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, sustainable vendors, swimming and boating, children’s programming from Teva, and more! Your participation supports Hazon Philadelphia in running innovative Jewish programming on food, health, and  sustainability.

Not a cyclist? The Ride wouldn’t be possible without our dedicated crew, who support and cheer on riders, help behind the scenes, and then enjoy the lunch and afternoon with their rider friends. Registration sold out last year, so sign up today! hazon.org/phillybike

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 role models, we foster our campers’ positive Jewish identity and genuine commitment to tikkun olam (healing the world). Our 3 acre educational farm and orchard are based on principles of permaculture, sustainable and organic farming. We produce annual vegetables, perennials, and tend educational gardens as well as animals.

About the Farm Educator Apprenticeship: This is a paid six-month apprenticeship for young adults seeking hands-on experience. In the Spring build your knowledge based on agriculture, farm-based education and Jewish community. In the Summer, work at our 8-week intensive summer camp as Jewish Farm Educators. In the fall, take ownership and integrate your new skills by diving deeper into independent projects.  Live on-site at our beautiful camp, one hour north of New York City. By joining the farm staff at Eden Village, apprentices will hold two main responsibilities – tending our growing spaces and educating in our all of our programming through the spring, summer and fall. Apprentices will also have an opportunity to dive deeper into one of four focus areas: perennials, annuals, animals, and educational gardens. In these specialties apprentices will gain a deeper understanding of certain aspects of farming and will take on leadership and special projects to booster their learning and the learning of campers and program participants.

Details: April 14th, 2015 – October 22nd 2015, Apprentices receive full room and board at Eden Village, as well as a modest stipend. Extensive experience is not necessary but experiential curiosity is required. We recommend you explore our website thoroughly to get more information about our apprenticeship, farm, camp, and more at Eden Village Camp.

More questions? Explore the FAQ page. For all other questions, contact farm@edenvillagecamp.org

This ia a free opportunity for young adults 19-29 to come together in an interfaith setting for Jews, Christians and Muslims to live, farm and study together from June 1st – July 23rd 2015 at the Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, NY, with time for mentoring and vocational discernment. It is a Multifaith, Peace, Justice and Earthcare program. We seek students who are grounded in their religious tradition, serious about spriiuality and the state of the planet, and open to learnig and living in an intentional community setting. This is our 6th annual program run by the Community of Living Traditions on the Stony Point Center 32 acre campus.

For more details and to apply go to: www.stonypointcenter.org/SummerInstitute Deadline is March15, 2015

17 Cricketown Rd, Stony Point, NY 10980 845-786-5674

Young Urban Moshav is thrilled to have the opportunity to create a demonstration garden at the JCC of the East Bay. The garden is intended to serve the after school program’s garden curriculum and to function as a Jewish outdoor learning center for the community. The project site design will integrate best urban garden practices with Jewish cultural items such as traditional holiday foods and the fruits of Israel. The space will accommodate groups of learners and holiday activities. Young Urban Moshav’s participatory approach includes support with community engagement, from communications content and crowdsourcing to strategic connections with other Jewish green initiatives.

Artisan Katherine Gulley of Raised Bedlam Woodworks (left), Green Educator Ezra Ranz (center), JCC East Bay Berkeley After School Director Cassie Brown (right) enjoy the new beautiful redwood garden furniture that arrived in November.

Young Urban Moshav, a new Jewish food start-up, has been accepted into the Hazon CSA network and aims to develop a residentially-based Community Supported Agriculture program. The JCC East Bay garden will be an example of garden design and implementation that Young Urban Moshav is offering for other institutions and private residences as it embarks on its goal to grow a system of interconnected urban agriculture sites across the East Bay.

In developing this exciting demonstration garden, Young Urban Moshav is sourcing labor and products from within the community whenever possible. As of the end of November 2014, exciting progress has been made. The garden has received its first major contribution from Katherine Gulley at Raised Bedlam Woodworks in Berkeley. A beautiful redwood table and bench, including end planters and a garden box, are already on site! Katherine makes custom outdoor and reclaimed furniture. She herself grew up in Berkeley attending the JCC and proudly claims that she was at her after school program at the JCC when the big earthquake of ‘89 hit.

Chuck Weis (left), Jory Gessow of Gessow Landscaping (center), and Garden Educator Ezra Ranz (right) scope out the site for grading upgrades.

The garden site, an alley between the southwest corner of the JCC building and the adjacent commercial CVS building, is being graded during the month of December so that the main area in use will be flat. Approval has been obtained for a retaining wall and ramp, to be constructed by community member Jory Gessow of Gessow Landscaping. You might recognize Jory from the annual Tikkun Leyl Shavuot events as he is an avid participant of many years!

JCC After School Director Cassie Brown has been overseeing the project. Green Educator Ezra Ranz has been coordinating between the JCC and Young Urban Moshav on a volunteer basis while already growing some starts with students in small boxes on location (pictured in the featured image of this article). Facilities Supervisor Chuck Weis is managing construction details regarding the building site. Front Desk Supervisor Selena Martinez has been filling an insightful and exemplary advisory role. The garden design has been developed by Young Urban Moshav volunteer Talya Ilovitz, who now is updating the drawings to include the newest developments.

Next major steps include construction of raised garden beds and installation of drip irrigation as well as a spiral herb garden and worm bin. Material contributions are being graciously accepted, from lumber to soil, garden equipment and planters to irrigation supplies, seeds, plants and even worms! Please contact youngurbanmoshav@gmail.com if you would like to contribute to this exciting Jewish community garden.

Cranberry Shabbat 

Saturday, October 25,  Raindate, November 1

Wachusett Reservoir, Boylston

Join us for our annual Cranberry Shabbat. We will intermix songs and prayers with wild cranberry picking, and share a picnic lunch at the end. Please bring something to share and your own drinks and utensils. (Warm soup sounds good for a picnic in October!) Also bring containers for the cranberries. Most of our pickings will be given to a homeless shelter for their Thanksgiving dinner. There may be muddy spots, so be prepared footwear-wise, and it could be windy and chilly along the water. Please RSVP to Ma’yan Tikvah for details.

There’s a precious community garden nestled between buildings on a crowded cobblestone street high up in the city of Tzvat, Israel. It began 18 years ago as a memorial community garden, in memory of a son who passed too soon, and it became a city landmark. Today this sacred place, enjoyed by and open to all, is receiving loving support toward renewing the shared space.

The Garden Seeds: Untimely death of a son, grief of a mother, new friendship

First, a mother was seeking a way to honor her son who was killed by cancer as a teenager 20 years ago this past spring. Shirel Levine was considering planting a tree in his memory as she was grieving over her tremendous loss, as an American living in northern Israel. She met the wife of her doctor, and this righteous woman Tamar Bittelman (of blessed memory) expressed a deep compassion with Shirel for the loss of her son. Within 10 minutes of their first encounter, Tamar suggested a garden, and she offered to help set it up.

Steven’s Garden in Tzvat was first established with much communal involvement. The grand opening involved the unveiling of a mural, live music, food and celebration. Tamar and her husband Noach built the first garden beds and then weekly taught local children how to plant and grow food there. The garden lived on, and has been maintained over the years at a low-cost for the benefit of the community.

The author’s daughter from California visits the lemon tree that her kindergarten class donated to Steven’s Garden in Tzvat, Israel.

Somehow Steven’s Garden reached me throughout the years as I reside in the Western US. When I lived in Tucson in the 1990’s, I knew Steven’s sister and so our mutual friend Susan Silverman – also a gardener – ecstatically informed me about this sweet community garden when she visited Tzvat some years later. I personally met Tamar Bittelman in 2004 when I moved to the East Bay in California where she was teaching kindergarten. It wasn’t until 2010 that I discovered Tamar was a founder of Steven’s Garden, when my daughter’s kindergarten class at Oakland Hebrew Day School raised funds as a tzedaka project for Steven’s Garden, and purchased a lemon tree that was planted there. I visited Israel in 2011 for the only time ever with my children, and we visited the tree. Several young yeshiva bochers were enjoying the garden, sitting with their siddurim and chatting reclining on the bench under the mural. It was a joy to finally see this garden for myself, right across the street from the famous Kabbalah artist David Friedman’s studio.

Tamar Bittelman Tzeddekes: The Garden Founder’s Legacy

Tamar Bittelman was not only a kindergarten teacher but was also a co-founder of the Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, a unique unaffiliated independent Torah-learning center located in Berkeley, California from 1998 – 2012 under the spiritual guidance of Rabbi Herschel Yolles, the Samborer Rebbe z”l. Tamar started numerous gardens during her life, including a garden adjacent to Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley before its renovation in 2004.

Tamar’s Tzvat garden legacy is an echo of the story of her grandmother, Esther Beker Reinin of the pioneering Sturman family who was part of Hashomer, an original Jewish defense organization in Palestine first established in 1909. Beker Reinin was part of the historic security organization, serving on horseback protecting the sprouting Jewish settlements. She was also involved in an agricultural school in Israel. Every year at the Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim in Berkeley, Tamar would sponsor a kiddush to honor the anniversary of her grandmother’s passing, and she would retell stories. There was even a story of when Tamar was walking along a road in a kibbutz in Israel, and a some old-timers walked by her and stopped, and told her, “You look just like Esther Beker Reinin.”

Many of today’s Jewish environmentalists have met Steven’s Garden’s founder Tamar Bittelman. Tamar attended the 2011 Hazon Food Conference in Davis, California where her husband Noach Bittelman the Acupuncturist presented on Jewish health and spirituality, the Earth, and the Holy Land. One year after we attended the Food Conference, Tamar edited my first blog article for Times of Israel, where I recounted a special woman’s circle that we held at the Hazon event, in the broader context of women’s central role in redemption of the world according the Jewish tradition.

Tamar and Noach Bittelman moved back to Northern Israel from California in 2012. During her last visit to Berkeley one year ago, Tamar was excited to learn of my newest project, a Hazon CSA which is in its inception stages and includes in its food security concept residential and communal gardens, and a pop-up kosher vegan soup and salad restaurant. She made an extra call to me during her trip to share her enthusiasm for Young Urban Moshav, and agreed to serve on the Board of Directors.

Sadly, and to the shock of many who have declared her righteousness, Tamar passed away unexpectedly after returning to Israel, on a holy Shabbos during daavening 24 Shvat 5774 (January 25, 2014.) Tamar’s family has set up HaMorah Tamar Kindergarten Fund at Oakland Hebrew Day School in her memory. Tamar is buried in Tzvat, the same city in Israel where Steven’s Garden, which she founded 18 years ago, continues to grow.

The Memorial and the Garden Renewal

Steven’s mother described on Radio Free Nachlaot in August 2014 how others recount to her that they feel Steven’s beautiful energy in the garden. A memorial garden is an example of the environment as habitat outside our bodies for our emotion, spirituality, and communal sharing. It is a place of comfort and healing.

Steven’s Garden holds the empathy of a woman hearing another woman grieving for her lost son, the generosity of creativity that builds and enriches the community, and comfort for mourners. It is a legacy of a grandmother and then granddaughter who loved, guarded and nurtured Eretz HaKodesh and the people of the land.

Community gardens can serve many functions, and Steven’s continues to hold potential for many possibilities. With financial support from the people who cherish this special urban garden in Tzvat, Israel, Steven’s Garden can be renewed with new benches, upgraded irrigation and maintenance, and a new sign that will include Tamar Bittelman’s name as founder of Steven’s Garden. Contributions can be made through the end of this year’s high holiday season through the crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo – click to learn more and contribute.

I started with Jewcology while working with an organization called Faiths United for Sustainable Energy, which unfortunately had to close its doors a few years back.  Though that organization I was able to meet a wide range of people affiliated with various religious organizations who cared deeply for the environment.  Through FUSE, individuals from different religious backgrounds were able to come together and collaborate in an effort to be good stewards of the planet.  I think the same applies to Judaism as, which is a very large tent containing a wide range of viewpoints.  If we as Jews can come together in order to share and exchange ideas, thoughts, and experiences in connection with  environmental  advocacy, activities, events, and Jewish teaching, we can create an even stronger Jewish environmental movement, in hopes of passing down a more sustainable world to the next generation, like my new son.

Please feel free to comment on this post or send me emails directly and I am always happy to discuss.  After all, that is the entire purpose of Jewcology.

I wish everyone a happy and sweet New Year.

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 topsy turvy bus? It is a school bus, bright yellow, with half of another school bus on top, welded together and running entirely on used food oil. It is a project of Hazon to draw attention to climate change.

Draw attention it does. You have never seen anything like it. Part school bus, part RV, part camper, five  people (and two support staff) are driving this bus from Colorado to Isabella Friedman Retreat Center in Connecticut.  Inside the bus there are sleeping quarters, a kitchen, storage space and even a library!

Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s commissioned the bus. The first tour raised awareness of wasteful spending at the Pentagon. Maybe this Topsy Turvy bus can bring peace! The second tour promoted the White House Organic Farm project. So it makes sense that on a sunny, Sunday afternoon, my congregation, Kneseth Israel, and Pushing the Envelope Farm have come together to host this event.

The residents, drivers, educators engaged all ages who turned out. There were yummy blueberry smoothies made by a bicycle blender. Even better vegan chocolate chip cookies made with three different models of solar cookers. This led to an interesting debate about whether you could use a solar cooker to cook a chicken for Shabbat.

The solar cooking and the bicycle smoothies remind me that I want to install a solar ner tamid, eternal light at our synagogue.  The brainchild of Rabbi Everett Gendler, one of the first Jewish environmentalists, Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley installed the first one in 1978. It raises awareness about the power of the sun and the need to protect our environment, to be caretakers with G-d, in this glorious creation..

People could tour Pushing the Envelope Farm, owned by Rabbi Fred Margulies and his wife Trisha who built the farm from spare acreage on their Continental Envelope Company land in Geneva, IL. They are using it primarily as a teaching farm, with programs for schools, synagogues, churches and scout troops. With 14 acres, there is an organic CSA, various crops and farm animals.  A portion of everything they grow goes to the nearby Northern Illinois Food Bank.

The kids who came loved playing with the chickens and the goats. They loved making their own smoothies and solar cooked cookies. I loved seeing the signs in English, Hebrew, Spanish. And while the bees are critically important, to sustainability and our celebrations of Rosh Hashanah, I gave them a wide berth as I hiked by.

But maybe what I loved most is how this Topsy Turvey bus got all of us—from six congregations and from two years old to eighty, outside on a beautiful, summer day. It would seem that the world is not so Topsy Turvey. Maybe there can even be peace.

Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein is the rabbi of Congregation Kneseth Israel in Elgin, IL, and the author of A Climbing Journey Toward Yom Kippur. She blogs as the Energizer Rabbi, at http://www.theenergizerrabbi.org.

Reisterstown, MD – May 5, 2014 — Pearlstone Center is holding its 4^th annual Nevatim-Sprouts Conference, Sunday, July 13^th through Wednesday July 16^th. This professional development conference brings together early childhood, day school, and religious school educators from around the country for training in Jewish garden and environmental education. Participants learn the basics of educational garden design, share lesson plans and Jewish, environmental curricula, tour the state’s premier outdoor classrooms, harvest and prepare farm to table meals, and walk away with the tools, resources, and professional network needed to develop Jewish, environmental programming at their schools.

This year, in response to past participant feedback, an additional day was added to the conference to provide more opportunities for interactive lesson-plan modeling and group brainstorm. Hands-on sessions explore how to integrate an educational garden into your institution and bring the outside into the classroom to teach about the Jewish calendar, social justice, stewardship and responsibility, among other Jewish values. Pearlstone’s skilled staff utilize the center’s 4-acre organic farm, small animal pasture and trails throughout the conference. Continuing education credits (CEUs) from the Maryland Department of Education are available to participants.

Conference partners this year include RAVSAK, Pardes Institute, The Jewish Montessori Society, United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, Schechter Day School Network, Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism, PARDeS Day Schools of Reform Judaism and the Louise D. and Morton J. Macks Center for Jewish Education. “This opportunity to partner with such a diverse and impressive list of Jewish networks and institutions of Jewish education speaks to the impact this conference makes on educators and their schools. Participants arrive with challenges and questions and leave inspired and excited to ignite passion in their students for Judaism and our relationship with the land,” reported Neely Snyder, Pearlstone Center’s Director of Signature Programs and Nevatim Conference organizer.

4^th Annual Nevatim-Sprouts Conference
July 13-16, 2014
Pearlstone Center, Reisterstown, MD

For additional information, visit pearlstonecenter.org/nevatim

The Pearlstone Center ignites Jewish passion. Our retreat center, farm, and programs enable and inspire vibrant Jewish life. Engaging Jewish, faith-based, and secular organizations, individuals, and families, Pearlstone serves all ages and backgrounds throughout Baltimore, the Chesapeake region, and beyond.

Monday, June 9 – Friday, June 13, 2014 at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center

Join us for a week dedicated to renewing our relationship with the earth, gaining garden education skills, and studying eco-Torah. The Teva Seminar is the premier annual professional development opportunity in the field of JOFEE: Jewish Outdoor, Food, and Environmental Education. Featuring leaders in the JOFEE field: Nili Simhai, Mordechai Leibling, Jakir Manela, Cara Silverberg, Brent Spodek, Arthur Waskow, plus a team of talented educators from Teva, Jewish Farm School, Eden Village, and many more.

Now in its 20th year, this multi-day, hands-on training program is designed for educators, camp counselors, community leaders, and anyone who is seeking training in the emerging JOFEE field. Participation in the Teva Seminar will enhance the work of your community ­– whether your organization is just getting started in this field, or you’ve been wanting to add goats to your camp’s nature center, take a field trip with your Hebrew school to the farm, or offer a kosher foodie series or farmer’s market at your JCC. Each workshop is accessible to people with all levels of experience in gardening,wilderness skills, culinary arts, and/or experiential Jewish education.

• Learn to infuse Camp, Hebrew school, synagogue, or JCC programming with JOFEE-based activities
• Build new skills in Jewish environmental education
• Get trained to lead hikes and outdoor games within a Jewish context
• Take home resources to use in your community

Use code WELOVEU50 for $50 off. Generous scholarships available.

Presented by Hazon, Adamah and the Jewish Farm School, in partnership with: 7Seeds, Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network, Canfei Nesharim, COEJL, Eden Village Camp, Ganei Beantown, Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology, Jewish Farm School, Jewish Greening Fellowship, Moishe House International, Neo Hasid, Pearlstone Center, RAC, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Shalom Center, Shoresh, Urban Adamah, Wildnerness Torah, Yiddish Farm

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 sustainable urban agriculture, community building, leadership development and food justice advocacy. The Fellowship’s experiential curriculum is designed to equip fellows with the tools to become agents of positive change in their own lives and in their communities.

Now in its third year, the Fellowship has graduated nearly 100 young adults who have gone on to work in the fields of environmental education and policy, sustainable agriculture, community organizing, Jewish education and social entrepreneurship.

Upcoming Fellowships

Spring: March 2–May 23, 2014

Summer: June 8–August 29, 2014

Fall: September 7–November 25, 2014

The cost of the Fellowship is offered on a sliding scale from $1,300 to $1,800. Program fees are highly subsidized and include room, board and all other program expenses. We accept 12­–14 fellows per season. Admission is on a rolling basis, and we encourage applicants to apply as soon as they’ve made the decision to enroll in a particular season.

Visit the Urban Adamah websitetoday to learn more and to request an application.

www.urbanadamah.org|510-649-1595 | info@urbanadamah.org| See us on Facebook

The Urban Adamah Jewish Community Farm, located in Berkeley, CA, integrates the practices of Jewish tradition, sustainable agriculture, mindfulness and social action to build loving, just and sustainable communities.

Contemporary ballet and environmentalism are not topics that often go hand-in-hand. That is until you meet Israel’s Vertigo Dance Company. The dance group’s unique approach to ecological activism is the inspiration for my new film Renewal.

Dance is one of Israel’s most impressive art forms, and it engages people worldwide regardless of language. Renewal is an opportunity for new audiences to learn about a unique and powerful aspect of Israeli culture, and gain new perspectives on dance and environmentalism.

The documentary profiles Vertigo, a world-renowned Jerusalem-based dance company that builds an Eco-Arts village to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle. The process of becoming green forces the dancers and their families to reconsider their art, their values, and their place in the Holy Land.

Renewal demonstrates creative ways to make art in a sustainable fashion, but many ask, how exactly can Vertigo make dance green? Well, here are four examples:

(1) Sustainable stagecraft

One of Vertigo’s famous pieces The Birth of Phoenix featured in the film is performed on a recyclable, portable stage space. This unique performance space redefines the concept of traditional theater with electric lights, and allows the company to bring their performances to communities in outdoor spaces across the globe.

(2) Sustainable rehearsal space

The company has created a rehearsal studio on the Eco-Arts village based on the tenets of permaculture design. They have refurbished abandoned chicken coops, and renovated them using natural clay, mud, and local recycled wood. The studios have huge windows bringing in natural light, allowing the company to create while being surrounded by nature.

(3) Sustainable living space

Life mimics art. Since building the Eco-Arts Village, the directors of the dance company and their families live onsite on the eco-arts village, and have integrated sustainable practices into their personal lives including composting, carpooling, gray water recycling, and permaculture gardening.

(4) Ecological education

The dance company performs choreography that raises awareness of global environmental issues creating platforms for dialogue and discussion. They offer classes on clay building and permaculture design for both adults and children.

The Vertigo Dance Company are artists trying to reduce their carbon footprint in any way that they can. They express their love for the earth in both the themes of their dances and the materials under their feet.

The film is a celebration of the earth, and exemplifies how the passion to live greener has touched people worldwide in very different walks of life.

Sounds interesting, right? Go check it out! Learn more about Renewal, see the trailer, and join my film campaign:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/renewal-a-film-about-art-and-ecology/x/1085614

By Hanna Szekeres

The Botanical Gardens in Jerusalem, Israel is a 30-acre oasis where you can see, smell and even taste over 10,000 species of flowers from around the world. But the educational department of the gardens also focuses on another type of seed: “the seeds of peace.”

Five years ago the department started a project called “Coexistence” that brings together nine- to 11-year-olds from the city’s Jewish and Muslim schools and teaches them about the production of spices, olive oil and herbal remedies in the gardens.

The project consists of 10 sessions throughout the school year and ends with the children visiting at each other’s schools and planting trees, symbolizing the fruits of their cooperation and mutual learning.

“Nature is everybody’s and nobody’s,” says the project director, Leah Gerson. “The Garden serves as a neutral ground, as a charming atmosphere with wonderful tasks that allows room for openness and listening.”

Due to the language barrier, the teachers act as translators for the children and bridge the gaps between the sides. “My initial fear was for nothing,” says Gerson, “because the children found their own ways to communicate, as children do.”

In the past year alone the project has brought together 160 Jewish and Arab children for combined studies. “We have the largest collection in the country and are a living showcase for biodiversity,” says Sue Surkes, director of development. “We translate the plant biodiversity into trying to encourage human diversity as well.”

Coexistence is just one of several programs blossoming at Israel’s largest botanical garden, adds Surkes.

To reach broader audiences, including Christians and Muslims, the JBG is also opening a newly upgraded Bible Path, complete with new plantings, outdoor classrooms, interpretational aids and innovative programming.

This article appeared on www.nocamels.com

Can you hear the owls of Shevat calling? They are beckoning us to find ways to bring our Jewish communities outside. I’d like to share a simple program that gets our community of different aged folks bundled up and joining a night hike filled with owl calls, wind song, star gazing, storytelling and fair-trade organic hot chocolate.

Here’s what we do. We gather when the Shevat moon is waning, on a Saturday night post Tu B’Shevat. Peak owl listening time may be 4am, but we just ramble around after dinner, wide open and trusting to the mystery of what we may experience, happy to simply experience the night together. We begin sharing stories of special encounters we’ve had with owls or the moon, meeting a few of our owl neighbors through photos and calls and learning to listen with ears wide open.

We then stroll around the paved mile loop inside a beautiful park/cemetery. It is here where many in our village of 2000 choose to walk, jog or teach their children bike riding. It is nestled in the Berkshire foothills surrounded by forest, cliff and river. The perfect place for a night hike.

When walking in winter, the art of building a container for silence is crucial for the success of this program (less so for the Owls of Sivan program that might be enjoyed in early summer!). For us winter walkers, I’ve found that active pacing and group jumping jacks fare better than slow and mindful walking meditations.

When we arrive at the stations of our loop, marked by beautiful old trees or open spaces, we all call to our owl neighbors- the simple hoots of Great Horned Owl, and the more elaborate “Kugels and Jews, Kugels and Jews Y’all” of the Barred owl and then listen with all of our heart, soul and might. Can you tell it’s kind of fun? Even if we only hear back the song of night wind and tree cracklings, people don’t seem to mind. After all, we are surrounded by the outlines of tall, stout and gangly trees, a glorious night sky filled with stars, and the warm presence of each other.

After 40 minutes or so, we arrive at a pavilion with benches, short walls just enough to support our backs and block the wind and a simple roof. The trees are still with us as we enjoy hot chocolate, introduce the great role of the moon in Jewish tradition and a hear a few stories from Chelm and Reb Nachman that are dedicated to the moon. What might you share when everyone gathers around with hot cocoa?

If you want to explore ideas- feel free to write me at david@maggiddavid.net. Of course, the best ideas are to be found in the silence that fills the night. There, in the darkness, it becomes easy to feel how the entire universe vibrates- and how those same vibrations also move through us. Happy Hiking!

Well, let me start from the beginning. Truthfully, I’m not totally shocked because as a guide who leads Shretelech expeditions, well, I’ve met all types in my day. The Shretelech (singular Shretele), are the little people. Others call them elves, fairies, or gnomes; but Jews from Eastern Europe call them by their Yiddish name, Shretelech.

Shretelech live in the woods, or fields, or by streams- in holes in the ground and in trees. During the cold winter they are not opposed to coming inside to live behind our stoves, where warmth and crumbs abound. Of course, the Shretelech are not just waiting around to shake our hands. The Shretelech are like wild birds and animals, they do not like loud noises. We need to use quiet stealth and keen observation if we have hopes of spotting one.

I take my job as Shretelech guide seriously. I model how we can walk quietly and use our hands and sign language to point out something interesting. You can imagine the commotion if you were to begin jumping up and down shouting, “I see one, I see one!” The little Shretelech wouldn’t come out of hiding for days!

We practice listening and even the youngest of children will strain to hear as much as possible. For older participants who have forgotten their inner sense of wonder, (and maybe even have a chronic case of the indoorsies without even realizing it!), I translate this experience as a contemplative nature hike. I teach Thich Naht Hahn’s beautiful walking mediation. I find this gives those parents and teachers a respectable opportunity to quietly enjoy being outside, to breathe fully and notice the great beauty found with each step.

I set the pace to a slow stroll, lingering around holes and exploring rotting logs. Kids never seem to need any extra encouragement. From the beginning they are intensely looking for Shretelech, often trying to gain our attention with waving hands and wide eyes. At the center of the hike, we build Sukkot for the Shretelech, kind of like a Habitat for Humanity brigade. After all, they are mighty busy preparing for winter, stocking up on food. They can’t just visit the grocery store and turn up the thermostat like we can.

This is also a great opportunity to introduce traditional blessings for the many wonders of the natural world. We have ancient blessings for the awe of seeing first flowers, hearing thunder, seeing a rainbow, coming to the sea, and more. Sometimes I wonder if these blessings were slipped into the prayer book from radicals at the Santa Cruz Hippie Hillel. Nope- these are ancient alright! Sources can be found in the Talmud and throughout our tradition. The kids take it all in stride. I like to ask everyone, if you were one of the ancient rabbi’s, what blessing would you create?” You can never have enough radical amazement, eh?

For the record, many groups have at least one child who sees a Shretele during our expedition, or perhaps earlier, in their home yard. In all honesty, to date, I have not witnessed these sightings with my own eyes, or discovered any physical proof from these word of mouth testimonies. In fact, scant physical evidence exists for this rare and elusive species. Often, we hear a hammering in the forest- hoping it is a Shretele repairing his home, discover it is a woodpecker. Or, after silently circling a small movement in the grass, discover it is a grasshopper munching away. Amazingly, not only is no one ever disappointed after these encounters, sometimes they become the very highlight of our expedition!

Thankfully, we definitely have the stories. They can be found in a gem of a book, Yiddish Folktales, by Beatrice Silverman Weinreich. She was a career Yiddishist, folklorist and lover of riddles. She worked at the premier institution for Jewish culture of Eastern Europe, YIVO in New York. This great institute began in Vilna, Poland (currently Lithuania), in 1925 with the goal of using modern scholarship to document Jewish culture. YIVO trained teams of Zamlers, collectors, who traveled throughout Eastern Europe collecting stories in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Which is to say this book is the real deal. Not just one person’s memory of favorite Yiddish stories. I am sure the Shretelech, like many of our ancestors, found ways to immigrate here to America.

My Shretelech expeditions carry the very romantic view of bringing the world alive. Using the power of story and imagination, sprinkled with wonder and awe and a taste of Jewish life, a little outdoor magic comes to all who participate.

I look forward to hearing from you If you would like to arrange a Shretelech Expedition for your group or just have questions about the Shretelech. All the best, Maggid David

PS A word of warning: like mushroom hunting, please, if you choose to seek out the little people on your own- do your homework. Make sure you are able to positively ID him/her as a kindly Shretele. You know, it could be a Kapelyushnikle, and then you’d be in for who knows what kind of tricks! Good luck.

Kayam Farm- the scene of "Planting Seeds: The First Jewish Early Childhood Conference."
It was better than imagined. It was the participants willingness to "dig deeply" on all fronts that mattered. People came from as far as Seattle,North Carolina, Texas, Boston and Worcester, Florida and New York as well as from nearby Virgina, Pennsylvania,New Jersey and of course Baltimore. There were nature specialists, ece directors, teachers, a rabbi and a great mix of ages and persuasions. There were the gardeners and the wannabes and together we weeded, worked on the farm, engaged with the farm animals at a distance of our choice and got to see red wiggler worms up close and personal. There were sessions on nutrition and healthy eating, and great meals for our own sustenance.
There was an ongoing discussion of what makes the garden 'Jewish' and how to bring the very young into this endeavor.
As the 'green bubbie' I gave the opening keynote, trying my best to weave together Richard Louv's wonderful book, "The Last Child in the Woods" with Jewish Identity and Inspiration from the Garden- For those of you not there, I used my actual weaving expertise to invite those present to image the 'warp' of the loom as Torah and the weft as the experiences in the natural world. The warp of the loom is the backbone and strength of the fabric..Sometimes that warp is invisible, and sometimes given the design of the pattern it becomes obvious and beautifully woven together- that's what create the design of the fabric. So too, if the foundation of what we do in the garden comes from our growing and continual study of what the Torah teaches us, that is the foundation of what we teach, of who we are, and what we do we the children. The stronger the warp, the stronger the fabric we create.
And just in case anyone thinks young children are too young,not so. There is no better example that the song, "Yom Rishon Avodah, Yom Sheni Avodah….Yom Shabbat Menucha" (with the hand motions of course) that demonstrates that even the youngest of children can participate in our Torah based tradition- 6 days of work, and on Shabbat we rest"
just like it says in the Torah!
So, as we prepare for Shabbos, let's try to think of all the work we've done all week- in and out of the garden- how we finish it, and rest on the coming Shabbat.
My hope is that this was only the first Jewish Early Childhood Gardening Conference- There is no way I can convey the extraordinary interplay of the parallel sessions of the Ashville JCCs' Early Childhood Cur brilliantly conveyed and shared by LAEL and JILL along with the workshops given by the incredibly knowledgeable staff of Kayam Farm. They live the life they are aspiring to and it is inspiring to work and learn along side of them.
I look forward to the next gathering and learning and bringing our field to new heights,
as together we dig deeply into our Jewish Tradition and into the earth from which G-d created us all.

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):

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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

2. The Rainbow covenant in Genesis
3. A Tale of Two Covenants: Rainbow and Shmita
4. 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

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

Biodiversity

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

Science, Culture and Art

15. How many colors are in a rainbow?
16. Do other animals see colors the way we do?
17. Colors and dyes
18. The science of rainbows
19. Art projects
20. Poetry!

Liturgues and Prayers

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

Current Issues

25. Climate change
26. Keystone XL Pipeline
27. Hydrofracking
28. Fracking in Israel
29. Get active on the Farm Bill!
30. Don’t use triclosan!
31. Tzedakah and justice

Seed Saving, Harvests and Gardens

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

The Seven Noachide Laws

39. The seven colors of the rainbow and the seven laws
40. 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!

Actividades Experimentales con Árboles

Por Rabino Yonatan Neril. Traducido por Dafna Neiman.

Estas actividades facilitan a los participantes a conectarse con los árboles de una manera nueva: como seres vivos con lo que podemos relacionarnos.

• Tocar e identificar un árbol: Divida a los participantes en parejas. Pida a los participantes que venden los ojos de sus parejas y los lleve a un árbol para conocerlo sintiendo la textura de la corteza, encontrando ramas, y averiguar cualquier otra forma de reconocer a un árbol específico sin mirarlo. Aún con los ojos vendados, deben conducirlos de vuelta al punto de partida. Ahora tienen que quitarse la venda de los ojos y tratar de encontrar el árbol, usando su sentido del tacto para confirmarlo. ¿Qué otros sentidos les ayudó a localizar su árbol? (sonidos, sentido del equilibrio, olores, calor, etc) Nota para el educador: mostrar físicamente con un compañero cómo guiar a alguien con los ojos vendados en el bosque- lentamente, con advertencias verbales sobre los obstáculos, y con una mano en el hombro más lejano y la otra mano en el brazo del compañero.

• Ver los Árboles Realmente: Elegir un compañero. El participante A de la pareja (tú) debe cerrar los ojos, y el participante B debe encontrar algo de la naturalez en algún lugar cercano, de gran belleza o interés, para que tú lo mires. Deben guiarte cuidadosamente al al objeto con los ojos cerrados. Al llegar allí, deben ajustar tu cabeza para que puedas mirar directamente al objeto, dentro de una distancia que te permita enfocar. Cuando te toquen el pulgar, abre los ojos y mira el objeto como si estuvieses tomando una foto, y luego, cuando te tocan el pulgar nuevamente, cierra los ojos. Con los ojos todavía cerrados, describe el objeto a la otra persona. Tendrás una imagen vívida en tu mente que no olvidarás prontamente. Los autores de Spirit in Nature escriben "Al igual que un fotógrafo puede usar lentes de acercamiento o panorámicos, así también, los excursionistas pueden guiar a sus compañeros a lugares tales como una pequeña mancha de líquenes de colores o a una vista amplia y abierta de una montaña … Luego las parejas deben cambiar de papeles. Repetir tantas veces como el tiempo y el interés lo permitan. "[1]

[1] Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, por Matt Biers-Ariel, Deborah Newbrun, y Michal Fox Smart, Behrman House, 2000, p. 11. Esta descripción es adaptada de ‘Opening the Eyes of the Blind’ activitiy.

Esas materiales se desarrolan gracias a la ayuda de ROI Innovation Fund.

Duration: 20 minutes

Materials: Blindfolds

Audience: All Ages

Procedure:

The name of this exercise is taken from Birchot HaShachar, a morning prayer in which we thank God for the restoration of our senses upon waking. These senses include bodily mobility as we wake, stretch, dress and begin our day. One bracha (blessing) ends in, Pokeiach Ivrim, which means, “who opens our eyes”, thanking God for the gift of sight. The full blessing reads:

Baruch Atah HaShem, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam Pokeiach Ivrim.

Blessed are You, HaShem, Spirit of the World who gives sight to the blind.

1) Begin by asking students what this blessing means to them. How do we gain our sight each morning?

2) After discussing, divide students into pairs.

3) In each pair one person will be the camera and the other will be the photographer.

4) The camera wears a blindfold (or keeps his or her eyes closed) and the photographer leads him/her to a location where they see something beautiful that they would like to “photograph.” The photographer sets up a shot, close up, panorama, etc., by adjusting the camera’s head so as to see the scene. When the photographer taps the camera’s shoulder, tugs on the ear (or takes the blindfold off), the camera then says the words “Pokeiakh Ivrim,” and opens his or her eyes to see what they have been sent to “photograph”.

Switch partners.

Discussion Questions:

1) What did it feel like to be led around blindly?

2) What was it like to have your sight restored?

3) Invite students to share some of the objects that they photographed.

4) Did you see something you would not have seen on your own?

5) Did you see something you have never seen before?

6) In what ways are we “blind” in life?

7) What can we do to become less “blind”?

Materials developed by Noam Dolgin and the Teva Learning Center, based on the work of Joseph Cornell.

All content is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (Ie. Tell other where you got it from and don't sell it)

Goals:To develop tactile senses, to introduce the symbol of the tree as a Jewish metaphor, to foster the development of a personal relationship with a tree, and ability to see a tree’s uniqueness.

Duration: 15 – 30 minutes

Materials: Blindfolds; Trees

Audience:All Ages

Procedure:

1) Ask students: What is the forest filled with?

Answer: trees! (and much more) Trees are all over the place, but has anybody here ever really gotten to know a tree? Just like people, trees look alike, but are actually very different. In this activity, we’re going to get to know a tree so that you can tell it from all other trees in this forest.

2) Pair off the students. Give each pair a blindfold and have the sighted partner lead their "blind" friend to a tree. The sighted partner should try to disorient the friend by slowly turning them around, and leading them in a roundabout way to the tree. Please instruct students to lead their “blind” friends slowly and very carefully, telling them to look out for roots, rocks, holes in the ground, and other things their partner might trip on.

3) Instruct the "blind" students to explore their trees as thoroughly as they can, so that they’ll be able to find it again. They can touch the tree, smell it, taste it, see if you can you put your arms around it, etc.

4) When the first person is finished exploring, the sighted partner should lead him or her back to where they began by taking an indirect route. Now, remove the blindfold and let the student find the tree with his or her eyes open. Suddenly, as the person searches for his or her tree, what was once a forest becomes a collection of very individual trees.

5) Switch partners, repeat Steps 2 – 4

Discussion:

Once the group is back together, ask the students

1) Who found their trees?

2) How many guesses did it take?

3) How did they recognize their tree from all the rest? Was it hard or easy?

4) If you couldn’t find yours, why not?

5) Read the following line:

Eitz Haim He L’machazikim Bah, v’Tomhecha Meushar.

She is a Tree of Life to those who hold fast to her and all of her supporters are happy.

6) Why do you think we compare the Torah with a tree?

(Some possible answers: trees are life-giving, they support a community [of animals, organisms], they have roots, history, seeds, generate rebirth, bear fruit, and trees are strong, stable. All of the materials that go into the making of a Torah scroll are natural. The wooden pieces upon which the Torah is rolled are called eitzim [trees].)

Materials developed by Noam Dolgin and the Teva Learning Center, based on the work of Joseph Cornell

All content is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (Ie. Tell other where you got it from and don't sell it)

View a Printable Verison | View a Source Sheet

Since Yitzhak went to the field to pray in this week’s Torah portion, the world has not been the same. The Talmud offers two sources for our requirement to pray three daily prayers; one is the prayers themselves of the three forefathers of the Jewish people. Avraham is credited with instituting shaharit, the morning prayer; Yitzhak grants us minhah, the afternoon prayer; and Ya’akov gives us ma’ariv, the evening prayer. The Talmud cites a verse from the Book of Genesis to establish each prayer. For Yitzhak, on whom we will concentrate, it is written (Brahot 26b):

Yitzhak instituted the afternoon prayer service, as it is said, “And Yitzhak went out to su’ah in the field before evening” (Gen. 24:63); and there is no sihah except prayer, as it is said, “A prayer of the afflicted man when he swoons, and pours forth his supplications (siho) before HaShem” (Ps. 102:1).[1]

The Sages saw these verses as being connected in the linguistic similarity of the word siah, and they saw in them that what Yitzhak was doing was praying. However, this claim is made on the seemingly ambiguous meaning of su’ah found in the verse related to Yitzhak. From where does this connection come?

One Talmudic commentary, Tosafot, suggests that the reason why this word is used in both places is that while one might have thought that Yitzhak simply went out to speak with someone in the field, he actually went out to pray.[2]

However, the term evokes a striking similarity to a word of the same root found earlier in Genesis: “Now all the trees (siah) of the field were not yet on the earth and all the herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for HaShem G-d had not yet sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to work the soil.” (Gen. 2:5)

The usage in our verse relating to Yitzhak may now take on an additional dimension – it seems as there may have been an agricultural element to Yitzhak’s outing in the field. Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir (Rashbam) suggests that what Yitzhak was actually doing in the field was planting trees as well as checking up on his agricultural efforts. (Gen. 24:63, s.v. Ve-yetze Yitzhak la-su’ah basadeh). [3]

What was it that the Talmudic sages saw in our verse to understand that Yitzhak was praying? Is it possible that the Torah would make sure to tell us that Yitzhak was engaged in mundane agricultural activities? The answer leads one to see that his action was one from which later generations can learn much.

The connection between these two verses in their use of this same word is deeply meaningful when one considers that on the second verse — “Now all the trees (siach) of the field were not yet on the earth and all the herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for HaShem G-d had not yet sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to work the soil.” (Gen. 2:5) — Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki (Rashi), the eleventh century medieval scholar, comments:

For what is the reason that G-d had not yet sent rain, because there was no man to work the land and there was no one to acknowledge the goodness of the rain, and when man came and knew that they (the rain) are a need for the world, he prayed for them and they came down, and the trees and grasses sprouted.” (Gen. 2:5, s.v. ki lo himtir).

The usage of the term in this verse may be about agriculture, but the verse is telling us that human beings are needed in order to pray!

But that is not all. The verse preceding the above one states: “These are the products of the heaven and the earth when they were created on the day that HaShem G-d made earth and heaven.” (Gen. 2:4) There is a direct connection between G-d’s creating of the si’ah and to the tending of the si’ah done by man. In other words, G-d created it in order for man to tend to it. Being involved with the earth is an act whereby one connects with G-d’s handiwork.

In line with this, Rabbi Yohanan, the late third century Talmudic sage, said that one may not pray in a house without windows (Brahot 34b). Rashi commented that Rabbi Yohanan said this because looking outside causes one to focus towards heaven and one’s heart will be humbled (Brahot 34b, s.v. halonot). More than just simply focusing towards heaven, however, one will be able to see the natural landscape – G-d’s handiwork. By praying in a house without windows, one would be surrounded by man’s handiwork, which does not strike one with as much awe and appreciation for G-d.

Rebbe Nahman of Breslov instructed his followers to engage in hitbodedut, or to speak with G-d in the field for an hour every day. In explaining Rebbe Nahman’s teachings, Rabbi Natan Greenberg stated that real prayer involves conversation with the natural world around a person. Indeed, the strength of prayer comes from the Divine, spiritual energy flowing from nature. A person needs all the spiritual energy of the earth to give strength to one’s prayer. Yitzhak first manifests this type of prayer through his connection to nature. He comes to it because he finds it difficult to relate to the world around him. He wants to be in a simple world, G-d’s world, so he walks and prays in the field.[4]

For Yitzhak, praying to G-d in nature was a central part of his Divine service, and it can be for us as well. As Rabbi Mordechai Friedfertig wrote,

“It is interesting that in this week's parashah, when it is reported that Yitzhak davens (prays) Minhah, it says, ‘Vayetze Yitzhak lasu'ah bashadeh’ – Yitzhak went out to supplicate in the field. He left behind all of his worries, and put everything aside so that he could focus on Hashem. And we must do the same – not only every day, to daven Minchah – but throughout our busy, busy lives. We must find the time to leave our worldly cares behind, and venture out into the fields where we will encounter Hashem.”[5]

The natural world is an excellent setting for praying to G-d. While the Sages call for daily prayer within the walls of the synagogue, Rebbe Nahman calls for daily conversations with G-d in nature, while also leaving open the possibility of occasional prayers to G-d beyond the walls of the prayer hall. By both our going out and working with G-d’s creation and by praying within this creation – we seize the opportunity to grow closer to G-d.

Our ability to connect to our Creator in the world He created is an indicator of our ability to live in balance with that natural world. A primarily urban, post-industrial Jewish people that is alienated from G-d’s Oneness as manifested in the natural world will certainly misuse that which G-d has given us. The litany of ecological problems we face — from air and water pollution to species extinction and urban sprawl — testify to the Jewish people’s disconnect from the natural environment which G-d gave them. Re-connecting to the inspired outdoor prayers of our forefathers can help us regain a sense of the grandeur of G-d’s world and of our responsibility to live in balance with it.

Suggested Action Items:

1. Learn Rebbe Nahman’s teachings on hitbodedut and practice them, reconnecting with yourself and G-d’s world as you do! (For a wonderful English book that gives Rebbe Nahman’s teachings on hitbodedut in condensed form, see Where Earth and Heaven Kiss by Ozer Bergman.)
2. Daven (pray) outside, or to go daven with a minyan outside in order to daven with G-d's handiwork surrounding oneself.
3. Plant a garden (or a few herbs in pots) and pray as you care for it that your produce will grow!

Drew Kaplanis currently a rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York City. Originally from Gahanna, OH, he graduated from IndianaUniversitywith a degree in Jewish Studies.

[1] In another Talmudic statement, these two verses are switched around to derive an imperative for prayer (Avodah Zarah 7b):

Rabbi Eliezer says, “One should request one’s needs and, after that, one should pray, as it is said, ‘A prayer of the afflicted man when he swoons, and ours forth his supplications (siho) before HaShem’ (Ps. 102:1) – there is no sihah except for prayer, as it is said, ‘And Yitzhak went out to siah in the field’ (Gen. 24:63).”

[2] See Avodah Zarah. 7b, Tosafot, s.v. ve-ayn sihah

[3] By contrast, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra suggested that what Yitzhak did in this verse was merely to walk between the shrubs (Gen. 24.63, s.v. la-su’ah) – simply enjoying them.

[4] Shiur onLikutei Moharan, part 2, teaching 11. Rabbi Greenberg is the Rosh Yeshiva of the Bat Ayin Yeshiva in . This shiur is available in audio form at www.batayin.org

[5] Rabbi of Congregation B'nai Shalom in Williamsville, New York. Available online at http://www.utj.org/Torah/mfriedfertig/05Chaye_Sarah5761.html

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In this week's Torah portion, G-d tells Moses:"Command the Children of Israel that they shall give to the Levites, from the heritage of their possession, cities for dwelling; and open space all around the cities shall you give to the Levites. The cities shall be theirs for dwelling, and their open space shall be for their animals, for their possessions, and for all the amenities of life."[1]

The subsequent verses specify the dimensions of this area that was to surround the Levite cities, as a belt 1,000 cubits wide, and then as 2,000 cubits wide (2,000 cubits is equivalent to between 3,000 and 4,000 feet or 914 to 1219 meters).[2] Rashi explains the apparent contradiction and further describes the uses of this area: “He assigned two thousand [cubits] for them around the city, of which the inner thousand was for open area and the outer [thousand] for fields and vineyards.” [3] Sforno adds that this open space also enabled city residents to have "beehives, dovecotes, and other such items".[4]

The Torah uses the Hebrew term ‘migrash’ to describe this “green belt.” What is a ‘migrash’? Onkelos translates it as ‘revach,’ or space.[5] But why does the Torah require an open space around cities?

The answer is surprisingly practical. The Talmud explains that the inner belt serves to beautify the city; residents may plant trees there, but may not use the area for construction or agriculture. Rather, it is to remain open park land. The city itself is “zoned” for construction, and the outer belt for agriculture. The Talmud forbids converting land in any of these three zones to uses reserved for the others. [6]

With this practical explanation in mind, we should not be surprised that the majority of the rabbis involved in the Talmud’s discussion of the migrash concluded that this law applies to all Jewish towns in Israel, and not just to those reserved for the Levites. Maimonides accepts this opinion as settled law. [7]

Do the Jews observe the laws of migrash today? To address this question, we need a bit of historical perspective. After the destruction of the second temple, we lost political sovereignty and were exiled from our land. For almost two thousand years, we were not able to realize this mitzvah (commandment) because we lacked our own sovereign cities in the land of Israel. We were aliens in other people’s lands. When many of our people returned to our land in the past century, Jews began once again to build cities and farms in Israel, and a new society took shape. Vigorous and creative debates about how to observe other mitzvot (plural form of mitzvah) of the land of Israel under modern conditions deepened our appreciation of shmitah, yovel, and other neglected agricultural laws. These discussions continue to produce novel modern solutions to ancient problems. However, the mitzvah of migrash has not yet become part of the conversations of Israeli rabbinic authorities or regional planners. [8]. Returning it to today’s Jewish agenda is one of the challenges facing those who are concerned about Torah and the environment.

A major exception is the great nineteenth century German writer Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. Rabbi Hirsch takes a broad view of the implications of the mitzvah of migrash for both social relations and land use. He views this mitzvah as promoting the development of a society that combines urban sophistication and rural connectedness to the natural environment—“an urban population engaged in agriculture”. Rabbi Hirsch also sees the mitzvah of migrash as a limit to the urban sprawl that would otherwise be inevitable: “Clearly these laws place an obstacle to the growth of large cities at the expense of the surrounding country which otherwise is so very prevalent. Not even the open spaces of the city, or any part of it, may be used as building sites.”

The commandment of migrash in the Torah inspired the “garden city movement” founded in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. A garden city was intended to be a self-contained community surrounded by a green belt, with carefully planned regions of commerce, living, and recreation. Howard himself established two such garden cities in England, which remain successful today.[9] His ideas influenced the planning of other cities around the globe, and also influenced the British urbanist Sir Patrick Geddes in the planning of Tel-Aviv, Israel. [10] In the 1950’s when Be’er Sheva, the largest city in Israel’s Negev region was developed, it was built according to a ‘garden city’ plan, with small housing units generously spaced apart. However, the regional climate soon proved unsuitable for such urban planning, and neighborhoods gradually became more developed and crowded as the garden city theory was abandoned. [11] Eventually, criticisms of the effectiveness of the ‘garden city’ arose, and many modern architects developed ideas radically different from those of Sir Howard. [12]

Today, the applicability of the garden city philosophy is contested, but the mitzvah of migrash remains part of our eternal Torah. The mitzvah of migrash was a wonderful institution for our agrarian ancestors, but how could it be practiced today, when nearly 11 million people live west of the Jordan River, and the Earth’s population is approaching 7 billion? In the industrialized Western countries, 98% of the population works away from the land, in manufacturing and service jobs. In 2005, the United Nations reported that the majority of people in the world today live in cities. [13] As city dwellers, we can certainly grow from internalizing the principle of migrash, even without apportioning an actual green belt. Migrash moderates some of the negative effects of city life, such as the alienation of a person from nature and from the source of the food they eat. That’s why migrash comes from the root ‘legaresh,’ to divorce or separate, because it separates one urban area from another in an attempt to marry Jews to the natural existence G-d gave them in the land of Israel.

Our disconnection from nature is one of the root causes of environmental degradation, causing people to abuse resources, spread pollutants, and plan poorly for the future of our planet. A civilization can radically damage the natural world when it does not see itself as part of that world. Which city residents actually know the river to which their sewage flows during the common occurrence of storm-related flooding? A society can squander natural resources when it is not aware how it uses them. How many of us know exactly where our electricity is produced and how the plant transports the coal for its production? And when a community does not realize its dependence on certain natural processes (such as the growth of rainforests, the reproduction of fish schools, the flow of clean water aquifers) it is unlikely to prioritize their unhindered continuation.

Judaism does not emphasize abstract, quietistic contemplation of G-d’s greatness. Rather, appreciation of G-d develops from the physical performance of mitzvot in G-d’s world, and leads back to appreciation of G-d and the world. Thus, restoring our awareness of nature and our place within it will invigorate our efforts to solve environmental problems, inspired by the mitzvoth of the Torah.

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Experience nature at least once a month. The Israelites with their green belts had constant access to natural areas where they could look out and see signs of human civilization. To the extent that we can connect to the natural world G-d created, we can recover some sense of the grandeur of G-d’s creation.

• Grow some of your own food. Backyard gardens can help us connect to the natural cycles of plant growth and reduce the use of fossil fuels to transport our food from farm to market.

• Support sustainable urban planning in your community by encouraging zoning laws that limit sprawl.

• Promote access to green spaces and parks in and near urban areas.

Dr. Greenberg received his Bachelor’s degree with honors in biology from Brown University and his Master’s and Doctorate in agronomy from Cornell University. He has also studied with Rabbi Chaim Bravender at Israel’s Yeshivat Hamivtar and conducted research at Cornell, the US Department of Agriculture, and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Greenberg was a Senior Editor of science textbooks at Prentice Hall Publishing Co. and an assistant professor at the School of Education at Indiana University. He teaches science at University of Phoenix and Yeshivas Ohr Yosef and is a frequent speaker at synagogues and schools.

1

Numbers 35:2,3

2

Ibid. verses 4 and 5

3

French Torah Scholar and commentator, 11th cent.

4

Ovadiah ben Jacob Sforno, Italian scholar and commentator, 13th-14th cent. Commentary on Numbers 35:4

5

Onkelos was a famous convert to Judaism in Talmudic times (c.35-120 CE). He is considered to be the author of the famous translation of the Torah into Aramaic, Targum Onkelos (c.110 CE).

6

Babylonian Talmud (200 C.E.-~500 C.E.), tractates Baba Batra 24b, and Arachin 33b

7

Maimonides is Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Spain and Egypt, 2nd -3rd cent. His ruling is found in Zeraim, Hilchos Shmittah V'Yovel 13:5

8

This is due in part to a halachic debate about whether the law of migrash applies to cities in Israel when the majority of Jews do not reside in Israel. The halachic consensus is that other land-related laws such as shemitah (not farming in Israel every seventh year), yovel (cancelation of land contracts every 50 years), and terumah (tithing) apply regardless of the percentage of Jews living in Israel, and so today they are vigorously applied and developed in an Israeli religious context.

9

Buder, Stanley, Visionaries and Planners: The Garden City Movement and the Modern Community, Oxford University Press, USA 1990.

10

Boardman, Philip, Patrick Geddes: Maker of the Future (1944)

11

Gordus, Yehoshua, and Stern, Eliyahu (Ed.) The Book of Be’er Sheva, Keter,1979.

12

Geocities

13

United Nations, DESA, Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2005 Revision.,

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The Land of Israel is described as “A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey."[1][2] These seven species were the staple foods consumed by the Jewish people in the Land of Israel during biblical times. They contain special holiness, as reflected by the unique blessing recited after eating them, thanking G-d for the goodness of the land.[3]

The praise of the land of Israel for its fruit-trees is a deep environmental lesson in itself, testifying to the importance of nature and trees in Judaism. The Bible paints the shade of the grape vine and fig tree as a metaphor for the idyllic world-peace we await. Our ultimate trust in G-d is expressed through the serene environment where “Judah and Israel will sit securely , each person under his vine and fig tree…”[4] As we munch on juicy grapes we are reminded that there is no greater sign of the coming redemption than when the Land of Israel produces fruits in abundance.[5]

Moreover, the offerings of the bikkurim (first fruits) brought to the Temple in Jerusalem on Shavuot were only from these seven species. On what merit are these fruits selected? Nogah Hareuveni [6] explains that the flowering and fruiting of the seven species take place during the period between Pesach and Shavuot, a season depending on the delicate balance between contradictory forces of nature. It is characterized by climatic contrasts between extreme dryness and heat on the one hand and cold storms on the other, which could easily be misconceived as battles between opposing deities. Therefore, the seven species are selected to reaffirm our pure faith in G-d through our expressing thanks to the One and only G-d specifically for the fruits of the Land.

The flowering and fruiting of the seven species parallel our own spiritual development during the season between Pesach and Shavuot, characterized by self-improvement and preparation for receiving the Torah. As we count the Omer during the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot, [7] we turn to G-din repentance and prayer. Since the fruiting of the seven fruits is linked to our own spiritual achievement, it is not surprising that these seven kinds comprise a wealth of spiritual attributes, nutrients and medicinal properties.

The special significance of the seven species is accentuated by the great Kabbalist Arizal, [8] who attributes the spiritual energies of each fruit to one of the seven lower sefirot (spiritual emanations) that we count during each week of the Omer.[9],[10] Their correspondence is according to the order they occur in the Torah verse. It is interesting to note how the medical properties of the seven species are synchronized with their spiritual energies.

Wheat corresponds to chesed (kindness), the first of the seven lower sefirot. The characteristic of chesed is expansion, to reach out and extend oneself toward others. Wheat likewise reflects the nourishing food of kindness and to this day remains our main sustaining food staple. According to the renowned rabbi and physician Maimonidesm,[11] wheat strengthens the body and increases mothers’ milk, the ultimate nourishment and expression of chesed. [12]

Barley corresponds to gevura (restraint). Its characteristic is contraction, reduction and setting boundaries. This is reflected by each barley seed being enclosed in a strong hull (boundary) which remains intact even during threshing. Due to its contracting quality, barley is highly effective in reducing liquid when added to soup. A recent study by the FDA evidenced that barley reduces cholesterol and risk of coronary disease. [13]

Grapes grow in beautiful clusters and correspond to tiferet (beauty). This trait is characterized by the balance between its different and sometimes contrary components. Since tiferet is the perfect balance between chesed and gevura, grapes include both nourishing and eliminating qualities. Grape-seed oil nourishes the skin, while also containing a very high content of antioxidants that help in eliminating free radicals. [14] Grapes possess a diuretic quality, yet they are very nutritive replete with vitamins A, B, and C, while also treating blood and energy deficiency. [15]

Figs correspond to netzach (endurance), which engenders longevity. The fig-tree reflects everlasting fruitfulness as it has one of the longest periods of ripening, spanning more than three months. The Malbim[16] explains that we need to watch the fig-tree very carefully by picking its figs daily, since they ripen one after the other; likewise we need to observe our teachers daily in order to glean the fruits of their wisdom. According to Maimonides, “Figs, grapes and almonds are always the best fruits whether fresh or dried.”[17] Maimonides also taught that figs alleviate constipation, [18] which is one of the main tenets of longevity and health. [19] Figs may benefit the elderly [20] by strengthening the blood and arousing a person’s vitality. [21]

Modern science affirms the nutritional benefits of figs: they are very rich in minerals, especially potassium, iron and calcium, and they contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Figs also contain phytosterols, which inhibit the absorption of dietary cholesterol, thus decreasing the total levels of cholesterol. Moreover, they may help prevent certain types of cancers. [22]

Pomegranate, a very beautiful and majestic fruit, even has a crown. It corresponds to hod which means majesty and glory. Hod is also related to the Hebrew word toda which means thanks and recognition. According to Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh, [23] hod corresponds to our immune system. [24] A healthy immune-system is able to recognize our friends from our foes, and pomegranates boost our immune system. Pomegranate seed oil causes cancer cells to self-destruct; the juice of the fruit is toxic to most breast cancer cells, yet has almost no effect on healthy cells.[25] Pomegranate juice has also been proven to decrease heart disease by decreasing LDL ("bad cholesterol") and increased HDL ("good cholesterol"). [26]

Olive oil corresponds to yesod (foundation). Olive oil is the foundation of most Mediterranean foods. Maimonides explains that olive oil cleanses the liver and loosens stools. [27] It is helpful against stones in the urinary tract to drink a teaspoon of olive oil every morning before eating. [28] Olive oil protects against heart disease by lowering the blood pressure, and has strong anti-bacterial properties. It also contains several antioxidants to help fight cancer.[29] Thus olive oil can truly be called the foundation (“yesod”) of life.

Dates correspond to malchut (kingdom). Malchut is the channel that allows everything to manifest below. Therefore malchut is connected with the digestive system. The Talmud teaches that dates heal intestinal illnesses.[30] The palm tree has no waste, its lulavs (hearts) are used for prayer, its fronds for shade, its fibers for ropes, its twigs for a sieve, and its beams for houses. Likewise the people of Israel have no waste: they each master their own particular part of Torah learning or perform mitzvoth and charitable deeds. [31]

The Torah's mention of the seven species is not incidental. Rather, these foods are central to a Jewish spiritual path that endeavors to elevate the physical through intentional living. Eating the seven species in a conscious way can promote our well-being, help us connect to the land of Israel, and deepen our relationship with Hashem. Each of the seven species contains deep lessons about G-d and our spiritual lives. Every time we eat them we have the opportunity to tune into their spiritual messages, eat consciously, and bring the world a step closer to its perfected state.

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Enjoy flowering fruit trees and say the special blessing for them during the month of Nissan.

• Try to spend time in nature sitting in the shade of the vine and fig tree (or the specific trees you have in your local environment).

• Take advantage of the nutritional and healing properties of the seven species of the Land, rather than relying on artificial replacements.

• Take time to eat consciously and focus intensely when you bless Hashem with your full heart before and after partaking in His seven favorite fruits.

Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, a native of Denmark, is the Founder and Director of Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin: Holistic Torah Learning for Women on the Land of Israel, WWW.berotbatayin.org. She holds a Bachelor of Education in Bible and Jewish Philosophy from Michlala Jerusalem College for Women, and a Masters of Art in Jewish History from Touro College. Chana Bracha lives with her family in Israel, on the land of the Judean hills.

1

Deut. 8:8 (All Tanach translations are the author’s own adaptations from The Jerusalem Bible [Koren]).

2

The Sages understand the verse’s mention of honey to be date honey. See Mishna Brura 202:44.

3

This blessing, said after eating grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives or dates, differs from the blessing said after any other fruits in its effusive praise of the land of Israel and its fruits: “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, for the tree and the fruit of the tree, for the produce of the field, and for the precious, good, and spacious land which You have graciously given as a heritage to our ancestors, to eat of its fruit and be satiated with its goodness… For You, Hashem, are good and do good to all, and we will thank You for the land and for her fruits. Blessed are You Hashem, for the land and for her fruits.” (translation from chabad. org with author’s amendments).

4

I Kings, 5:5.

5

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a.

6

Nogah Hareuveni is the founder and chairman of Neot Kedumim, The Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel, and author of numerous books on Judaism and nature.

7

The Counting of the Omer is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between Passover and Shavuot. This mitzvah derives from the Torah commandment to count from the day following Passover when the Omer, (a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley), was offered in the Temple, until Shavuot when an offering of wheat breads was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, counting the Omer is a spiritual preparation for the receiving of the Torah on Shavuot. Each day corresponds to one of the seven lower sefirot with its sub-sefira.

8

Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Ashkenazi , Tzfat 1534-1572.

9

Arizal, Sefer Halikutim, parshat Eikev, chapter 8.

10

Click here for more on Omer and the sefirot.

11

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, Spain, 1135-1204.

12

Rabbi Moshe Cohen Shaouli and Rabbi Yaakov Fisher, Natures Wealth, Health and Healing Plants, based on the Teachings of the Rambam, p. 278. Translated by Ruth Steinberg from the Hebrew edition published by Beit Kneset Shauli, Ashdod, 1997.

13

FDA News, December 23, 2005

14

Click here for more on this

15

Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Planetary Herbology, Lotus Press, 1988, p. 317.

16

Rabbi Meir Loeb Ben Jehiel Michael, 1809–1879, in his commentary on Proverbs 27:18.

17

Maimonides, Mishna Torah, Hilchot Deot, chapter 4, Halacha 11.

18

Nisim Krispil, Medicinal Herbs of The Rambam (in Hebrew), Arad, Israel, 1989, p. 211.

19

Maimonides, Mishna Torah, Hilchot Deot, chapter 4, Halacha 13.

20

Op Cit, Medicinal Herbs of The Rambam p. 211.

21

Eben Ezra on Chabakuk 3:17.

22

IsuagCentre.com

23

One of the greatest Kabbalistic masters of our time, author of numerous books, Rosh HaYeshiva of Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai.

24

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, Body Mind and Soul, p. 96.

25

Research directed by Dr. Ephraim Lansky at Technion, The Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, 2001.

26

Research by a group of scientists in Israel, 2000, headed by Professor Michael Aviram, an internationally recognized authority on the effect of food on heart disease.

27

Op Cit, Medicinal Herbs, p. 109.

28

Op Cit, Nature’s Wealth, p.188.

29

Harvard School of Public Health, Fats and Cholesterol,

30

Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot, 10b.

31

Genesis Rabba, 41.

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In the summer of 1998, I led a group of Jewish teenagers on a two week hiking trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This is the story of how awful it was – the miserable weather, the arguments, the religious problems, the midpoint mutiny – and why, nevertheless, I think we should all get out in the woods a lot more often…

This is the group: nine Jewish teenagers: seven girls and only two boys. Religiously most are observant, but not all: of those who are there is some difference between the strictly halachic and the conservadox. At the other end of the spectrum is a girl who attends a Conservative dayschool but has a Turkish Moslem father and and is proud of her Turkish heritage. Most are from the Boston area, but one is from the Midwest. The strongest character is a sixteen year old girl; the youngest, a thirteen year old boy who is big for his age and who seems to be present in consequence of familial "encouragement" – his cousin really wants the trip to happen and says that without him there'll be too few people.

Also two leaders: me – English, 30-something, observant, liberal, relatively late in life to the delights of outdoor living – and my co-leader, Liora, in her twenties, from a strong dayschool background but now secular. Liora is tough and down-to-earth and her idea of fun is leading non-Jewish teenagers from rough backgrounds on demanding hikes.

The plan was that we'd do a day or two of orientation at Camp Friedman, in upstate New York, and then drive up to New Hampshire to do an extended hike in the White Mountains.

And now share with me my four most vivid memories of the trip:

• The first afternoon, at Camp Friedman, trudging off to a campsite just twenty minutes away – but in horrific cold torrential rain (in midsummer), miserable dark skies, and the thirteen year old boy coming down with flu;
• The third day of the White Mountains hike, meeting up with our van for re-supplies, and a clear majority of the group say "that's it – the weather's awful, we hate this, we're not going back up;"
• Shabbat afternoon up in the mountains. In hard driving rain, Liora and I tighten our tarp for extra protection, whereupon our two most observant students point out (halachically correctly) that this is a desecration of Shabbat and that they won't now enter the tarp;
• Hiking down, a few days later, when we're all tired. One girl's rucksack will hardly fit her and it's hard for her to carry it and someone keeps falling: Liora and I are terrified that someone's really going to get hurt.

Against this sad litany, the reasons that I think that Jews in general ought to get outdoors a lot more – whether hiking, biking, rock-climbing or expeditioning, and whether for a few hours or for several months – may not be easily apparent. But consider this counter-list:

• too much of our world is [literally] over-sanitized. Wilderness trips are an antidote to that. From facing a degree of risk, to pooping in the woods, to learning about natural cycles, getting outdoors brings our regular life into an older and rawer perspective;
• as a people, we Jews formed ourselves in the wilderness, and it shows. From the brachot of waking up to the specific brachot for thunder and lightning, to bensching and the brachot of using the bathroom, to building an eruv for Shabbat, to seeing Torah as practical jurisprudence in resolving arguments, Judaism comes alive outdoors in ways that are very different from, and shed great light on, most peoples' synagogue experience;
• when you go into the wilderness as a group, you have to deal with issues as a group. Cliques which might be acceptable in a school or youth group are less acceptable where you need to move together. Our trip was far from perfect in this regard, but it nevertheless drew out issues of religious and other difference, and raised important – and real – questions about the relationship between, for instance, a commitment to pluralism on the one hand, and one's understanding of Jewish tradition on the other.
• our parents want the world to be safe for us, as they properly should; but facing appropriate challenges helps us grow stronger in every way. In our midtrip mutiny my response was very different from a school environment, where students might simply be told what to do. What I actually said was the opposite: that the weather had been awful, that it had been hard, that we were tired and that no-one in fact was forced to go on. I said, too, that I hoped people would go on, that we were planning to go up to a place where we'd have great views, that the weather was due to lift, and that I thought people would feel proud of themselves if they kept going. But I made clear that each person had a real choice, and that they really didn't have to go on. Both the reality of that choice, and the pride that can derive from facing a difficult choice and then seeing it through, are hard to replicate in our normal surroundings.

These four miserable memories are not the only reasons to get outdoors, of course. I haven't mentioned how beautiful stunning views can be; how great it feels to work up a good sweat and get really fit; how much fun it is crossing rivers; how much I love singing by the fire – and building the fire in the first place. I haven't mentioned how weird food combinations (like stale pitta bread with sardines, jelly and mustard, say) can taste just great on the fourth day of a hike. I haven't mentioned saying kiddush levana (the blessing over the new moon) outdoors, or dancing at kabbalat Shabbat, or what it feels like to have saved a "clean" outfit for Shabbat when you've been out in the woods for a couple of weeks. I haven't mentioned mikveh experiences in freezing rivers, or elaborate ropes courses 50 or 60 feet up in the air. Or learning to tie special kinds of knots, or rock-climbing for the first time, or rock-climbing blindfolded to learn to trust your feet and hands, or learning the first-aid stuff that you really hope you'll never have to learn, or even just learning to cook safely or to follow good environmental practice out in the woods. These are the pleasures which one banks in one's memory, and seeks to draw down in moments of misery.

But the moments of misery are ok: I do think that's part of the lesson. We are the first Jewish generation in a very long while who are growing up in conditions of peace, freedom and great prosperity. Getting out into a deeper connexion with planet earth and each other is both a product of that privilege, and the beginnings of responding to it – leading our people to healthier ways of life, in every sense, and helping us learn about the need to heal the planet as we grow.

Nigel Savage, Feb 2000

A few years ago I went hiking with friends and with a Bedouin guide in the area around and behind Santa Katerina, in southern Sinai. Sinai is an extraordinary place, raw and grand. The peaks are majestic and whistling cold. The wadis are full of hidden crevices, shade and light, little crawly things, small shrubs and unlikely greennesses. On a hot day, moving slowly, we rounded a corner and came upon a pool, translucent blue, still in the windless day, ice-cold despite the heat.

As we read parashat Be-Midbar, and begin the book of Be-Midbar, that hike and that natural pool provide insights into two important questions: why was it necessary for the children of Israel to spend so long in the wilderness? And what message should we learn from that today?

Mayim hayim-living waters-is a strong motif in Jewish tradition. The second paragraph of the Sh'ma is about rain and its absence. On Sukkot we recite an extraordinary prayer for rain, paralleled on Pesah with a prayer for dew; in each case these prayers inaugurate a short addition to the daily silent prayer focused on rain and dew. The Talmud, in Ta'anit-a book about fasting-recounts the ascending series of fasts, individual and communal, which were inaugurated in ancient times if the rains didn't fall in their proper time. And when we found a new community, we are enjoined to establish a mikveh, a pool of water, in which to cleanse ourselves, even before we establish a synagogue.

And water, where it comes from and what uses to which it may be put, defines the distinction between Egypt, the wilderness and Israel.

We know that Mitzrayim, Hebrew for Egypt, means "narrow places." Existentially, when on Seder night we leave Mitzrayim, we are leaving our own narrow places, our places of constriction, to enter into the open spaces of our own freedom. The forty-nine day count, from Pesah to Shavuot, of which we are now nearing the end, is a contemporary existential journey into a wider and deeper sense of self.

But Mitzrayim also means narrow spaces in a more prosaic sense. Egypt is Mitzrayim because its civilizations arose in the narrow spaces either side of the River Nile. It is the superfluity of water-concentrated in those narrow spaces-which allowed Egyptian civilization to arise. Superfluity of water enables superfluity in other realms-mass society, slaves, pyramids, rulers of huge wealth and absolute power. (It is Nelson Mandela in our generation who has made most clear how the abuse of power enslaves those who wield it as well as those directly wounded by it; so too in ancient Egypt.)

When the children of Israel leave Egypt, they leave for the wilderness-a wilderness that does have enough water to support life, as I learned for myself a few years ago. Behind Santa Katerina our Bedouin guide introduced us to a hidden world, little changed since the days of our ancient ancestors-trails & tracks, goats, small orchards, wells (some with large stones covering them), camels, olive trees, small stone-built walls. One night we mixed flour and water and baked it on the fire. The wilderness will support life, but only simple life. No superfluities.

The wilderness-now, as then-is an opportunity to cleanse ourselves of the slaveries, large and small, to which overabundance gives rise. Jewish tradition teaches that the generation who came out of Egypt all had to die in the wilderness before a new generation, untouched by slavery, could enter the land of Israel. The generation of slavery was also the generation of superfluity, the generation who took the Nile's abundant waters for granted. The generation who entered Israel had been born be-midbar, in the wilderness. For them water was a treasure, never to be taken for granted, and life of necessity was focused on essential questions: How shall we live? How shall we mediate anger and jealousy, relations between the genders and the generations, so that we might pursue peace and seek to be holy?

And thus into Israel: watered more than the desert, but less than Egypt.

Watered from above, in rains that have rhythm but not ubiquity. Israel-literally and metaphorically-affords us the possibility of a deeper and richer civilization than was possible in the wilderness, but denies the superfluity that enabled slavery.

The wilderness speaks to us-the root of Be-Midbar refers to this directly, the verb l'daber is the simplest modern Hebrew word, to speak-and the question today is whether we can hear it. We live, many of us, amongst great superfluity, and there are fewer literal wildernesses on our planet today than there were when the Torah was young. We have been as resourceful as the ancient Egyptians in corralling our resources, and for the most part we engender freedom and not slavery. The deep lessons of the wilderness are important ones for our generation, and for generations to come. In a physical sense, will we go out into wild places, understand their importance to our own journeys, hear and learn those things that are obscured amidst our daily superfluities? And in doing so, can we learn to act upon the things we discover: that life is a miracle, that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, and that our civilization should closer approximate the provisionality of ancient Israel than the certitude of ancient Mitzrayim…

[This dvar torah is in honor of Yoel Lessing, with whom I hiked in Sinai, and who two weeks ago devoted many hours to helping us out of a nasty patch of technological narrow places...]

Nigel Savage

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The Environmental movement that has sprung forth from the West bears many imprints of the same paradigms of thought that have led to the environmental crisis itself. There is a tendency to rush towards results and overlook the process required to organically arrive at those results, and part of our work in healing is to redress these internalized ways of thinking to arrive at a truly sustainable way of living. Through the Torah this lesson of process is being learned.

At the beginning of Parshat Mikeitz we hear of Pharoah’s prophetic dream: seven robust cows devoured by seven frail ones.[1]. The signs seem clear for all to see: seven good and seven so bad they devour the good that was. It is a vision that perhaps foretells of our human endeavors with technology: a golden age of Enlightenment and invention, industrialization and higher qualities of life, now quivering under the unknown threat of today’s environmental crisis.

Why weren’t the Egyptians able to understand the dream? Upon hearing Joseph’s (Yosef) interpretation, it seems fairly clear. Was it myopia? Was it denial? (Not the river in Egypt, of course. Ouch! Forgive my rabbinic indulgence) How do we as environmentalists, aware of the “dreams” (predictions) of our scientists, share the interpretation? The challenge of “giving over the bad news” is something environmentalists have been struggling with for the last 30 years. With news that nobody wants to hear, how do we spread the message? And as our goal is not to share bad news, but rather to inspire, motivate and guide necessary changes that society and individuals need to make — how do we achieve this?

The environmental movement faces this challenge to catalyze change in two distinct realms: action and spirit. In the realm of action, consumer patterns, industrial pollution and carbon footprints are the terms of discourse and site of change. But in a broader perspective those actions are the result of a deeper problem: an imbalance of spirit, or exile. If our lifestyle is out of balance with the ecosystems we inhabit, is it fair to assume that our inner dimensions are also out of balance? And while we are seeing great advances and potential in addressing the action side of our crisis, is enough attention being paid to the inner dimensions of disconnect?

At the end of the day, as green technologies become a greater part of public awareness and economic reality, the actions seem easier to fix, while our personal and intimate awareness of what is around us remains as disconnected as ever. How do we address this experiential exile from our Place? How do we share that the importance of a personal connection to one’s habitat „Ÿ the seasons, the fruits and the land „Ÿ and the living experience of connection to a place, is really a connection to a part of our own larger self?

If the vision at the opening of Mikeitz raises the question, perhaps we may seek an answer from the same parsha. Yosef, the favorite son who was years before left for dead by his jealous brothers, has come to power in Egypt and is in charge of dispensing the only food stores in the region. Jacob (Ya’akov), his father, sends a “care package” down with his brothers to the ruler, gifting him with fruits of the land of Israel. How estranged has this son become to his land and people? Ya’akov and his sons are playing the role of ambassador to an exiled Yosef. As environmentalists who are aware of the crisis our actions have placed before our planet, we are also in a role of ambassadorship to a society that continues down an unsustainable path.

Ya’akov does not point out the bad points of Egypt, rather he sends Yosef the fruits of the land. Rebbe Nachman writes that Jacob was sending this mysterious ruler of Egypt a taste of what the Land of Israel is.[2] This is perhaps the true core of environmental work „Ÿ to pass on the awareness of ourselves within our surroundings. The song of the land is a serenade waiting to be heard. Whether working with youth in the city or CEOs of multi-nationals, at our best we are trying to bring the voice of the earth into the equation.

When Ya’akov sends Yosef the package, the Torah calls it zimrat ha’aretz, the song of the land.[3] The translation of Unkelos understands this phrase to mean “the crops that a land is praised for.” The connection between fruits and song is a rather significant theme in Jewish agriculture. As the Mishnayot of Bikurim (First Fruits) describes, the bringing of the first fruits to Jerusalem in the days of the Temple was accompanied by music.[4] Elsewhere, the Talmud teaches that “song is not said except for over wine…”[5]

The tastes of a place become indelibly etched into our memories. I have an uncle who hasn’t been to Israel in 20 years, and what I hear him asking for is “one of those Israeli tomatoes or cucumbers.” Taste is beyond words, yet somehow contains the experience of a place.

In the Torah text, the trop (musical notation) that hover over the shapes and dots of the letters are called the ta’amim, a word that literally means taste. Kabbala teaches that these “tastes” reveal the secret meaning of the text. And when Yosef receives the offering of the tastes of his homeland, it is written in the Torah as the start of the sequence wherein Yosef begins crying for home. [6]

An experience that is by definition beyond words finds its voice through taste and song. The fruits of the land have the power to bring us back to a place of pure connection. Though a tremendous focus of environmental work is on fixing the actions of society, we don’t want to miss the deeper challenges that are at the root of our physical disconnect, for that is the source from where we will harvest the real fruits.

What is being said here is that the Torah’s choice of calling the fruits the “song of the land” alludes to a level of existence well beyond the form and atoms we know so well. Well beyond the mere actions that we do in this world. In Kabbala the dual existence of spirit and matter is called the “light” and the “vessels.” There is a crucial lesson therein for building sustainable forms of activism and change. Our personal encounters with nature „Ÿ the quiet, sanctity, connection, beauty etc. „Ÿ are “lights” that slowly build within us, a growing awareness that can change how we act. For some people the gap between this experience of nature, and the destructive effects our lifestyles have upon it, has propelled them into action. The light of their experience has become a vessel. (This is how Kabbala describes the original formation of this world: the original light eventually materialized into physical vessels.) This is beautifully reflected in how Ya’akov tells the brothers “to take from the fruits of the land in your vessels" [7]

What is crucial for our own sanity as environmentalists is to refresh our source of light „Ÿ to take our breaks, our Shabbat in the woods, our daily reconnecting with who and where we are. And then we can share this level of experience with our neighbors and friends as a part of our path, just as Yosef shared with the Egyptians not just the doomsday prediction, but also the solution.

Any of the below “Suggested Action Items” can help foster our sense of belonging to the place we inhabit and ultimately help us to nurture the awareness from where sustainable living habits will grow naturally. The taste and song of Green living are the greatest allies in affecting substantial organic change in our patterns. For if we end up with an environmentally sustainable lifestyle but have never grown any more aware of our surroundings and our personal connection to that which is outside of us, we may be missing one of the ultimate lessons the environmental crisis is here to teach us.

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Suggested Action Items:

1. Find a guide to local plants and wildlife, providing yourself with a glimpse of what was here before us.

2.Learn the local geology of your neighborhood and natural forces that sculptured the terrain – transform walking to the corner store into a hike!

3. Discover who the natives were who grew up in harmony with the place you currently live.

4. Learn the factors in your local climates (beyond the weather forecaster) to increase success in planning outings under good weather.

5. Introduce school children to the ecosystem that exists below the asphalt and that which has developed above it.

6. Buy foods from local farms, cutting down tremendously on the transport costs of fuel and also bringing you into sensual contact with place and time.

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Rabbi Shaul David Judelman currently resides in Jerusalem. After growing up amongst the Douglas Firs of Seattle, Washington, he came to Israel on a quest for Judaism alive in its land. He spent six years in the Bat Ayin Yeshiva Rabbinical program and now teaches at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo while working on several different environmental initiatives in Jerusalem. He is the founder and coordinator of Simchat Shlomo’s Eco-Activist Beit Midrash, a program offering holistic in-depth Torah study around issues of ecology.
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[1] Gen. 41:2-4

[2] Likutey Moharan, Part II:63

[3] Gen. 43:11; The simplest meaning of these words is the “trimmings of the land.”

[4] Mishanyot, Bikurim, 3:3

[5] Berachot 35a

[6] Gen. 43:25-30

[7] Gen. 43:11