Earth Etude for Elul 6 - Today the World is Born

by Rabbi David Seidenberg

On Rosh Hashanah we hear the shofar and call out, "Hayom Harat Olam"!

"Today is the birthday of the world; today the world is born."

So says the liturgy according to most readings. And this birthday is not just one of celebration: "Today the world stands in judgment." These two motifs alone should give us pause today to consider what we are doing to the planet, to how we can restore the balance of the atmosphere, the balance of the waters and the air, of the forests and plains, the ocean and the continents.

But let's look more closely at these words, to see what they can teach us.

'Harah' means pregnancy, conception or gestation. Not birth, but the process which leads up to birth. If we wanted to say "the birth of the world" we would say "leidat ha'olam". 'Olam' can mean world, but if we wanted to say "the conception of the world," we would say "harat ha-olam." 'Olam' really means eternity, from the root that means "hidden," or more precisely, the infinite that is hidden, that is beyond our limited perception.

So 'Harat Olam' means very literally, "pregnant with eternity", or "eternally pregnant." The day of Rosh Hashanah is pregnant with eternity.

What deeper evocation could one find of this wondrous and miraculous creation than "eternally pregnant," always bringing forth new lives, new creatures, even new species? Always dynamic, growing; balanced not like a pillar on its foundation, but like a gyroscope, turning and turning. What higher praise of the Creator? What greater potential in this moment, than for it to be "pregnant with insights, with hopes, that are as great as eternity"?

Jeremiah said, "Vat'hi li imi kivri v'rachmah harat olam / Let my mother be my grave and her womb be pregnant eternally." (20:17) This is the source of the expression "harat olam." On a very personal level, this verse is an expression of Jeremiah's profound grief. In Job, however, our planet is imagined as a womb, as in, "yam b'gicho meirechem yeitzei / when the sea gushed forth from the womb." (38:8) Jeremiah's lament, applied to the earth, becomes one of the truest and most loving sentences in the Tanakh. This earth is a mother to us and it is our grave; it is eternally pregnant, and from our deaths will come new life and new lives.

When we hear the shofar and call out, "Hayom harat olam!" may we find hope, may we find courage, may we find blessing, in this moment on this planet filled with birth and death, pregnant with eternity.

"Hayom harat olam." This day births new intentions, conceives new possibilities. Today is our day, today we are alive on this planet, "Chayim kulchem hayom." Today our choices will gestate the future, for our children, and for the children of every species upon the earth.

"Hayom t'amtzeinu." Today you will find courage. "Hayom t'varcheinu." Today you will be blessed. "Hayom ticht'veinu l'chayim tovim." Today you will be inscribed to live.

"Hayom im b'kolo tishma'u." Today, if you will listen to the Voice.

Rabbi David Seidenberg is the creator of neohasid.org, and a teacher of Jewish thought and spirituality. He is one of the foremost scholars in the world on Judaism and ecology, and his first book on ecology and Kabbalah is coming out this coming year. He has smikhah from both JTS and Reb Zalman.

Earth Etude for Elul 5 - Journey to a Mountain Pond

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

The word makom in Hebrew means place, or space, but it has also come to be a name of G!d.

Some places take on more significance in our lives than others. They touch us more deeply, or are associated with significant memories. For me, one of these is a place I have come close to, but have not yet seen with my own eyes. Yet just through proximity, it has touched me deeply, shifting something in my soul.

The name of the place is Gamawakoosh, but you cannot find it on a map. Gamawakoosh is the name given to this place by my mother’s family.

Beginning in the early 1920s, my mother from a very young age, her older brother, their parents, friends of varied ages, their dog, and their nanny goat hiked for three days, with the men and boys doubling back for a second load, up the side of a mountain in the Adirondacks to a hidden pond. There, with permission from the landowner (at that time it was not public land) they built a small log cabin. They carried in all their provisions, including tools and rolls of roofing –- one year the collective weight of the packs was 512 pounds.

Several journals of trips to Gamawakoosh remain intact, providing clues to the travelers' route and insight into their experiences, and stored in my memory are the stories my mother told of Gamawakoosh, her most favorite place in all the world (and she travelled to many lands during her childhood and youth). For her it was a magical place of sheer delight, of good fellowship and long conversations, and of the wonders and awe of the wilderness. It was a place of healing and joy. August and Gamawakoosh provided a refuge from the father who at home in “civilization” was the source of emotional and spiritual pain that my mother carried with her all her life, for in the wilderness, away from societal norms, he was a different person, one she could respect, appreciate, and enjoy. Even at age 90, her eyes still twinkled when she spoke of Gamawakoosh, and it remained a place of respite for her mind and soul when her body no longer permitted her to explore the woods and fields in the way her spirit needed.

This summer, together with one of my brothers, a cousin and her husband, one of my sons and his wife and their dog, two descendants of another youthful 1933 Gamawakoosh participant, and a gem of a hiker who had been that man's good friend for many years, we went in search of this hidden spot. Although we tried, circumstances prevented us from reaching the site of the cabin, but in the process we walked where our families and their friends had walked and waded streams they had forded. Although we never laid eyes on Gamawakoosh, we touched its essence. We found it in the woods and beside the river. We found it in the colorful mushrooms of the damp forest and in the fairyland nooks and crannies of mosses, ferns, and tiny pine saplings. We found it in the decaying 1939 Chevy we stumbled upon, mysteriously abandoned far from any current road. We found it in our shared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and in the preparation and clean up. We found it in the laughter and camaraderie that flowed among people who had never before met, and in the stories of family members long gone, whose spirits hovered among us. We found it in new definitions of family, in healing long held sadness, and in new-found joy. And now we find it in our shared memories of a sacred place as yet unseen by our eyes.

HaMakom – The Place. The gift, the sacredness, of Gamawakoosh is not inherent, but flows forth from what we do with it and what we make of it, and in the Presence that fills all space. May we all find places that become for us Places that bring healing, laughter, and new depths of love and relationship with those we know and with those we don’t know. As we journey through Elul, may our hearts and souls re-turn to The Place, HaMakom, and to the spaces It fills.

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen (AJR '05) is the founder and leader of Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope in Wayland, MA (www.mayantikvah.org), a congregation that holds services outdoors all year long. She is also a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA.

Earth Etude for Elul 4 - Rainbows

by Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein

“Red and yellow and pink and blue, purple and orange and green. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow tune.” There are many songs about rainbows. This is one that I learned at Girl Scout Camp many years ago. Since that summer rainbows have had a special place in my heart.

Learning the story of Noah in a parshat hashavua class in college was one of those moments. In order for there to be a rainbow, there has to be a perfect balance between sun and rain. Without that balance, no rainbow. Without G-d and a certain balance, no world. For me, in that instant G-d was perfection. So what would be more appropriate that G-d would choose a rainbow as the sign that G-d would never destroy the world again by flood. Rain is good. Too much rain leads to flooding and destruction.

Rainbows have appeared at my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, my daughter’s high school graduation, my installation as rabbi. They are often a quiet, private reminder that the world is good and G-d is in charge. An almost private blessing, usually when I need that reassurance the most. What I have discovered is that you can’t go chasing them. You need to be surprised by them.

On Rosh Hodesh Av, a day when we begin to feel the sadness of the impending Tisha B’av, I was surprised by a rainbow. It was particularly surprising because the night before I had gone looking for one and didn’t find it. Remember it is about that perfect balance. This one was beautiful, exquisite, full, double rainbow over Lake Charlevoix, in northern Michigan. You could actually see both ends reflecting in the water. Now the slogan for Charlevoix is “Once in a blue moon there is a Charlevoix”. This was not a blue moon. This was even rarer. Cars stopped on both sides of the road to take pictures. Everyone said, “Wow.”

Sometimes you can capture such images on your camera. Other times you cannot. Each time they are a reminder of G-d’s covenant with us. Each time they are an opportunity to recite the blessing, “zocher habrit”, that G-d also remembers the covenant with us, is faithful and keeps G-d’s promise. Each time, I wonder how I keep my end of that covenant. How do I make good on the promise to be a partner in G-d’s creation, to never destroy the world. How do I leave this world better for my children and my children’s children? The rainbow while offering that reassurance of G-d’s love and promise also demands an answer to that essential question.

Baruch ata Ado-nai Elo-heinu melech ha'olam zocher ha'brit v'ne'eman bivrito v'kayam b'ma'amaro. Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Ruler of the universe, who remembers in faithfulness the covenant and the promise to keep the covenant forever.

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Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein is the rabbi of Congregation Kneseth Israel in Elgin IL. She blogs as the Energizer Rabbi, www.theenergizerrabbi.org and enjoys chasing rainbows in northern Michigan, in Ogunquit, Maine or wherever she can find them.

Earth Etude for Elul 3 - Paying Attention to Roots

by Maxine Lyons

Being a passionate gardener, I have been tending several gardens in my yard as well as many flower pots on our large deck so my hands are in dirt quite often these days. I have been transplanting yellow primroses, succulents, day lilies and sunflowers, focusing on the integrity of the roots, noticing how each root system is different. For example, some plants require a full root for transplanting while others need a partial root to survive. Succulents do not need roots at all; pieces can be immersed in dirt and re-establish their roots in soil in a short time.

So as I begin the long internal process of preparing for the holidays, I am considering the meaning of roots in our lives--when we are transplanted (as I was from the west to the east coast), would roots remain intact, and I pondered, could I plant them deep and securely enough to thrive and not merely survive the changes? I moved with my husband and two young kids, truly uprooted from my family and age-old friends and all that was known and familiar. With a lot of determination, I found that the most tenacious roots assisted me in establishing my new grounding.

What are those elements that enhance the possibility of roots taking hold firmly in new ground? I believe that we need a full root base to nurture us. I was deeply rooted in my Jewish upbringing. I went to weekly Shabbat services with my family, I attended with great delight Hebrew school, confirmation classes, and the inspiring, call-to-action in the words of the prophets, which were reinforced by our Reform temple's explicit social justice emphasis (that led to my involvement in civil rights work and anti-war activities in college). As these roots spread out, I explored my options as a spiritual seeker, going from Reform to Conservative Judaism, learning and teaching yoga, then to Jewish Renewal, and now, a combination of JewBu(ddhism) and interfaith work. My underlying support was my father's influence on my growth and development as he modeled empathy, tikkun olam, and our responsibility to be charitable in word and deed to help others. Sharing common ground with my caring, loving and supportive husband and two creative children enabled me to establish the firmest of roots.

Reflecting on the meanings of roots brought me to teshuvah. I feel a connection with plant roots. Roots are anchors; they absorb and conduct water and nutrients, storing energy for later use. This is analogous to our human needs for roots; we also need to absorb and replenish spiritual sustenance to store for use with family and friends and in all meaningful pursuits in our lives. My intimate friendships are the other anchors that also energize my life, enabling the expanse and growth of my roots. This focused awareness of opening my heart and making regular contributions allows me to continue tikkun olam, which, returning to those core values of empathy, connections and helping others, are particularly important now. Teshuvah requires that I become ever more mindful of my behavior. With ample "fertilizers" of compassion, caring and open heartedness, I can start the annual journey preparing for the Yamim Noraim in my daily practices now and throughout the year.

My father was a humble person, and his expansive root system, like those of a sturdy tree, lay underground but the tree, his personhood, flourished, benefiting everyone who was blessed to know him. I pray that his legacy will continue to influence me to grow as I tend to my gardens and reap the benefits of the abundant colorful flowers-- petunias cascading, and morning glories stretching heavenward, spiraling on tomato plant stakes. (This is dedicated to the memory of my dear dad, Alex Schoenbrun, on his fifth yahrzeit).

Maxine Lyons, retired community educator, is currently CMM (Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries) board member and co-facilitator of CMM's RUAH Spirituality Programs,

active participant in the ALEPH prison pen pal program ("connecting Jews on the outside with Jews on the inside"), member of Temple Beth Zion, Brookline, and joyful wife of 36 years and mother of two accomplished and wonderful thirty somethings.

Earth Etude for Elul 2 - Elul Writing Project

by Molly Bajgot

We’re nearing a time when the Earth will not provide as bountifully as it has in the past. In exchange for a loss of resources, I believe the Earth is pleading for us humans to return to ourselves, our deep souls, so we recognize a bounty that lives within us. Could this lead to the feeling of fertility in the human spirit, we may extend the times of plenty.

Answering this call is not easy. We cannot stop deadlines so we may each have the time return to ourselves as a form of resiliency. It’s a necessary evil to take this time. We may feel that we’re missing out on other activities, events, or conversations, or that we are not getting done as much work as we need to do. Yet there are moments in each day that we can seek the quiet retreat and go a little deeper, find a little more space.

Since I received the Elul writing project, I've decided to practice coming back to myself and following my instincts around taking time to be alone. The result has been time after work dancing, painting, hanging art, swimming, hiking, and listening! Who knew I had so much to say to myself. Some hangouts have been hard; I haven’t been the best of company at those times. But I exit these periods of time alone with a better understanding of me and my method of interacting with the world. I tune in with what my body wants, my spirit and my tongue for speech…I react with kindness to my friends and family, and say what I mean, say what I need. As a wise woman once told me, me are always working to maintain our ‘neutral.’

I think our souls are like bread dough that needs warmth to rise: our souls desire the heat of our beings to nurture our internal culture. At some point we get punched down as a test to our abilities, and need to remind ourselves of our importance, kindness, and intelligence to rise back up, overflowing the bowl. We bake the loaf, swallow a chapter of life, and start another.

Let’s bake bread with those around us—encourage our friends to take space to nurture themselves and warm the internal culture that is their ‘soul bread.’ For this New Year, let us practice feeding ourselves, for we can only effectively exchange light with others when we do.

Molly Bajgot is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst studying Sustainable Food and Farming with a concentration in Food Systems and Production. She is a strong believer in holistic systems and loves to cook, sing loudly, and live in the Pioneer Valley.

Earth Etude for Elul 1 - Restoring The New Year for Animals

by Richard H. Schwartz

Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of the month before Rosh Hashanah, when the shofar is blown at weekday morning services (except on Shabbat), and Jews are to examine their deeds and consider how to align their lives more with Jewish values.

When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Rosh Chodesh Elul was a New Year for Animals, a day devoted to tithing for animal sacrifices. After the second temple was destroyed in 70 CE, there was no longer a need for this holiday and today very few Jews even heard of it.

Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) is working with others in efforts to restore this holiday and to transform it into a day devoted to increasing awareness of Judaism’s beautiful teachings about compassion to animals and how far current treatment of animals on factory farms and in other settings is from these Jewish teachings. JVNA hopes the renewed holiday can serve as the beginning of a tikkun (healing) for the current widespread mistreatment of animals.

Jews are to be rachmanim b’nei rachmanim, compassionate children of compassionate ancestors, and to imitate God, whose “compassion is over all His works” (Psalms 145:9), JVNA hopes that restoring the New Year for Animals will lead to greater emphasis in the Jewish community in applying these and other Jewish teachings to the reduction of animal suffering.

In 2012 there were celebrations of the renewed holiday in Israel and several US cities, and plans are underway to have some also in 2013. JVNA is preparing background material and proposed rituals and will seek additional supporting statements from rabbis and other Jewish leaders in a major effort to get the holiday onto the Jewish agenda starting in 2014.

JVNA hopes that restoring and transforming the holiday, thereby increasing knowledge of Jewish teachings on animals and how far current realities for animals are from these teachings, will lead some Jews to shift to vegetarianism. JVNA believes that this diet is most consistent with Jewish teachings on preserving human health, treating animals with compassion, protecting the environment, and helping hungry people, and they hope that dietary shifts will improve the health of Jews and also help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path.

In addition to reinforcing Jewish teachings on compassion, restoring the New Year for Animals would show the relevance of Judaism’s eternal teachings to current issues, thereby helping revitalize Judaism and potentially bringing many idealistic Jews back to Judaism.

Restoring the holiday is also consistent with the Elul theme of teshuvah, since it involves repentance for actions inconsistent with tsa’ar ba’alei chaim, the Jewish mandate to avoid harming animals.

For more information about Jewish teachings on animals, please visit the JVNA website (www.JewishVeg.com) and/or contact JVNA. There are four articles related to the restored holiday at www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz.

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Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is the author of Judaism and Vegetarianism, Judaism and Global Survival, Who Stole My Religion? Revitalizing Judaism and Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal our Imperiled Planet, and Mathematics and Global Survival, and over 200 articles and 25 podcasts at JewishVeg.com/schwartz. He is President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV). He is associate producer of the 2007 documentary “A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World.”

Earth Etudes for Elul Are Coming

This evening we enter into the last day of the Jewish month of Av. Tomorrow evening we begin the journey through the month of Elul, leading up to Rosh HaShanah and the Days of Awe. Tomorrow evening we begin the process of spiritual preparation, and on Tuesday morning for the first time we hear the sound of the shofar, reminding us of the call to teshuvah, to return - return to the Holy One of Blessing, the Merciful One. 

To help us along our journey, we at Ma'yan Tikvah will once again be posting Earth Etudes for Elul most evenings during the month. These reflections have been written by a variety of people and reflect many points of view and ways of looking at the world and the process of teshuvah. I hope you will find them meaningful and useful.

May your journey through Elul and the Days of Awe be rich and fulfilling, and may you find new wisdom, strength, and courage.

Shalom,

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

Patriots' Day Evening - Day 21 of the Omer

By Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

Patriots' Day in Boston is filled with symbolism: remembering and appreciating the amazing efforts of determined and seemingly fearless people who put their lives on the line that a new and different order might be created in this land; gathering by the thousands from across the country and the world to run a long and difficult race - a race against a time clock, a conversation with mortality, a simple statement of determination; and even on the chilliest of April days, springtime, a time of rebirth and new growth and hope. Patriots' Day is all of this and so much more.

But today, all of that was shattered, replaced by fear, anger, and grief. And yet, there was and is more. At the hospital where I work, everyone wanted to help. Help was sorely needed, but sometimes too many of us were ready to step up to the plate. It was easy to be in the way instead of being helpful. I have no doubt that this scene was repeated all across Boston and beyond. Our immediate response to the pain of this day is to want to help. And it can be difficult to figure out just what to do, where to go, whom to help.

Tonight at sunset began the 21st day of the Omer, the counting of the days from Passover to Shavuot, from redemption to revelation. The mystical symbolism of this day is Malchut she b'Tifereth, Leadership in Compassion. On this particular day, this 21st day of the Omer in the year 5773, of all days, we need to allow our sense of compassion to remain with us and not let it get transformed into fear or anger or guilt or despair. That is the leadership role that each and every one of us can take. If we hold onto our compassion through today and through tomorrow and the next day and the next and on into the future, then we are doing something truly useful in response to this tragedy, then we are helping, no matter how far or how close we are to the scene and the individuals directly involved.

  

It isn't easy to maintain such leadership in compassion, so we need to take care of ourselves, too. We need to know that our own loved ones are, please G!d, safe and healthy. We need to remained connected to the faith and strength and steadiness deep within ourselves. We need to hold ourselves tightly in an eternal embrace. When our hearts threaten to be overwhelmed, let us step out into the darkness of the night to see the Moon and the stars. They are still there. They have not gone away. Their lights still shine forth, from within themselves or reflected from the light of the Sun. 

Let us allow the sight of the Moon and the stars to remind us that there is steadiness in the Universe and that we are being held and loved and supported by something larger and greater than ourselves, by the Source of Strength and Courage and Comfort in the Universe

May the One who makes peace in the heavens, bring peace upon us and upon all the world. May those in need of comfort feel held and embraced, and may each and every one of us find the strength we need to continue to lead the world with compassion.

Days 18 and 19 of the Omer

Friday Night: Endurance in Harmony / Beauty. Day 18 of the Omer, 2 weeks and 4 days. The leaves of this sapling are still clinging tightly to its branches, staying put all through the long cold winter. They still haven't dropped to the ground, and soon the buds will burst open with tiny new green leaves. It is the way of this species. It is the pattern, the harmony, the beauty of it, and something that sets it apart. May we, too, have our own unique endurance, filled with beauty, a personal measure of harmony in our world.

Saturday Night: Hod she B'Tifereth, Humility / Awe / Splendor in Beauty / Compassion. Day 19 of the Omer, 2 weeks and 5 days. When the awesome, wondrous pileated woodpecker, a very large and splendid bird with a bright red cap, starts pounding in the tree, the beauty and wonder of the world are readily apparent. Yet the bird is just going about its business of living. As we go about our business of living, may we, too, inspire awe in the beauty and wonder of the universe, ans may our simple actions express more meaning than is readily apparent. [Note: You can follow every day of the Omer on Instagram at mayantikvah.]

Days 15 of the Omer

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

Loving Kindness in Compassion, Day 15 of Omer, 2 weeks and 1 day. The first of the peas have sprouted! With what loving kindness I planted them, working hard to express my compassion for the Earth in how I set up my garden. The loving kindness and compassion of the Holy One of Blessing is expressed with every seed that sprouts, every flower that blooms, every new creature that comes into being, from tiny bacteria to giant blue whales, loving kindness in compassion multiplied again and again and again in every corner and nook and cranny of the universe.