Faced with the need to change, I find excuses, I rationalize, I resist. This litany of rationalizations is, I realize, exactly how I wrestle with my own personal flaws in these days of reflection and atonement. If everyone did it, that would be terrible, but how many Jews are there in the world?Įach year, 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean. Photo by Beth Harpazīut I’ve suppressed whatever misgivings I’ve had, swept up in the beauty of the ritual. Signs posted along the ponds there shout, “Do Not Feed the Wildlife.” A sign beside a pond in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, where many Jews perform the tashlich ritual. No other time of year would I even think of feeding human food to wild animals.Īnd I understand that where many people descend on one sensitive environment, like Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the impact can be amplified. It interferes with avian nutrition and can even lead, according to the Audubon Society, to a condition called “angel wing,” which prevents waterfowl from flying. Many congregations, at the urging of local environmental authorities, have stopped with the bread throwing. On the other hand, the environmental anti-bread arguments aren’t easy to dismiss. I like seeing the seagulls swoop in, too, even though Orthodox rabbis have said that feeding fish and birds on a holiday is problematic: it counts as work. What foods are in a Rosh Hashanah Seder? Take our quiz to find out.The seagulls swoop in to grab what crumbs they can in midair, or hop along the shore to where the waves return soggy chunks. Most of the bread drifts out to sea or disappears under the breakers. Then we walk en masse to the water’s edge, throwing pieces of stale bagels, crumbled challah and hardened pita toward the setting sun. You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” After a massive, ecstatic drum circle on the beach and the blast of multiple shofars, about 1,000 of us, mostly dressed in white, recite the words of the prophet Micah on which the 13th century ritual is based: “ You will take us back in love You will cover up our iniquities. I find joy and meaning in the ritual, just the way it is.įor 18 years now, Nashuva - the congregation my wife, Rabbi Naomi Levy, created - has held a tashlich ceremony at Venice Beach. I am prone to ranting that Jewish ethics demand we eat sustainable lox, take real steps to fend off climate change, ban the ritual of swinging chickens on Yom Kippur, and embrace the concept of a sabbatical for the earth.īut even I have a hard time giving up bread on tashlich. Larry King is a partner - but don't let that stop you from coming here.I am not deaf to calls for environmentalism.Fassberg, CEO and President of the company. "Everyone loves a Brooklyn Water Bagel, no matter what time of day or night," says Steven M. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |