With All Your Heart, With All Your Soul, With All Your Might

“With all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might”. This is my mantra. Not because I am a person who davens three times a day reciting this phrase from its original source in the Sh’ma, but simply because I think it’s beautiful. Imagine a world in which we dedicated our whole selves to every mitzvah we preform, every fleeting thought we have. In a gemara in the tractate of Brachot, the Rabbis expound upon each of these segments: “With all your heart” they explain as what Freud might call the “id”—that is the most instinctual, animalistic parts of ourselves, “with all your soul” refers to our actual life, and “with all your might” commonly refers to our physical possessions. I strive preform every action with all my heart, soul, and might whether it’s loving God as the original texts indicates, loving a friend or a stranger as some scholars interpret, doing a project at work, or even something as mundane as grocery shopping (I said strive!). (more…)

Shmita: Weaving Relational Threads

Yigal Deutscher, Manager of the Shmita Project

The tribes of Israel have just gathered together, am echad b’lev echad, one nation with one synchronized heart, in alignment and in unity. They have just stood, in deep humility, in awe, in trepidation, witnessing and receiving a divine gift.

They have emerged from the brokenness of slavery; they have traveled through the wilderness for 50 days, only to stand together in this moment, before a mountain covered in fire, topped with thundering clouds, shimmering with lightning, rippling with the sounds of the Shofar. 1o utterances have emerged from the heart of creation; 10 utterances so clear and powerful that the tribes could actually see & feel each of them, as they echoed from the mountain, from the sky, from the ground and rock and sand below their feet, and from within their own beating hearts. (more…)

Holy Use: Relating to Resources Sustainably

Jewcology is a diverse platform for Jewish environmental activists to learn from each other in order to educate Jewish communities about our responsibility to protect the environment.

Hazon is excited to share these resources with you! We provide and promote ways to relate each of our Holiday Resources to specific sustainability tips and suggestions! The Hazon Food Guide has sustainable kosher options for all sorts of food  which might be considered during chagim (holidays). Find out more: Hazon’s Bike Rides and Food Programs all contain resources which relate to sustainability issues and ideas!

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril

When something breaks, the question may arise, repair it, or get rid of it and buy a new one? We can answer a question with a question: If it is cheaper to buy a new one, why should I go through the hassle of trying to repair it? With material goods so abundant and cheap today, it is easy to throw things away. We discard clothing and appliances and buy new ones instead of repairing them, or throw away useable items because they are a few years old and maybe outdated by new products. (more…)

Rejuvenating Ourselves and Our Planet

Jewcology is a diverse platform for Jewish environmental activists to learn from each other in order to educate Jewish communities about our responsibility to protect the environment.

Hazon is excited to share these resources with you! We promote the interrelatedness of shabbat as a time to reflect on environmental and sustainable ideas through many of our programs and resources. Our Food Guide has kosher sustainable meat options, Greening Your Shabbat Table, Sustainable Kiddush, and all of our Food Programs help you to draw connections between Jewish tradition and contemporary food issues.

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril

In modern society, we are running, speaking, and thinking at an exceptional rate, and oftentimes we continue all week long without slowing down.  Constantly doing, always mobile accessible, habitually multi-tasking.

If being too busy is a malady of modern man, slowing down on Shabbat may be a key remedy. The Torah teaches, “These are the things that the Divine commanded to make. Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to G-d…”  Achieving sanctity and complete rest is the stated goal of Shabbat. Yet how can this happen? (more…)

The Farm Bill: Live in Action

Work to pass the next Farm Bill is happening now. Nigel Savage, Executive Director of Hazon, believes it is important for you to act. 

I first raised the topic of the Farm Bill at our very first Food Conference in 2006. As an organization we’ve been learning and teaching about it every year since then. If we’re serious about a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and more sustainable world for all, then it makes sense that we’d want to learn about the Farm Bill – because it has a greater impact on food systems, and the relationship between people and food – than anything else the government does. (more…)

Healthy, Sustainable Tu B’Shvat Resources – 2012 Edition

Tu B’Shvat, which has become known as the Jewish New Year of the Trees, provides the perfect opportunity to host a sustainable and healthy celebration. Below are tips for hosting a sustainable seder, finding sustainable seven species options, and partaking in environmentally-friendly Tu B’Shvat themed activities. (more…)