To Till and to Tend

Today marks a rare moment in time – one that no one alive will experience again.  It is the 14^th of Nissan, the eve of Passover, a full moon, all of which represent the beginning of spring and the renewal of life.  The 14^th of Nissan comes around every year.

Today is also the day we celebrate the return of the sun to its place in the heavens at the precise time of creation – Birkat HaHammah, Blessing of the Sun. On Birkat HaHammah, we set aside time to appreciate the gift of the Sun and all life that comes from its energy.  This day happens once every 28 years.

Tradition states that the confluence of these dates, this particular arrangement of the cosmos, has happened only twice before: first, when the Israelites emerged from the bondage of Egypt to become a People; second, when they were saved from the evils of persecution under Haman.

On this day of celebrating new beginnings, beginnings of natural life cycles, solar capabilities and the Jewish people, I, too, celebrate a new beginning. 

Over the past two and a half years I have had the honor and privilege of journeying with the Jewish community as we seek to become true stewards of the Earth working to fix the world we have been destroying.  Though I continue on this personal and communal journey of sustainability, I will no longer be doing so with COEJL. 

This morning I had the privilege of waking up at dawn to watch the sun rise above the Long Island Sound, and for the first time in my life recite two blessings, neither of which is unique, but together, marked an extraordinary powers and potential of the day.

For Birkat HaHammah (and natural wonders like lightning and grand vistas) we say:

Blessed are you, Eternal our God, Source of the Universe, who does the works of creation (also can be translated as beginnings) – oseh ma-aseh bereishit.

For the wonders of this moment (and any firsts) we say:

Blessed are you, Eternal our God, Source of the Universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this sacred moment – shehechiyanu, v’kiemanu, v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.

This morning, these blessings were filled with the moment, thoughts of the past years at COEJL and the hopes of the years to come. I thank each of you for journeying with me on this mission and sustaining me in this sacred work. The wonders of this world are the constant moments of renewal and birth. Today, Jewish tradition encourages us to celebrate this with the hopes of spring and the renewable energies of the sun. May all of our beginnings commence with the powers of this day.   

Birkat HaHammah is a once-every-28 years event where the Jewish community celebrates the return of the sun to its original place in the heavens at the precise time and day of its creation.  It is occurring April 8, 2009 – the morning of Erev Pesach.  COEJL has created a Birkat HaHammah resource that we hope you find useful – www.BlesstheSun.org.  It is also a wiki, which means you can contribute to it – please do (and you if you have trouble, contact me at Liore@coejl.org).  The information available is vast, so I wanted to point out some exceptional resources:

 - A local events listing, where you can post your community Birkat HaHammah event

 - A video meditation/song put to solar images that can be used for teaching or contemplation

 - Ways  to connect Pesach with Birkat HaHammah (this overlapping will not occur for hundreds of  years)

 - Ceremonial Materials – ranging from traditional to an energy/environment focus

This post was originally written on jewschool.com by BZ, Tuesday March 17th, 2009

Birkat ha-chamah (the once-in-28-years blessing on the sun) is just a few weeks away! See this post for a refresher on why it’s every 28 years. The blessing will be said on Wednesday, April 8, at sunrise. (Yes, due to a freak collision between the lunar and solar calendars, that’s Erev Pesach.)

There’s a lot going on in preparation for this historic occasion. COEJL is leading the charge to make birkat ha-chamah an opportunity to raise awareness about solar energy, and has set up a website, blessthesun.org, filled with links to various birkat ha-chamah resources. The Conservative movement has published Masechet Ha-chamah, “the tractate of the sun”, a collection of rabbinic texts related to the sun (suitable for a siyyum for the Fast of the Firstborn) compiled by Abe Friedman, along with a study guide by Jill Levy.

Where will you be on the morning of April 8? There is an event listing starting to form, though it’s limited so far: there are five events listed for that morning, in New York (burning chameitz with the concentrated light of the sun!), Winston-Salem NC, Cleveland, Wyncote PA, and Tzfat. If something is going on in your community, whether it’s an all-out sun festival or whether you’re just saying the berachah at the end of morning minyan, please add it to the list. (This is a wiki, which any registered user can edit.) This would be particularly useful because, due to Pesach travel, many people will be away from their homes on that morning, and therefore many potential participants in your event (who are visiting your city from elsewhere) won’t know about it if you only announce it on local lists.

If your city isn’t listed there and you haven’t heard about anything going on, it’s also possible that no one has organized anything yet. (I imagine that many communities have decided to sit this one out due to Pesach craziness. This might also be an issue in 28 years, when birkat hachamah is on the morning after Pesach ends, for those who observe 8 days. May we all merit to see April 8, 2065, the next time birkat hachamah will be a safe distance from Pesach.) This means that you are authorized and encouraged to organize something yourself, and then let everyone know about it! If your community is already doing something for the Fast of the Firstborn and/or the burning of chameitz, then piggybacking on that might make things easier, or if you know a beautiful place to watch the sunrise, that’s great too! Please keep everyone updated.

Topsy-turvy.  Today, we dress up in costume, eat hamantaschen, drink wine and do that which makes us merry.  While listening to the chanting of Megilat Esther, I searched for some wise eco-words that I could share here.  I got nothin’.  Absolutely nothin’. 

But, just because there is no moral in the Purim story to encourage environmental stewardship – gluttony just doesn’t work with the standard eco-themes – doesn’t mean that we can’t infuse the holiday with lessons from the rest of our lives. 

• Mishloach Manot / Purim Gift Baskets: Canfei Nesharim, an incredible organization that works to bring environmental awareness and action to the Orthodox community, offers eco-mishloach manot.  There is even one that focuses on the upcoming Birkat HaHammah celebration. 
• Go organic and/or local: From fruit fillings (I use dried fruit, myself) to wine, one can fill their Purim table with edibles that are good for the Earth and delicious to the taste buds.
• Recycled costumes:  One could go out to the store to buy a costume… Or, you could be creative with clothes that you have, run into a second-hand store or even rent-a-costume.

Purim Sameach!  Hope you each had a wonderful, celebratory Purim.

Maybe it’s the cupids and heart cut-outs still adorning every storefront.  Maybe it’s the full realization that my darker-than-most-Ashkenazi-Jew skin is really not so dark right now.  Or, it could be the wonder that today I walked all the way to the subway in the morning and to the bakery this afternoon with powerful sun rays pouring down on me!  You see, I like to walk down the sunny side of the street, but during the winter, that’s no easy feat.  

Since December 21^st, the sun has been shining down on the northern hemisphere for a little bit longer every day.  The Winter Solstice, which is commonly noted as being the shortest day of the year, also marks the point at which the sun is lowest in the horizon. 

The changes are often subtle, but bit by bit, day by day, sunshine appears where it had been missing for months.  I thrive in these changes.  You see, my NYC apartment faces due south – aka has incredible sun exposure… except in the deepest of winter when the sun has trouble reaching over the short building across the street.  But a few weeks ago, on a Shabbat afternoon, while reading on my couch (with plenty of indirect light coming through), I was hit with this powerful, direct sunbeam.  That first day, the sun only peaked above the building for a short visit.  As the weeks have passed, I can now fall asleep in that light, and wake up some time later in it, too.

My excitement of the sun is not all that unique.  From the Egyptians god, Ra – to modern day sun-worshipers (see picture of Tel Aviv beach) – praising the sun has been around for millennia. But in a Jewish context?

Once every 28 years, Jews have the chance to take a step back from their daily routine and Jewishly bless the sun.  We call the event Birkat HaHammah – Blessing of the Sun. On April 8, Jews across the world will be celebrating the sun and its wonders.  There is a lot to appreciate – sunlight, food (which grows by photosynthesis) and energy (nearly every kind).  Though this year marks the 206^th cycle of the sun, it seems the sun is peaking in popularity: from the steady increase of farmer’s markets to the various forms of solar energy, it is an exciting time to bless the sun

Communities are just beginning to plan their Birkat HaHammah celebration.  As you do, please share your event on the wiki Local Events page.

Trees are the symbol of the Garden of Eden, the Paradise of creation. Among all the deeds that God did to bring forth life in Eden, we are explicitly told that God planted a garden there and the trees that grew there. But these weren’t just any trees. God planted fruit trees.

In Deuteronomy 20, we are told that Israelites laying siege to a city may not cut down trees to aid in their siege. But this injunction is not about just any trees. It expressly forbids the cutting of fruit trees. While this verse is taken as the founding law that has spawned an extensive legal category forbidding wanton destruction, we may also learn one other fundamental principle from it.

We may not destroy one Paradise to win another. No matter how attractive or compelling the city that we wish to occupy appears, no matter how compelling or attractive a world we wish to create seems to us in our imagination, we cannot and must not destroy the paradise that is before us for a chimera that plays within our mind. For in truth, when finally won or purchased or created, this chimera will sooner or later bore us or disappoint us, and we will ache to be off on another adventure, another siege, another conquest, another destruction.

The constancy of the fruit trees tells us that we can only build a future paradise in the midst of our present paradise. Else it can’t be built at all.  

I wrote this piece last week, but it seemed appropriate to put it up today.  I will still add more tomorrow.

Tu B’Shvat, the 15^th of Shvat, the Holiday of the Trees, begins Sundown on Sunday, February 8.  It is remarkable that the rabbis, centuries ago, constructed a Jewish holiday centered on environmental sensitivities.  In Israel, the almond trees are beginning to blossom and around the world Jews seek ways to connect to the bounty of the land.  For some, that may mean eating as many different species of fruit as possible – tradition suggests 15, with preference going to Israel’s 7 species, almonds and carobs; for some it will be planting trees; for some it may be attending a Tu B’Shvat seder.

For me, it will be spending time with my brother in Park City, Utah (the world is too exciting to stay at home – I buy offsets).  I may host a Tu B’Shvat focused meal on the following Shabbat; I may begin to delve into the rich texts of Massekhet HaHammah; I may watch whatever movie is playing at the local arts theater and ski the next morning. 

I ask openly, what is a Jewish environmentalist to do on Tu B’Shvat? (The question is obviously extended to: what is an environmentalist to do on Earth Day?)

If, in fact the Jewish environmental movement has succeeded to support a network of individuals for whom every day is Tu B’Shvat, then does the obligation of tradition still hold?

I have some answers, but today I prefer to end with a question.  Though, I do promise to come back on Tuesday to share with you all how I ended up celebrating Tu B’Shvat, 5769. 

This coming Monday is the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, known as Tu B’shvat, the “new year of the trees.” This is based on the following mishnah:

There are four New Years days: the first of Nisan is the New Year for reckoning the reigns of kings and the feasts; the first of Elul is the New Year for the tithe of the cattle; the first of Tishrei is the New Year for reckoning of the years and taking stock of human lives; the first of Shevat is the New Year for the fruit trees. That is according to the school of Shammai; the school of Hillel says on the 15th of Shevat.”- Mishnah Rosh Hashanah

The mystics of Safed developed a seder for Tu B’shvat; like other places in the Jewish tradition where the framework is there but the halakhic demands are not too developed, the Tu B’shvat seder has been reclaimed and repurposed in recent years as opportunity to put an awareness of the natural world around us into a religious context, and also to remind ourselves of the damage we can and do do to the world and the steps we can take to change it. After all, tikkun olam of course literally means “repair of the world.”

Many resources for Tu B’shvat seders are available on the internet: a good overview from Shomrei Adamah is found on the COEJL website here, and in fact there are numerous Tu B’shvat programs on the program bank section of the COEJL website – click here and scroll down to T.

The frame of it is that there are four cups of wine/grape juice, as on Pesah – each cup corresponding to one of the “four worlds” of kabbalistic thought. Fruits and nuts that correspond to the “world” being spoken of are eaten, and readings and songs and crafts are included to fill the thing out and give it a festive air.  But it’s also an opportunity to reflect on our commitment to environmental action, beginning with an honest and current accounting of where we are today. 

The first “world” is assiyah – the “physical, everyday world that we live in, the world of earth.” The environmental message of this could be the profligate use of the earth’s natural resources – oil, coal and others – and the reliance on landfills to get rid of so much of the waste that we generate with our rather profligate lifestyles and the way we have arranged our society and our economy.

The second world is yetzirah, “the world of water.” Water, of course, is about the most necessary thing for human survival, yet we waste it terribly – particularly in rich countries. I think of Phoenix, with its desert climate but its myriad resource-intensive golf courses. I think of how it is illegal to reuse rainwater in Colorado without a permit. I think of the shrinking water resources around the world and how some experts are saying that water is one of the resources (along with oil, of course) that may cause wars in the next century. I think about how development and climate change are affecting the coral reefs along our shores, and how the damage may be irreversible if we don’t make serious changes now.

The third world is briyah, “the world of air.” Another of the things most necessary for human survival. This year I’m thinking about the increase in asthma rates, both in America and worldwide

Currently, experts are struggling to understand why the number of asthma sufferers is rising by an average of 50 percent every decade worldwide. In the United States alone, according to the WHO, the number of asthmatics has leapt by over 60 percent since the early 1980s.

and its environmental causes

In recent years, scientists have shown that air pollution from cars, factories and power plants is a major cause of asthma attacks. And more than 159 million Americans — over half the nation’s population — live in areas with bad air. A research study published in 2002 estimated that 30 percent of childhood asthma is due to environmental exposures, costing the nation $2 billion per year. And studies also suggest that air pollution may contribute to the development of asthma in previously healthy people.

and how the way we behave, the way we heat our homes and power our cars and all the actions we take, how these affects our lives, the lives of our children, and the lives of people all over the world who’s fates we never even consider.

And the fourth world is atzilut, the world of fire. Not represented by any food, this world is symbolic of perfection, of the spirit, of God. This is an opportunity to think of the godliness we experience through nature – of the natural world as an expression of holiness, of God’s creativity. I’m not that outdoorsy a person, but I have been blessed many times to feel such a great sense of holiness in a beautiful natural setting.

As the liturgy says, “milo kol ha’aretz k’vodo” – “the whole world is filled with God’s glory.” It’s up to us to help keep it that way. If our Tu B’shvat practice can in any way reinforce our ability and our willingness to do that, then it is a valuable practice indeed.

I’m sure we have all been invited to those holiday parties in which we are asked to give a gift for a grab bag of Hanukkah Harry (aka Secret Santa). The gift grab bag idea is a good one, as every person gets a gift without having to buy more than one. However, this good idea has been made great. Meet the White Elephant. A White Elephant gift is an item that the gifter already owns. Though I know this is not a new concept, last week was my first experience with the idea.

This past holiday season, I went to a holiday party in which guests were asked to bring a wrapped present for a White Elephant gift bag. I spent the days prior searching around my apartment for something that I don’t need and would still make a great gift. I tend to hold onto things…so there were lots of options. Picture frames, random memorabilia from travels and school and good old chatchkas.  I narrowed down the options by asking myself, what can I give to both a boy and a girl that I have not used in at least a month? I looked in my fridge and found my gift – wine that I had yet to drink.  After all, what’s more appropriate for a White Elephant gift than a re-gift? That night I went to my party with jelly donuts and white elephant gift in hand. We all exchanged our gift and got a good laugh out of them. Humorously I actually received a stuffed white elephant!  

I left the party with a stuffed white elephant and an inspiring lesson.  I really liked that idea and kept the theme going when I was trying to think of a gift to give to my best friend. She has always expressed a love for these Under Armor pants that I owned. I hadn’t worn them in nearly a year and decided they would be perfect for her. After a good laugh, she was thrilled by the gift.  This Chanukah I learned a good lesson about gift-giving.  Besides for the fact that it may be a perfect gift, a white elephant/re-gift is a great way to reduce consumption and increase happiness.