Rational Voter 6: ready for change?

Is it conceivable that a majority of Americans are content with more of the same?  More environmental degradation, continued dependence on oil, continued energy insecurity, inching ever closer to climatological catastrophe?  More Republican perks for oil and coal interests?
Isn’t it about time for change?
Isn’t it about time to exert some personal, and national, self-control?  About [...]

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Chayei Sarah: keturah & life beyond boundaries

I’m learning that Torah study does not always take a clear and straight path. Of course one can always walk in others’ footsteps, but I’m looking to avoid the potential ruts created by the tread of centuries of learned feet. This year, I hope to widen somewhat my path to understanding Genesis.
Parshah Chayei [...]

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By Hand: a flood of noach, noe, noah

Genesis narratives possess me. Jewish tradition has few accounts of spiritual possession; Kabbalistic accounts speak positively of being possessed by divine spirit, and the dybbuk and golem are perhaps the most well known Jewish “ghost” stories (here is a review of a recent study of the history of possession in Judaism). But Creation, Eden, Cain [...]

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Sukkot Meets “Knit Out 2007″: growing the harvest basket and the tikkunknitting community

Day by day my sukkah’s harvest grows as I grab moments to work on the basket of fruits and vegetables. My harvest bowl now contains etrogs, lemons, red and green apples, a cluster of grapes, and banana, cucumber, corn-on-the-cob, and acorn squash.

The acorn squash and red apple were completed during our field trip to Greensgrow [...]

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Seeing Double: greenfest philly and greensgrow farm

On Sunday, September 7th I joined a friend and 14,000 other environmental-enthusiasts for a walk through the Greenfest Philly environmental fair. A project of the Urban Green Partnership, Greenfest took over half a dozen blocks of South Street for demonstrations, information, and celebration of the state of green technologies and activities: biodiesel, green [...]

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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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Going Green: reduce, reuse, recycle

Reduce or Reuse
Jewish tradition clearly prohibits wasteful consumption of resources, which violates the mitzvah (duty) of Bal tashchit (“Do not destroy”), Deuteronomy 20: 19-20. No doubt about it, this is a serious challenge to many of us interested in needle arts. We frequently have far too much of the stuff of [...]

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Starting Green: environment & the tikkunknitter

What are the possibilities for tikkunknitting? For pursuing tikkun olam through practical or creative needlework?
I’ve always wondered why it seemed so difficult for many to incorporate tikkun olam seamlessly into their lives. Most Jews profess that Judaism is a way of life, a set of values and behaviors that are right, [...]

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Tikkun Olam: beginning the work

Tikkun olam: {te-kün o-lam} to heal, repair and transform the world (Hebrew)
“This was a favorite teaching of his [Rabbi Tarfon]: You are not obligated to finish the task, neither are you free to neglect it.” – Pirkei Avot (The Wisdom of the Fathers), 2:21
So I’m putting an end to procrastination about “going public”. Is [...]

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