Arthur Waskow’s Posts

• Passover as if the earth matters

  A call to action: Street Speakout Seders 0

  Posted 1 year, 8 months ago

  The traditional Passover Haggadah teaches that in every generation, some Pharaoh will arise in destruction, and that in every generation, every human being -- not just every Jew -- must look upon herself or himself as if it is we -- not our ancestors only -- who must go forth to freedom. In this generation, what Pharaoh do we face, and what freedom must we seek?

   

• The Power of Eight

  This Hanukkah, make time to reflect on climate and conservation 0

  Posted 1 year, 11 months ago

  There are three levels of wisdom through which Hanukkah invites us to address the planetary dangers of the global climate crisis -- what some of us call "global scorching" because "warming" seems so pleasant, so comforting.

  

  Light a candle, heal the earth.

  Photo: iStockphoto

  We can encode these three teachings into actions we take to heal the earth, each of the eight days.

  1. The Talmud's legend that for the Maccabees to rededicate the Temple desecrated by the Seleucid Empire, it took only one day's oil to meet eight days' needs: a reminder… Read More

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Arthur Waskow’s Recent Comments

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  Eco-kosher

  It is gratifying that the Washington Post and Grist  reported the growing movement in the Jewish community for "eco-kosher" practice, taking ethical and environmental concerns into account in assessing what is proper to consume. ("Eco-Kosher Movement Aims To Heed Tradition, Conscience," WP July 7, 2007, Page A01).

  But the word and  its practice, as it was defined by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in the mid-'70s and given much broader currency in the Jewish community by my book Down-to-Earth Judaism in 1995, was about issues of consumption far broader than the arena of food to which your report confined it.

  The code of kosher food emerged in a pastoral-agrarian society, defining a sacred relationship with the earth through food.

  So in a society that consumes coal, oil, uranium, and plastics, the sacred relationship with earth must be far broader:  Is electricity from a nuclear power plant eco-kosher? Is the use of a Hummer, spewing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere of an already endangered planet, eco-kosher?

  Seen this way, "eco-kosher" is an issue not for food alone, but for consumption generally, and not for Jews alone but for all religious and ethical communities.

  Shalom,
  Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director
  The Shalom Center
   <http://www.shalomctr.org>
  On Welcome Back, Kosher posted 1 year, 11 months ago 3 Responses

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  Norway's global-scorching windfall

  Just wait till the Gulf Stream cools off from all that melting North Atlantic ice, and Northern Europe's  temperature drops.  Then Norway, along with the rest of Europe, may realize that the present govt and corporate leadership of the US has declared war on Europe, with its chosen Weapon of Mass Destruction being carbon dioxide.

  Shalom,
  Rabbi Arthur Waskow
  Awaskow@shalomctr.org
  The Shalom Center
  www.shalomctr.orgOn The Climate Changed and All Norway Got Was Everything posted 2 years, 3 months ago 2 Responses