The new website eScapegoat offers Jews a year-round opportunity to atone online, a digital shortcut to redemption.

The website went live before this year’s Yom Kippur, also called The Day of Atonement. Jews traditionally observe the holiday with fasting and intensive prayer, often spending much of the day in synagogue services focused on themes of repentance.

The eScapegoat offers provides this snappy synopsis of the holy day:

In biblical times, Israelites atoned with sacrifices. Once a year, on what we now call Yom Kippur, the High Priest took two goats. He sacrificed one and then he laid his hands on the other, transferring the community’s sins onto it. Then, he sent the Scapegoat off into the wilderness. From the goats’ perspective, neither path ended well.

Created by G-dcast, a media company devoted to raising literacy in Jewish history (“tuck into the torah”, they urge), the eScapegoat is a way to anonymously admit to wrongdoing. You don’t have to be Jewish to use it, though a good portion of the sins that show up on the site’s Twitter feed (#Sinfulgoat) relate to Judaism.

“Our hope is that we not only got you to laugh, but also helped you push your own goat towards the desert,” say the site’s creators.

Know someone with sins? Send them eScapegoat. We bet this will be popular just before Yom Kippur, the holiday that passed just a few weeks ago.

Images from the eScapegoat website

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The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is a day of introspection and prayer. In Israel, it’s a day of closed business and empty streets. The great soul-searching that began on Rosh HaShana climaxes at sunset on this holiest of days, when we seek to connect  to the Creator as closely as  humans can. We put physicality aside for an entire day, refraining from life-sustaining and life-creating activities as an expression of faith and reliance on the one who made the world.

Which is not to say that Jews don’t love, and celebrate, life’s good things: Le-chaim! is the toast that Jews say when raising a celebratory glass of wine. It means: to life! And as life is a precious gift rooted in the spiritual world, it’s people’s job to release the spiritual spark in everything that lives.

Sounds so esoteric, right? How in the world do you manage that? The answer is: by honoring and protecting creation. Spiritual comes down to the physical. For example, even if you don’t fast,  here are some suggestions on how to repair your eating habits. And others on atoning for environmental sins.

Prayer may not be your thing. But you can review your spiritual account by using familiar objects that, whether you’re conscious of it or not, compose a running commentary on your life and reflect your ecological footprint.

1. Read what your credit card statement says. Does it show lots of expenditure on take-out food? A home-made meal is tastier, healthier, and a better maker of quality time with the family. What impulse purchases appear there whose price might have been given to needy people? How much gasoline are you buying? You might consider walking, biking, or taking public transportation more often.

2. How about your electricity, gas and water bills? Your utility bills reflect your usage of the planet’s precious, and dwindling, resources.

4. Search your fridge. Got any dying veggies in there, yogurts way past expiry date, something moldy in the back of the  shelf? Resolve to buy less and reduce waste. A good rule of thumb: cook everything you buy, and eat everything you cook.

5. Search your closets. Most of us hang on to clothes in good condition that we’ll never put on again. Unless a long-unused garment has sentimental value –  I myself keep a certain little flowered dress that all my daughters have worn – donate it to a cause you respect. And if you have clothes languishing for attention that need only a button replaced or a few stitches, take the minutes to repair them, and start wearing them again. You might have more cool threads than you thought.

6. Time how many minutes or hours you typically spend with techno-toys. Surfing the Net, watching TV, chatting online with strangers while family or friends would love to spend some time with you. Maybe you can find more life-affirming ways to unwind, like reading, taking a walk, or getting together with someone you keep thinking of but haven’t made time to contact. Tafline gives us some powerful ideas about going offline on Yom Kippur.

I wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur.

More thoughts that hover between the spiritual and the material:

• Yom Kippur Fast Food, Before And After
• Green Your Repentance

The post 5 Ways Yom Kippur Can Green The World appeared first on Green Prophet.

Fasting, while probably better for the environment, is unfortunately unsustainable for us humans.  What other ways can you make your eating eco-friendly?

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is one of the holiest days of the year for Jews and is a time of reflection, atonement, fasting and prayer.  It is a day when people look back upon the past year and think forward towards the future.  With the fasting that will be going on (and the resulting grumbling tummies), though, you may also want to think about how the ways you satisfy one of your most basic needs – eating – can be improved.  Our eating habits have a huge effect on the environment, and making a few alterations can make a big difference.

So this year, in addition to reflecting on the other aspects of your life, how about thinking about what you put in your body? Here are some ways to get you started:

Eat less meat. You don’t have to go full-out vegetarian, but it’s easy to be more “vegawarian” (aware of the benefits of eating more vegetarian meals on the planet, your body, and your wallet).  You can start by reading some of our tips for switching to a vegetable-based diet and searching Green Prophet’s archives for some great recipes.  Not convinced that vegetarian is the way to go?  Read some debunked vegetarian myths.

Waste not, want not. Don’t buy more food than you need so that it doesn’t end up rotting in your fridge, and eat those leftovers.  Also, how about generating leftovers on purpose so that you can bring a homemade, healthy lunch to work the next day instead of eating fast food junk that’s bad for both you and the environment?

Put less junk in your body. These days, unfortunately, chemicals and coloring agents are found in almost every type of food.  And if it’s not one thing it’s another – even if your food doesn’t have chemicals in it, it’s probably packed with a ton of sugar (or high fructose corn syrup).  Your body (and, of course, the earth) simply don’t need that.  Detoxify.  Go as natural as you can.  Put your body through food (aka drug) rehab.

Eat as locally as possible. Eating locally isn’t just about calculating your food’s carbon footprint.  It’s also about doing what’s good for you.  The more local your food is, the fresher (and more packed with nutrients) it is.  Try finding a local farmer’s market near you.

Eat as many organic products as possible. Rid your body (and the earth) of unnecessary pesticides and additives by replacing as many mainstream products as you can with organic ones.

Image via: David Minton

Read about Yom Kippur and its significance for other aspects of your life::
Atoning for Environmental Sins in the Kitchen this Yom Kippur
Are Your Wires Crossed? Go Offline for Yom Kippur

The post Repair Your Eating Habits in Time for Yom Kippur appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins this Friday night, September 12. In Jewish tradition this is the day of repentance, a time to look back on our actions during the past year and resolve to do better. It’s a good time to power down, and during the holiday season, much of our activity focuses on cooking for friends and family. The kitchen is the part of any home that uses up the most resources on a daily basis. It’s time to take stock—have you committed any of these environmental “sins” in your kitchen over the past year?

1. Depending on disposables. Disposables have to be manufactured, transported and well, disposed of. Better to invest in a few practical utensils–second-hand is fine—and wash them with an appropriate amount of water and soap.
2. Wasting food. Rotten food emits methane, which is worse for the environment than carbon dioxide emissions. Buy only what you need, use it up before buying more, and don’t overeat.
3. Wasting energy. A pressure cooker or crockpot is more efficient than the oven. Cooking one-pot meals save the most energy. And open your refrigerator rarely.
4. Wasting water. Don’t let your water run when you’re not using it, and save water from washing vegetables for houseplants. For more ideas, see Twelve Tips for Saving Water in the Kitchen.
5. Eating too much animal protein. This year, replace some of the meat, eggs, and dairy products with legumes, nuts, whole grains and vegetables. You can follow these tips for Switching to a Vegetarian Diet.
6. Relying on processed foods. Processed foods are not only expensive, they usually contain excess amounts of sugar, salt, preservatives and unhealthy fats. And think about all the packaging that ends up in the landfill. Stick to local, raw and organic products whenever you can.

Let us know about your plans to make your kitchen “greener” in the coming year.

:: Photo credit: Let Ideas Compete

Read more green posts on food and health:

A Fading Art: Understanding Breastfeeding in the Middle East

Biased Milk Allergy Study Puts Babies at Risk

Use a Pressure Cooker for Tasty, Healthy and Frugal Meals

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