Beth El Blog

10 Elul: The earth is crying

The Earth is crying fretful as a newborn, she wails of hunger, of soiled limbs, and I hear her as I toss and turn at night.

She demands my attention by day, each one hotter than the last, skin of dirt and lips both cracking with what we’ve cooked up, … Read the rest

9 Elul: Rare and Precious

trees are rare and precious, none seen elsewhere in the known universe our predecessors slinked out of the water to make new life on land I shed 10 sextillion atoms with every breath

then they become you

we are all fish, after all the boundaries between living things, a mirage … Read the rest

8 Elul: Teshuvah Through Stewardship

We are almost born into the idea that we “own” things.  As infants or toddlers, beware of competing for possession of our blankies or stuffed animals! Growing older comes with more extensive possessions, clothing, electronics, collectibles. Adulthood enables us to add to what we “own,” cars, homes, property, businesses, and … Read the rest

7 Elul: How Do You Repent?

Pollution is Colonialism by Max Liboiron confines its scope to plastic pollution, but much of what it says is applicable to other forms of pollution. It is also informative about how to approach teshuva.

Liboiron (Red River Metis) runs the Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR) at Memorial … Read the rest

6 Elul: Grounding Ourselves In Nature

At AJR’s fall retreat, I attended sessions with Rabbi Bronwen Mullin, and she shared the concept of “grounding,” which means having contact with the earth–dirt and grass–against our bare skin. It makes sense. Thirty-five years ago, as a nursing mother, I was told to hold my son against my breast … Read the rest

5 Elul: The Stones of the Sacred: An Earth Etude for Elul

אבני קדש

מאת הרב לואיס פוליסון נכתב לאחר ביקור במרכז ריטריטים ע׳׳ש איזבלה פרידמן, קונטיקט, ארצות ילידיים של שבטי סקאטיקוק ומוהיקן י״ט–כ״א בְּאָב תשפ״ה

תִּשְׁתַּפֵּכְנָה אַבְנֵי־קֹדֶשׁ בראש כל לב

אבני קודש הם גם יכולים להיות יסודות מתקנים וממתיקים את שבירת הכלים שברית הלב אין משהו יותר שלם

סימנים מגלים את … Read the rest

4 Elul: Turn to the Soil, Turn to the Soil Again, for Everything is in It

I have loved writing these etudes over the years. I just looked back and saw my first one was in 2013. That makes this my b’mitzvah year. So I’m going back to that first post, reviewing and renewing. At that time, I was growing a food forest in the Chicago … Read the rest

3 Elul: Earth Etude for Elul

I live on the prairie. Not a desert. And yet I have spent the summer thinking about water. I live on a lake.  Ok, it’s a retaining pond.

It’s beautiful. We watch all kinds of birds: herons, egrets, sandhill cranes, ducks, and too many geese.

Our little lake has shrunk. … Read the rest

2 Elul: Sage in Elul

I learned to make sage tea

from a friend whose hands know land-how to gather what grows between stones,

how to dry leaves with care,how to boil water without hurry.He said:Add the sage during the boil.Add sugar.Add more sugar, if the day’s been cruel.And wait. Let it … Read the rest

1 Elul: The Trees of Our Ancestors

The ancestors of our ancestors knew to set their tents in sacred groves of teaching trees, to draw near to the tree of weeping and the tree of judgment, to hold tightly to the tree of life.

They knew that before new growth can occur, … Read the rest