Trees Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on trees.
From the Blogs
Hazon Philadelphia’s Ride the Pines
- May 31, 2015
We are excited to announce Hazon Philadelphia’s Ride the Pines - Sunday, May 31st, at the JCC Camps in Medford, NJ. Ride the Pines is a fully-supported bike ride and community experience for people of all cycling levels and ages, bringing together organizations like ours from across the Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Jewish communities. Join friends for routes through pine forests, farmland, and local villages, culminating in a barbecue lunch of kosher, pasture-raised meat from Grow and Behold, followed by an interactive marketplace of local, ...
May I Have Your Vote for Green Israel?
- March 10, 2015
Because people voted for the Green Israel slate in past elections, there have been major improvements in how the JNF does business. It has adopted significantly better policies on forestry, stream restoration, and soil reclamation. JNF is taking the lead on green infrastructure and has established a program to prioritize quality of life improvements in Arab communities that have long been neglected by the JNF. The JNF has power, and we can leverage that power by voting.
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 ...
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 ...
Green Your Home
- July 3, 2014
By David Krantz. Maybe Kermit was wrong — maybe it actually is easy to be green. Or, at the very least, it is pretty easy to start being green. There are many projects that you can do that will not just green your home, but will keep the green in your pocket, too. Plant a garden There’s no better summer treat than fresh fruits and vegetables grown in your own backyard. And no plot of land is too small for a garden, even if that garden is only a few potted cherry-tomato plants on your windowsill. Plant trees As long as you’re planting, ...
Uplifting People and Planet
- January 14, 2014
Exciting news! Just in time for Tu b’Shevat, Canfei Nesharim and Jewcology are proud to announce the launch of a new ebook exploring traditional Jewish teachings on the environment, Uplifting People and Planet: Eighteen Essential Jewish Lessons on the Environment, edited by Rabbi Yonatan Neril and Evonne Marzouk. This ebook is the most comprehensive study in English of how Jewish traditional sources teach us to protect our natural resources and preserve the environment. From food to trees, energy to water, wealth to biodiversity, the book studies eighteen ...
A Tu B’Shvat Seder to Heal the Wounded Earth
- January 7, 2014
The New Year – for Rebirthing Trees: [This version of the Haggadah for Tu B’Shvat has been greatly adapted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of The Shalom Center from a Haggadah shaped by Ellen Bernstein, as published in Trees, Earth, and Torah: A Tu B’Shvat Anthology (Jewish Publ. Soc., 1999, ed. by Elon, Hyman, & Waskow). Bernstein wrote introductory remarks to sections of that Haggadah, many of which have been included or adapted for this one. They are indicated in the text by the initials “EB.” * The desire for such a Haggadah grew from ...
Lessons From Trees: a Tu Bishvat Message
- January 2, 2014
Some of my most important lessons in life I learned from Jewish verses about trees. From the following I learned that I should be an environmental activist, working to help preserve the world: In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: "See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you." (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28) From ...
For Tu Bishvat: Quotations from Jewish Sources about Trees
- January 1, 2014
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Since Tu Bishvat is considered the "birthday for trees," a time when trees are to be judged regarding their fate for the coming year, I hope the following Jewish quotations about trees and fruits will be helpful for celebrations of this increasingly popular holiday. 1. And God said: "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit -- to you it shall be for food." (Genesis 1:29) 2. In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the ...
WHY IS THIS NIGHT DIFFERENT? THOUGHTS ON TU BISHVAT
- December 30, 2013
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One of the highlights of the Passover Seder is the recitation of the four questions that consider how the night of Passover differs from all the other nights of the year. Many questions are also appropriate for Tu Bishvat, which starts on Wednesday evening, January 15 in 2014, because of the many ways that this holiday differs from Passover and all other days of the year. While four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk at the Passover Seder, the four cups drunk at the Tu Bishvat Seder vary in color from white to pink to ruby to red. While Passover is a holiday ...
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 ...
Earth Etude for 3 Elul – Paying Attention to Roots
- August 7, 2013
by Maxine Lyons Being a passionate gardener, I have been tending several gardens in my yard as well as many flower pots on our large deck so my hands are in dirt quite often these days. I have been transplanting yellow primroses, succulents, day lilies and sunflowers, focusing on the integrity of the roots, noticing how each root system is different. For example, some plants require a full root for transplanting while others need a partial root to survive. Succulents do not need roots at all; pieces can be immersed in dirt and re-establish their roots in ...
Day 39 of the Omer
- May 15, 2012
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On this 39th day of the Omer, we reflect on Endurance in Bonding - Netzach in Y'sod. The fall foliage in New England is stunning. Bright reds and oranges and yellows take one's breath away. In the Midwest, where oaks predominate, the colors are more subdued - yellows, yes, but softer shades of burgundy, salmon, and coral, and much less commonly the brilliant scarlet, crimson, and tangerine that we see here. But no matter what color the leaves turn in the autumn, sooner or later they all fall to the ground. Left behind are bare trees, less ...
Day 38 of the Omer
- May 14, 2012
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On this third day of the sixth week of the Omer we focus on Tiferet in Y'sod, Harmony in Bonding. Biomes are large geographical areas of the world, each with distinctive plants and animals that are adapted to the particular climate and geography of the area. Forest biomes include tropical forests, temperate forests, and boreal forests, also known as the taiga. I love these words: boreal, taiga. Boreal - of or pertaining to the north. Taiga, from the Russian. Both words carry a sense of mystery as I think of those vast cold wildernesses that ...
Day 37 of the Omer
- May 13, 2012
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Today we consider the Divine Attributes of Gevurah in Y'sod, Restraint in Bonding, as we count the 37th day of the Omer. I think of the majestic redwoods of the Pacific coast. They are so tall that it is impossible to see their crowns, and some are so big around that a car can drive through the middle. How do water and nutrients climb to the top of these trees? I think of early spring in New England, and the buckets - or plastic tubing - attached to sugar maple trees, catching the rising sap. How does the sap flow against the force of gravity? The upward ...
Day 36 of the Omer
- May 13, 2012
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Today we begin a new week, the sixth week of counting the Omer, and for this first day of the week we consider Chesed in Y'sod, Lovingkindness in Bonding. During this sixth week, trees will provide our inspiration, beginning with oak trees. Growing up in the Midwest, I learned about "oak openings." Oak openings occurred as a result of fires that in the past regularly swept across the prairie land of southern Wisconsin, where I lived as a child. In some areas, the result of these fires was a prairie that wasn't a totally open vista. These prairies ...
Eco-friendly Summer
- May 7, 2012
Summer will be here before you know it. One way to be a better guardian of the Earth and to follow the Jewish imperative of bal tashchit (do not waste) is to take some simple steps to keep your home naturally cool in the summer months. Here are a few ways to make that happen: -- Close your curtains: During the heat of the day, close your curtains or blinds. This blocks the sun’s rays so that less air conditioning will be needed to cool your home. -- Keep the oven off: As much as possible on hot days, use the microwave, toaster oven and/or the outdoor ...
Trees, Bikes and Nature on Yom Ha’atzmaut
- April 26, 2012
NEW YORK (April 26, 2012) — Falafel fests, movie nights, dance parties — Americans celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut in many ways. But what do Israelis do on Independence Day? They head outdoors. Last year so many people jammed into the country’s de-facto national-park system, run by KKL-JNF, that parks were closed because they reached capacity. So, how many people was that, you ask? About one in every five Israelis — more than 1.5 million people — which is also about the same number of trees that have been planted in Israel since ...
Fruit Trees
- February 21, 2012
(reposted from Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin's blog: http://blog.bjen.org/ dated February 17, 2012) I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Israel, which serendipitously coincided with the season of Tu B'shvat, the day that marks the new year of the trees. Since the times of the early rabbis, this holiday has been a sacred day on the Jewish calendar. In modern Israel, it is a day of joy, when school children go out into the fields and countryside to plant trees, put on plays and celebrate the glories of a returning spring. Friends and family visit each ...
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 ...
