RJ Blog

Last Sunday marked the 42nd annual Earth Day, a celebration of our natural world and recognition of the important role humans play in protecting it by living within our means. This year, Earth Day also happens to fall between Passover and Shavuot, holidays that draw heavily on the power and symbolism of the earth’s gifts to us in the form of food and agriculture.  Passover marks the beginning of the harvest season and Shavuot denotes the time when the season’s earliest fruits were brought by farmers to the Temple in Jerusalem. We are blessed to live on a planet that [...]

Today marks the 42nd annual Earth Day! From Capitol Hill to countless synagogues, churches, towns and cities, communities are coming together today in order to honor the world we live in and call for its protection. Tell us: how are you celebrating? We at the RAC are scattered across the country this weekend — while some are manning the fort in Washington, D.C., others are in Sacramento, CA for our first-ever California L’Taken Social Justice Seminar. The rest of us are here in Detroit, MI, for the annual meeting of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. I love that Earth [...]

April 20, 2010, began as an ordinary day for residents of the Gulf Coast. Fishermen woke up early to head out for the daily catch, and news outlets reported on the perils of the U.S. economy. Outside, the skies were overcast with temperatures in the high 60s, standard conditions before summer’s suffocating humidity settled in. But by the end of the day that began as so ordinary, the lives of Gulf residents would be changed forever.

The weather was perfect yesterday in Washington, D.C.: sunny skies, a warm breeze, and budding tulips and cherry blossoms everywhere you go.  Nature is slowly emerging from the darkness of winter.  I can’t help but think about how Passover, celebrating the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt and the shackles of slavery thousands of years ago, falls at the perfect time each spring to re-energize for the coming year. And this year, Reform congregations are celebrating Passover by not only renewing their souls but renewing their land as well: starting food-producing gardens, a contemporary twist on an ancient agricultural tradition. Yesterday [...]

by Rabbi Joan Glazer Farber In a few weeks we will be celebrating Tu BiSh’vat, on February 8. There are numerous approaches you could take in planning your celebration. Today’s 10 Minutes of Torah will provide a variety of resources to consider in your planning. The Union’s site has an extensive holiday page. The information on Tu BiSh’vat includes resources for seders, historical background and links to related topics.

by Rabbi Rick Schechter “A great miracle happened there,” we say, as we spin the Chanukah dreidel each year while eating latkes fried in oil. But what was “the miracle” of Chanukah? Our tradition recounts more than one. The first miracle is that a small band of Jews defeated the more powerful Syrian army in their struggle for religious freedom and independence. As our thanksgiving prayer at Chanukah time puts it, “God delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few.” The Maccabean victory is a remarkable story of courage, dedication, [...]

These days, when it seems like our food choices are unlimited—organic, seasonal, (eco)-Kosher and more—how do we as Reform Jews turn to our tradition and values for help? Panelists and participants tackled this question at “Food, Glorious Food!”, a learning session held earlier today here at the URJ Biennialin National Harbor, MD. Several dozen participants attended to learn more from the session’s four panelists about the broad spectrum of issues within the Jewish food movement.

by Aliza Slavin Gazek “What’swrong with your elbow?” an eight-year old asked during Camp UrbanAdamah, a Berkeley day camp that explores Judaism and the environment.Struggling for a good view of this hard-to-see part of my body, Iyielded to another camper, who responded, “She’s a farmer!” It was thenthat I learned the necessity of scrubbing my elbows; their darkappearance came from dirt — or soil rather. I’ve also learned that soiland dirt are actually the same thing, given two different names basedsolely on their location (dirt is on the ground, soil is in a planter). I’ve acquired dirty elbows and expanded [...]

from the Green TeamTemple Sharey Tefilo Israel, South Orange, NJ Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel (TSTI) is one of eight Reform synagogues that became involved in the GreenFaith Certification programstarting in May, 2010. With support from the URJ and the RAC, wecommitted to a rigorous two-year program that would help our synagoguebecome more environmentally aware and active, and help us become leadersin the Greening Reform Judaism effort.  As a congregation that hadhistorically maintained focus on the environment, joining this programwas a natural next step to add structure and discipline to existingefforts.   One step toward Certification requires participantorganizations to complete 25 [...]

by Elaina Marshalek, TEVA Major TeacherURJ Kutz Camp (originally posted on Kutz blog) Teva,in Hebrew, directly translates to the word “nature,” but if you askedthe members of the Kutz Teva major what it means, they would express anumber of different interpretations of the word. In this program, wehave broken down the barriers between space that we’ve deemed”civilized” and the space that we call the “wilderness” – it turns outthey’re more connected than we thought. From identifying thespecies of the area to figuring out where Kutz’s food comes from, fromhikes along the Appalachian trail to camping in the Catskill mountains,we’ve been [...]