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environmental

Everything is easier than doing good

Some thoughts for Rosh Hashanah: If we took a vote on what trait we human beings most value, goodness would undoubtedly win. Certainly goodness is the trait that we most want everyone else to possess. But if we say we value goodness above everything else — and surely Judaism does — why aren\’t there more good people? A big reason is that it is easier to value other things — including, and especially, positive things — more than goodness. So it\’s much easier to be just about anything rather than good. It’s easier to be religious than to be good.

Books: Bird-watching and ‘the Jewish question’

No doubt because I once worked at a Jewish newspaper and have written a novel about a woman rabbi — not to mention a work of nonfiction called \”The Talmud and the Internet\” — I am sometimes asked if my new book about bird-watching, \”The Life of the Skies,\” is a Jewish book.

Renewal seeks consistency in its rabbinical training

Often derided or acclaimed as \”New Age Judaism,\” Renewal focuses on environmentalism and direct spiritual connection to the Divine. It\’s part of the burgeoning world of transdenominational Judaism — the growing number of synagogues, rabbis and prayer groups that eschew affiliation with a Jewish stream.

A Festival of Lights — lite

COEJL\’s Web site describes its three-pronged approach of \”engaging the Jewish community in awareness, advocacy and concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy conservation and sustainable legislation,\” in order to \”change how American Jewry responds to … daunting environmental problems.\”

Water and pumpkins mark eco-friendly Sukkot

True Joy Through Water, a new outreach program created by Canfei Nesharim (\”the wings of eagles\”), an Orthodox environmental organization, it\’s designed to educate about the importance of water, its imperiled state and ways to conserve it.

Skateboard Creator Builds Business on Performance

Skateboarding runs in the Tashman family, although not on the paternal side. His mother, who also grew up religious, skateboarded when she was a kid. She was sponsored by a local Velcro company. \”She took her old roller skates and nailed them to a two-by-four for her first skateboards,\” Tashman said. Since he was 3 years old, \”she would attach me to my skateboard and pull me down hills and our neighbor\’s empty swimming pool,\” he said. \”She always wanted me to be a cantor, though.\”

Parent Wins School Pesticide Battle

A new law that bans that use of experimental pesticides in schools is the latest achievement of Robina Suwol, a Jewish anti-pesticide activist.

Wake Up and Smell the Fish

\”Fish prices have tripled; fish form a significant part of our diet,\” Diamond told The Journal. \”At the rate we\’re going, most of the world\’s major fisheries will be gone within a decade.\”

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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.