Each week Orthodox Jews read one segment of the Five Books of Moses so that they can complete the entire Five Books within the course of a year. In last week’s Eco-Rabbi post I discussed free trade and the commandments, this week I write about how to create room for God to live within us. […]
With everything going on over the past month, many of our thoughts have been turned towards the southern area of Israel and the Negev. At more than 60% of the country’s land mass, however, the Negev desert should really be part of the Israeli consciousness more often. Community based NGO Shvuat ha-Adamah/Earth’s Promise, based in […]
In this week’s green book review, special guest desert dwelling activist and academic Lucy Michaels, gets to the heart of the matter with a classic eco text: “The burnt cliffs and lonely skies … all that which lies beyond the end of roads:” From Desert Solitaire and why Israel’s deserts need their own Edward Abbey. […]
Events and frenetic discussion, both academic and activist in nature, have continued apace here at the 2nd Drylands and Desertification Conference here in Sde Boker, and I’ve taken an afternoon off to process the previous days proceedings. (You can see yesterday’s recap of the conference here.) The theme of day 2 was titled ‘the role […]
Searching for empowerment: Bedouin women from the Association for the Improvement of Women’s Status meet with visitors from the US. Fair Trade and preserving local craftsmanship and culture, is an important aspect of the green movement –– at least for those environmentalists who value humankind and the health of its societies. Following that notion, we think […]
Convening at the Ben Gurion University’s Sede Boqer campus on December 14-17, over 350 people from 40 countries are expected to meet and map out ways to combat desertification around the world. The four-day gathering is the largest international conference ever held in Israel focused on an environmental topic, and probably the largest international academic […]
When thinking about the Israeli army (or any other army, for that matter) becoming more “green” or environmentally conscious, skepticism is unfortunately the first thing that comes to mind. Military activity is nasty business, leaving detrimental traces on human relationships, governmental spending, and the environment – to name a few. Which is why a recent […]
A little out of place, a yurt in the Israeli desert offers a neat eco-treat. Feeling jaded from all the holidays in this country, we decided to retreat to the desert for Shabbat (the Jewish day of rest). And this was no ordinary retreat: arriving into Moshav Dekel, in the Eshkol region of the Negev […]
One of our favourite Green NGO’s in Israel, Bustan, are holding a special tree planting event tommorrow (Thursday the 11th of September) at Segev Shalom. With the help of local Bedouin residents, Bustan are planting an orchard (bustan, Hebrew and Arabic) as the first event of their new ‘Tree’s For Life’ project, which aims to […]
Mongolia, nestled between twin superpowers China and Russia, is home to the world’s last truly nomadic population of herders, living seasonally across the vast Gobi Desert. I’m a passionate scholar of all things Mongolian, having lived there for nearly a year some years back, and this gave birth to my fascination with Indigenous peoples and […]