The annual Maryland Legislative Environmental Summit was held yesterday in Annapolis. Hundreds of people, really, a lot, (I’m waiting for the official count) packed into the Miller Senate Building to hear activists, elected officials, and me (!) make brief (5 minute) talks as this year’s legislative session kicks off. It was an honor to be a voice from “the… read more

In Genesis 1, on the sixth day, God creates man and woman after having created all the rest of Planet Earth. In a gracious effort to provide some guidance, some instruction to these bewildered, befuddled neophytes on how this novelty of life could possibly work, God says, “Look around. All this grandeur is there for you.”   28 God… read more

While the philosophers and rabbis of old lost themselves in labyrinths of logic like: “Can we have free will if there is an All-Knowing God,” mothers of old (or so I imagine) struggled with the very real question: “How can I raise my child to reach for excellence but be content with their best?” That is, how can we,… read more

We are deep into the season’s darkness, hurtling toward the shortest day of the year. Our days will continue to shorten and our nights will continue to lengthen until the welcome solstice (Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 12:30 AM here in Baltimore). Then, the sun will cease its southern recession, pause and begin its northern trek again. On that… read more

(This is my column, written for the Bay Journal News Service, that appeared in the Baltimore Sun earlier this week:) Ever since Adam and Eve took a bite of the apple, we have been haunted by Desire, that shape-shifting seducer who promises us beauty, understanding and fulfillment if only we chase after More. On the one hand, that is… read more

There is a wonderful teaching in the Jerusalem Talmud which reads: “Rabbi Yohanan, speaking on behalf of Rabbi Yossi, says:  ‘Just as they (the other rabbis) believe that civilization depends on cisterns, so I believe that civilization depends on trees.’” The work of blending civilization and nature has always been a challenge. In this “man vs nature” tug of… read more

You would hardly know that in Durban, many of 194 party members of the United Nations Framework for Climate Change are meeting for the 17th COP (Conference of the Parties) to continue to explore how to save the planet from itself. This is the group that brought us the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 which sought to limit the amount… read more

The Maryland Chapter of the American Jewish Congress is developing a Green and Just Celebrations Guide for the Jewish community of Baltimore. Inspired by a guide of the same name published by Jews United for Justice in Washington, DC, it will be available (fall 2012) through synagogues and on the web, designed to make events and celebrations environmentally friendly,… read more

I love Thanksgiving, perhaps because it is so different from Judaism’s standard, classical, biblical holidays. All our pilgrimage holidays, for example, happen away from home, toward home, longing for home. They teach us how to create a sense of place, of pride, of belonging in the midst of wandering and dislocation. They teach us how to be centered in… read more

In the mid-19th century, Calvert Vaux created the iconic images of the American urban landscape, including the grounds at the White House, the Smithsonian Institute and (with his newly hired young recruit, Frederick Law Olmsted) Central Park. Though Vaux started in landscape design, he later moved into designing buildings and homes that would occupy these landscapes. A populist of… read more