Every week, it is the custom of religious Jews to read their holy book, the Torah, and relate it to the world around them. This week our resident Eco Rabbi, Jack, talks about sticking up for our planet. At the end of last week’s segment, Joseph still had not revealed his true identity to his […]
Every week, observant Jewish people read a section of the Torah. This week, our in resident Eco Rabbi looks at Parshat Miketz. Okay, this week’s parashah is a no-brainer. Seriously, how can an Eco-Rabbi NOT talk about Parshat Miketz? The parashah which contains the solution for dealing with famine… Parshat Miketz opens with Pharaoh, King […]
This week we begin our celebration of the festival of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights. The main event of Hanukkah is the lighting of the Menorah, a candelabra.The Menorah has 9 arms, one for each day of the holiday, plus one more candle for lighting the other ones. One of the lessons […]
The links between religion and environmental concern/activism are no news to Green Prophet. We’ve covered them in our Eco Rabbi series, discussion of the environment and the Qu’ran, and in stories about multi-faith perspectives on the environment. But it was news to discover an Eco-Activist Beit Midrash (EABM) in Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo, which, in […]
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 this week’s Eco-Rabbi post I discuss a Jewish approach to meat. I’m a vegatarian… sympathizer. (Seriously, could you really eat lamb after looking at that picture?) […]
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 how to create room for God to live within us. This week I discuss giving thanks to God for the energy […]
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. […]
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 we discussed water and life. In this week I will discuss man, trees and the receiving of the Bible (Torah) on Mount […]
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 we discussed the power of symbols. This week continues with discussing of water and life. Pharaoh finally agrees to let the Jewish […]
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 we discussed Moses’ fight for his people’s freedom. This week continues with discussing the power of symbols. Moses finally persuaded Pharaoh to […]
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 we discussed the Jews slavery in Egypt along with Moses’ first prophecy via a burning bush. This week continues Moses’ fight for […]
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 […]
In this week’s segment from the Torah, Parshat Vayigash, Jacob and his family go down to Egypt to Joseph, who is now second, only to Pharaoh, in Egypt. On his way down the Bible explains that Jacob went via Beersheba. The Midrash Bereshit Rabbah, a sixth century commentary on the bible, notices extra language used […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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) It’s not only about offsetting and it’s not about who’s right. The above […]
When I was growing up whenever we would go to a park or on a camping trip, my parents would instill in me the importance of leaving the area where we had just been cleaner than how we had found it. This is probably one of the most influential ideas from my parents that has […]
You’re eating a bag of chips while walking down the street. As you finish you look around to find a trash can but nothing is in sight. Do you drop it? If the city doesn’t bother to make waste bins available, why should you care about the city’s cleanliness? How about eating a piece of […]
Two brothers wanted to thank God for what he had given them, but God only accepted the sacrifice of one of them. Abel sent the best of his livestock in thanks to God for all the blessing that he had given him and God found favor in his actions and accepted his gift. His brother, […]
Last week, God took care of the waste in the camp. This week Moses hits the rock. The Israelites had been traveling in the desert for roughly forty years, and Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, dies. After Miriam dies suddenly the People of Israel lack water. Commentaries explain that in Miriam’s merit a […]
This week’s Bible segment describes revolution and miracles. The leadership of Moses and his brother Aaron are questioned and God comes and backs up his choice with various miracles. But the challenge was no simple disagreement. Korach’s challenge to Moses was seen as blasphemy. God had set up the camp to be an incubator for […]
When attempting to incorporate new elements and habits into our life what is the best way to do this? If I want to be greener, how do I go about doing it? If I want to be friendlier, how do I add this to my life? In this week’s Weekly Bible segment the laws of […]
It once happened that a farmer was removing stones from his field and putting them onto a public thoroughfare. There was a certain pious person who challenged the farmer: “Why are you taking stones from what is not yours and putting them onto what belongs to you?” The farmer just laughed.