Friends, I received this alert from our District 11 representatives concerning an expansion of a local gas pipeline through our neighborhoods and protected land. The Falls River Community Association has more information on their cite; and they are working on organizing local community opposition. Check out their link as well. May 4, 2012 Urgent Alert - Columbia Gas Proposing… read more

What better way to cleanse your house and your spirit than by getting rid of old things - and doing it the right way! BJEN held the Jewish community’s first electronic recycling event three years ago. Since then, we have helped safely recycled literally tons - mountains! - of materials that have now become part of our culture’s technological… read more

Below is the talk I had the privilege of delivering today at the Maryland Presbyterian Church on Providence Road, in honor of Earth Day. Hope you all are celebrating - the earth is, with all this wonderful rain. “Midrash” is the ancient rabbinic technique of taking tantalizing verses in the Bible and creatively unfolding and reshaping them, tucking them… read more

We often hear that hametz - the puffed up, leavened food that we banish from our homes on Passover - represents the less attractive parts of being, our puffed up egos that slowly bloat the boundaries of self and ooze onto the protected space of others. Or the encrusted coating of pride or psychological armor that builds up over… read more

Passover is when the rain stops. It is the close of winter in the Mediterranean climate of Israel, the end of the wet season, and the time when we usher in the summer. It is the time our prayers shift from gratitude for the seasonal bursts of rain to the appreciation of the miraculous morning dew. It seems like… read more

Right on time, the peepers have returned. They greeted me after megillah reading last night, singing their chorus of longing into the soft, warm March air. Well, one did at any rate. It was, as usual, a lonesome call of an avant-garde male, out before the rest, desperately hoping that at least one of the pond’s she-frogs has emerged… read more

If you want an overview of some major developments and players in the field of climate change and the Jewish community, take a look at this article posted by the Yale Forum on Climate Change.” title=“this article”>this article posted by the Yale Forum on Climate Change. read more

Once upon a time, we knew, deep inside, the magic of fruit trees. The trees of life and the knowledge of good and evil in the Book of Genesis were not pine or poplar or cypress. They were fruit trees. The dove did not bring back an ash leaf or elm bough but an olive branch. The laws of… read more

I went to the first Siach conference (see below) last summer. It was an amazing opportunity to meet fellow activists all along the religious and social justice/environmental spectrum. It is premised on created a world-wide conversation, and new, unexpected synergies to make things happen. This summer, it is in Israel If you are interested, check out the information below.… read more

When my son moved to NYC last summer, he took the furniture from his DC-sized area apartment to his Manhattan-sized apartment. And - unfortunately - discovered that it didn’t all fit. So, like the native New Yorker he is,  he put the excess furniture out on the curb. Three hours later, it was gone. I had earlier seen a… read more