl Do? Zionism and Muslim-Jewish Dialogue
- July 15, 2014
By David Krantz. SARAJEVO (Sept. 1, 2013) — What happens when Jews sit down in the same room with Muslims? We ask lots of questions. The Muslims ask: What is the significance of the kippah? Why can’t you do anything on Shabbat? And what is Zionism? The Jews ask: What does it mean for you to cover your hair? What is the range of opinions in Islam about homosexuality? What would your ideal solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict be? And in a twist on the classical Christian question, a Zionist ...
Environmental Diplomacy and the Middle East
- July 14, 2014
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By Rabbi Michael Cohen. KIBBUTZ KETURA (Dec. 26, 2009) — The folk rock musician James Taylor laments in one of his songs, “And in between what might have been and what has come to pass, a misbegotten guess alas and bits of broken glass.” The ongoing tragic saga of the Arab-Israeli conflict can be summed up in this poignant line. This conflict repeats its refrain of violence and dehumanization over and over again. Like a song, its lyrics do not change. Click here to continue reading this article
Vegetarianism for a More Peaceful World
- April 2, 2014
The universal dream of a peaceful, non-violent world will never be realized as long as we continue to consume the flesh of animals. Simply put, the senseless, mind-boggling, global slaughter of over 65 billion chickens, cows, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks and other farm animals and an even greater number of fish and other sea creatures constitutes the largest source of pain, suffering, bloodshed, and killing on our planet. It is a bloodbath of inconceivable magnitude. Through the consumption of flesh, we desensitize ourselves to all forms of suffering and ...
The Urban Adamah Fellowship Now Accepting 2014 Applications
- October 17, 2013
Connect to Something Bigger: Earth, Community, Social Justice, Jewish Spirituality The Urban Adamah Fellowship, based in Berkeley, CA, is a three-month residential training program for young adults (ages 21–31) that combines urban organic farming, social justice training and progressive Jewish learning and living within the setting of an intentional community. Through the operation of Urban Adamah’s one-acre organic farm and internships with social justice organizations, fellows gain significant skills, training and experience in all aspects of ...
