An Affiliate of the Jewish Federation
of Greater Charlotte
' X
Vol. 37, No. 5
lyar-Sivan 5775
May 2015
Returning to Our Roots
Garden in Shalom Park Will Both Educate and Feed
By Amy Krakovitz
As Jews, we often think of our
selves as denizens of the eity. We
pursue professional eareers that
plaee us in offiee buildings, hos
pitals, eourthouses, and stores.
Rarely do we see ourselves as
farmers. And if we eonsider our
selves gardeners, it is a hobby
rather than a voeation.
But that hasn’t always been the
ease. Even from the very begin
ning, we were ealled upon to eare
for the earth. “God told Adam that
he was to be a steward of the
planet,” Temple Israel’s Rabbi
Noam Raueher says. “Being the
earth’s master is more than just
tilling it, it is also tending it. It’s a
great responsibility.”
This was a responsibility our
aneestors had to take seriously, as
agrieulture was their way of life.
Holidays were planned around the
planting and reaping seasons; sae-
rifiees brought to the Temple were
taken from harvests and livestoek.
Even after the destruetion of the
Temple, the seattered Jews eontin-
ued to grow food for themselves
and others. Rashi was well known
as a vintner who produeed kosher
wines, though eontinued eonnee-
tion to the land beeame diffieult in
the Middle Ages, as Jews were not
allowed to own land and leasing
land was often eost prohibitive.
Even in Eastern Europe, only a
few eountries allowed Jews to
eross over into the farmer elass
(from “Jewish Life in Bessarabia”
by Yefim Kogan, Hebrew Col
lege, 2012). In most shtetls, Jews
were the merehants and eraftsmen
and they traded their wares and
goods with the loeal Gentile farm
ers for food (from “Shtetl” by
Samuel Kassow, YIVO Institute).
Here is where our severanee from
the land began and we started to
eonsider ourselves strietly urban
ereatures.
When millions of Jews immi
grated to the US in the 19th
eentury, one rabbi was inspired
to reignite a return to the land.
Joseph Krauskopf ereated the
National Farm Sehool in
Doylestown, PA, in 1896 to teaeh
Jewish immigrants how to live off
and make a living from the land.
That sehool still exists today as
Delaware Valley University.
The most eonspieuous eonnee-
tion to the land in the 20th eentury
was the Kibbutz movement in
Palestine and then Israel. Zionists
eame to Eretz Yisrael and, starting
in 1909, ereated eommunal farms
with the intention of “making the
desert bloom.” Aeeording to the
Jewish Virtual Library: “Their
path was not easy: a hostile envi
ronment, inexperienee with phys-
ieal labor, a laek of agrieultural
know-how, desolate land neg-
leeted for eenturies, seareity of
water, and a shortage of funds
were among the diffieulties eon-
fronting them.” But the desert did
indeed bloom and Israel has be-
eome one the most innovative
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souree of agrieultural advanee-
ments in the world.
Here in the US the Loeal Food
and Farm-to-Table movements
have preeipitated Jewish organiza
tions for farming and gardening.
Just googling the phrase “Jewish
Farm to Table” yields a myriad of
organizations: Adamah, the Teva
Center, Jewish Farm Sehool,
Kahn’s Garden in Asheville, and
The Pearlstone Center in Mary
land, among others.
As a part of the Environmental
Initiative in Shalom Park, a gar
den is planned for both growing
vegetables and edueating the eon-
stituents about sustainability, agri
eulture, and our deep eonneetion
to the earth.
“We have three missions for
our garden,” says Raueher, who
leads the edueational efforts with
Rabbi Jonathan Freirieh of Tem
ple Beth El. “We want it to be ae-
eessible: everyone ean eome and
partieipate. We want it to be sus
tainable: the food ean eontinu-
ously be planted and harvested.
We want it to be edueational: we
will teaeh Jewish values through
Kahn s Garden at the Asheville Jew
ish Community Center.
gardening.
“We want our eommunity to
develop a relationship with the
earth, learning how to maintain it,
respeet it, and sustain it.”
Not only will there be food
planted and harvested, the garden
“must also appear beautiful. There
is an aesthetie that we want to
aehieve,” eontinues Raueher.
All the organizations and
sehools on the park will have ae-
eess to the garden and the eduea
tional programs planned by the
rabbis.
The produets of the garden may
be donated to Jewish Family Serv-
iees or loeal food banks or loeal
“food deserts,” where residents do
not have aeeess to fresh food mar
kets. Or the harvest eould be sold
and the proeeeds donated to any
of the above. But the garden will
be planted, nurtured, and har
vested by our eommunity, inereas-
ing their eonneetion to the planet
and their understanding of Tikkun
Olam. “We won’t just have irriga
tion,” jokes Freirieh, “we will
have prayer-rigation.”
The garden’s loeation has yet to
be determined, but the eommittee
is looking for an area within the
park that is aeeessible, large, and
shared by all the organizations.
“It’s not enough to teaeh about
our requirements to be good stew
ards of the world,” eoneludes
Freirieh. “We have to be exam
ples. We have to be the [solar-
powered] light to the nations.”
If you are interested in helping
out on the garden eommittee,
please eontaet the Environmental
Initiative Projeet Manager, Lisa
Garfinkle, at environmental@
shalomeharlotte.org. ^
Tikkun Leil Shavuot
Community Late Night Discussion to Commemorate
Shavuot
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By Rabbi Noam Raueher and Rabbi Jonathan
Freirieh
It is hard not to talk about Israel lately. Almost
without a beat we see Israel in the headlines as top
news stories or stories of interest. Piek your topie:
Israel’s seeurity, its relationship with the United
States as an ally, Bibi and Obama’s relationship with
eaeh other, Jewish-U.S support for Israel (or laek
thereof), Boyeott, Divestment, and Sanetions (BDS),
Iran as a nuelear power, the Palestinian question, or
even questions about Israel’s internal elimate - it is
hard to reeall a day lately that we did not hear about
Israel. And that’s just the dramatie stuff.
Our eommunity expresses its deep eonneetion to
Israel in beautiful ways. Attend any of our Yom
Ha’atzmaut (Independenee Day) and/or Yom
HaZikaron (Memorial Day) events and you will see
what it means to love Israel. But when Israel is in the
news we find ourselves talking more and more about
it. As passions rise it is possible that you have found
yourself in at least one eonversation turned debate
without even knowing it. Individual and small group
eonversations about Israel take plaee on a regular
basis. But how often do we get together to talk about
Israel on a eommunity-wide level?
Rabbi Jonathan Freirieh and Rabbi Noam
Raueher share a vision of our eommunity, the greater
Charlotte Jewish eommunity, in dialogue about one
of Judaism’s most pressing topies. Imagine, late in a
springtime evening, as Shabbat is dwindling into the
night, a room full of your friends and family mem
bers listening to thought provoking eonversations
about Israel and Zionism. (Perhaps even with some
nosh and eoffee in hand). What an opportunity it
would be to get to know one another through honest
and respeetful eonversations. Imagine what you
eould learn about yourself, and our fellow eommu
nity members. Imagine how mueh more we would
understand about one another.
Saturday evening. May 23, brings with it Shavuot,
and opportunity for us to talk about Israel with depth
and honesty. Rabbinie legend teaehes us that the
newly liberated Israelites slept late on the day that
God gave them the Ten Commandments and a
eovenant to enter - the moments that Shavuot
(Continued on page 2)
What is Zionism, and
are Jews Obiigated to be Zionists?
Saturday, May 23
Lerner Haii, Levine JCC
8 PM - Panei Conversation with Rabbis
Murray Ezring, Judy Schindier, and
Barbara Thiede
Coffee and nosh served
9 PM - First round breakout sessions
(Taught by iocai rabbis and educators)
10 PM - Second round of breakout
sessions
(Taught by iocai rabbis and educators)
1 PM- ice cream dessert