First Fruits: plastic and the green etrog

With the painting of our sukkah still in the planning stage, there’s also the matter of other decorations to consider. My challenge has been to approach the project with the environmental values provided by tikkun olam. I return to the central guiding text: Bal tashchit, or ”Do not destroy” (Deuteronomy 20: [...]

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Rosh Hashonah: spiritual gardening for the new year

My mother never fails to send cards for Rosh Hashonah. Since she joined the ranks of the computer literate a few years ago, she has added electronic cards to her greetings.
This just delivered by Thunderbird from Florida:
How To Plant Your Garden
For the garden of your daily living, plant three rows of peas:
1. Peace [...]

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Going Native: making the sukkah a space for peace

Not raised with a family sukkah during my childhood, I began the journey towards my own sukkah when my own children were young teenagers. With a small urban back garden, we explored our limited options and chose a kit to build a crude wooden structure. For the first few years, our “casbah sukkah” [...]

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