Ḥoni's Circle Tamar Libicki and Rabbi Paula Rose

In this week’s episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from Vayikra Rabbah, that features a parable told by R’ Shimon bar Yochai about a sailor drilling a hole in a boat, and being challenged by his friends. The parable goes to show the effect that our actions have on the whole community. We discuss what can contribute to self- and environment-sabotaging behaviors, and how we might better persuade others to join the fight to slow climate change. Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541905

In this week’s episode of Honi’s Circle we study texts from Likutei Moharan and Kohelet Rabbah that speak about how, when we feel ownership over creation, we are called to protect it, educate ourselves about it, and improve its condition. We talk about one way of improving the environment, which is aligning our diets to reduce our ecological impact, including exploring a plant-based diet, and/or eating regeneratively produced food. Thank you to SHAMAYIM: Jewish Animal Advocacy for the vegan grant to Congregation Beth Shalom and for the texts in this episode. Follow along with the source sheet here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/541909

In this week’s episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from tractate Taanit, in which Rav Nachman asks for a blessing from Rav Yitzchak, and Rav Yitzchak blesses him by saying he should be like a tree, which is close to perfect. However, the one thing the tree can use good wishes for is that the its offspring should be like it. We discuss the myriad climate benefits of planting trees, as well as Judaism’s historical relationship towards non-human beings, and how, in the era of knowing how closely our survival is tied to the surrounding eco-system, these attitudes might change. Follow along on the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541044?lang=bi

In this week’s special Passover episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from the Haggadah about the original move of Jacob and his family to Egypt. We have a saying “We were refugees too” because Jewish history is filled with a series of persecutions and expulsions, but what if we go back to our very first immigration as a family (ie. the family of Jacob) moving from the land of Canaan to Egypt because famine was “heavy in the land.”? Having as part of our identity a people formed by climate refuge seeking can help instill empathy and move us to action for the millions being caused to move by the climate making their homelands unlivable. Follow along with the source sheet here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/550019 

In this week’s episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from tractate Taanit, in which Rabbi Berekhya says that in the book of Hoshea the Jews asked for a divine relationship akin to rain, and G-d retorts that what they actually want is one like dew. We use this text as a way of looking at how a fear of imperfection and unintended consequences can paralyze us in inaction, but that the way that G-d gently corrects the Jewish people can serve as a model for motivation to pursue imperfect solutions (instead of none at all). Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541043?lang=bi

In this week’s episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from Tractate Taanit, that offers great praise of rain by comparing it to Torah and the resurrection of the dead. We see this text as a religious mandate for us to be very concerned with what is going on in the world (including climate change) and not just our mission of connecting with the divine via spiritual imagination. In equal measure we see the metaphor going the other way and that having a felt sense of awe for nature (in the form of rainfall and spring) can strengthen our connection to the Torah and imagining the messianic times. Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/541046.1?lang=bi