A pair of eco-rabbis in Jerusalem have taken the Bible, also known as the Torah in Hebrew, and found hundreds of passages in it relating to ecology, animal rights, regenerative agriculture, the 3Rs and more, and have found a way to make old ideas relevant to us all in modern times.
The relations between the Herodian Kingdom and the Nabatean Kingdom were very complex and involved political, economic and marriage ties. Through the institution of marriage with local dynasties, Herodians consolidated power in the southern Levant and later became Rome’s client state. Intermarriage between religious groups was not uncommon, people were open-minded, until they were not. Here’s […]
The transition between paganism and three major monotheistic religions in the southern Levant is one of themes that intrigues Professor Robert Schick from the University of Mainz in Germany. Pagans were very connected to the cycles of the earth, and like all ancient people reckoned with nature to understand why they exist and how to survive.
Jews in Israel will live for a week in a sukkah, starting next week. It’s a time to get back to nature, and one’s roots. We’ve had a marathon of Israeli holidays the past while. There was Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and next week the holiday Sukkoth. For the Jewish nation in Israel and around the […]
Tonight, Sunday the 9th of September, marks the first day of the Jewish New Year 2018, Rosh HaShanah 5779. The holiday extends until Tuesday September 11th at nightfall. There are four holiday meals to prepare – five, if you include late afternoon of the second day, and that’s not to mention formal or informal breakfasts […]
Jerusalem’s been boiling over with violent and deadly conflicts over the last half a year. But faith leaders intent on ecological ideals as a peace bridge have met again at the the Faith and Ecology conference in Jerusalem last week. Green Prophet has attended meetings in the past (see our coverage from 2011) and a […]
For many years Hebrew schools in North America barely related to the Jewish holiday of Tu B’shevat, New Year for the Trees.
Tonight marks the end of the Jewish holiday Tu B’Shevat. The Jewish New Year of the trees. Here is an enlightening article on the spiritual customs surrounding this ecological, Jewish holiday.
See the images: These very rare textiles were found in the Wadi Murabba’at caves south of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Why is this ancient find so exciting for the Jews?
I founded Green Prophet because I truly believe that the people of the prophets – the monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam can see eye to eye in the Middle East when we talk about shared environmental problems and solutions.
Digital developments are lessening reliance on traditional architecture. The internet enables us to dine in “restaurants” and sleep in “hotels” that are actually ordinary people’s homes. Our retail therapy is increasingly conducted online in virtual stores. And now a nutty little website is muscling out conventional places of worship.
Over here in the Cradle of Humanity Jews are ardently building their sukkahs. The serious ones are already finished. If you happen to be in Israel, or any other country with a sizeable Jewish population look out for small, fragile looking huts. Jews build these sukkah huts every year for Sukkot, or the Hebrew Holiday […]
A quiet little how-to book has been translated into Hebrew offering basic sex education to Israel’s Orthodox Jews.
Treading the path of righteousness involves the ecology too. It had never occurred to me that if I were to go camping on Mt. Meron for the upcoming Lag B’Omer celebration, that I’d actually be on pilgrimage. I never thought of my visits to the Western Wall in Jerusalem as a pilgrimage. But during the […]
Green Pilgrim Jerusalem hosts a week-long international symposium on greening pilgrimage, with major religious leaders from around the world. Faith and community leaders from around the world will be speaking on ecological, urban and social development as influenced by mass pilgrimage. Our report on the massive urban sprawl that Mecca is becoming illustrates the ecological […]