The month Nisan begins tonight and with it, so many associations. Last year, I wrote about the practice of refraining from eating Matzah from Rosh Hodesh Nisan (i.e. tonight) until Passover. Most people make, if any, the association of dreaded Pesach cleaning and preparation. I’ll be writing some about that in a few days or next week, God willing, but for now, let’s stick to things connected specifically to Rosh Hodesh Nisan.

One association fewer people make is that Birkat haIlanot, the blessing over blooming trees, is typically said in the month of Nisan:

Cross-posted on From the Ground—the blog of American Jewish World Service (AJWS)

Never heard of it? Me neither. But for farmers in Assam, India, it’s become a life-saving—and crop-saving—phenomenon. Developed by crossing and refining local rice strains, flood-resistant rice varieties have undergone five years of testing and are intended to boost yields and ensure harvests despite worsening flood problems in the region. Pretty cool, right? According to estimates by the Assam agriculture department, over 5,000 farmers are now using flood-resistant rice, even though commercial-scale production of the seed has not yet started. Check out this article on AlertNet to learn more.

The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (FTPF) is a nonprofit charity dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants to benefit the environment and all its inhabitants. Their primary mission is to plant and help others plant a collective total of 18 billion fruit trees across the world (approximately 3 for every person alive) and encourage their growth under organic standards. The Foundation is now soliciting proposals for groups to get free fruit trees! They are looking for community gardens in particular. This is an excerpt from the application that you can find below:

Flipping through a recent issue of National Geographic, I came across a fascinating article about crocodiles or crocodilians as the species is formally called.  The article opened with a recounting of a sad story of the recent killing of “Donna,” a crocodile that had made its home amongst the students on the University of Miami campus – contrasting that one death to the incredible staying power of the mighty crocodiles. The article stating, “Having endured millions of years of planetary climate change, tectonic-plate musical chairs, and other ecological vicissitudes, [the crocodiles of] today face a new challenge to their survival – us. 

Cross-posted on From the Ground—the blog of American Jewish World Service (AJWS)

In response to the February 10th New York Times editorial “Hungry in America,” Ruth wrote a letter to the editor putting hunger in global context. She asserts that “Band-Aid” solutions to food insecurity worldwide are not enough. And she insists that we “rethink the global food system.” Check it out!

(originally posted on The Edible Torah)

Recently Tablet Magazine ran an article titled “High on the Hog“, where it looked at the phenomenon of cuisine which purposely mixes not just meat and milk, but treif (forbidden foods) with foods considered to be part of the Jewish culinary spectrum (matzo balls, bagels, etc). Several of the speakers talk about cuisine a flexible medium, and a reflection of the cosmopolitan world we live in. They talk about shattering barriers, challenging assumptions.

Besides, many say, who can resist the persistent pull of the pig? Food, they tell us, is better with bacon.

I am lucky enough to live in Eugene, Oregon. I’ve got it pretty good here – great weather, great outdoors, great Jewish community, great abundance of local organic food. But Chinese food? Not so much here in Eugene.

As a Bay Area transplant, I crave Chinese food. I often feel like I literally NEED it. After months searching for something that would quench my Chinese food tastebuds – and realizing that to keep my version of kosher (which is eco-kosher: less about what is and what is not treyf and more about eating only meat that is ideally organic and pasture-raised – and if not, is absolutely free-range, never given hormones or antibiotics, and was humanely slaughtered) – I came to the conclusion that I’d have to make it myself. For both taste and my personal kashrut reasons. Which is some kind of a life lesson right there, I’m sure.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Cashew Chicken from the inimitable Martha Stewart and decided to give it a whirl – and my own flair. And to tell the truth, it is delicious and happily graces our Friday night Shabbat table pretty often.

Thanks to David Krantz, Chairperson and President of the Green Zionist Alliance for participating in this interview about the development of a Food Justice Resolution to be passed through the World Zionist Congress in Israel.

What is the Green Zionist Alliance? What is its mission?

Based in New York, the Green Zionist Alliance strives to connect the Diaspora with Israel’s environment. We work to support Israeli environmental nonprofits, and by appointing GZA members, such as Dr. Alon Tal to the board of Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael (KKL), we help to green Israel by shaping the environmental policy of one of Israel’s largest organizations.

I’ve heard a lot of us Hazon-niks refer to Michael Pollan as Reb Pollan. Yet, as far as I know, he’s never spoken publicly in a Jewish context.
Until Tuesday night, that is. Pollan appeared on a panel in Berkeley, just blocks from his home. He was invited not only for the food guru that he is, but as a regular customer of Saul’s Deli, the only Jewish deli in Berkeley.
Saul’s is perhaps the only Jewish deli in the country to serve grass-fed meat (at least according to its owners Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt.) Adelman and Levitt talked about how hard it can be to please the old-timers who don’t necessarily care about where their meat comes from, and trying to change with the times. This being the Bay Area, kashrut hardly figured into the conversation, not surprising, since Saul’s isn’t kosher.
The event was going to be held at the deli itself, but had to be moved to the JCC to accomodate the overflow crowd. You can read more about the conversation here.

And so, we arrive once again at Sinai.  Where to find a reference to food in the thunder and fire that surround the giving of the Torah, the revelation of God’s word to human beings?

For this, we need to turn a little later in the tradition.  While in the Torah the land of Israel is compared to milk and honey, we find that later commentators compare the Torah itself to food and drink.  Rashi, in interpreting various verses in Deuteronomy which refer to the Torah being given ‘today’ understands that this means the words of Torah will be like new for us – hadashim – every day.  That word hadashim can be understood as being the initial letters of the Hebrew words for milk, honey, oil, wine and water – and it is intriguing to compare each of these to the five books of the Torah.  Which, we might ask, goes with what?

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a first-time case about the risks of genetically engineered crops. Named Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475, the case before the high court will be yet another step in an ongoing battle waged by the Center for Food Safety to protect consumers and the environment from potentially harmful effects of genetically engineered (GE) crops.

If you are in New York next week please join us for Hazon’s New York Ride Launch Event followed by a presentation by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Wednesday, February 10th – 7 pm reception | 8 pm presentation
Bnai Jeshurun | 88th and West End

Learn about Hazon and the 10th Annual New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride at a wine and cheese reception featuring ADAMAH goat cheeseand local, kosher delicious treats.

Following the reception New York Times Bestselling Author, Jonathan Safran Foer will speak about  his latest book “Eating Animals,” sponsored by Bnai Jeshurun.

“Setting out from Elim, the whole Israelite community came to the wilderness of Sin…the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron… “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out in to this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death.” (Exodus 16:1-3)

Hey everyone!

Well the podcast is now officially under way and kicking off its debut season. As of now there are several options to access the podcast and subscribe to it so that it will play and download straight into your iTunes!

The first step to do is visit this site:

http://hazon.podomatic.com//

This will take you to a page where you have a couple options, depending on what you want.

I would suggest scrolling down a bit and clicking on “Subscribe with iTunes.” This will allow you to listen in your iTunes and then will download subsequent new episodes.