For an ever expanding list of Parshat Noach resources, click here: http://www.coejl.org/shabbat_noach.php

Come to the first ever Feast on the Farm in Malibu, CA!

The Shalom Institute has recently established Shemesh Organic Farm, which now houses the Marla Bennett Israel Discovery Garden, Pinat Chai Animal Center and our flourishing Veggie Garden. The farms mission is to actively engage the community in deepening their connection to the earth and Judaism through interactive, experiential programming.

On September 19, 2010 at 5:00pm I, Elana Havusha (Adamah Summer 2008) am hosting a Feast on the Farm Fundraiser, with the goal to raise funds for the completion of an outdoor kitchen. With the kitchen we will be able to further farm-to-table education, offer cooking classes and expand our year-round programming.

Mingle with friends and enjoy a delicious organic (home-cooked) dairy dinner outside in the garden. There will be wine & beer, live music and more!

Cost: $25-$75 sliding scale. Give what you can. Scholarships available!

Pay at door (cash or check) or send to:
Elana Havusha
34342 Mulholland Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265

Please make checks out to the Shalom Institute.

RSVP to Elana Havusha: elana@shalominstitute.com

Thank you for your continued support in making our vision a reality.

Friday dinner through Saturday afternoon. Cost: $120.00/person. Cost covers meals and a shared double room in one of our lodges. $60 commuter rate (includes meals). Any faith community that sends three people may send the fourth one free. [Ed: Can we get an Adva Network cohort?] If requested at registration, a limited number of private rooms may be available at an additional cost.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CLICK HERE for the Stony Point Website and registration details.

AGENDA
Friday, Oct 29:

5:00 pm   Registration and refreshments

6:00 pm   Dinner

7:00 pm  Welcome and get to know one another

7:30 pm   Keynote Presentation: “Change for Sustainability: Greening the Operations of Our Faith Communities” (Nikki Coddington, writer and former Executive Director of NYIPL, and Rick Ufford-Chase, Co-Director of SPC)

8:30 pm   Refreshments and conversation (optional)

Saturday, Oct 30:
8:00 am  Breakfast
8:30 am  Morning Prayer in the Christian Tradition (optional) – in the Meditation Space
9:00 am  Workshops – Round One (Choose one: see Workshop Options)

10:30 am   Break
10:45 am   Introduction to Open Space Sessions: (Open Space is designed to allow conference participants to co-create the conversations they want to have — sharing ideas, questions and experiences about energy stewardship with one another.)

11:15 am  Open Space Session One

12:15 pm  Lunch
1:15 pm    Workshops – Round Two (see Workshop Options: first three workshops repeated)

2:45 pm    Break

3:00 pm    Open Space Session Two

4:00 pm    Sharing Open Space Ideas and Next Steps

4:30 pm    Conference Ends

In the UK the original and largest event has become a five-day residential Conference, a festival of learning held on a university campus and attended by close to 2,500 people – which the Jewish Chronicle called the “jewel in the crown of Anglo-Jewry”. This event attracts some 350 presenters annually, between them presenting over 900 sessions on every conceivable topic of Jewish interest.

It has been noted that “every community should have a Limmud” and around the world new Limmuds are adopting their own interpretation each year.

Limmud aims to enable each participant to go one step further on their own Jewish journey. Everyone is a student and everyone can be a teacher. Events feature all educational styles including lectures, workshops, text-study sessions, film, meditation, discussions, exhibits and performances to ensure that there is always ‘something for everyone’. Indeed, the content of a typical Limmud event is as diverse as its participants.

One of the key principles behind Limmud is that we all have something to contribute and can learn from each other. Events are organized by teams almost exclusively made up of volunteers, we treat presenters as part of the community and are rewarded by the opportunity to learn from others and not with honoraria or payments.

Come join us!

Boston:  Oct. 30-31, 2010  www.limmudboston.org

Chicago:  Feb. 20, 2011  www.limmudchicago.org

Colorado:  May 27-30, 2011  www.limmudcolorado.org

Los Angeles:  Global Day of Jewish Learning at the Shalom Institute (visit Elana Havush and the Shemesh Organic Farm):  Feb. 18-21, 2011  www.limmudla.org

New York:  Jan. 14-17, 2011 www.limmudny.org

New Orleans:  May 14-16, 2011 www.limmudfestnola.org

Naomi Tsur, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, will be the keynote speaker at the Green Israel Summit! She heads Jerusalem’s environment, urban-planning and historic-conservation committees. This is only her second year in office, but Naomi already has made significant contributions to Jerusalem’s environment by developing a circuit of city bike paths, limiting private-car use in the Old City and initiating a dialogue with Palestinians about how best to handle waste. This past Tu B’Shvat, her efforts led to an additional 10,000 tress being planted in Jerusalem. Before joining city government, Naomi directed the Jerusalem Branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and gained approval for the preservation of Gazelle Valley, the first urban nature park in Israel. She also founded the Sustainable Jerusalem Coalition, which successfully campaigned to protect the Jerusalem Hills. Naomi speaks about Israel’s environment around the world, and frequently serves as a representative at worldwide conferences, including the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002), the International Healthy City Conference (Belfast, 2003), and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (Capetown, 2006). After the Green Israel Summit, Naomi will be presenting Jerusalem’s track record at the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) in Nagoya, Japan.

Register Today

Register today for Green Israel Summit 4: Green Renewal Shabbat! A limited number of scholarships are available. Green Israel Summit (GIS) 4 is run by the Green Zionist Alliance and co-sponsored by COEJL: The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, the American Zionist Movement and Hazon.

When: Oct. 8-10, 2010

Where: Eden Village Camp, just north of New York City

Cost: Rates vary, first 10 Adva Network registrants receive $100 discount, in matching Adva & GZA scholarship. Early bird deadline ends Sept 22.

MARKY WEINSTOCK: “SONGS FOR DREAMERS” NOW AVAILABLE!

Check out the new children’s album from Teva Learning Center’s own Marky (2001-2002).

If you have kids, love kids or were once a kid yourself, then this album is for you!

You can buy the album or download MP3’s today at…

http://www.maplemusic.com/dept.asp?dept_id=7075

Marky Weinstock is a popular children’s entertainer, award winning songwriter and educator.

He has been performing regularly across the continent and overseas for over a decade.

“Songs for Dreamers” is…

-An album to take you through the day with wake up songs, fun dances, stories & lullabies

-A fun way to promote language and motor development

-Music for children that grown-ups will enjoy too!

We want to spread the word…Please forward this to anyone who might be interested. Thanks!

“I have watched Mark work in a variety of settings, and his warmth and energy are a magnet for children.  He is a kind soul who engages audience members of all ages.”

-Eric Petersiel, Head of School, Leo Baeck Day Schools

“Beautiful songs with meaningful lyrics.” -Ted Kartzman, JamBase San Francisco

Music and tour dates available at…

www.LittleSuperstarsMusic.com, kindrecords@gmail.com

Living Jewishly: A snapshot of a generation, is a collection of personal essays and memoirs from Jewish 20 and 30somethings from across the country – think Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul meets Jewcy.

But in order to share our generation’s story, I need your help!

My name is Stefanie Pervos and I am the founding editor of Oy!Chicago and the associate editor of JUF News in Chicago. I am also a student in the Spertus Institute’s Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Studies program and Living Jewishly: A snapshot of a generation is my final project. My hope is that each piece will be a window into how we express our Judaism and our voices together will tell a complete story. The essays will be framed with an introduction encompassing some of the research I’ve done about what it means to be a Jewish 20 or 30something in America today. As a collection, the essays will appear online, and ultimately, my goal is a published anthology.

If you have something you’ve already written for a publication or blog that you think fits the bill, or you want to write an original piece (700 words minimum) please submit it to me at Stefaniepervos@JUF.org by Oct. 4th. Know someone who would be a great contributor? Feel free to put them in contact with me as well.

All submissions should be sent to StefaniePervos@JUF.org no later than October 4th.

“Wake Up Call” Blog post from COEJL’s Blog, To Till and to Tend 08-26-2010

With all the headaches and pain, the loss of life and livelihoods, and the sheer destruction over the last few months due to environmental disasters, one may actually begin to glean some hope that perhaps now the time has come for us all as Jews and citizens of the world to awaken and realize our immediate actions are needed to improve the state of the global environment, not only for ourselves, but for our future generations. We must ask ourselves, “What kind of future do we want for our children and grandchildren?” We must also ask ourselves,“What kind of world do we want to live in now?” This year even before we hear the shofar blasts, there is a ringing down from the heavens that clearly calls to us to change our ways of living this minute: disastrous oil spills, gigantic deadly floods, tremendous forest fires, remarkable loss of glaciers and habitat, widespread droughts, and the highest global temperatures ever in planetary history are shouting out their voices. This should be our wake up call. This should be the time we, the Jewish people – the chosen people – seek Tikkun Olam, the correction of the world, for ourselves and for our children.

The coming High Holy Days provide time for reflection of who we are, what we have done in our lives, how we treat others, and a means to seek forgiveness for our actions. Perhaps this year we will also consider our impact on the well-being of the planet in our personal deliberations to be forgiven and inscribed in the book of life. Perhaps this year we will also consider how we will provide a safe, healthy environment for our families and the future generations. Perhaps this year the shofar will indeed wake us from our slumber so that we, the Jewish people, may embody the task given us by God to be the light unto nations.

Let’s Start Here

Rabbis Across Spectrum Energize Communities Environmentally for High Holy Days. On August 9th, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) convened a national conversation involving rabbis from five Jewish religious streams – Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Renewal – discussing Jewish environmental resources and sermon materials for the High Holy Days and parshat Noach. COEJL has created a collection of resources from the call for distribution to all rabbinic leaders and communities as part of its broader Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign (www.coejl.org/covenant).  The full resource sheet is available at: http://www.coejl.org/TISHREI_5771.pdf. Go to www.coejl.org for more information and resources.

‘Big-Picture Eco-Judiasm’ – or, ‘What I Did on (One Day of) Summer Vacation’
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb delivered a beautiful and uplifting dvar at a recent COEJL Governance meeting, on August 11th, 2010. Below is an excerpt. Click here for the full text.

“Sunrise is always a ‘spiritual’ moment.  It is somewhat richer since I have the liturgical language of the “Yotzeir Ohr” blessing for it – but “wow,” or for that matter awed silence, also [does] the trick quite well.  (It happens that even my experience of “wow” is deeper since I have A.J. Heschel’s language of “radical amazement” for it, though the experience itself remains more powerful even than his rich description of it).  Many folks in my orbit know “Yotzeir Ohr”; many don’t.  Yet all know “wow,” all know stunned stillness.  In our Jewish environmental and educational efforts, we must do more to touch the folks who don’t know from Yotzeir or from Heschel, but do know from some aspect of our wide-ranging Jewish civilization”…

“…What we too often fall back on — a few texts shared around an indoor table with folks from the vaunted minority which is already plugged into some facet of our work and our network – may be helpful and even uplifting, but it won’t break us out.  Our recent past has been spent in a relative cloister, mostly within established institution, reaching “institutionalized Jews.”  But the whole Jewish world (kol ha’olam kulo, the whole world, actually) needs what we of COEJL have to offer.  And we are uniquely positioned to bring it not only to the decision-makers within the organized Jewish community, but also to the many influential Jews outside of the ‘four cubits’ of the agency world.”

Help for Pakistan
One fifth of the entire land mass of Pakistan is  under water, which according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, (UN.org) comprises at least 160,000 square kilometers and is an area larger than more than half the countries of the world. According to government estimates, 15.4 million people are affected, with at least 6 million in need of food, shelter, clean water and health care and 1,600 confirmed dead. Secretary-General Ban has stated, “That is more than the entire population hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Kashmir earthquake, Cyclone Nargis and the earthquake in Haiti, combined.” Climatologists are now openly saying that this devastating flooding is likely the worst natural disaster to date attributable to climate change. Express your Jewish voice on climate change by joining COEJL’s Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign www.coejl.org/covenant , and by contributing relief support for Pakistani flood victims via the websites of the American Jewish World Service and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

BP Gulf Disaster – Day 128
Debate continues over a controversial government report regarding the long-term effects of the BP Gulf Disaster and how much oil is still in the ocean.  The report claimed that 3/4 of the oil “evaporated or dissolved” but other scientific research teams claim that the numbers were greatly exaggerated.  (NY Times) Just last week, Representative Ed Markey (MA) held a rare August recess hearing about the report.  Bill Lehr, a top NOAA scientist, said the report was not peer-reviewed and that in fact about 3/4 of the oil is still in the environment. (Mother Jones) Charles Hopkinson, Director of Georgia Sea Grant, said “One major misconception is that oil (that) has dissolved into water is gone, and therefore, harmless.  The oil is still out there, and it will likely take years to completely degrade.” (Politico) An oceanographer from Florida State University used satellite imagery to measure oil slicks and found that only 10% of the oil has actually been removed from the ocean. (Wall Street Journal) Meanwhile, new evidence shows that a 22-mile-long (35-kilometer-long), 650-foot-high (200-meter-high) pocket of oil has persisted for months at depths of 3,600 feet (1,100 meters), according to a team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts. (National Geographic) For the latest on the BP claims process, click here: MSNBC

1Sky Open Policy Letter
On August 6th, “The Skywriter” 1Sky.org’s blog posted “An open letter to all people and organizations working to combat global warming.” It is an open policy letter that explains where we are as an environmental movement, why we have not been able to succeed according to our goals thus far, and what we need to do to move forward towards success. http://www.1sky.org/openletter

Arava Institute for Environmental Studies “With Earth and Each Other: A Virtual Rally for a Better Middle East,”
On November 14th, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies based at Kibbutz Ketura (www.arava.org) is hosting “With Earth and Each Other: A Virtual Rally for a Better Middle East,” with top speakers and performers, celebrating AIES’s groundbreaking work and its larger commitment to both ecological and communal coexistence.  Visit  www.withearthandeachother.org for more information.

She seeks partnership and performance opportunities that will further the various causes she stands for. Currently booking workshops, festivals, clubs, multi-media interactive educational concerts, shabbatons, services, conferences, parties and classroom programing

Contact information:

RakiaShemaya@gmail.com

myspace.com/rakiahiphop

Facebook.com/RakiaShemaya

The SFJ blog is looking to expand a bit and also focus on sustainable food academic opportunities currently available in higher education – specifically bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. programs in the United States.  We are also considering compiling information on current sustainable food research projects being conducted by professors in higher education.  If you are aware of or currently work for a sustainable food specific degree program in the United States, please e-mail us! As usual, sustainablefoodjobs@gmail.com.