Tag Archives | animal welfare

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What’s On Your Plate? Resources to support better food choices

  Dear green teams, leaders, provokers of thought and change! The compilation below is aimed to help you push for healthier and more sustainable nourishment in your communities and institutions. It is intended for all Jewish institutions, organizations, congregations and households. If these resources are helpful to you we’d love to hear about it at seal@hazon.org. AND, if you have a green team in your community/organization and/or are already working on making it healthier and more sustainable, submit your application to the Hazon Seal program and we will keep you updated once we are ready to accept new site. We wish you and our earth a better, healthier future!   Get funding for your first ever vegan event As we continue to encourage plant-based menus, this may help you kick things off. Let your tastebuds guide you with this awesome opportunity from the Food for Thought campaign.   Jewish Text Sources on Food Hazon’s guide ‘Food For Thought’ is an oldie but a goodie. It features Jewish sources regarding our relationship to the food we consume. It is designed to encourage readers to think critically about the food that they eat and how their food choices affect the health of […]

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Rosh Chodesh Elul: Jewish New Year for Animals

This post was written by Aharon Varady, of OpenSiddur.org, in honor of the ancient tradition of a Jewish New Year for Animals, which was counted on the new moon of Elul. As we are nearing Rosh Hashana 2013 (5774)- one year away from the next Shmita- this is an opportunity to begin thinking of an aspect of Shmita that is somewhat overlooked: the way Shmita informs and directs our human relationships with animals, both domesticated and wild. Read on for more about the Rosh Hashana La’Beheimot (New Year for Animals):  Judaism has a New Years festival for animals. I’ll repeat: Judaism has a NEW YEARS FESTIVAL FOR ANIMALS! When I first learned this, in 5th grade, studying the Mishna, I was floored. Really? I had just learned that Judaism had a New Years festival for Trees. A universal day of healing for the Tree of Life, Tu Bishvat, a former tithing day for dedicating first fruit offerings to the Temple, had been recovered by Jewish mystics 1500 years after the destruction of our Temple. Jews, especially the historic rabbis I admired, were creative thinkers, lovers and poets, like Rabbi Moshe Cordovero who in 1588 wrote in his work the Palm […]

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