Jewcology » Campers

Alon Tal tells why it is important to vote for Green Israel Now!

susanRL — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:41:37 +0000

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 represent them and pursue any number of important green initiatives which include:

· creating new sustainable forestry policies for the JNF,

· putting bike lanes on the organization’s agenda,

· creating a brand new “affirmative action” program to systematically reach out to Israel’s Arab minorities to finance environmental projects,

· increasing the organizational commitment to green building and solar energy,

· leading the fight to prevent JNF funding over the green line,

· expanding funding for forestry and agricultural research as well as river restoration projects, and

· fighting for good government and transparency.

There is a lot more that needs to be done. Whether or not I can continue depends on whether the “GZA” – or Aytzim as they call themselves these days gets enough votes. It only takes ten dollars to register and 3 minutes online to vote. (The polls close this Thursday April 30th). Here’s a link to Vote Green Israel: www.worldzionistcongress.org

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. And thanks to all of you who have already voted green for the support. – Alon Tal

(Considered by many to be the leading environmentalist in Israeli history, Alon Tal is a co-founder of the Green Zionist Alliance)

Earth Etude for Elul 8 – Waves on the Beach

Owner of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 22:50:28 +0000

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 to command me,
always.

.אני עומדת על חוף הים

–גלים

,שומעת אני אותם

רואה אותם

,גואים, יורדים

.זוהרים, בועים

בעמקים פנימיים

,גלים נוצרים

,גואים

,יוצאים

.מתאחדים עם גליי הים

בכל גופי

…..עצב

….אבל

….יגון

.מתפשטים בתוכי

.כדור הארץ סובל

,עסור לי רק לעמוד

,לשבת

,לשכב

.להירגע

,לפעול חובה עלי

,נדרשת מאבלי

,מאהבתי

,מהגלים

,כדי לחיות עם עצמי

–עם הקדוש ברוך הוא

,שמסוגל לשבח גלים

,בים

–בנפשי

,שממשיך לפקוד אותי

.תמיד

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and leader of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope in Wayland, MA, and a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is also the co-convener of the Jewish Climate Action Network and the co-creator of Gathering in Grief: The Israel / Gaza Conflict.

Can we see all Earth as our Holy Temple of today?

TheShalomCenter — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:31:58 +0000

There are two crises in the world today that call especially for Jewish responses:

One because it involves the future of a state that calls itself “Jewish,” and of its supporters in America — their spiritual, intellectual, ethical, and physical futures – at a moment when the relationship between Jews and our Abrahamic cousins of Palestine is filled with violence that threatens to kill more people, breed more hatred, and poison the bloodstream of Judaism and Jewish culture;

The other because it calls on Judaism as –- probably uniquely — a world religion that still can draw on having once been an indigenous people of shepherds and farmers with a Torah, offerings, festivals, and many other practices centered on the sacred relationship with the Earth.

Can these roots regrow new flowering at a moment when all the wisdom of all human cultures is needed to cope with a planetary crisis that originates in human mistreatment of the Earth?

We are living in the midst of the planetary climate crisis, the scorching of our Mother Earth, the choking of what was the balanced Breath of Life, our atmosphere, Whose sacred Name is YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh.

If we pronounce those letters, that “Name,” without vowels, we can hear the “still small Voice” Elijah heard, the sound not of silence but of breathing; the sound that susses between trees and human beings as we breathe in what the trees breathe out and the trees breathe in what we breathe out; the balance of CO2 and Oxygen that through our atmosphere breathes life throughout our planet.

We call the radical disturbance in that balanced breathing the “climate crisis”; it is a crisis in the Name of God.

Our ability to pay attention to the climate crisis seems always to be drowned out by the blood of war or the tears of the poor; but the scorching of our planet is already causing far more deaths and is threatening the lives and foods and homes of millions more.

How can we draw on the ancient wisdom of Biblical Israel as an indigenous people in sacred relationship with the Earth? How can we use this storehouse of wisdom toward helping heal all Humanity and Mother Earth today, from a crucial planetary crisis threatening the very life and health of all of us?

There are three weeks from 17 Tammuz (when the Babylonian Army broke through the walls of Jerusalem) to Tisha B’Av (when they destroyed the Temple). (In the Western calendar in 2014, these three weeks run from July 15 to August 4-5.)

Traditionally, these three weeks were about danger to the Temple and then its destruction.

It was through the Temple that ancient Israel made contact with God.

The contact came not by words of prayer or words of Torah study, but by offering on the Altar a portion of the foods that YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh, the Interbreathing Spirit of all life, had brought forth from adamah, the Earth.

So adam, the human community, praisedYHWH and celebrated the sharing of life through the food that came from adamah.

According to the records of the Prophet Jeremiah (chapter 34), as the Babylonian Army approached the city, he had called on the Israelites to free all their slaves and make real the Jubilee.

In that Homebringing, the Earth was released from human exploitation and the poor were released from exploitation by the rich — for each family received an equal share of land. The rich would release themselves from greedy domination, the poor would release themselves from fear and rage.

So the people heeded Jeremiah and freed their slaves. The Babylonians pulled back. Perhaps they were impressed by this demonstration of the people's unity and commitment.

But — seeing the besieging army withdraw, the slaveholders changed their minds and took back their slaves.

Then Jeremiah prophesied their doom: "Says YHWH, Breath of Life: 'You would not hear My Voice and proclaim a release, each to his kinsman and countryman. Here! I proclaim your release — declares YHWH — to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine."

Paraphrasing: If you will not let the Land rest, you will be exiled and it will rest in your absence. If you will not free your slaves, you will all become slaves. If you will not hear and listen to the still small Voice of the Breathing that connects all life, your own breath will be taken from you.

And he was right. The Imperial Army realized that the people were no longer united, but divided by the greed of the rich and the rage of the poor. The Army returned, conquered the city, and destroyed the Temple.

Much later, the Rabbis named the ancient sin as idolatry. And indeed, as the slave-holders made idols of their own domineering power, they rejected the Interbreathing Spirit.

They themselves had already destroyed their real connection with God, and the Destruction was simply an affirmation of their rejection.

The three weeks between 17th of Tammuz and the 9th day of the Jewish “moonth” of Av were weeks of uncertainty — of choice.

Choice for the Israelites and for the Babylonians. Which side were they on — their own power to lord it over other people and Mother Earth herself, or the Breath of Life that intertwines us all?

Shall we choose the God Who calls for freedom, for release, for a turning-away from our own arrogance?

When the walls between us have fallen, can both sides reach out to release themselves and each other from being enemies? Or shall we resort to subjugating others, and pay the price of being ourselves subjugated? 

In 586 BCE, both peoples failed. And for the Jews, the day of the final Destruction became a day of deep mourning, a 25-hour Fast from food and water, luxurious clothes and perfumes, even sex.

Jewish tradition also saw this day of despair, Tisha B'Av, as the day when the Messiah was born — and hidden away for a time of transformation. From hitting rock bottom comes the courage and commitment to arise.  In short, a day of grief and hope and action.

In our generation, we can turn from grief for the destruction of one community's ancient sacred place to grief, hope, and above all action focused on the future of endangered Earth. For Earth is our Temple, the sacred Temple of all human cultures and all living beings.

Now we know that we human beings through our own corporate "armies" of Big Carbon have broken down the walls that protected thousands of species and the climate that gave life to us all.

What shall we do now that these walls are shattered?

We can continue with business as usual, despoiling our Mother Earth still more.

Or we can begin to change direction:

At the level of action to change public policy on climate, we can use this period to mobilize support for the People's Climate March in New York City on September 21, just a few days before the Rosh Hashanah that begins a Sabbatical or Shmita Year of restfulness for the Earth.

At the level of prayer and spiritual practice, we can draw on several ways of addressing Tisha B’Av as a day of mourning, hope, and action for the Earth at https://theshalomcenter.org/treasury/116.

In these ways we can pause to choose the path of conscious interbreathing, repairing our interwoven threads of deep connection, renewing our covenant with YyyyHhhhWwwwHhhh.

Curiosity = Freedom?

Owner of Eden Village Camp — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:38:19 +0000

As we move towards Passover, we journey through the narrow places (mitzrayim) of Winter into the open, lush landscape of Spring. We can feel the season working its magic: the more time we spend outside, the more Spring does to us what it does to the cherry blossom trees! As we read in the Hagaddah (the Passover seder story), we are asked to celebrate our freedom and to remember: "Today, we are slaves. Next year, we will be free." The Exodus is a story of our past, but it is relevant today – for one, it's time to explore how we can more fully experience liberation and the world that we envision. Connecting with our land and community helps bring us not just the idea of liberation, but the experience of it. We encourage all to immerse in nature in some way soon… it's one of the strongest ways we can stay young, curious and grateful. As one example, below is a photo of one of our campers, Max, who carried the Eden Village spirit into his home community by asking the person in the fish department to show him how to gut a fish… and then Max tried it at home! A neighbor helped, and Max ended the evening more connected with both his neighbors and with the fish he ate. We celebrate the freedom we've each been given to discover our sacred gift of life, in our own unique ways!

Celebrating Tu B’shvat… By Living Up in a Tree?

Owner of Eden Village Camp — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:06:42 +0000

Jewish camp directors spend week aloft in a redwood “tree-sit” In preparation for Tu B’shvat, my husband and I lived this past week 150 feet up in the air into an ancient and endangered redwood tree in northern California. We cooked, slept and made Shabbat in the over-200-year-old trees as part of an environmental protection action, called “tree-sitting”, to keep the trees from being cut down. Our grove included 50 redwoods connected by ziplines; these trees would have been cut down three years ago were it not for the continual presence of “tree-sitters” living high up in them. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, and are increasingly endangered by logging. We took our cue from the reminder of Tu B’Shvat to care for and pay attention to our trees. Living in a redwood was like living in the lungs of the earth! Tu B’shvat marks the moment in early Spring when sap begins to rise in the trees. Our mystics pointed to a parallel stirring inside ourselves during this holiday. It was incredible to connect our inner journeys with the lives of these ancient redwoods. While not living in a tree, we serve as founding directors of Eden Village Camp, the first and only Jewish organic farm-to-table sleepaway camp, which is entering its third season with 300 campers expected. We're hosting hands-on family workshops on how to make syrup from maple trees at Eden Village (in Putnam Valley, NY) on March 25 and April 1. We're also leading various Tu B’shvat events – please join us! www.edenvillagecamp.org, 877-397-3336.

How is Eden Village Camp like Hogwarts? A Camper-made video!

Jonah Meadows Adels — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:46:05 +0000

Just a little summer time magic to help ease the chills of Tevet:

http://youtu.be/0ezZepNft2g

Did you check out the sky today?

Blessings for all

Jesse Rabinowitz — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 22:03:02 +0000

Jews love blessings. We bless our food, our weather, and our new clothes-nearly everything. Why then do we not have a blessing for planting? Today at camp, we began planting our garden. Campers were able to dig their hands—too often used for texting and videogames— into rich soil. They planted tomatoes, brussel sprouts, sweet peppers, basil, cabbage, and kohlrabi, but before we put these life-sustaining plants into the ground, we took a step back to surround our actions with consciousness and purpose.

I had all the campers write their own blessings for planting, our garden, and the earth. The prayers children, aged seven to thirteen produced were beautiful, on par with King David’s psalms, and full of hope. The extreme diversity of requests, thanks, and praises made me realize why there is no uniform blessing for planting, it would be too normal. In his work Conscious Community, Rabbi Kalyonymus Kalman Shapira critiques those who live on the level of the mundane, satisfied with repetition without challenge. The blessings we recite day in and day out become normal, unimportant. Planting, enabling another organism to live and to perpetuate life, is a holy activity that must not be relegated to the realm of the mundane.

The transformation of a space that was one minute barren and the next full of purples, greens, yellows and reds, proves that the Devine is everywhere, that it is our responsibility to bring holiness to places where it has been neglected, or disregarded. As we approach the holy Shabbat, let us begin to see the whole world as a garden, full of potential, life and holiness. Any spot that is devoid of visible beauty is simply a garden waiting to be planted, not an area forgotten by G!d.

All we need is love

Jesse Rabinowitz — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:21:13 +0000

The kids are here. 183 screaming, excited and overly energetic 2nd-8th graders, and they are ready to change the world. Rather, we want them to be ready, but, is it reasonable for adults to expect these campers to make significant social change from our camp bubble in upstate New York? Is it fair of us to ask them to attempt this mission that my generation and the generations before have failed at? I am not sure, but I do know that we can and must expect a higher level of compassion and caring this summer.

Yesterday, while staking the pepper plants growing in our garden, I for the first time, started to understand Rav Soloveitchik’s z’l comparison between man and plant. Maybe it was the morning of dealing with homesick campers, but I began looking for meaning and support from the earth. I was able to prevent the plant, weighed down by a small green pepper, from toppling over with a two inch piece of twine. Just as sometimes all a homesick camper needs is an arm around the shoulder or someone to toss a Frisbee around with, we are all capable of helping the world by small actions. This is not to say that small actions are all that is needed. We need massive social change in order to become a world free of suffering. Still, we all need a place to start. Having campers connect with living plants and nurture them to maturity is an amazing teaching opportunity to illustrate that, through acts of caring and loving kindness, we can all have a profound impact on the world around us.

The Torah teaches us that no place is devoid of G-d’s beauty. We learn in Kohellet Rabbah that, when Hashem spoke to Moshe, it was not through a substance that many of us would deem to be beautiful. Rather, it was not a calm river or a serene sunset; rather it was a thorn bush. Yet this medium was holy enough for G-d, that he used it to change the course of Jewish history. Through hard work and teaching, I am hopeful that campers and staff alike will find holiness in the flowers of the watermelon plant, the worms crawling through the dirt, and the sweat of their brows as we continue to inspire change the world through gardening. Campers must learn that everything, like the thorn bush, is holy, Devine, and important.

The world is sprouting at Camp Sprout Lake

Jesse Rabinowitz — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:47:52 +0000

It has been three days of hard work, blisters, and buckets of sweat, but it is almost time to sprout, literally. Next week, the campers of Young Judea Sprout Lake in upstate New York will arrive. For this eight-week summer, I have one goal in mind, to make clear the intimate connection our tradition has with the earth. As staff has slowly trickled in from across Israel, Canada and the United States, I am impressed by the continual excitement when they meet “the Garden Guy”. The desire to dig, plant and labor is ever present. I believe this spirit is driven by the idea of A.D. Gordon, a leader of labor Zionism, who coined the phrase, “To build and to be built.” If this camp experience is representative of a cultural change spreading throughout the youth of America, we may be able to break through the environmental barriers done by the generations past. I hope that we may have finally returned to a time where reward is not determined by ease and money, but rather one in which joy is found in a sore back, muddy boots and a ground tilled, planted, and alive.

We must be willing to get dirty. We must remember our roots— both literally and figuratively. Our roots as a people are tied to the earth. Regardless of personal Israelis politics and viewpoints on current events, to me it is clear that our religion and culture is tied historically to the land of Israeli. Our ancestors were able to make a desert flower, a wasteland grow. They were willing, driven and committed to getting dirty. Through working the land they were transformed into a people continually pushing past adversity, for they recognized that life is not easy, and it is not meant to be. We, as global citizens, Jews, humans, are meant to be challenged. Through challenge we grow as individuals. So too through toil do we make the land grow. As Jews we are must join together and remember that we are united by much more than we are divided. We must remember our roots, and we must plant them in fertile soil prepared by the sweat of our brows.

Psalm 126, which is traditionally said in the grace after meals, teaches us “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” I pray that these tears are neither of hardship nor pain, but rather of hard work and determination, for only than may be truly build ourselves into the Chosen People.

Seeking your suggestions for naming our new bunks!

Owner of Eden Village Camp — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:35:49 +0000

Dear Friends,

As Eden Village Camp expands – 231 campers this year as of now, up from 134 in our first summer last year! — we have renovated new cabins, which of course need inspiring names. The theme is Jewish environmental heroes who memory we want to bless. For example, we have bunks named Heschel, Besht, Noach and Miriam.

Your suggestions invited!

Rainbow Day!

Rabbi David Seidenberg — Fri, 13 May 2011 01:24:18 +0000

Rainbow Day, יום ברית הקשת

Remember the Rainbow Covenant on Shabbat Noach, Shabbat Behar and Rainbow Day!

Celebrate Rainbow Day and the Rainbow Covenant with all life!

In the Rainbow Day curriculum, you’ll find Torah, prayers and liturgies, midrashim about rainbows, lesson plans about seed-saving, learning from Hoshea and Ezekiel, Kabbalah and midrash, and project ideas—40 in all—that you can use to celebrate the Rainbow covenant onShabbat Behar and on Rainbow Day (both fall on the same day this year outside of Israel, May 15-16, 2015), and on Shabbat Noach (Oct 16-17 in 2015), and every week. The Rainbow Covenant with all life is the first covenant of the Torah. (You can download in-depth study sheets on the connection between the Rainbow covenant and the Sinai/Shmitah covenant with the land that is found in that week’s parshah here. Go to the Shmita Project to learn more about Shmita.)

Download the Rainbow Day curriculum. It includes: Rainbow and Shmitah covenant Torah texts, poetry for kids, liturgy and midrash, frogs, mikveh, the dangers of triclosan (found in anti-bacterial soap), hydrofracking in Israel, and much more. A table of contents with a list of all 40 modules, along with the ages each is appropriate for, can be found below. Many individual modules have study sheets, articles, and lesson plans that you can download directly below. You can add your ideas to this curriculum too: write to R’ David Seidenberg of neohasid.org (rebduvid86 at gmail.com). Every year we add a link to one of the issues found in the curriculum here: Learn about fracking in Israel. New to this year’s download: all the url’s are live links that you can click. Lastly, don’t leave this page without listening to the Brit/Hoshea song — scroll to the very bottom and hit the play button!

What is Rainbow Day?

On the 27th day of the second month, Noah, his family, and all the animals that were with them left the ark (Genesis 8). Exactly one lunar year and ten days before—one complete solar year—the flood began on the 17th of the second month, the day before Lag B’Omer. When Noah, the animals and his family went out from the ark, God made a covenant, with all the animals and the people, that there would never be again be a flood of water to destroy life on Earth. Rainbow Day is always the 42nd day of the Omer, the day after Yom Yerushalayim. Other days connected the Rainbow Covenant include Shabbat Noach and Shabbat Behar.

Why is the Rainbow Covenant important?

The Rainbow Covenant is a time to celebrate the diversity of life on Earth, and to remember our role in God’s covenant with all Creation. It is a time to remember that the first covenant was not with human beings but with all living creatures. It is a chance to reflect on the deep spiritual and religious meaning of diversity, creation, and our role as part of creation and partners with God.

What is the message of the Rainbow Covenant?

The Torah teaches that God has promised never to flood the Earth again. But that doesn’t mean humanity can’t “flood the Earth” and harm life. We live in a time when many species have gone extinct or are threatened with extinction. Our civilization is using so much of the world’s land and resources that we don’t always leave room for the other creatures. And the climate is changing. As the African-American spiritual goes, “God gave Noah the Rainbow sign, no more water, the fire next time!” The story of Noah and the Flood teaches us that we have a responsibility to care for all creation and all creatures, and that caring for all species is a mark of righteousness.

What can you do to celebrate the Rainbow Covenant?

The resources here will include ideas for teachers and educators, for kids and adults, for rabbis and prayer leaders, gardeners and meditators, for Torah study, science study, and for action. Find a venue where you can make a difference and use one of these modules. We suggest that you leave a few moments after whatever activity you use for teaching the traditional blessing for seeing a rainbow:

Blessed be You YHVH, our God. . .who remembers the covenant.

Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha`olam zokher et habrit.

You can use also these materials on Shabbat Noach, Shabbat Beh!r, or other days!

Download the Rainbow Day curriculum!

You can also incorporate ideas you’ll find here into the observance of Yom Yerushalayim, or as part of Lag B’Omer or for anytime of the Omer, etc. Or use them in religious schools in the week following Shabbat Behar or anytime. Whether you do something in a group, a synagogue, with friends or on your own, make Rainbow Day special.

Here is a prayer that you can use for Rainbow Day (longer version with vowels is found below, and this version with vowels is found in the curriculum as well):

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #671d79}

אל מלא רחמים God full of compassion,

זכור בריתך עמ כל החיים remember Your covenant with all life,

ברית מי נח the covenant of the waters of Noah.

ופרוש סכת רחמיםושלום Spread a Sukkah of compassion & peace

עלינו ועל כל מיני החייםover us, over all Life’s species.

הקיף כלם יוחסינו Surround all our relations

בזיו השכינה with Shekhinah’s radiance,

בנחל עדניך תשקם Water them with Your river of delights

בכל מושבותהם in all of their habitats.

ואז ישוב עץ החיים Then the Tree of Life will be restored

לאיתנו הראשון to its original strength,

ונראתה הקשת בענן and ‘the bow will appear in the cloud’

שש ומתפאר בגוונין joyful and beautified with its colors,

ותזכנו אנחנו וצאצינו so that we and our descendants may merit

לישב ימים רבים על האדמה to live many days on Earth,

כימי שמים על הארץ like days of the Skies over the Land.

More thoughts on the Rainbow Covenant:

According to Kabbalah, Rainbow Day is also the day of Malkhut in Yesod, a unity of masculine and feminine that represents a milestone on the way to the revelation of Shavuot. For us, it can represent a chance to commit ourselves to the rainbow covenant, to turn from actions that destroy the earth, to turn our lives away from unraveling earth’s climate and the web of life, from diminishing earth’s abundance.

The rainbow signified a new covenant between God and the land. It’s time for us to imagine a new covenant between humanity and the Earth, including the land and the seas, one that we start to live by as we change our lifestyles and habits. We can use the covenantal vision of the Shmitah year in Leviticus 25 to help guide our steps. And maybe next year it will be time to celebrate that new covenant.

Rainbow Day is pregnant with ritual possibilities related to the elements, to the midpoint between equinox and solstice, to the time between the fire of Lag B’Omer and the fire of Sinai, to global warming, to healing the waters, to the growing wheat crop in the land of Israel, and to all the meanings related to the journey from freedom to revelation. And rainbows are a symbol of diversity: the diversity of colors, of people, and of all life.

♦ Here are some of the organizations that have contributed resources (starred organizations are members of the Green Hevra):

neohasid.org* The Shalom Center* The Teva Learning Alliance* Jewish Farm School* Kayam Farm* Religious Action Center*Green Zionist Alliance*

Thanks also to: Isabella Freedman Retreat Center* Jewish Reconstructionist Movement* Eden Village Camp* Organic Torah Tikkun Schechter Day School Network EcoJews of the Bay Green Zionist Alliance* Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life* Jewish Greening Fellowship* Hazon* Urban Adamah* Wilderness Torah* Adamah*

The beautiful illustration below is “Noah & Naamah” ©1998 by Ilene Winn-Lederer; Prints may be ordered at: http://www.winnlederer.com/finearts/prints2/noah.html or via email to: ilene@winnlederer.com

♦ Jewish Lights is offering a 20% discount on the two versions of Sandy Eisenberg Sasso’s book about Naamah. Naamah, Noah’s Wife, ages 0-4 and Noah’s Wife: The Story of Naamah, ages 4 and up.

Download the Rainbow Day Curriculum!

⇒ Curriculum Table of Contents:Contents (version 4.2):

The Rainbow Blessing

1. Teach the Rainbow blessing and blessing for the trees

Texts from Tanakh

The Rainbow covenant in Genesis
A Tale of Two Covenants: Rainbow and Shmita
Hoshea 2:20 and the Messianic covenant

Songs:

5. A song for Hoshea 2:20

More Texts from Tanakh
6. Ezekiel, and a Kabbalistic interpretation of the rainbow

Midrashim: interpretations of the rainbow sign

Noah and environmental responsibility
Flood, Ark and Rainbow, R. Arthur Waskow (also for Lag B’Omer)
Human responsibility, R. Shlomo Riskin
The diversity and unity of all life, R. Shimshon Rafael Hirsch
On human moral development, R. Avraham Yitzhak Kook (link)

Biodiversity

Learn about biodiversity (link)
Pick a rainbow!
Study endangered species (focus on frogs)

Science, Culture and Art

How many colors are in a rainbow?
Do other animals see colors the way we do?
Colors and dyes
The science of rainbows
Art projects
Poetry!

Liturgues and Prayers

Rainbow prayer for creation, R. David Seidenberg
Between the Fires, R. Arthur Waskow
Council of All Beings (link)
A mikveh meditation, Carol Rose

Current Issues

Climate change
Keystone XL Pipeline
Hydrofracking
Fracking in Israel
Get active on the Farm Bill!
Don’t use triclosan!
Tzedakah and justice

Seed Saving, Harvests and Gardens

Seed saving and Naamah
Read Naamah: Noah’s Wife by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
For the Omer: plant a “grainbow”!
Eli Rogosa’s story about finding an ancient wheat
“L’Dor V’Dor” seed saving workshops (link)
Plant a rainbow garden (link)
Count the omer! (link)

The Seven Noachide Laws

The seven colors of the rainbow and the seven laws
More study — articles by Rabbi Everett Gendler and Calvin DeWitt

The words from the song video are from Hoshea 2:20 (refresh the page if you can’t see it). They are about the messianic rainbow covenant that is yet to come:

V’kharati lahem brit bayom hahu im chayat hasadeh v’im of hashamayim v’remes ha’adamah v’keshet v’cherev umilchamah eshbor min ha’aretz v’hishkavtim lavetach

On that day, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts and the birds, with all creatures that walk on the Earth, that bow and sword and battle will disappear from the land, so that all may safely rest.

You can also hear another exquisite version of this song by Amen (Gaby Meyer and Amir Paiss) here!

Eden Village Camp slideshow!

Owner of Eden Village Camp — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:38:30 +0000

Click here to view! http://animoto.com/play/y346I2ced8hscmBve2vTpQ