Tu B’Shvat is the Jewish holiday marking the beginning of a new year for trees, and is usually celebrated by planting trees and exchanging gifts of dried fruit with loved ones. While these traditional activities are great and we support going out to plant trees (thus increasing the amount of carbon-eating leaves out there), these […]
Orthodox Jews read a segment of the Five Books of Moses each week so that they can complete the entire Five Books within the course of a year. In last week’s Eco-Rabbi post we discussed Jacob’s descent to Egypt and the grand cedars that he brought with him. This week’s segment, Parshat Vayechi, is the […]
The Christmas season in Europe is often silly season for the world’s media outlets, when they outdo each other to find the strangest, weirdest and oddball news story to give people an extra sparkle to their celebrations. Strange shaped vegetables, or bagels that bleed are the sort of stories that crop up. Despite the crisis […]
Joseph was sent down to Egypt by his brothers to remove him from the picture. Their father had favored Joseph and his brothers were not too happy about that. Upon arriving in Egypt Joseph found success wherever he went. Originally he was sold as a slave but very quickly he found himself in charge of […]
Ever wonder why every day of Hanukkah we add another candle? The Jewish religious source the Talmud explains that this disagreement goes back to the Jewish sages Hillel and Shamai. Hillel explains that we add another candle every day “for the days coming” and Shamai explains that we start with eight and remove a candle […]
Traveling through the mountains of Judea I am always struck by the stark contrast between the mountainous areas where there are villages and where there are not. The differences can be as sharp as night and day. There are even places where people are living but the land seems barren and there are other places […]
Living green is about not being wasteful. If you save up a little bit at a time it adds up! David Bach in “The Automatic Millionaire” calls this the “latte factor.” In a nutshell, if you drink a latte every day it can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars over forty years. But […]
In this week’s segment Jacob leaves his parent’s home. Jacob just out-maneuvered Esau, his brother, for the birthright and now Esau wants revenge. Jacob hopes to stay with family in Haran. On his way there Jacob sets up camp in a special “place.” Sources explain that that place is holy and is either the Temple […]
The video is a bit slow to start and speaks to a somewhat unsophisticated audience, but it introduces an important concept of charity in Islam (sadaqah jariyah), and why Muslims should support “Waqf” –– for the environment’s sake. Or at the very least political stability. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Waqf […]
Famous for his Orange Suspendu sculpture in Jaffa, I had the pleasure to interview environmental artist Ran Morin. Rarely granting interviews with the press, Morin spoke with me a little about living and working in Israel, and man’s place in the environment. Earlier this week Ran Morin sent me an invite to the launching of […]
“Look at My work, how beautiful and perfect is everything that I created. I created it for you. Be careful not to ruin and destroy My world. If you ruin it, there is nobody to restore it after you.” (Ecclesiastes Rabba 7:28) What is an eco-rabbi? It’s a person who brings the Jewish faith message […]
Kids on bikes cruise past Azrieli towers. A couple of years ago I read a book called Carfree Cities, which put forward a very convincing case for reducing the use of private cars in the city, and set out a whole series of design alternatives which, according to author J.H. Crawford, would obviate the need […]
In a few hours Jews in Israel will start the annual holiday Yom Kippur, and a day-long fast. It is by default, the greenest day of the year in Israel. For more than 24 hours, starting at sunset tonight, Jewish people will not only refrain from eating, but driving, shopping, wearing leather (and body lotion), […]
After celebrating Rosh Hashana sustainably this past week (even making pomegranate-nut salad for that extra special touch), some of us may be looking forward on our calendars and wondering how to celebrate the next holiday in an environmentally friendly way. Yom Kippur is already, by default, observed in a green way due to the complete […]
With the Jewish new year coming up in next week, some of us are thinking about green new year’s resolutions and lifestyle changes that we’d like to make. Whether it’s recycling more items or starting a compost heap, there’s no such thing as a small difference. But what about greening your celebration of Rosh Hashanah? […]