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

Over the past few weeks I’ve learned that politics is a tough business. As a candidate for the Green Israel slate, running for the World Zionist Congress, I’ve gained a lot of respect for anyone willing to put themselves out there on the campaign trail.  My potential voters are asking a lot of hard questions.  Fortunately, I have the answers.  Here are the 5 questions I get most often.  I hope the answers are compelling enough to get you to click and vote for Green Israel.

What is the World Zionist Congress?  What can it possibly do?

The World Zionist Congress exists to give Jews in the diaspora a voice in Israeli affairs.  Before 1948, the World Zionist Congress was the prestate parliament of what would become Israel.  After Israel was established, most of its powers were taken over by the Knesset (Israel’s parliament).   Since all Jews have a stake in what happens in Israel, the WZC was retained to give diaspora Jews a voice.

The WZC retains considerable influence over several important institutions.  These include the Jewish Agency (which is involved in immigration,) and most important for our purpose, the Jewish National Fund.  The JNF, which most people know as the organization that plants trees in Israel, owns 13% of the land in Israel.

With so much control over land, the environmental policies of the JNF have tremendous influence in Israel.  The composition of the WZC determines the makeup of the board of the JNF.  Today, through the WZC, the Green Israel slate — supported by Aytzim and its projects, the Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology, and Shomrei Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth — has named two of Israel’s leading environmentalists to the JNF board.   Alon Tal and Orr Karassin have pushed JNF to take the lead on a number of environmental issues, including taking stands for the protection of open space and against fracking.  The Green Israel slate must be reelected to continue to influence the JNF.

I’m not a Zionist, so why would I vote?

When I agreed to join the Green Israel slate, I anticipated that potential voters would assume that the WZC was an antiquated and irrelevant institution.  Somehow I didn’t realize how many Jews are uncomfortable with the terms Zionist and Zionism themselves.  My answer is simple.  Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish People.  It achieved its initial aim when Israel was established.  But no country is perfect.  Fortunately, there are ways we can help to make it better.  Voting in the WZC elections is one way.

I’m not so comfortable with the JNF either, so why should I support it? 

The JNF is a large, politicized, bureaucratic organization that is part of Israel’s establishment.  I don’t agree with everything that the JNF does.  That’s exactly why I’m on the Green Israel slate.  Because people voted for the Green Israel slate in past elections, there have been major improvements in how the JNF does business.  It has adopted significantly better policies on forestry, stream restoration, and soil reclamation.  JNF is taking the lead on green infrastructure such as bike lanes, solar energy, and wastewater reclamation.  Now JNF’s Sustainable Development Committee, chaired by Alon Tal, has established a program to prioritize quality of life improvements in Arab communities that have long been neglected by the JNF.  The JNF has power, and we can leverage that power by voting.

Why do I have to pay to vote?

The American Zionist Movement has contracted with an independent company to run the online election.  This is to insure that the election is fair.  The registration fee is being used exclusively to pay for the election.  It is not a donation to the WZO.  I wish there was no fee, but it is a small price to pay to make a real difference in the future of Israel.

In the last few weeks I have asked hundreds of people to vote for me.  In the last election, it only took 500 seats to get a seat at the WZC.  That means that every single vote matters.  Please vote right now at worldzionistcongress.org.

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

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.

Maybe Kermit was wrong — maybe it actually is easy to be green. Or, at the very least, it is pretty easy to start being green. There are many projects that you can do that will not just green your home, but will keep the green in your pocket, too.

Plant a garden

There’s no better summer treat than fresh fruits and vegetables grown in your own backyard. And no plot of land is too small for a garden, even if that garden is only a few potted cherry-tomato plants on your windowsill. Plant trees As long as you’re planting, plant big! Trees around a home can help cool a house in the summer and keep a house warmer in the winter. Specifically, trees on a house’s southern side only help cool a house if their shade extends over the roof, so it’s best to plant evergreen trees on the northern side of the house to help block cold winter winds, and deciduous trees (the kinds that lose their leaves in the fall) on the house’s eastern and western sides to protect the house from summer sun.

Click here to continue reading this article

This ebook is the most comprehensive study in English of how Jewish traditional sources teach us to protect our natural resources and preserve the environment. From food to trees, energy to water, wealth to biodiversity, the book studies eighteen topics where Jewish tradition has a relevant lesson for today's environmental challenges. All materials were comprehensively studied and reviewed by scientists and rabbis before printing.

These materials were originally created for the Canfei Nesharim/Jewcology Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment in 2012, and were released between Tu b'Shevat 5772 and Tu b'Shevat 5773. The materials were shared widely throughout the Jewish community, reaching more than 50,000 people. Source sheets, podcasts and videos are also available separately for each topic.

The ebook can now be ordered for your Kindle or Ebook device.

Podcasts now available: Another exciting release from the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment: all podcasts from our series are now available on iTunes! To see the full series, simply search “Canfei Nesharim” in the itunes store, or go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/canfei-nesharim/id646475293?mt=2. You can listen to the podcasts right there, or click "view in iTunes " and then click subscribe to have them appear in your iTunes podcast library.

Don’t have itunes? All items are also available for listening or downloading at http://canfeinesharim.podbean.com/.

Check out all the materials, including source sheets and videos, at www.canfeinesharim.org/learning or www.jewcology.com/learning.

Time: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 5:00PM

Tu Bishvat — the full moon of Shvat — the New Year for the Trees is Wednesday! It's the Kabbalistic celebration of the cosmic Tree of Life, and it's been the focal point of Jewish ecology since the 70's. There are beautiful rituals, and NeoHasid has tremendous resources you can use to celebrate, including 3 different haggadot, source sheets, and the original Tu Bishvat blessing. Go to: http://neohasid.org/resources/tu_bishvat/

Tu Bishvat is the time we pray for the fruit trees to have enough water, sunshine, and love to be able to produce for all of us (all the creatures, not just humans). And it's a time when we reflect on fixing the "sin of the human eating the fruit of the tree of knowing" — which essentially means reflecting on how much and how greedily we take, and how we might change that.

You can get all the resources you need to make a seder/ritual meal (except the fruit) on neohasid.org. You can also get a simple 1-page haggadah/guide on neohasid.org. Here's a list of ingredients for an easy seder: 3 kinds of nuts (like walnut, almond, coconut), 3 kinds of fruit with pits (like olives, dates, avocado), 3 kinds of fruit with edible skin (like apple, grapes, peach, orange, carob), two bottles of white grape juice and one of red. The guide online will tell you how to do it. There's a list below of all the other Tu Bishvat resources you'll find.

And here's a bit of Tu Bishvat Torah, paraphrased from Pirkei d'Rabi Eliezer ch.12. It's from my book on ecology and Kabbalah — which is almost almost completed.

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>When God created the first human being, Adam Harishon, and stood the creature up, it was magnificent like one of the ministering angels. God said: "If I let this one be the unique and only human in the world, then all the other creatures will see it and say, 'this one created us'. Therefore, 'it is not good for the adam to be alone'. (Gen 2:8) So God split the human into male and female.

>When the Earth heard that there would be human beings would multiply, she trembled and quaked. The Earth said: "I do not have in me the strength to feed the flocks of humanity." God said: "I will feed humanity at night with sleep, and so share the burden with you."

According to this midrash, humanity must bet fed by our sleep, by our resting, by our dreaming, by being connected to the realm of the unconscious, to the realm of the soul. If we are not fed in this way, we can (will?) overwhelm and destroy the Earth.

What about the way we live now makes it hard to connect to the unconscious? How can we strengthen our connection to it?

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If you're in the Boulder CO area next week, I'll be leading a community-wide seder at Nevei Kodesh. And if you're in the Pioneer Valley of MA next Shabbat (Jan 17-18), I'll be leading Tu Bishvat learning at the Jewish Community of Amherst. And of you're in the Bay area, you can fond out about EcoJews of the Bay's seder at: https://www.facebook.com/events/601539973233485/

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Tu Bish'vat on neohasid.org:

Find ideas about leading the seder, commentary on the JNF, the prayer for the trees from the original seder, texts to learn and teach at your seder, and more.

"The works" for Tu Bishvat

Haggadot, brakhot, text study sheets, in one zip file. Direct download — 1 MB.

A simple Tu Bishvat Haggadah

An all-English simple haggadah for Tu Bishvat with intro.

A basic version of the well-known flowchart Haggadah

An haggadah all in English with a smidgeon of Kabbalah, accessible for beginners to Kabbalah or to Jewish practices.

One-page flowchart Haggadah plus more links

A flowchart haggadah on a single sheet, in three versions including. Plus some quick links to other resources.

The Ultimate Text Crunching Sheet for Tu Bish'vat

Study, for many days or for one seder, some of the great Jewish and Kabbalistic texts on fruit, trees and the earth.

Shirat ha'asavim ~ The Song of the Grasses

A rough recording of the well-known Naomi Shemer tune, in time for Tu Bish'vat.

How to make a Kabbalstic Tu Bishvat Seder

Instructions on how to run a seder, how to use the blessing from the first Tu Bishvat seder, and how to use the One-page Haggadah chart.

A Prayer for the Earth – Hebrew and English

Y'kum Purkan Lish'maya: A prayer for the earth, for use in your synagogue, minyan, or havurah; for Earth Day, Rainbow Day, Shabbat Noach, Shabbat Behar/Bechukotai, everyday.

Blessing from the first published Tu Bish'vat Seder

From the 16/17th century seder manual, P'ri Eitz Hadar, based on the Kabbalah of the four worlds. The original seder calls on us to bring blessing to all creation.

The Giving Tree: A Way to Honor Our Vision for Israel

Planting a tree for the future sounds like second nature, a wise investment for both Israel and the planet. But whether you think about doing this at Tu Bish'vat or during the Omer when it's really planting time, it's a little more complicated than donating to JNF…

Birkat Ha-ilanot

Once a year there is Jewish custom is to say a special blessing on flowering fruit trees. It happens in spring, especially during the Omer, but it's also a good teaching for Tu Bish'vat. You'll also find some other good tree texts here.

Longer meditations on Pri Etz Hadar

Imagine a Jewish practice which has the purpose of restoring all the species and creatures, and all the sparks they contain, to the fullness of blessing.

Tu Bish'vat wisdom

Three teachings about how holy eating brings blessing to all life and all creatures, submitted by Jacob Fine.

From the following I learned that I should be an environmental activist, working to help preserve the world:

In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: “See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)

From the following and the rabbinic commentaries on it I learned that I should avoid destruction and should conserve resources:

When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy (lo tashchit) the trees thereof by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them, but you must not cut the down; for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, them you may destroy and cut down, that you may build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it fall. (Deuteronomy 20:19, 20)

The following helped convince me that I should be a vegan:

And God said: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” (Genesis 1:29)

From the following I learned that as a Jew I should strive to serve as a positive example:

And they came to Elim, where were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees; and they encamped here by the waters. (Deuteronomy 15:27) Rabeynu Bachya saw a much deeper message. He stated that the 12 springs represented the 12 tribes and the 70 palm trees represented the 70 then nations of the world. He stated that just as the 12 springs nourished the 70 palm trees, the 12 tribes (the Jewish people) should serve to “nourish” the world by serving as a good example.

From the following I learned to consider the consequences of my actions on future generations:

While the sage Choni was walking along a road, he saw a man planting a carob tree. Choni asked him: “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” “Seventy years,” replied the man. Choni then asked: “Are you so healthy a man that you expect to live that length of time and eat its fruit?” The man answered: “I found a fruitful world because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise, I am planting for my children.” (Ta’anis 23b)

From the following I learned how important it is to be involved in the natural world:

In order to serve God, one needs access to the enjoyment of the beauties of nature – meadows full of flowers, majestic mountains, flowing rivers. For all these are essential to the spiritual development of even the holiest of people. (Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides, cited by Rabbi David E. Stein in A Garden of Choice Fruits, Shomrei Adamah, 1991).

From the following I learned the importance of acting on my knowledge and beliefs:

Whoever has more wisdom than deeds is like a tree with many branches but few roots, and the wind shall tear him from the ground… Whoever has more deeds than wisdom is like a tree with more roots than branches, and no hurricane will uproot him from the spot. (Pirke Avot 3:17)

From the following I learned the importance of working for a more peaceful world:

And He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide concerning mighty nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken. (Micah 4:3-5)

Last but far from least, from the following I leaned how the Torah is a guide to a happy, productive, and fulfilling life:

1. And God said: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” (Genesis 1:29)

2. In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first person, He showed him the trees in the Garden of Eden, and said to him: “See My works, how fine they are; Now all that I have created, I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt and destroy My world, For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.” (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)

3. When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy (lo tashchit) the trees thereof by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them, but you must not cut the down; for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you? Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, them you may destroy and cut down, that you may build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it fall. (Deuteronomy 20:19, 20)

4. And they came to Elim, where were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees; and they encamped here by the waters. (Deuteronomy 15:27) Rabeynu Bachya saw a much deeper message. He stated that the 12 springs represented the 12 tribes and the 70 palm trees represented the 70 then nations of the world. He stated that just as the 12 springs nourished the 70 palm trees, the 12 tribes (the Jewish people) should serve to “nourish” the world by serving as a good example.

5. Happy is the man … who delights in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. (Psalms 1: 1-3)

6. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:12)

7. Rabbi Shimon said, “The shade spread over us by these trees is so pleasant! We must crown this place with words of Torah.” (Zohar, 2:127a)

8. While the sage Choni was walking along a road, he saw a man planting a carob tree. Choni asked him: “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” “Seventy years,” replied the man. Choni then asked: “Are you so healthy a man that you expect to live that length of time and eat its fruit?” The man answered: “I found a fruitful world because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise, I am planting for my children.”

9. Shimon bar Yochai taught that “if you are holding a sapling in your hand, and someone says that the Messiah has drawn near, first plant the sapling, and then go and greet the Messiah.” (Avot d’Rebbe Natan 31b)

10. For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people. (Isaiah 65:22)

11. He will be like a tree planted near water… (Jeremiah 17:8)

12. R’ Abba taught: There is no greater revealing of redemption than that which the verse states: “And you, mountains of Israel, you shall give forth your branches and you shall bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they shall soon come.” (Ezekiel 36:8; Talmud Sanhedrin 98a)

13. It is forbidden to cut down fruit-bearing trees outside a besieged city, nor may a water channel be deflected from them so that they wither. Whoever cuts down a fruit-bearing tree is flogged. This penalty is imposed not only for cutting it down during a siege; whenever a fruit-yielding tree is cut down with destructive intent, flogging is incurred. It may be cut down, however, if it causes damage to other trees or to a field belonging to another man or if its value for other purposes is greater. The Law forbids only wanton destruction… Not only one who cuts down trees, but also one who smashes household goods, tears clothes, demolishes a building, stops up a spring, or destroys articles of food with destructive intent transgresses the command “you must not destroy.” Such a person is not flogged, but is administered a disciplinary beating imposed by the Rabbis. (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6:8,10)

14. Rabbi Simon said, “There is no plant without an angel in Heaven tending it and telling it, ‘Grow!’” (Genesis Rabba 10:7).

15. And I will restore my people Israel and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine, they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit. (Amos 9:14)

16. Israel is like the date palm, of which none is wasted; its dates are for eating, its lulavim are for blessing; its fronds are for thatching; its fibers are for ropes; its webbing for sieves; its thick trunks for building – so it is with Israel, which contains no waste. (Genesis Rabbah 41)

17. And G-d said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit trees yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is on the earth,” and it was so. And the earth blossomed with grass, herbs and trees, and G-d saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-13)

18. Everyone will sit under their vine and fig tree and none shall make them afraid; for the Lord of Hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:4)

19. And God said: “Let the earth put forth grass, herb-yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit of its kind.” “Fruit tree” means the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which put forth blossoms and fruit. “Bearing fruit” is the tzaddik, the basis of the world. ‘Of its kind’ means all the human beings who have in them the spirit of holiness, which is the blossom of that tree. This is the covenant of holiness, the covenant of peace — and the faithful enter into that kind and do not depart from it. The Tzaddik generates, and the tree conceives and brings forth fruit of its kind. (Zohar – Bereishit 33a)

20. “My teacher [the holy Arizal] used to say that one must intend while eating the fruits [at the Tu B'Shvat Seder] to repair the sin of Adam who erred by eating fruit from the tree.” (Rabbi Chaim Vital)

21. In order to serve God, one needs access to the enjoyment of the beauties of nature – meadows full of flowers, majestic mountains, flowing rivers. For all these are essential to the spiritual development of even the holiest of people. (Rabbi Abraham ben Maimonides, cited by Rabbi David E. Stein in A Garden of Choice Fruits, Shomrei Adamah, 1991).

22. Once, when Rav Abraham Kook was walking in the fields, lost deep in thought, the young student with him inadvertently plucked a leaf off a branch. Rav Kook was visibly shaken by this act, and turning to his companion he said gently, “Believe me when I tell you I never simply pluck a leaf or a blade of grass or any living thing, unless I have to.” He explained further, “Every part of the vegetable world is singing a song and breathing forth a secret of the divine mystery of the Creation.” For the first time the young student understood what it means to show compassion to all creatures. (Wisdom of the Mystics)

23. No part of the date palm is wasted:
The fruit is eaten,
the embryonic branches (lulav) are used for the Four Species of Sukkot,
the mature fronds can cover a sukka,
the fibers between the branches can make strong ropes,
the leaves can be woven into mats and baskets,
the trunks can be used for rafters.
Similarly, no one is worthless in Israel:
some are scholars,
some do good deeds,
and some work for social justice.
(Midrash Numbers Rabba 3.1)

22. Every part of the vegetable world is singing a song and bringing forth a secret of the divine mystery of creation (Rav Kook)

23. The tree of life has five hundred thousand kinds of fruit, each differing in taste. The appearance of one fruit is not like the appearance of the other, and the fragrance of one fruit is not like the fragrance of the other. Clouds of glory hover above the tree, and from the four directions winds blow on it, so that its fragrance is wafted from world’s end to world’s end.” (Yalkut Bereishit 2)

24. The Jerusalem Talmud teaches that “On Tu B’Shevat most of the winter rain has already passed, and the roots of the trees begin to suckle from the new rains of the current winter, and no longer suckle from last year’s rains.”

25. How can a person of flesh and blood follow God? … God, from the very beginning of creation, was occupied before all else with planting, as it is written, “And first of all [mi-kedem, usually translated as "in the East"], the Eternal God planted a Garden in Eden [Genesis 2:8] Therefore … occupy yourselves first and foremost with planting (Leviticus Rabbah 25:3).

26. [The Torah compares humans to trees] because, like humans, trees have the power to grow. And as humans have children, so trees bear fruit. And when a human is hurt, cries of pain are heard throughout the world, so when a tree is chopped down, its cries are heard throughout the world. (Rashi)

27. When a tree that bears fruit is cut down, its moan goes from one end of the world to the other, yet no sound is heard (Pirket de-R. Eliezar 34)

28. Whoever has more wisdom than deeds is like a tree with many branches but few roots, and the wind shall tear him from the ground… Whoever has more deeds than wisdom is like a tree with more roots than branches, and no hurricane will uproot him from the spot. (Pirke Avot 3:17)

29. I shall bring you an example of what this resembles. It is like a man, who wanders in the desert, weak with hunger, exhaustion and thirst, and finds a tree with sweet fruits and shady leaves, beneath which is a source of water. He eats the fruit, drinks the water and rests in the shade. When it comes time to leave, he thinks: “O, tree, how shall I thank you? If I say, “May your fruit be sweet” – they are already sweet; shall I say, “May your shade be beautiful?” – it is so; or, “May your roots find moisture?” – they already have it. So I shall say, “May everything which comes from you resemble you.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit, p.5)

30. It was the custom when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a pine tree, and when they married, the tree was cut down and a canopy made of the branches. (Gittin 57a)

31. Rabbi Yaakov Said: “When A Person Walks On A Journey Reviewing [A Passage Of The Torah], And Interrupts His Study To Remark: ‘How Beautiful Is This Tree! How Beautiful Is This Plowed Field!’ [The Torah] Considers It As If He Were Guilty Of A Mortal Sin.” (Pirke Avot 3:9)

32. A tree of life to those who hold fast to it,
and all who cling to it find happiness. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace. (Proverbs 3:17-18)

33. And I will turn the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. (Amos 9:14)

34. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. (Ezekiel 34:27-28)

35. And He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide concerning mighty nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken.
For let all the peoples walk each one in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever. (Micah 4:3-5)

36. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together; That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

While four cups of red wine (or grape juice) are drunk at the Passover Seder, the four cups drunk at the Tu Bishvat Seder vary in color from white to pink to ruby to red.

While Passover is a holiday of springtime, Tu Bishvat considers the changing seasons from winter to autumn, as symbolized by the changing colors of the wine or grape juice, to remind us of God’s promise of renewal and rebirth.

While Passover commemorates the redemption of the Israelites, Tu Bishvat considers the redemption of humanity; the kabbalists of Safed who inaugurated the Tu Bishvat Seder regarded the eating of the many fruits with appropriate blessings and kavannah (intentions) on Tu Bishvat as a tikkun (repair) for the sin of Adam and Eve in eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

While other Jewish holidays honor or commemorate events and people, Tu Bishvat honors trees, fruits, and other aspects of nature.

While people generally eat whatever fruits are in season, on Tu Bishvat people eat fruits from Israel, especially the seven species and other fruits mentioned in the Torah.

While people generally take the environment for granted, on Tu Bishvat there is an emphasis on the proper stewardship of the environment.

While people do not generally think about trees in the winter, there is much interest in trees on Tu Bishvat, although the spring is still months away.

While people generally think of Israel as the land of the Bible, as the Jewish people’s ancestral home, and as the modern Jewish homeland, on Tu Bishvat people think of Israel in terms of its orchards, vineyards, and olive groves.

While people generally think of fruit as something to be purchased at a supermarket or produce store, on Tu Bishvat people think of fruit as tokens of God’s kindness.

While people generally try to approach God through prayer, meditation, and study, on Tu Bishvat people try to reach God by eating fruit, reciting blessings with the proper concentration, and by considering the wonders of God’s creation.

While many people eat all kinds of food, including meat and dairy products, during most Jewish holidays and on most other days, the Tu Bishvat Seder in which fruits and nuts are eaten, along with the singing of songs and the recitation of Biblical verses related to trees and fruits, is the only sacred meal where only vegetarian, actually vegan, foods are eaten as part of the ritual.

While people generally look on the onset of a new year as a time to assess how they have been doing and to consider their hopes for the new year, Tu Bishvat is the New Year for Trees, when the fate of trees is decided.

While most Jewish holidays have a fixed focus, Tu Bishvat has changed over the years from a holiday that initially marked the division of the year for tithing purposes to one in which, successively, the eating of fruits, then the planting of trees in Israel, and most recently responses to modern environmental crises have became major parts of the holiday.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach once quipped that the most important Jewish holidays are the ones that are least celebrated. While there has been increasing interest in Tu Bishvat recently, this holiday that is so rich in symbolism and important messages for today is still not considered to any great extent by most Jews. Let us hope that this will soon change and that an increased emphasis on Tu Bishvat and its important lessons will help revitalize Judaism and help shift our precious, but imperiled, planet to a sustainable path.

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.

by Maxine Lyons

Being a passionate gardener, I have been tending several gardens in my yard as well as many flower pots on our large deck so my hands are in dirt quite often these days. I have been transplanting yellow primroses, succulents, day lilies and sunflowers, focusing on the integrity of the roots, noticing how each root system is different. For example, some plants require a full root for transplanting while others need a partial root to survive. Succulents do not need roots at all; pieces can be immersed in dirt and re-establish their roots in soil in a short time.

So as I begin the long internal process of preparing for the holidays, I am considering the meaning of roots in our lives–when we are transplanted (as I was from the west to the east coast), would roots remain intact, and I pondered, could I plant them deep and securely enough to thrive and not merely survive the changes? I moved with my husband and two young kids, truly uprooted from my family and age-old friends and all that was known and familiar. With a lot of determination, I found that the most tenacious roots assisted me in establishing my new grounding.

What are those elements that enhance the possibility of roots taking hold firmly in new ground? I believe that we need a full root base to nurture us. I was deeply rooted in my Jewish upbringing. I went to weekly Shabbat services with my family, I attended with great delight Hebrew school, confirmation classes, and the inspiring, call-to-action in the words of the prophets, which were reinforced by our Reform temple's explicit social justice emphasis (that led to my involvement in civil rights work and anti-war activities in college). As these roots spread out, I explored my options as a spiritual seeker, going from Reform to Conservative Judaism, learning and teaching yoga, then to Jewish Renewal, and now, a combination of JewBu(ddhism) and interfaith work. My underlying support was my father's influence on my growth and development as he modeled empathy, tikkun olam, and our responsibility to be charitable in word and deed to help others. Sharing common ground with my caring, loving and supportive husband and two creative children enabled me to establish the firmest of roots.

Reflecting on the meanings of roots brought me to teshuvah. I feel a connection with plant roots. Roots are anchors; they absorb and conduct water and nutrients, storing energy for later use. This is analogous to our human needs for roots; we also need to absorb and replenish spiritual sustenance to store for use with family and friends and in all meaningful pursuits in our lives. My intimate friendships are the other anchors that also energize my life, enabling the expanse and growth of my roots. This focused awareness of opening my heart and making regular contributions allows me to continue tikkun olam, which, returning to those core values of empathy, connections and helping others, are particularly important now. Teshuvah requires that I become ever more mindful of my behavior. With ample "fertilizers" of compassion, caring and open heartedness, I can start the annual journey preparing for the Yamim Noraim in my daily practices now and throughout the year.

My father was a humble person, and his expansive root system, like those of a sturdy tree, lay underground but the tree, his personhood, flourished, benefiting everyone who was blessed to know him. I pray that his legacy will continue to influence me to grow as I tend to my gardens and reap the benefits of the abundant colorful flowers– petunias cascading, and morning glories stretching heavenward, spiraling on tomato plant stakes. (This is dedicated to the memory of my dear dad, Alex Schoenbrun, on his fifth yahrzeit).

========

Maxine Lyons, retired community educator, is currently CMM (Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries) board member and co-facilitator of CMM's RUAH Spirituality Programs,

active participant in the ALEPH prison pen pal program ("connecting Jews on the outside with Jews on the inside"), member of Temple Beth Zion, Brookline,

and joyful wife of 36 years and mother of two accomplished and wonderful thirty somethings.

The fall foliage in New England is stunning. Bright reds and oranges and yellows take one's breath away. In the Midwest, where oaks predominate, the colors are more subdued – yellows, yes, but softer shades of burgundy, salmon, and coral, and much less commonly the brilliant scarlet, crimson, and tangerine that we see here.

But no matter what color the leaves turn in the autumn, sooner or later they all fall to the ground. Left behind are bare trees, less interesting, at first glance seemingly lifeless.

But the trees are still alive. They go dormant to survive the winter, but they are alive. We can also take the opportunity of the lack of leaves to focus more closely on other parts of the tree that we might not notice at the height of summer – the bark, the pattern of the branches, the shape of the dormant buds. And, as my mother would say, without the leaves on the trees, we can see into the woods and get a better view of the landscape. We get a whole different view of the forest. We can see the trees. And it is the trees that make the forest.

Endurance in Bonding. Sometimes our loved ones are clothed in the brilliant beautiful colors of a New England autumn. Sometimes they wear the quieter colors of the oak forest autumn. Sometimes they wear the many shades of green of the spring or the summer forest. And sometimes they seem naked, like the deciduous forest in winter. But if we look closely, we will see the dormant buds and the bark of our loved ones. And we will see the trees that make the forest in which we live, and that will be a Divine gift.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, vitzivanu, al sefirat ha'omer.

Blessed are you Adonai our G!d, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the Omer.

Today is thirty-nine days which is five weeks and four days of the Omer.

This resource is designed to enhance your learning by providing:

• An overview of the Contemporary Jewish Museum exhibition, Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought;
• an essay on the interconnections of Jewish people, Torah text, and the environment, "From Roots to Fruits: The Life of the Trees and the Tree of Life," by Dr. Jeremy Benstein;
• Jewish source texts on trees, including agricultural cycles, environmental stewardship, and spiritual teachings;
• images of new works from teh exhibition with guiding questions for classroom use.

http://www.g-dcast.com/tu-bshvat;

Biomes are large geographical areas of the world, each with distinctive plants and animals that are adapted to the particular climate and geography of the area. Forest biomes include tropical forests, temperate forests, and boreal forests, also known as the taiga.

I love these words: boreal, taiga. Boreal – of or pertaining to the north. Taiga, from the Russian. Both words carry a sense of mystery as I think of those vast cold wildernesses that stretch across the north – Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Siberia; forests of pine, fir, and spruce, and accompanying moose, bear, wolves, deer, hawks, and other animals.

The northeastern United States where I live now was once temperate forest. The forest returns where farmland is left fallow. Much of the Midwest where I grew up was once prairie. And so it is from place to place – a certain type of ecosystem is, or was, predominant, before the land was tilled and subdivided and cross-sectioned by highways.

Harmony in Bonding. Every biome contains the plants and animals and other organisms that are suited to the conditions of the area, and as long as it is undisturbed, a balance and a harmony is maintained over time among all those living things.

In our lives, we, too, work to maintain harmony and balance between ourselves and those around us. Sometimes we find ourselves swinging too far in one direction, and circumstances may soon force us to swing back toward a middle ground that keeps us more in balance. We find at times that we cannot do everything. We are finite. Just as any one spot on Earth is home to only one biome, so we, too, can be home only to a limited number of relationships, in order to maintain ourselves in balance.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, vitzivanu, al sefirat ha'omer.

Blessed are you Adonai our G!d, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the Omer.

Today is thirty-eight days which is five weeks and three days of the Omer.

I think of the majestic redwoods of the Pacific coast. They are so tall that it is impossible to see their crowns, and some are so big around that a car can drive through the middle. How do water and nutrients climb to the top of these trees? I think of early spring in New England, and the buckets – or plastic tubing – attached to sugar maple trees, catching the rising sap. How does the sap flow against the force of gravity?

The upward flow of water and nutrients is an amazing feat of biological engineering found in all vascular plants, including flowering trees and conifers. The xylem (the wood) is made up of cells connected end-to-end to form long tubes. A major reason the water flows continuously upward through the xylem is that as water molecules evaporate from the leaves, the water in the xylem is pulled upward to take the place of those evaporated molecules, and thus it continues on and on in a continuous stream. Forces of binding hold the water molecules together with such strength that they keep on rising, always able to resist the force of garvity.

What forces of binding and bonding hold us to those we love and care for, despite other forces that could break apart our bonds? What is it that restrains those forces that could break our bonds? What is it that keeps us in powerful connection, what causes our bonds with the Divine to remain strong, despite pulls and tugs that would turn us away? Our restraint, our ability to resist the forces that would pull us away from our journey with and toward the Divine keeps our bonds, and our hearts, intact.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, vitzivanu, al sefirat ha'omer.

Blessed are you Adonai our G!d, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the Omer.

Today is thirty-seven days which is five weeks and two days of the Omer.

During this sixth week, trees will provide our inspiration, beginning with oak trees. Growing up in the Midwest, I learned about "oak openings." Oak openings occurred as a result of fires that in the past regularly swept across the prairie land of southern Wisconsin, where I lived as a child. In some areas, the result of these fires was a prairie that wasn't a totally open vista. These prairies were park-like savannas groups of oak trees, or oak openings, scattered throughout, and with areas of shrubs, as well as the more familiar grasses and other flowering plants. The oaks and shrubs survived the fires and kept on growing, but since most trees couldn't survive, the fires kept the area relatively open.

Lovingkindness in bonding. Once, oak openings were common. In Wisconsin alone there were 5.5 million acres. Now there are less than 500 acres. It was an ecosystem that depended on wildfires. The combination of wildfires and oaks, shrubs, and various plants created this unique ecosystem.

What kind of bonding in our lives creates a unique situation that is something greater than the sum of its parts? When we come together with others in deep and significant ways, we bring something special into the world, this is the kindness that emerges as a result of our bonding. These are the gifts that result when we open our hearts and our souls, and precious gifts they are.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, vitzivanu, al sefirat ha'omer.

Blessed are you Adonai our G!d, ruler of the universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us regarding the counting of the Omer.

Today is thirty-six days which is five weeks and one day of the Omer.

Here are a few ways to make that happen:

– Close your curtains: During the heat of the day, close your curtains or blinds. This blocks the sun’s rays so that less air conditioning will be needed to cool your home.
– Keep the oven off: As much as possible on hot days, use the microwave, toaster oven and/or the outdoor grill for cooking needs. Or, make cold soups and entrees when it is very warm out. This will keep your house cooler and could reduce your energy use by 50 percent during the hottest months of the year.

– Keep the whole house furnace fan running during the summer: This will help eliminate hot zones and reduce the amount of time that the air conditioner runs.
– Service your cooling system every spring/summer: Be sure to have your air conditioning system checked by a professional service once each summer. Using a professional service will ensure that your A/C system is running efficiently and that all filters are clean or get replaced as needed. An efficient system will keep your cooling bills lower and result in less waste.
–Plant trees to shade your house: This is part of a long-term plan to reduce the use of the air conditioner.

Following these simple tips will help you get through the summer heat while keeping energy costs and your carbon footprint down

Originally posted on jewishinstlouis.org at http://www.jewishinstlouis.org/blog_post.aspx?id=5452

Last year so many people jammed into the country’s de-facto national-park system, run by KKL-JNF, that parks were closed because they reached capacity. So, how many people was that, you ask? About one in every five Israelis — more than 1.5 million people — which is also about the same number of trees that have been planted in Israel since 2007 because of the work of the Green Zionist Alliance. That’s right, we’ve gotten a million-plus trees planted in the last five years.

Of course, as those who remember the recent Carmel fire know, it’s not just planting trees that matters, but the type and diversity of trees. That’s why one of the first things that we did after we first participated in our first World Zionist Congress was adding more trees to the planting mix. Thanks to our work, more varieties of trees are being planted today than the classic pine — and that includes trees suitable for semi-arid climates.

But when Israelis head outdoors today, it won’t just be the trees that they’ll be enjoying — many will be biking on some of the hundreds of miles of bike trails that have been built across the country because of the Green Zionist Alliance. That includes the Kinneret Circumference Trail, the Trans-Israel Bike Trail and many others — the list gets longer every year as our work gets more and more bike trails built and expanded.

Today Israelis also are enjoying both the nature reserve in Nes Tsiona, an open space in between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the Samar sand dunes, near Eilat — both of which have been preserved because of the work of the Green Zionist Alliance.

This Yom Ha’atzmaut, give Israel an environmentally friendly birthday gift: Join the Green Zionist Alliance and help green Israel. Then go outside.

Cross-posted from GreenZionism.org

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Israel, which serendipitously coincided with the season of Tu B'shvat, the day that marks the new year of the trees. Since the times of the early rabbis, this holiday has been a sacred day on the Jewish calendar.

In modern Israel, it is a day of joy, when school children go out into the fields and countryside to plant trees, put on plays and celebrate the glories of a returning spring. Friends and family visit each other, exchanging gifts of dried figs and dates, almonds and apricots. Wherever we went, we were the recipients of the abundance of these baskets and platters of this vernal visiting.

Off a side road from Tel Aviv to Be'er Sheva, at the farm of Ariel Sharon, we saw that almond trees really do burst into blossom almost overnight. Adorned in white petals with a pinkish hue, almond trees stand, a bit demur yet all puffed up, looking like a shy but proud debutant being presented to the world in her poofy crinolined skirt. All around, the land just smiles, covered with a profusion of wildflowers.

What struck me throughout these quiet celebrations – though why it took me all this time to fully grasp this, I don't know – is that Tu B'shvat is not a holiday about trees. It is not like Arbor Day, a broad celebration of the gifts of all trees. It is, rather, a holiday pointedly about fruit trees. Non-fruiting trees are, technically, unconcerned with Tu B'shvat. For Tu B'shvat is an accounting tool, a way to determine how old a fruit tree is and which fruits are counted in which year's harvest.

Perhaps I am more sensitive this year to this fact given that I am the founder of a new organization called the Baltimore Orchard Project, which began last September and focuses on gleaning fruit from residential and other non-commercial trees and giving it to the hungry, as well as promoting the planting of more local fruit trees.

(By the way, we are looking for volunteers to help us build an inventory of all such fruit trees in the city and county, and to help us harvest and distribute the fruit in late summer and fall. If you would like to join us, please let me know! You can sign up on our website or send me a comment on this blog.)

What was stunning in Israel is the way so many people across the land (we went from Be'er Sheva in the south to Zichron Yaakov in the north) have fruit trees growing in their yards and along the sides of roadways. Teas were spiced with lemons and loquats plucked before the meal (and in one case, our host made it from fresh herbs growing in her garden).

Though Baltimore is not the climate for citrus, we are a great climate for other fruits like figs, peaches, pears, apples, nut trees, and much more. Once upon a time, here in Baltimore, it was all the rage to plant fruit and nut trees in one's yard. Somehow that fell out of favor for more exotic ornamentals.

How wonderful would it be if we could re-establish the norm of planting fruit trees in our yards. And orchards on empty city lots. How wonderful if our homes and cities were not simply sterile, ornamental landscapes but working land that enriched the beauty, the bounty and the health of our community.

Jewish tradition teaches us the importance of planting trees, protecting them, and using them responsibly. Jewish teachings help us understand lessons of long-term sustainability which apply not only to trees, but to the natural environment as a whole.

Explore all Trees Materials:

• Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth: Summary Article
  

• Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth: Longer Article
  

• Trees in Jewish Thought: Source Sheet
  

• Trees in Jewish Thought: Audio Podcast
  

• Planting, Protecting, and Using Trees Wisely: Video

Now featuring! Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought, an Educator Resource Guide from the Contemporary Jewish Museum

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

Please enjoy this video entitled “Planting, Protecting, and Using Trees Wisely”.

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!

Download this audio podcast to learn more trees in Jewish thought.

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of trees. Source categories include “Sustainability: Planting For the Long-Term”, “The Tree of the Field is a Person”, and “Use Them Wisely”. Discussion questions provided!

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!

Trees, Torah, And Caring for the Earth

By Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]

Tu b’Shevat, “the New Year of the Tree,”[2] has become known as a day for raising Jewish-environmental awareness. That the New Year of the Tree has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Many Jewish sources connect trees with our proper stewardship of the earth. Understanding these teachings on Tu b'Shevat can help us improve our relationship to G-d’s creation, our world.

The Torah is called a “tree of life” (Proverbs 3:18), showing how trees connect to the highest Jewish values. Trees also symbolize a healthy and sustainable environment.

“When G-d created the first man He took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him 'See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.'”[3]

This Midrash singles out the trees of the Garden of Eden – rather than the Garden of Eden itself – to represent the natural world G-d created and the imperative not to destroy it. Trees also symbolize the necessary environment for human life when the Jewish people enter the land of Israel. Encouraging us to emulate G-d, the Midrash teaches:

“It is said, 'follow the Lord, your G-d' ((Deuteronomy 12:5). This means follow His example. When He created the world, His first action was to plant trees, as it written, 'and G-d planted a garden [of trees] in Eden' (Genesis 2:8). So you, too, when you will enter the land of Israel, planting trees should be your first involvement.”[4]

There are numerous other essential elements for human beings in a healthy environment, yet these sources identify trees as emblematic. Trees also take a long time to bear fruit, which is why we plant them first. Thus trees represent the long-term needs of the land and people.

The message of Bal Tashchit – the prohibition against waste and needless destruction — also begins with trees. The Torah (in Deuteronomy 20:19-20) teaches us that we are not to cut down fruit trees in wartime. It asks, “Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you?” Destroying trees is understood by our sages to encompass the entire range of needless destruction.

Rashi (France, 1040-1105 C.E.) understands this verse to mean that, since the tree is not an enemy, we have no right to destroy it or make it suffer. Rabbeinu Bachya (Spain, 1255-1340 C.E.) explains this to mean that trees are so important to people that they are compared to human beings, which is to say, destroying those trees destroys human life, because it may destroy the lives that depend on them.

These Jewish Sages highlight the Torah's use of trees to generate within us compassion and awareness of interdependence, both essential for living in ecological balance.

In addition to inappropriate destruction, lessons about trees also teach proper use of resources. The Midrash (Tanchuma, Teruma 9) teaches that the Israelites planted saplings when they arrived in Egypt. When the Jews left Egypt, they cut these trees for use in the Sanctuary of G-d. The trees sang with joy because they were being elevated for a holy, long-term purpose. We too can sanctify our resource use with holy intent.

Jewish teachings about trees apply not only to biblical Israel, but also to the environmental challenges we face in the modern world. Today we use trees in myriad ways, more than ever before, with tremendous ramifications for the future of the rainforests, the global climate, and human civilization itself. A few ways we can reduce our tree consumption are to buy products in bulk and thereby use less packaging, arrange to receive bank, phone, and other bills electronically, and bring a cloth bag instead of using paper (or plastic).

Bringing this wisdom about trees into our daily lives can help us become more cognizant of the precious resources we have been given, and more careful about how we use them. In so doing, we can transform our relationship to the natural world, sanctify our daily actions, and take better care of the planet G-d created.

Dr. Akiva Wolff is currently writing a book, based on his doctoral thesis, on applying the principle of bal tashchit to current environmental issues.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril is founder and director of Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom.

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!

[1] This dvar Torah has been adapted by the authors and Evonne Marouk from Dr. Akiva Wolff's “The Trees in Jewish Thought” and Rabbi Yonatan Neril's “The Trees Sang with Joy,” both available at http://canfeinesharim.org/community/shevat.php

[2] Mishna Rosh Hashana 1:1. This is the opinion of Beit Hillel.

[3] Midrash Kohelet Raba 7:28

[4] Midrash Vayikra Rabba 25:3

Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth

By Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]

Tu b’Shevat, “the New Year of the Trees,” [2] has become known as a day for raising Jewish-environmental awareness. That Tu B'Shvat has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Trees occupy a special place in Jewish thought. Their symbolic and practical importance is woven throughout traditional Jewish sources, helping us understand – and hopefully, improve – our relationship to G-d’s creation: our world.

* * *

“When G-d created the first man He took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him 'See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.'”[3]

This Midrash singles out the trees of the Garden of Eden – rather than the Garden of Eden itself – to represent the natural world, the work of the Creator. Why should trees be singled out in G-d telling people not to destroy creation? An exploration of this topic will help us understand the deep importance of trees in our tradition, and the lessons they can offer us regarding the serious environmental challenges we face today.

Sustainability: Planting For the Long-Term

Trees are also singled out as symbols of a favorable environment for human beings. During the creation of the world and the entrance of the Jewish people into the land of Israel, the Midrash stresses the importance of first preparing the necessary life-support system, expressed again as trees:

“It is said, 'follow the Lord, your G-d' ((Deuteronomy 12:5). This means follow His example. When He created the world, His first action was to plant trees, as it written, 'and G-d planted a garden [of trees] in Eden' (Genesis 2:8). So you, too, when you will enter the land of Israel, planting trees should be your first involvement.”[4]

There are, of course, numerous other essential elements for human beings in a healthy environment. Clean water, healthy soil, and fresh air are just a few. Yet the Midrash identifies trees as emblematic. One reason planting trees is primary may be that trees have relatively long life-times and last for a long time on the land once they are planted. Another is that their roots hold soils in place preventing erosion and help rainwater percolate into the ground. Trees in essence create the forest habitats that numerous other living things rely on for their existence. Trees also take a long time to bear fruit, which is why we plant them first.

Trees play an important role in transforming the inanimate world, including the sunlight, into an environment in which other forms of life, and ultimately people, can survive. Trees and other plants absorb and utilize the sun’s rays, through photosynthesis. This process produces sugars which are the initial energy source of the food chain. Photosynthesis in trees and plants is therefore one of the most fundamental chemical reactions on the planet.[5] Also, trees and other plants are able to utilize the inanimate world for their nutrition – which they absorb through their roots, and transform into usable nutrition for other forms of life. In other words, trees and plants make the planet into a life support system for other forms of life, and ultimately for people. Without trees and other forms of vegetation, life as we know it would not exist, the oxygen content would be far lower, the climate and the hydrological cycle would be vastly different.[6]

The Talmud teaches the following story:One day as [a man named] Honi was walking along he saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked him "how many years will it take until it will bear fruit?" The man replied "not for seventy years". Honi asked him, "do you really believe you'll live another seventy years?" The man answered, "I found this world provided with carob trees, and as my ancestors planted them for me, so I too plant them for my descendants."[7]

Planting trees is a long-term investment which may not bear fruit immediately. Thus, the instruction to plant trees is an instruction to think beyond the present moment to the needs of the future. When one is settling a new land, one might have other, more pressing needs than “planting trees!” But the Midrash teaches us that planting – preparing for the long-term – is key to our responsibility, essential to our long-term success – and a way that we emulate G-d.

By encouraging us to think for the long-term needs of our children and future generations, trees thus represent the ecological principle of sustainability.

Letting Planted Fruit Trees Live

“When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you. However, a tree you know is not a food tree, you may destroy and cut down, and you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until its submission.” (Deuteronomy 20:19-20[8]

The Torah teaches us that we are not to cut down fruit trees in wartime. This message, beginning with trees, is so fundamental that it has become the basis of the teaching of “bal tashchit” – the overall prohibition against needless destruction.

An ambiguity lies at the heart of this critical source about trees. Does the source say that the tree of the field IS human, or ask the question, is the tree of the field human?[9] These two potential meanings yield lessons about the importance of trees which can illuminate our understanding today.

Rabbeinu Bachya (1255-1340 C.E, Spain) writes:

“The commentators [in the Midrash[10]] explain that the life of man and his food is [from] a tree of the field…and it is not the way of a wise and understanding nation to needlessly destroy something so worthy, and therefore you should not cut down a tree of the field, rather you should protect it from destruction and damage, and take benefit from it.”[11]

Rabbeinu Bachya (based on the Midrash[12]) sees the text as reading that the tree of the field represents a human. His explanation is that trees are so important to human life that it is as if they are human life. Destroying those trees destroys human life, because it may destroy the lives that depend on them.

A second view helps us develop a sense of compassion and respect for living creatures. Rashi explains:

"Behold, the word ki here serves in the sense of "perhaps": Perhaps the tree of the field is a man, taking refuge from you within the besieged city that it should suffer the afflictions of hunger and thirst, like the people of the city? (And seeing that this is not the case – supercommentators on Rashi), why should you destroy it?"

Rashi understands this verse to mean that, since the tree is not an enemy, we have no right to destroy it or make it suffer.

In each possible interpretation, trees may stand as a symbol for the abundant resources of the natural world. Because we depend upon them for our life, we must protect and preserve them. Because they are innocent, we should not take out our aggression on them. Being aware of interdependence and having compassion are key traits we can learn from this teaching for how to relate to the natural world.

Settling the Land

The mitzvah of yishuv ha'aretz (settling the land) requires developing the natural world to provide for our needs, including a suitable place to live, work, learn and serve the Creator, as well as appropriate systems for the supply of food, energy, water and transportation needs. This development must be properly done in balance with other considerations, including the ecological integrity of the land.

“[The earth] was not created to be desolate [uninhabited by Man], but rather was created to be settled.”[13]

Planting and maintaining trees is a key part of the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel. This is indicated by the great importance that the Sages put on trees in relationship to this mitzvah. For example, according to Jewish law, someone selling land in the land of Israel must give first consideration to any neighbor whose land abuts the parcel of land being sold. If, however, the neighbor wants to use the land for a purpose which will contribute less to yishuv ha'aretz than other buyers will, then he loses this privilege and the land can be sold to another buyer. How do we judge which purpose will contribute more or less to yishuv ha’aretz? According to the Shulchan Aruch:

If someone wants to buy a parcel of land to build houses, and the ben maitzra [neighbor with land abutting the land being sold] wants to buy the same parcel of land to plant crops, the buyer [who wants to build houses] has first right because of 'yishuv ha'aretz', and the rule of 'ben hamaitzar' doesn't apply. Some say, if the ben maitzra wants to plant trees, he takes precedence over the other buyer [even if the buyer wants to build houses - since trees contribute at least as much to yishuv ha'aretz].[14]

On this, the Sm'ah (R. Yehoshua Volk, 1555-1614, Poland) writes:
That which is more permanent on the land better fulfills [the mitzvah of] yishuv ha'aretz. Houses are more permanent than crops, and trees are more permanent and rooted in the land than houses.[15]

The protection of fruit-producing trees was given even greater status in yishuv ha'aretz than non fruit-producing trees. For example, if an olive tree washes away in a flood, the owner is prohibited from uprooting it from its new location (in a neighbor’s field) and replanting it in his field.[16] The Rabbis – demonstrating their keen grasp of human nature – understood that the original owner, upon losing his tree, would be likely to plant another tree on his land to replace the one that was washed away.[17] This would strengthen the settlement of the land. In addition, the Mishna teaches: “It is forbidden to bring wood from olive trees or grape vines [and some say also, wood from fig trees and date palms] to the [Temple] altar because of [the mitzvah of] yishuv Eretz Yisrael.[18]

The commentator Mefaresh explains:

"What is the meaning of ‘because of the settlement of the land of Israel’? Since if they would burn the olive trees and grapevines, there would not be found wine to drink or oil to anoint with, and the land of Israel would be destroyed."[19]

These sources indicate the great importance of trees—and especially fruit trees—in the Land of Israel, and the numerous ways in which Jewish law protects them.

Finally, lest we think that yishuv ha'aretz only has relevance to the settlement of the Land of Israel, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888, Germany) writes that the settlement of the Jewish people in the land of Israel was (and perhaps is) meant to be a model for the rest of the world.

“…the Land of Israel was also to be a Garden of Eden for the people of the Creator's law. It was meant to show the world, a second time, by its prosperity and its progress, what an abundance of blessing and happiness would be attained here on earth when the will of the Creator is taken as the sole measure for arranging all phases of human life.”[20]

Use Them Wisely

In ancient Israel and still today, trees are an important source of wood fiber.[21] For homes, furniture, paper, and numerous other purposes, trees are an essential resource. Being human means taking resources from the land for our own purposes, and Jewish tradition recognizes that this is so. But Jewish tradition gives us a model to help us understand how we should use our resources. Once again, trees are a model which can be understood to teach us about our relationship to creation as a whole.

When building the Tabernacle (Mishkan), the Jews were instructed to use acacia wood. Where did this acacia wood come from? The Midrash[22] teaches:

When Jacob went down to Egypt, he received a prophecy that his descendants would be redeemed from there and be commanded to build a Mishkan (Sanctuary) in the desert. Jacob instructed his children to plant acacia trees in Egypt. Over the hundreds of years of slavery, those saplings grew into large, mature trees. Before the Exodus, the Israelites cut down those trees and brought them with them through the Sea of Reeds into the desert.[23] When the Israelites built the Sanctuary out of these trees, the trees sang jubilantly before God, as it says in Psalms, “then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy before Hashem.”[24]

These trees, cut down for the holy purpose of building the Tabernacle, sang with joy despite the fact that they were cut down. Under many circumstances, we are taught not to cut down trees, but in this situation it was not only permitted, but was a source of joy. Perhaps from this teaching, we can learn what Jewish thought considers to be an appropriate use of our resources, a kind of “Jewish litmus test” for ethical resource use.

In the building of the Mishkan, we can find the ultimate example of use of trees for a higher goal. According to the Jewish Sages[25], these trees and those that preceded them were in relationship with people for thousands of years, from the Garden of Eden to the moment they were cut for the Sanctuary. They were to become the pillars of the Sanctuary of God, which the Torah describes as the dwelling place of the Shechina (Divine Presence) amidst the Jewish people[26], and which existed as a center for Divine worship for over 400 years.[27] These trees were known by people and were used for a holy purpose. Perhaps from this we can learn to use our resources in a way that is transparent, respectful, and holy.

Trees Today

Trees are so important in Jewish thought that the Torah itself is called “a tree of life.” Jewish wisdom about trees has much to teach us about how we relate to G-d’s creation, and to all the natural resources upon which we rely. Perhaps this Torah wisdom can help us think more wisely about using these resources carefully, and living in a more sustainable way.

Jewish wisdom about trees teaches us that:

· We need to think and prepare for the future, and not only focus on our short-term needs.

· We must avoid needless waste.

· Trees are an important part of our life support system.

· We have no right to take out our human aggression on trees or other parts of the natural world.

· Trees are an essential piece of preparing and maintaining a good environment for human beings.

· When we use our resources in a responsible way, this brings holiness.

These teachings apply not only to trees, but to all of our resources. They apply not only to ancient Israel, but to our troubled, environmentally-stressed modern world. Bringing this wisdom into our daily lives can help us become more cognizant of the precious resources we have been given, and more careful about how we use them. In so doing, we will take better care of our world, sanctify our daily actions, and bring joy to creation. Then the words of the Psalmist will be fulfilled: “The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice…then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy—before Hashem…”[28]

These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!

[1] Based on Forestry Insights: How Trees Function, online at http://www.insights.co.nz/magic_habitat_htw.aspx

[2] For more information on trees, see also http://forestry.about.com/cs/treeid/f/Tree_ID_Start.htm

[3] For more on this see the article by Rabbi Yehoshua Kahan at http://canfeinesharim.org/community/shevat.php?page=11516

[4] This dvar Torah has been adapted by Evonne Marzouk and the authors from Dr. Akiva Wolff's “The Trees in Jewish Thought” and Rabbi Yonatan Neril's “The Trees Sang with Joy,” both available at www.canfeinesharim.org.

[5] Mishna Rosh Hashana 1:1. This is the opinion of Beit Hillel. In the Land of Israel, most of the winter rains have fallen by Tu Bishvat, which occurs four months after the beginning of the rainy season. Sap rises within the trees, which begin to flower and bud. Tu Bishvat thus marks a New Year for the fruit of trees concerning mitzvot (commandments) like tithing, distinguishing between last year's fruits and the fruits of a new year.

[6] Midrash Kohelet Raba 7:28

[7] Midrash Vayikra Rabba 25:3

[8] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit, p. 23a

[9] Judaica Press translation

[10] Sifrei, Finkelstein Edition, Piska 203

[11] Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:19.

[12] Sifrei, Finkelstein Edition, Piska 203

[13] Babylonian Talmud, Chagiga 2b

[14] Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpot, "Laws of Abutters", 175:21

[15] Commentary of the Smah on Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpot, "Laws of Abutters", 175:21

[16] Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 101a

[17] “If a [flooding] river washes away an olive tree and plants it in a neighboring field, and the owner of the tree wants to uproot the tree and replant it in his field, in the land of Israel we don't allow him, because of yishuv eretz Yisrael.” The purpose for this ruling is to increase the number of olive trees in the land of Israel. The owner of the land upon which the tree was replanted (by the river), since he had not invested time or effort in the tree, would be less likely to bother himself to plant another olive tree were the original owner allowed to reclaim his original tree.

[18] Mishna, Tractate Tamid 29a

[19] Commentary of an unidentified Rabbi writing between 1000 and 1400 C.E. which appears in place of Rashi, to Tractate Tamid, 29b. See Perushi Harishonim for the commentary of the Ra'avad, which also address yishuv eretz Yisrael.

[20] Commentary to Genesis 2:8. In The Pentateuch, vol. 1 Genesis, translated and explained by Samson Raphael Hirsch, rendered into Enlgish by Isaac Levy, 2^nd edition, Judaica Press: Gateshead, 1989, p. 57

[21] Israel today meets 10% of its demand for wood from domestic sources, according to Dr. Alon Tal in a lecture given at JNF Jerusalem, July 2009. He authored Pollution in A Promised Land.

[22] Midrash Tanchuma (Warsaw edition), Parshat Teruma, Section nine. Rashi cites this Midrash twice in his commentary to the Book of Shemot (Exodus).

[23] This is implicit but unstated in the Midrash.

[24] Psalms 96:12-13, Artscroll translation. This chapter is read or sung every week during Kabbalat Shabbat.

[25] Rabbi Ibn Sho'eev of medieval Spain, commentary on On the end of the Torah portion of Terumah, cited in Torah Shlema, compiled by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Kasher (1895-1983), p. 14 of volume that includes Parshat Terumah, to Exodus verse 25:6. Translation here by the author.

[26] Shemot 25:8.

[27] The Mishkan lasted until King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem in 832 BCE.

[28] Psalms 96, Artscroll translation

__________________

Our cliffhanger (see part 1 here ) left us with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge firmly planted not within Tu B’Shevat, but within the middle of Mi Chamocha our blessing-song for redemption. Mi Chamocha is invoked in every prayer service directly after the Shema. We’ll begin by trying to make sense of this very old word, redemption, and then offer some ideas why Reb Elimelech of Grodzisk (d. 1892) might have placed his wisdom of the two trees there. Ready to wade in the water?

As we get our toes wet, let’s first explore redemption- our personal, communal and cosmic invocation of trust in a bright future. Let’s start with a surprisingly fun analogy from Rabbi Marcia Prager. She compares redemption with the old collectible green stamps. Back in the 1960’s, collecting them built grocery store fidelity- you would get a few with each purchase and could trade in books for new small appliances. Individually each stamp was near worthless, but she saw her mom filled with zeal- (you know, trust, commitment, enthusiasm and yearning), as she licked her stamps and filled out the books. She wasn’t just licking stamps- she was visualizing her new toaster! And when her zeal would flag, and doubt would creep in to her mind, and she wanted to say, “why bother!” she’d just look over to the counter and see that electric can-opener and know that it happened before and it can happen again!

Reb Marcia is playfully teaching us, like the Kabbalists before her, that redemptive power can be accessed in our small daily steps. Guided by the brightest future our imagination can view up ahead on the horizon- we keep our eyes on the prize as we place our steps each day and each moment. Planting trees, tending gardens, raising children, helping others… And yet, sometimes the goal can feel impossibly far away, our zeal begins to flag and we think- why bother? Then let’s remember crossing the Sea, the song celebrated in our Mi Chamocha prayer. Whether it is crossing the Sea or a new electric can-opener sitting on the counter- there are many personal, national and cosmic miracles that bring us to this day. Our tradition is teaching that to remember and celebrate is the path of renewed trust.

So now let’s take a breath and re-connect the wisdom of the two trees with this redemption contained within Mi Chamocha. Can you sense how Reb Elimelech is kind of like a great systems thinker? Holding with confidence that the world is non-linear, that tomorrow might be radically different than today; confident that surprises, even as big as the parting of the sea, can happen for us. In this context, perhaps the wisdom of the two trees is his reminder to balance each placed step to the best of our ability- because after all, as every hiker knows, our steps take us into the future. Reb Elimelech goes even further by implying that with this wisdom we can even help build the path as we are walking.

I’d like to swim a little deeper before we enter into the match of the century. As you can imagine, it turns out that the kabbalists have explored these images for quite some time. Reb Elimelech was not the first.

The kabbalists didn’t sculpt, paint with oil or create stained glass- their medium of choice, was image and story! (you gotta love’em) Their creative imaginations were set to the project of imagining God- before, during and after the existence of our world. In their imaginations, they connected the unimaginable cosmic Nothingness that pervades all with the Tree of Life. It doesn’t have to make sense- just flow with it. Our world flows from the Nothingness creating the Somethingness that is this world. This Somethingness is connected with the Tree of Knowledge. The important point for us is that early on, the kabbalists paired the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge together, teaching that only together can they make up our world. After all, they are both mentioned in the Garden of Eden= they must have to be connected. A paradox is formed if you choose ‘either/or’. By the mystics definition, no forms are possible in the sea of Nothingness from which all creation flows. Alternately, the forms by themselves are merely outer coverings, like the bandages that create the presence of the invisible man.

In the 1700’s, a new community of mystics began to create new meanings. Hasidism combined these ideas from the medieval Zohar with their characteristic psychological insight and creativity and created something new. They connected the pathos of selfless humility with the cosmic Nothingness of the Tree of Life and the pathos of self assertion with the Somethingness that is also the Tree of Knowledge. These personally intimate layers also generate paradox if you mistakenly try and imagine only one pole of this pair.

For instance, humility alone can devolve and collapse into meekness. Imagine here Peretz’ long suffering Bontsha the Silent. When Bontsha is given an opportunity to ask for anything from the heavenly hosts, including redemption for the entire cosmos, he can only ask for a warm roll with butter. In response, a sustained groan spills from the heavenly realms. Self assertion can also prove problematic by easily turning into hubris and arrogance when we forget the mysterious gift of life that manifests our actions. Growing up in America we don’t have to go far to understand this.

For those that know Hasidic stories, we can sum up by saying, ‘Number 27’. You know, the one where Reb Simcha Bunam talks about the two notes we should always carry in our pockets- in one pocket we carry the note that says ‘we are dust and ashes, going back to dust and ashes’. In the other pocket we carry the note ‘for my sake the world was created’. Is this not the wisdom of the two trees? In this way, we can remember that all acts of our self assertion are buoyed by the mysterious source of life. The same wisdom that sustains the prophets as they confront injustice can also sustain us in our everyday life. Reb Elimelech is reminding us that all of this is planted inside our humble Mi Chamocha prayer.

Now we are able to come back around to the “match of the century’. What might Rabbi Heschel have meant when he said: “…I am not ready to accept the ancient concept of prayer as dialogue. Who are we to enter a dialogue with God?” He then declares that he is only an “it” immersed within the all that is God and can not be an ‘I’. Why might Rabbi Heschel be attacking dialogue, which just happens to be the backbone of Martin Buber's work? Perhaps Rabbi Heschel is reminding us of the wisdom of the two trees and balancing Martin Buber's vision of God that is found in our relationships, by focusing on the Tree of Life, the cosmic Nothingness, an aspect of God in which we are totally subsumed. Reminding us not to forget the wisdom of both trees, of balance, of active God work in creating an "I and Thou" field, as well as the totally subsumed, "All is the immensity of God no matter what we do", view as well.

I wonder if perhaps Rabbi Heschel is playing the trickster by specifically attacking dialogue in his comments. It seems that Rabbi Heschel was particularly good at rebuking the traditional community for not being liberal enough and rebuking the liberal community for not being traditional enough. Perhaps, Rabbi Heschel is reminding us to remember that this word “God” whatever it might mean to us, means way more than we can ever hold in our words and in our being.

Whew, Deep breath. One last question. In what additional ways might we understand this image of the two trees? What polarities might be smoothed when we open our hearts and imagination to Reb Elimelech’s wisdom. Are we becoming out of balance by focusing too much effort on personal change and minimizing civic engagement? Are we bringing our attention only to the human community around us and forgetting our neighbors that are birds, animals, trees, rocks and water? Are we pouring our energy into words of utility and forgetting words of prayer? Are we spending too much time with words and forgetting color, music, dance, forest and stream? As we imagine the biggest and brightest sustainable and peaceful earth we can imagine, here's to the wisdom of the two trees helping us move there, step by step.

Please share where Reb Elimelech leads your imaginings. After all, as the divine voice from the heavenly realms was recorded to say in the Talmud, “These and these are the words of the living God”*.

PS This blog is based on a beautiful teaching that I’ve learned from Elimelech of Grodzisk (d. 1892). He was the father of Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira who became known as the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto. I found it in a book about the Shema, a volume of Lawrence Hoffman’s (editor) amazingly vast, multi-volume, contemporary commentary on the prayerbook called My People’s Prayerbook. Nehemiah Polen and Lawrence Kushner bring the mystical and Hasidic perpectives to this book and the teaching grows from Reb Elimelech’s perspective on the daily blessing Mi Chamocha, our celebration song for trust in a bright future- trust because after all, we have just crossed the sea to safety.

The teaching from Rabbi Marcia Prager was a small bit from her teaching on the Shema and blessings, heard in person at the Davenning Leadership Training Institute. For further information on this transformative two year prayer leadership program, please visit, http://www.davvenenleadership.com/

Maggid David, www.maggiddavid.net

*The full text is found in this wonderful collections of texts on civility can be found on the Jewish Council for Public Affairs site here:

Rabbi Abba said in the name of Sh’mu’el: For three years the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel debated [a matter of ritual purity]. These said, “The law is according to our position,” and these said, “The law is according to our position.” A divine voice came and said, “These and these are the words of the living God, and the law is according to the House of Hillel.” But if these and these are both the words of the living God, why was the law set according to the House of Hillel? Because they (the House of Hillel) were gentle and humble and they taught both their own words and the words of the House of Shammai. And not only this, but they taught the words of the House of Shammai before their own.(Talmud Eruvin 13b)