Chai VeKayam Curriculum Guide by Adamah

Cultivating Crops & Community Together

‫חי וקים‬ Chai Ve’Kayam 2nd Edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction

Preface

‫— ֶצדֶק ֶצדֶק ִתּר‬Justice We Shall Pursue 1. Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof - ‫ְדּף‬

2. Monoculture & Polyculture

3. Use Your Goof

4. Build a Seed

5. Adam Ve’Adamah – ‫—אדם ואדמה‬People & Earth

Mashiv Haruach U’morid Hagashem – ‫ָשּׁם‬ ֶ ‫ַשּׁיב הָרוּ ַח וּמורִיד ַהגּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ —Who Makes the Wind Blow & the Rain Fall .

7. Shmittah Salad

8. Min Hamuvchar – ‫— מן המובחר‬The Choice Kind

Jewish Educational Gardens Gan HaShana – ‫— גן השנה‬The Hebrew Calendar Garden. Matriarchs Orchard

Introduction

‫ – חי וקים‬Chai Ve’Kayam

A Curriculum Manual in Jewish Agricultural Education Kayam Farm at Pearlstone is proud to present the second edition of Chai Ve’Kayam, our Jewish agricultural curriculum manual. Kayam’s mission is to embody and inspire social and ecological responsibility by transforming our community through hands-on Jewish agricultural education. We are a program of the Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center, an agency of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. The farm welcomes over 3,300 participants annually, and has exposed over 10,000 people to Jewish sustainable agriculture in the past four years. Participants come from local Hebrew schools and day schools, early childhood and senior citizen centers, youth groups, Hillels, local Jewish agencies, and national Jewish non-profits. They come for field trips, volunteering opportunities, holiday celebrations, cooking classes, skills workshops, and more. We also facilitate a growing number of interfaith and multicultural programs throughout the year, and hope to expand on that work over time. The Farm includes 4 acres of cropland and one acre of animal pasture. Our cropland includes a plethora of educational garden spaces cultivating vegetables, fruit trees, grape vines, berries, grains, herbs, flowers, and a large greenhouse. Farm produce goes to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Pearlstone guests, farmers markets, and local restaurants. We donate at least 10% of our harvest to a local family shelter. Our Curriculum was first published one year ago, featuring experiential lessons in Jewish agricultural laws. This year’s edition offers our eight most outstanding lessons in Jewish agricultural education, great fodder for educators at Jewish shuls, schools, camps, gardens and farms around the country. We also offer an in-depth guide to The Hebrew Calendar Garden, a dynamic outdoor Jewish experience of time, space, earth, and spirit.

Please Contribute to the curriculum by offering revisions to the text, suggestions for a better format, and any other feedback you want to give. Let us know how we’re doing—we want to hear from you! Thank You To Our Funders Miriam Winder Kelly The Meyerhoff Foundation. Hilda & Jacob Blaustein Fund The Bearman Fund The Wareheim Foundation The Bancroft Fund Chesapeake Bay Trust Volunteer Maryland Public Allies Michele Lax & Barry Garber Hazon Eco-riders & Corporate Sponsors

Preface The eight lesson plans ahead reflect some of the best teaching of Kayam educators, past and present. These activities help us accomplish our goal to inspire Jews to make healthier, more sustainable food choices—to grow their own food and/or buy local and organic produce, meat, dairy, etc. These activities bring people together on the land, getting them farming through fun hands-on learning. In addition, these experiences contain compelling questions, issues, values, challenges, and opportunities for our communities to address. With our hands dirty we can more deeply appreciate the real pleasure and importance of local sustainable food. With our minds and hearts full, we can contribute to social and environmental progress happening all around us. And with our Jewish neshamas engaged, we can immerse ourselves in the ancient land-based traditions of our ancestors, reconnecting with the lost agrarian foundation of Jewish civilization. The spiritual values and agricultural methods of our ancestors reflect a sustainable society both socially and environmentally; we can and we must learn from that example in confronting today’s urgent food & environmental crises. This curriculum serves participants young and old with an accessible, fun, meaningful way to engage in that conversation, practically and spiritually. These lessons explore Jewish agricultural topics from a holistic, broad perspective: • Justice & Community • Indigenous Culture • Diversity & Efficiency • Botany & Prayer • People and Earth • Rain & G!d • Wild & domesticated plants • Everyday Choices & Values We hope these lessons spark questions and commitments, new ideas and breakthroughs. They are the result of the tireless work of many people: Yoshi Silverstein, Casey Yurow, Netsitsah Manela, Shoshana Wylen, Sonia Alexander, Molly Amster, Tiferet Sassona, and Abby Streusand. Special thanks to Yoshi for giving so much to this curriculum project. Thanks are also due to the dedicated staff of the Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center: Carol Pristoop, Executive Director Dick Goldman, General Manager Rachel Siegal, Assistant Director Jessica Weinberg, Program Director. Frank Cleveland, Food Services Cheryl Katz, Guest Services Dale Griffith, Maintenance Yael Kaner, Mashgicha-Chef Most of all thanks to Lev Yodea & Shama Nissim Manela. May they grow up big and strong in a healthy sustainable world. Jakir Manela, editor (December 2010) 3

‫ – ֶצדֶק ֶצדֶק ִתּרְדּף‬Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof Justice Justice We Shall Pursue Overview Participants harvest according to the Torah’s social just laws: ma’aser (tithing), leket (gleaning), pe’ah (unharvested corners) and shichecha (forgotten crops). This gives participants first-hand experience in a holistic Jewish sense of sustainability, incorporating both environmental stewardship and social justice into a Torah land ethic caring for both the land and those in need. Definitions • Ma’aser (and Ma’aser Ani) – ‘tithe’ – separating 1/10 of the harvest for the priests, levites, and/or the poor. Primary Source: Bamidbar (Numbers) 18:21–24 • Leket – ‘gleaning’ –the dropped harvest left for the poor to gather. Primary source: Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:9-10 [Read source text in appendix before teaching lesson] • Pe’ah — corner of the field left for the needy to harvest. Primary Source: Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:9-10 • Shichecha – harvested crops that are forgotten in the field; gathered by the poor. Primary Source: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 24: 19 • Tzedakah – ‘justice’ – often translated as charity • Ani ‘im) – poor people (singular: ani) Goals • Harvest according to the Torah –practice Jewish agriculture hands-on • Appreciate the centrality of social justice in Jewish agriculture • Use these laws to create a Jewish approach to food justice issues today Logistics Audience: adaptable for all ages (early childhood through senior citizens) Setting: Farm or Garden Number of Participants: 6-20 Timing: Preparation – 5 minutes, Implementation – 40–60 minutes, Clean-up – 10 minutes Materials: Crops to harvest (big leafy greens such as kale work best) 2 similar-sized harvesting containers Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Harvest crops appropriately (suitable for kitchen use or sale at market) • Tithe 1/10 of their harvest according to ma’aser • Identify leket (gleaned crops) and gather them for donation to local soup kitchen • Mark corners in the field/garden for pe’ah, to be left for poor • Identify shichecha (forgotten crops) and donate them to local soup kitchen Core Concepts - Participants will know: • Jewish law dictates that we tithe (give ma’aser) at least 10% of our harvest/income to the poor. • Jewish law requires us to leave dropped harvest (leket) for those in need. • Jewish law commands us to leave pe’ah—a corner—unharvested for those in need • We need the Mishnah (Talmud) to clarify how to apply these laws in specific situations • Jewish farms donate their harvest in multiple ways throughout the agricultural cycle, not just at one moment. Jewish agriculture contains a constant, cumulative emphasis on justice. • Jewish agriculture practices environmentalism and social justice together, simultaneously. 4

Lesson Outline Call & response chant: Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof—see appendix

Song

Framing Options

1. Who wants to harvest something? Is there a Jewish way to harvest? 2. Raise your hand if you are an environmentalist. Raise your hand if you are a social justice activist. How are these labels different? How are they similar? Tithing Ma’aser (10 minutes)

ASK • Who here gives tzedakah? What is tzedakah? How much tzedakah are we supposed to give? • 10%! That number—10%—comes from farming! The Torah says we need to give 10% of our harvest or income to those in need. How do you say ten in Hebrew? Eser. The law for giving 10% is called ma’aser, or “doing ten”. Who wants to do ma’aser? DEMONSTRATE • We have two harvest bins: one for us, and one for ma’aser, or tzedakah. • Here’s how to harvest correctly—demonstrate proper harvesting technique. Watch as I harvest 10 leaves. If I want to do ma’aser, how many leaves go in our bin? 9 How many in the tzedaka bin? 1. • Everyone harvest 10 leaves. Put nine pieces into our bin, and one piece into the tzedakah bin. • Once everyone has harvested, gather around the two bins. REFLECT • Great job harvesting everyone! Was that fun? Have you ever harvested anything before? Say the shehechiyanu blessing if anyone harvested for the first time:

‫ימנוּ וְ ִה ִג ָענוּ ַל ְז ַמן ַהזֶה‬ ָ ְ‫עוֹלם ֵש ֵה ְחיָנוּ וְ ִקי‬ ָ ‫לוֹהינוּ ֶמ ֶל ְך ַה‬ ֵ ‫אַתּה יְ ָי ֶא‬ ָ ‫רוּך‬ ְ ‫ָבּ‬ Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha'olam she'hechiyanu v'ki'y'manu v'higiyanu lazman ha'zeh. Blessed are You, Lord our G!d, Ruler of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this time.

• •

How much is in our bin? 90% How much is in the Ma’aser-Tzedakah bin? 10%. Looking at these two bins, how do you feel? [Someone almost always says they feel bad, that there’s not enough in the Tzedakah bin]

ADJUST • The law of ma’aser tells us to give a minimum of 10%. We are allowed to share more if we want. This is not a group challenge—anyone can go ahead and adjust the piles until you are satisfied. We cannot take away from the 10%, but we are allowed to add to it. After some reshuffling the two piles will probably be different in percentages • What percentage is ours? What percentage is for tzedek? Why did you adjust the pile? • Maimonides, a medieval rabbi also known as the Rambam, teaches that we should not give more than 20%. And we are also taught that we cannot give so much that we ourselves need tzedakah. We can’t give away so much food that we become starving. • If we were farmers and this harvest was all our food, would you still share this much?

Leket Harvest Challenge (10 minutes) EXPLAIN • Let’s harvest some more, and try out another Jewish harvesting law-tradition. [Re-adjust the bins back to 90% and 10%] • I need one volunteer (eg—Sarah). Everyone else spread out between Sarah and your teacher/counselor (eg—Mrs. Shapiro, standing about 40 feet away). This game is called the Leket Harvest Challenge! • Sarah is the farmer. She will carry our harvest (90%) to Mrs. Shapiro (the tzedakah bin is not involved). The rest of you are a leket obstacle course. As Sarah walks by, you can make faces, tell jokes, or do anything else to make Sarah drop some of her harvest. [Touching with one finger may be allowed with a mature group if Sarah agrees]. This obstacle course in is just for fun, not representing what really happened in ancient Israel! • What happens if Sarah drops something? That’s called Leket (gleaning), and it goes to the poor, to tzedakah just like ma’aser. When she drops something, it no longer belongs to us. • [Make sure Sarah has a big harvest so that she is bound to drop some along the way. She carry with one hand to make sure. You can send Sarah on a few rounds (to her teacher/counselor and back) if she has not dropped enough. GATHER • Everyone pick up the leket and bring it over. Sarah, put your harvest back into our bin. • Everyone hold up your leket. Give it all to one person (eg—Josh). Josh, hold up all the leket together so we can all see. Compare the leket to the ma’aser. Which is more? Whereas ma’aser is a set percentage, leket is subjective, and depends entirely on the farmer (and obstacle course). • Which bin does the leket go in? The tzedakah bin with the ma’aser. Jewish farms don’t just give tzedakah once, like writing one check at the end of the year; we give in all kinds of ways throughout the farming season. Let’s give some more! Marking Pe’ah (10 minutes) FOCUS • Go to a bigger plot, ideally planted with all the same thing (eg—cabbage). [Make sure participants bring both bins with you] • What is growing here? This big plot of cabbage is perfect for another Jewish harvesting law, pe’ah. Who knows what the law of pe’ah is? Pe’ah tells us to leave the corner of the field unharvested so that the poor can come and harvest and eat (appendix a). If you try to do pe’ah in a plot with 5 diferent crops, what happens? Each corner is a different crop, so pe’ah really refers to a big field all planted with the same thing. MARK PE’AH • So the Torah tells us, “And when you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap the corner [peah] of your field and do not gather the gleaning of your harvest.” • Go for it! Work together in small groups to decide how you would leave a corner. How big should it be? Where should it be? The Torah doesn’t say! So do your best and mark a corner using your bodies as the markers. You’ve got 5 minutes—go! • [Some groups mark a triangle in the corner and some mark a square. Some groups mark one corner and others mark a smaller area in all corners. These different choices reflect the ambiguity in the Torah.] SHARE • Ask each group to share their pe’ah and why they marked it the way they did. 6

•

People mark pe’ah in a variety of ways. The Torah is vague in describing what we are supposed to do, and our rabbis encountered the same questions 2,000 years ago!

MISHNAH • The rabbis’ wrote a massive book called the Mishnah, recording of ancient conversations about how to apply the Torah to everyday situations, including farming! They said two things about pe’ah that relate to what you just did. 1. The very first thing they say about pe’ah is, “These things have no measure: the corner [of the field], the first fruits, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, deeds of loving-kindness, and the study of Torah.”

Mishna Pe’ah 1:1 •

•

What does “There is no measure for pe’ah” mean? It means we can do whatever we want! Pe’ah could be just one plant and you could keep the rest of the field for yourself, OR pe’ah could be the entire field, and you could just keep one plant for yourself. But wait, the rabbis basically say “just kidding” on the very next line! 2. “One should not give pe’ah less than one-sixtieth [of the field], and even though they said pe’ah has no measure, everything depends on the size of the field, the number of the poor, and according to the extent of the crop” Mishna Pe’ah 1:2

So the minimum size is 1/60th and there are three key factors in determining how much you should leave: the size of the field, the extent of the crop, and the number of the poor. Is our field big? How is the crop doing? How many poor people are there in our neighborhood, metropolitan area, or watershed? Woops—SHICHECHA (3 minutes) • Great job with pe’ah. Let’s head on over here (just a few feet away) to close up • Wait! What did we forget? Our harvest bins! What happens to those crops now that we’ve forgotten them? They don’t belong to us anymore—we’re not allowed to come back and get them. They belong to the poor just like leket. These forgotten crops are called shichecha. Say that again, loud! Shichecha! Shichecha are forgotten crops that we can’t keep, because if we really needed them, maybe we would not have forgotten them in the first place! Closing CONGRATULATE • Awesome—you all just harvested according to all the Torah’s harvesting laws! Who can name all four and explain what they are? 1. Ma’aser—Tithing 10% of our harvest 2. Leket—The dropped harvest, gleaned by the poor 3. Pe’ah—The corner(s) left unharvested for the poor to come and harvest 4. Shichecha—The forgotten crops, left for the poor to come gather CONCLUSIONS 1. Out of these four laws, which one is easiest to do ourselves? Ma’aser—we donate 10%. What about the others? For those laws the poor come to the farm to gather the leket, pe’ah, and shichecha themselves. Do you think they come? We’ve tried leaving pe’ah; nobody comes. Why? In ancient Israel everyone lived closer to farms and everybody knew when it was harvest time. Today is spread out—most people live in the cities while most food is grown out in the countryside. We’re too disconnected from the land to fulfill these righteous commandments! So what are we going to do about it? Let’s rethink residential development and start more community gardens and urban farms. 7

2. According to the Torah, who actually gets this food- tzedakah? The poor, orphan, widow, and stranger. Can you picture them? Can you picture people like that in today’s world? What do they look like? Where do they live? What are they doing right now? Another rabbinic commentary on pe’ah says, Pe’ah they do not reap with sickles; they do not uproot with spades, lest they strike one another.” Mishnah Peah 4:4

Sometimes we carry idealized images of these traditions, but that rabbinic statement reflects a more grounded reality. Hungry people need food in a desperate way—we would too in their situation—and these Jewish traditions are about helping people in real crisis. There are many, many poor people living in our world today. May the Torah’s teachings inspire us all to help them, however we can—on the farm, in the garden, and in other ways too. Who’s got an idea for what we can do?

• • •

3. In biblical agriculture, the good farmers take care of both land and people. These laws, and their culmination in Shmittah, aim to achieve holistic sustainability in ecology and society. In sustainability efforts today, we can learn from our traditions and rediscover that balance. So raise your hand if you’re an environmentalist. Raise your hand if you fight for justice. It’s the same thing: sustainability. We’re all both. Post-Learning / Take Home Piece Start a community garden or CSA Learn more about your local food system Take on a food justice project in your community

Appendices/Additional Resources Appendix A – Jewish Harvest Law Primary Sources MA’ASER – Bamidbar (Numbers) 18:24

‫ֲשׂר‬ ֵ ‫ ַמע‬-‫ָת ִתּי ָכּל‬ ַ ‫ ִהנֵּה נ‬,‫ כא וְ ִל ְבנֵי ֵלוִ י‬21 And unto the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the -‫ ֵח ֶלף ֲעב ָֹד ָתם ֲא ֶשׁר‬,‫ַח ָלה‬ ֲ ‫ ְבּיִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל ְלנ‬tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service .‫מוֹעד‬ ֵ ‫ ֲעב ַֹדת א ֶֹהל‬-‫ ֶאת‬,‫ ֵהם ע ְֹב ִדים‬which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. -‫ ֶאל‬,‫יִ ְק ְרבוּ עוֹד ְבּנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל‬-‫ כב וְ לֹא‬22 And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh .‫ ָלמוּת‬,‫ ָל ֵשׂאת ֵח ְטא‬,‫מוֹעד‬ ֵ ‫ א ֶֹהל‬the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. ‫ ֲעב ַֹדת א ֶֹהל‬-‫ ֶאת‬,‫ כג וְ ָע ַבד ַה ֵלּוִ י הוּא‬23 But the Levites alone shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute ,‫עוֹלם‬ ָ ‫ ֻח ַקּת‬:‫ יִ ְשׂאוּ עֲוֹנָם‬,‫ וְ ֵהם‬,‫מוֹעד‬ ֵ ‫ לֹא‬,‫תוֹך ְבּנֵי יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל‬ ְ ‫וּב‬ ְ ,‫יכם‬ ֶ ‫ ְלדֹר ֵֹת‬for ever throughout your generations, and among the .‫ַח ָלה‬ ֲ ‫ יִ נְ ֲחלוּ נ‬children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ‫ ֲא ֶשׁר‬,‫יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל‬-‫ ַמ ְע ַשׂר ְבּנֵי‬-‫ כד ִכּי ֶאת‬24 For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they set apart ,‫ָת ִתּי ַל ְלוִ יִּ ם‬ ַ ‫ נ‬,‫רוּמה‬ ָ ‫ָרימוּ ַליהוָה ְתּ‬ ִ ‫ י‬as a gift unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an ‫תוֹך ְבּנֵי‬ ְ ‫ ְבּ‬,‫אָמ ְר ִתּי ָל ֶהם‬ ַ ,‫ ֵכּן‬-‫ַח ָלה; ַעל‬ ֲ ‫ ְלנ‬inheritance; therefore I have said to them: Among the .‫ַח ָלה‬ ֲ ‫ לֹא יִ נְ ֲחלוּ נ‬,‫ יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל‬children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.' LEKET – Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:9-10

‫ לֹא‬,‫אַר ְצ ֶכם‬ ְ ‫ ְק ִציר‬-‫וּב ֻק ְצ ְר ֶכם ֶאת‬ ְ ‫ ט‬9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, do not wholly ,‫יר ָך‬ ְ ‫ ְת ַכ ֶלּה ְפּאַת ָשׂ ְד ָך ִל ְקצֹר; וְ ֶל ֶקט ְק ִצ‬reap the corner of your field, and do not gather the gleaning .‫ לֹא ְת ַל ֵקּט‬of your harvest. ‫וּפ ֶרט ַכּ ְר ְמ ָך לֹא‬ ֶ ,‫עוֹלל‬ ֵ ‫ י וְ ַכ ְר ְמ ָך לֹא ְת‬10 And do not glean your vineyard, or gather the fallen fruit ‫ ֲאנִ י‬,‫ ֶל ָענִ י וְ ַלגֵּר ַתּ ֲעזֹב א ָֹתם‬:‫ ְת ַל ֵקּט‬of your vineyard; rather, leave them for the poor and for the .‫יכם‬ ֶ ‫ יְ הוָה ֱאל ֵֹה‬stranger: I am the Lord your God. PE’AH – Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:9-10

‫ לֹא‬,‫אַר ְצ ֶכם‬ ְ ‫ ְק ִציר‬-‫וּב ֻק ְצ ְר ֶכם ֶאת‬ ְ ‫ ט‬9 And when you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap ,‫יר ָך‬ ְ ‫ ְת ַכ ֶלּה ְפּאַת ָשׂ ְד ָך ִל ְקצֹר; וְ ֶל ֶקט ְק ִצ‬the whole corner of your field, and do not gather the gleaning .‫ לֹא ְת ַל ֵקּט‬of your harvest. ‫וּפ ֶרט ַכּ ְר ְמ ָך לֹא‬ ֶ ,‫עוֹלל‬ ֵ ‫ י וְ ַכ ְר ְמ ָך לֹא ְת‬10 And do not glean your vineyard, and do not gather the ‫ ֲאנִ י‬,‫ ֶל ָענִ י וְ ַלגֵּר ַתּ ֲעזֹב א ָֹתם‬:‫ ְת ַל ֵקּט‬fallen fruit of your vineyard; rather leave them for the poor .‫יכם‬ ֶ ‫ יְ הוָה ֱאל ֵֹה‬and for the stranger: I am the Lord your G!d. Mishna Pe’ah 1:1 “These things have no measure: the corner [of the field], the first fruits, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, deeds of loving-kindness, and the study of Torah.”

‫מסכת פאה פרק א‬ ‫ ותלמוד תורה‬,‫ וגמילות חסדים‬,‫ והריאיון‬,‫ והביכורים‬,‫הפאה‬--‫א אלו דברים שאין להם שיעור‬,‫א‬ Mishna Pe’ah 1:2 “One should not give pe’ah less than one-sixtieth [of the field], and even though they said pe’ah has no measure, everything depends on the size of the field, the number of the poor, and according to the extent of the crop”

‫מסכת פאה פרק א‬ ‫ הכול לפי גודל‬:‫ אף על פי שאמרו אין לפיאה שיעור‬,‫ב אין פוחתין לפיאה משישים‬,‫א‬ 9

‫ ולפי הענו‬,‫ ולפי רוב העניים‬,‫השדה‬ SHICHECHA – Devarim (Deuteronomy) 24: 19

‫ְשׁ ַכ ְח ָתּ עֹמֶר‬ ָ ‫ְשׂ ֶד ָך ו‬ ָ ‫ יט כִּי ִתקְצֹר ְקצִי ְר ָך ב‬19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and you forget a ‫ ַלגֵּר ַליָּתוֹם‬--‫ לֹא תָשׁוּב ְל ַקחְתּוֹ‬,‫ַשּׂדֶה‬ ָ ‫ בּ‬sheaf in the field, do not go back to fetch it; it shall be for the ‫ ְל ַמעַן יְ ָב ֶר ְכ ָך יְהוָה‬:‫ יִ ְהיֶה‬,‫ וְלָאַ ְל ָמנָה‬stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that the Lord {‫ }ס‬.‫ֲשׂה יָדֶי ָך‬ ֵ ‫ בְּכֹל ַמע‬,‫ אֱלֹהֶי ָך‬your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. THE RAMBAM’S EIGHT LEVELS OF TZEDAKAH There are eight levels of tzedakah, one higher than the next, that the Rambam spoke of: 1. A high level, of which none is higher, is where one takes the hand of one who is needy and gives him a gift or loan, or makes a partnership with him, or finds him employment, in order to strengthen him until he needs to ask help of no one. 2. Below this is one who gives tzedakah to the poor, not knowing to whom he gives, while the poor person does not know from whom he takes. 3. Below this, the giver knows to whom he gives, and the poor person does not know from whom he takes. 4. Below this, the poor person knows from whom he takes, and the giver does not know. 5. Below this, one puts into another's hand before [the latter] asks. 6. Below this, one gives another after [the latter] asks. 7. Below this, one gives another less than is appropriate, in a pleasant manner. 8. Below this, one gives in an unpleasant manner. Source: Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Matanot L'Aniyim 10:7-12

Appendix B—Tzedek Chant With a hand drum, call & response chant: Chorus (2x):

Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof Justice Justice you shall pursue

Repeat Repeat

Verse:

In Your Home (repeat), In Your Field (repeat) At the Table (repeat), Every Meal (repeat) Through Pe’ah (Pe’ah), Ma’aser (Ma’aser) Lekt (Leket), Shichecha (Shichecha)!

Monoculture vs. Polyculture Overview Based on a game developed by Nature’s Classroom Institute, participants play a game of tag that illustrates the differences between monoculture and polyculture in agricultural, ecological, and social systems. Healthy social diversity is further encouraged through “A Great Wind Blows,” and the consequences of agricultural diversity are explored through a bug-hunt in the garden. Definitions • Monoculture – growing only one type of crop or animal without diversity or dissension • Polyculture – growing more than one species of plant or animal; a diverse culture Goals • Explore monoculture and polyculture, and that agricultural monocultures are generally more vulnerable while polycultures are more stable • Promote polycultural systems; recognize that nature has no monoculture • Apply lens of monoculture and polyculture to social systems Logistics Audience: Ages 8 and up Setting: Space to run Number of Participants: 12-40 Timing: Preparation – 5 minutes, Implementation – 30 minutes, Clean-up – 5 minutes Materials: • Laminated set of Mono-Poly game cards (see appendix) Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Distinguish between monoculture and polyculture • Apply these concepts to social and ecological systems Core Concepts - Participants will know: • Definitions of monoculture and polyculture • Increased biodiversity (polyculture) brings stability; monoculture breeds vulnerability • American agriculture is largely monoculture, both with plant crops and animals • Polycultural farms and communities are generally healthy Lesson Outline • Who has ever been to a farm? What kind of farm was it? What kinds of plants and/or animals were there? Trigger • There are many different kinds of farms. This is a game about different kinds of farms. Mono-Poly Tag Game (10-15 minutes) This game is played in at least two rounds. Split into two teams, one is “bugs or insect pests” and the other is “plants or crops”. Everyone on each team gets a color-coded card that tells them what kind of crop or pest they are. Don’t show the other team your card! Each team lines up shoulderto-shoulder, facing the other team about 10-20 feet away. At the count of three, everyone holds up their cards, and the pests try to tag the crops that have the same color card as they do. Round One—Monoculture • Everyone on the crop team gets a yellow card that says “corn” and everyone on the pest team gets a yellow card that says “billbug”. Billbugs are prominent corn pests. 11

• • •

Each pest-person can only tag a crop-person who has the same color card as theirs. 1, 2, 3—go! Commence tag free-for-all. In this round, every pest can tag every crop, so it can get ugly. No pushing or running out of sight. This takes 1 minute or less. Call the participants back, and do it again the same way (all yellow cards) for a total of at least 2 or 3 tag run-arounds. Then ask how it went. The pest-people are probably happy, most of the crop-people not so much.

Round Two – Polyculture • Same teams, but now there are many colors for both pests and crops (see appendix) • Remind the pests they can only tag someone with their color. • 1, 2, 3—go! Commence tag. Again, give this structure (many colors) at least 2 or 3 tries so that the group gets the hang of it. Some crop-people still get tagged, while others do not. The pest-people generally have a more difficult time. Mono-Poly Debrief (5-10 minutes) • Ask how the second round went. Try the following chants: Monoculture, polyculture, I don’t know. Which one’s better to help the plants grow?” • Which round was better for the pests? Which was better for the crops? Why? • In nature and in agriculture, diversity creates strength and stability, while uniformity creates vulnerability. If we only plant corn and the billbugs come, we’re in trouble. Not only that, but the same crop planted year after year will drain the soil of its nutrients. But if we plant ten other crops and the billbugs eat all our corn, the rest of our crops (and our soil) will probably be okay. Adults in the group might know this concept as balancing your portfolio which reduces risk. The same is true in agriculture—the more variety of crops that we plant, the more stable and healthy farm we’ll have. Review the concept to make sure everyone gets it. Try a chant: “Diversity is strength! Diversity is strength!” • So all farms are polycultures, right? Who’s seen a farm before? What does it look like? Usually all corn, wheat, or soybeans—monoculture. Why are there so many monoculture farms? Because growing only one crop on a huge piece of land makes it a lot easier to plant, maintain, and harvest—so for large scale industrial farming monoculture seems to be the only option. But what happens when the billbugs come? Large scale industrial monoculture farmers have to constantly apply fossil-fuel based fertilizers to strengthen their crops and poisonous pesticides to kill bugs of all kinds, not just the bad ones. They have to do this because their monoculture farm is so vulnerable, and often times the pests mutate and become immune to their poisonous pesticides, so that pesticide companies are constantly researching and experimenting with new poisons to use on the farm. Sounds fun, right? • What does a monoculture animal farm look like? Chicken farms on Maryland’s eastern shore, or cattle farms in the Midwest. A huge number of one type of animal, crowded into small spaces. The same vulnerability occurs, so when one animal gets sick, they’re all in trouble. Farmers use all kinds of medicines to try to keep the animals healthy, but it’s not the best life for a chicken or a cow. • So that’s what monoculture looks like. What does polyculture look like? We have a polyculture of crops right here in our farm/garden! Let’s name 10 crops growing here. What does a polyculture of animals look like? There’s a song about a guy who had a polyculture of animals: “Old MacDonald had a farm…” Wouldn’t the song be boring if it went “And on that farm there was a chicken… And on that farm there was a chicken… And on that farm there was a chicken…”? 12

•

Does nature have monoculture or polyculture? Polyculture! Even a school of fish or flock of birds exists within a broader ecosystem containing other species that bring diversity and stability into the mix. Above all, nature’s variety keeps things stable. • What about people? Who can think of a human monoculture? Your school, synagogue, Israel, etc. How is that group a monoculture? Who can think of a human polyculture? United States, Israel, your school, synagogue. Can groups be monocultures in some ways and polycultures in others? Sure! • So what about Judaism? How is Judaism a monoculture? How is it a polyculture? A Great Wind Blows (5 minutes) Let’s play a game that explores our own diversity a bit. [Ask questions and everyone who would answer “me!” switches seats with someone else.] The game illustrates the social and cultural mono/polycultures in the group in a fun way. Sample Questions A great wind blows for anyone who: - was born in Baltimore - was born outside of America (follow up—where were you born) - parents were not born in America - all four grandparents were born in America - speaks a different language (everyone say ‘hello’ in the other language they speak) - loves Lady Gaga (or another pop music star) - favorite outfit is (sometimes youth dress alike— name something a few of them are wearing) - favorite TV show is the Simpsons (or another show) [Highlight both their uniformity and diversity] Great Wind Blows Debrief (5 minutes) This conversation varies greatly with age. Middle-school students often talk about social pressure related to monoculture. Challenge individuals and groups to identify their own place within the healthy dynamic tension of uniformity vs. diversity. •

Where is monoculture useful, helpful, and important? Efficiency, unity, achieving a mission, end-product, results-focus. • Where is polyculture important? Bug Identification (5-10 minutes) Let’s finish by meeting some of the “pests” that eat our crops. Are they evil? No, they’re just eating our crops before we do. We don’t spray poison on them, we just want to have a healthy balance. They can eat some crops as long as we get most as food. End with a bug hunt in the garden. Some bugs are “pests” and some bugs are “beneficial insects,” they help us by pollinating flowers or eating pests! Collect as many bugs as you can in one big container for the class to look at—hopefully there is a polyculture of bugs in your garden! You can release the pests elsewhere, or you can drown them in water, or you can squish them. [If you are going to kill them, be sure to explain that this death is necessary for our life—we need to eliminate the bugs in order to grow food to eat ourselves.] Closing (3 minutes) Do the chant again: Monoculture, polyculture, I don’t know. Which one’s better to help the plants grow?” Every day we make choices about our food, our clothes, and our friends. There is no one right or wrong answer to any question. It’s up to us to figure it out and do our best. Good luck! 13

Appendix/Additional Resources Mono-Poly Cards The following are examples of insect-crop pairings to be labeled on the same color cards. We use yellow for corn and billbug, but the colors do not matter much so long as they’re the same. It’s okay to have several shades of the same color—the confusion is part of the fun with polyculture! Crop Corn Acorn Squash Green Beans Lettuce Potato Tomato Eggplant Carrot Cauliflower Wheat Watermelon

Pest Billbug Silverleaf Whitefly Mexican Bean Beetle, Asparagus Beetle Aphids Potato Tuberworm Tomato Hornworm, Strawberry Root Weevil Eggplant Flea Beetle Blueberry Maggot, Wireworm Stinkbug, Cabbage Worm Stinkbug Cucumber Beetle, Pickleworm

Color Yellow Forest Green Kelly Green Light Green Brown Red Purple Orange White Gold Pink

Sources Nature’s Classroom Institute - http://www.nciw.org/nci.htm (This lesson was adapted by Molly Amster, a 2007 Kayam Summer Fellow, who brought the original from Nature’s Classroom Institute.)

Indigenous Jewish Farming Use Your Goof! Overview Participants encounter a sweat lodge, wigwam, teepee, or other element of indigenous civilization, sparking comparison and contrast between indigenous cultures and Judaism. The group then heads to the farm where they meet a Hebrew-speaking farmer, who helps them plant speaking only Hebrew while using ancient Hebrew body measurements for spacing between plants. Eventually the farmer-facilitator speaks English and engages the participants in exploring Kilayim through Hebrew body-measurements throughout the farm/garden, getting everyone to use their goof—body—to measure. The experience culminates by transplanting an ancient Jewish agricultural tradition, kilayim, from the written page into the living soil. Definitions • Sweat Lodge, Wigwam, Teepee—traditional American Indian structures • Indigenous—Originating in or native to a particular land • Halacha—Jewish law • Kilayim – forbidden mixtures • Goof – body • Amah – Hebrew unit measuring distance, translated as “cubit”; length from elbow to fingertips • Tefach – Hebrew unit measuring distance, translated as “handbreath”; width of fist • Agudal – Hebrew unit measuring distance from tip of thumb to first knuckle. • Mishnah—compilation of written rabbinic law Primary Sources– Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:19

‫ ִתּ ְשׁמֹרוּ— ְבּ ֶה ְמ ְתּ ָך‬,‫ ֻחקּ ַֹתי‬-‫ יט ֶאת‬19 You shall keep my statutes. Do not interbreed your ‫ ִת ְז ַרע‬-‫ ָשׂ ְד ָך לֹא‬,‫יע ִכּ ְלאַיִ ם‬ ַ ‫ ַת ְר ִבּ‬-‫ לֹא‬cattle; do not sow your field with two kinds of seed; and ‫ לֹא‬,‫וּבגֶד ִכּ ְלאַיִ ם ַשׁ ַע ְטנֵז‬ ֶ ;‫ ִכּ ְלאָיִ ם‬do not wear a garment made of two kinds of material .‫יך‬ ָ ‫ֲלה ָע ֶל‬ ֶ ‫ ַיע‬mixed together. Kilayim Mishnah 3:1 A patch of six handbreadths by six handbreadths may be sown with five varieties– four on the four sides of the patch, and one in the middle. If it has a border one handbreadth high, it may be sown with thirteen – three on each border, and one in the middle. One may not plant turnipheads in the border because it would fill it up. Rabbi Yehudah says, six in the middle.

‫מסכת כלאים פרק ג‬

‫ארבעה בארבע‬--‫ זורעין בתוכה חמישה זירעונים‬,‫א ערוגה שהיא שישה על שישה טפחים‬,‫ג‬ ‫שלושה על כל גבול‬--‫ זורעין בתוכה שלושה עשר‬,‫ היה לה גבול טפח‬.‫ ואחד באמצע‬,‫רוחות ערוגה‬ ,‫ רבי יהודה אומר‬.‫ מפני שהוא ממלאהו‬,‫ ואחד באמצע; לא ייטע ראש הלפת בתוך הגבול‬,‫וגבול‬ .‫שישה באמצע‬ Goals • Encounter elements of indigenous civilization; compare and contrast to Jewish culture • Build indigenous Jewish agricultural experience through Hebrew language and measurements • Introduce kilayim and its halachic (legal) spacing requirements between crops • Measure halachic spacing requirements for kilayim using Hebrew body measurements • Emphasize and embrace Hebrew body measurements for their “Do-It-Yourself” value: that we can 15

each be our own measuring stick rather than comparing ourselves to super models • Using the Mishnah, transplant kilayim from the written page into the living soil Logistics Audience: Adaptable for all ages Setting: Farm or garden Number of Participants: 6 - 20 Timing: Preparation - 5 minutes, Implementation - 40 minutes, Clean-up - 5 minutes Materials: Sweat lodge or picture of sweat lodge or other element of non-Jewish indigenous culture (Optional) Costume for Hebrew Indigenous Farmer (hat, cloak, staff, sandals, etc) Seeds and/or transplants & farm or garden plot ready for planting Already planted crops, either following or breaking the laws of kilayim Text—Mishnah kilayim 3:1, with planting diagram-commentaries

Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Compare and contrast Jewish culture with indigenous culture • Communicate and plant using Hebrew language • Use our bodies to measure distance according to Hebrew units Core concepts - Participants will know: • Most Jews have been disconnected from our native land for the past 2,000 years • Hebrew measurements are based on our body; the most commonly used are amah & tefach • Jewish agriculture uses these body measurements to determine spacing between crops, both for practical planting purposes and in order to separate crops according to the laws of kilayim Lesson Outline • Trigger (10 minutes) •

•

Start at a sweat lodge, wigwam, or teepee, or look at pictures of indigenous artifacts. What are these artifacts? What are they used for? Sweat lodges are a special building in American Indian culture used for cleansing and purifying one's body and spirit by sweating. Water is poured over heated stones to produce steam. Wigwams and teepees are both traditional American Indian shelters. (see appendix) How long have American Indians been living here? Archeologists say at least 10,000 years (see appendix)! How long have the Chinese been living in China? Again, a really long time—the oldest Chinese empires go back over 5,000 years. How old are you? How long has your family been living in America? [Get a few answers] The oldest Jewish families in America have been here for two or three hundred years, which is also a long time, but far less than the American Indians or Chinese. Why? Because we are wandering Jews. We have been exiled from Israel, our homeland, for most of the past 2,000 years. What would it be like if we Jews held the same unbroken bond with our land that the American Indians and the Chinese have? What would our lives look like? What would be different? What might be the same? Think about it as you walk down to the farm/garden.

Hebrew Language Section Welcome: Plant With Our Amah & Tefach (15 minutes) Welcome the group at the entrance of the farm/garden, speaking only Hebrew. [Try to speak Hebrew at a level that is challenging yet accessible for the participants] “Bruchim ha-ba’im! (L’chavat Kayam, ha-chava shelanu.) Shmi , ani hachaklai po. Yesh harbeh avodah la’asot. Atem muchanim la’azor? Anachnu holchim lishtol, beseder? Kol Baseder? Tov, yala! (Welcome! [To Kayam Farm, our farm.] My name is , I am the farmer here. There is lots of work to do. Are you all ready to help? We are going to plant, okay? Everything okay? Good, let’s go!) Lead the group to an area that is ready for planting. Anachnu holchim lishtol et hatzemachim ha’eleh po. Kol Baseder? Tov, yala! “We are going to plant these plants here. Everything okay? Good, let’s go!” MODEL • Use strong body language—use your goof/body—to teach them how to plant: “Tishtol tzemach echad po, ve tzemach acher sham. Hamakom be’emtza hee echad amah. “Plant one plant here, and another there. The space in between is one amah” As you say “amah,” show the length from elbow to the tip of middle finger. Place your forearm on the ground to measure one amah between plants. Plant 1 amah apart—about 18 inches. Sunflowers work well, or peppers, broccoli, cabbage, etc. •

“Tachpor chor echad tefach rachov ve’echad tefach omek” “Dig a hole one tefach wide and one tefach deep.” As you say tefach, show them the width of your fist. The hole for each plant should be one tefach (handsbreadth) wide, one tefach long, and one tefach deep.

•

When planting seeds, use your finger to plant the seeds one etzbah (knuckle’s width) deep. Generally, seeds are planted twice as deep as the size of the seed. One etzbah deep is good for peas, beets, and beans, but not carrots or kale, as these would need to be planted much more shallow.

PLANT • Help everyone plant while speaking Hebrew as a group, using their amah, tefach, and etzbah. CELEBRATE • After planting, congratulate the group: “Yasher Koach! Mazel Tov!” You can even sing a song, “Siman Tov u’mazel tov…” • REFLECT (in English, referring back to the trigger questions) What would Jewish life be like if we were all still connected to our homeland? What would be different? [Get lots of answers] Maybe we’d live in Israel, go to the Temple, etc. Maybe we would all speak Hebrew! And maybe more of us Jews would be farmers!

Learning Hebrew Measurements (5 minutes) ASK • Jewish farmers?! Who here is a Jewish farmer? What is Jewish farming anyway? DEMONSTRATE • What Hebrew words did we use to measure as we were planting? Amah and tefach. Everyone show me your amah. Show me your tefach. Give me a tefach! (Do a fist pound.) Give me an amah! Do a high-five. • One way of Jewish farming is to use our body to measure spacing between crops

•

Whose Amah Should We Use? (5 minutes) Hold your amah up against someone else’s. Does everyone have the same size amah? No! Whose amah do we use while planting? Maybe the average amah of ancient Israelis, the amah of the king or president, or maybe each farmer uses their own amah. There is actually a ruler showing three different rabbinic opinions regarding the length of a standard amah. The side of the ruler reads “Measure up with yiddishkeit!” ** Rather than use the rule, we encourage you to use your own amah and tefach when planting. We do not need hot models or athletes to show us what our bodies should look like—be proud of your amah! Remember, the Torah teaches us to use your body—USE YOUR GOOF!

CHANT • Here’s a chant about using our goof (a la Arsenio Hall): “Amah, tefach, woo woo woo! Amah, tefach, use your guf!” [Hold up your amah when saying amah, hold up your tefach when saying tefach, wave your fist in the air in a circle when saying woo, woo, woo!] ** As a fun extension project, make personal yiddishkeit rulers with students – measuring each student’s amah for the full length, plus demarcating it with units of tefach and agudal Applying Hebrew Measurements (15 minutes) Now that we’ve got our Hebrew measurements down, let’s measure some things in the farm/garden. Start by measuring your neighbor’s height in amot. [Lead the group to a plot of planted crops] ASK Ever heard of ‘kilayim’? Everybody say kilayim. Like kilayim pie, right?” Kilayim is a law from our Jewish Farmer’s Almanac, the Torah! The law of kilayim states that when we plant different crops, we must not plant them all mixed together. Instead, we need to keep them separate. Any ideas why? SHOW & TELL • Here are a few rows of different vegetables growing side by side—according to kilayim, they should be three tefachim (handsbreaths) apart from one another • In our vineyard, we are not allowed to plant any edible crop within 4 amot of these grape vines. ASK • How can we determine if we are following the law? We need to measure to make sure that these crops are far enough apart. How can we do it? Use Your Goof!

MEASURE • Invite participants to “put their amah or tefach down” measuring the distance in tefachim between vegetable rows or the distance in amot from the bottom of a grape vine to the closest planted food crop. Collaborative measuring is especially fun • Count the amot or tefachim. Did we pass the kilayim test? Hopefully the answer is yes! ASK • What if a 7 foot tall NBA basketball player came to our farm and measured this distance with their tefach or amah? Would we still pass? Maybe not—his amah is a lot longer! That’s why a Jewish farm is planted by the person growing the food- Use Your Goof! Transition (1 minute) CHANT • Let’s do that chant one more time: Amah, Tefach, woo, woo, woo! Amah, tefach, use your goof! • Give me an amah! Give me a tefach! Give me an etzbah! Shalom chaverim! Planting Arugot Boxes (5 minutes) INTRODUCE • Who wants to plant using our amoh and tefach one more time? • This time we get help from the ancient rabbis on how we can apply kilayim to a real garden. Who wants to read? Kilayim Mishnah 3:1 : “A patch of six handbreadths by six handbreadths may be sown with five varieties– four on the four sides of the patch, and one in the middle. If it has a border one handbreadth high, it may be sown with thirteen – three on each border, and one in the middle. One may not plant turnip-heads in the border because it would fill it up. Rabbi Yehudah says, six in the middle.” • •

• •

What’s the Mishnah? [compendium of rabbinic law] What’s an arugah? [a small patch] What’s an amah? (length of elbow to fingertips) Look at these diagrams from the mishnah (see appendix). Do they help us understand how to plant?

Welcome group to the arugot—patches area of the garden (see appendix) Mishnah kilayim 3:1 is a rabbinic agricultural text that teaches us how to plant crops in a small garden without creating kilayim, forbidden mixtures. Rabbis interpreting this mishnah text by 19

•

offering many different ideas on how to plant different crops in one arugah (one square amah) without creating kilayim. At Kayam Farm, we plant five arugot boxes demonstrating five different rabbinic interpretations of this mishnah text, but there are actually 13 different rabbinic planting interpretations of this law, each with its own diagram! We plant the five simplest interpretations/diagrams, each based on a different interpretation of the mishnah kilayim 3:1.

FOCUS • Study the rabbinic diagrams carefully to create the same geometric configuration within your arugah garden as on the page. For example, look at this diagram:

CREATIVE CHALLENGE • Try to re-create the rabbinic diagrams by hammering nails partway into the top of your arugah box-frame, then run strings between the nails. Use the string to create the same shapes as in the diagrams—triangles, squares, diamonds, etc. • It is challenging to locate the nails and string correctly in order to create the right shapes. Patience. A different number of nails is required for each arugah depending on the shape being created. The picture below demonstrates an example of arugot boxes with strings attached, both before and after planting. Real arugot gardens are rough reflections of mishnaic diagrams. It doesn’t have to be perfect!

PLANT • Now that we have created our own arugah boxes, let’s plant! Use the diagrams to determine the correct planting location for each variety within in each diagram. Some diagrams have five varieties, some have more. Leafy greens and herbs are ideal plants for these arugot: lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, collards, cilantro, basil, etc. • Here is one example of a freshly planted arugah box:

Conclusion (10 mintues) • •

Great job planting! Do you feel like a real Jewish farmer? Our newly transplanted crops appear distinct within our arugot. What will they look like in a month or two? Often these arugot grow to be tangled and chaotic. Should kilayim prohibit this mixed-up appearance? Kilayim applies only at the time of planting, so intermixing later on is fine. Why? • Most rabbinic kilayim laws address a larger scale—fields of different grains or vineyards with other crops nearby. Why do the rabbis create laws and planting schemes for this small-scale arugot garden? Perhaps these are implications and applications for urban gardening, rooftops, and/or courtyards. • Many people react to kilayim with skepticism, thinking that the Torah prohibits us from farming a diversity of crops, violating fundamental strategies of organic gardening and permaculture. Mishnah kilayim 3:1 demonstrates otherwise: neither the Torah nor the rabbis promote monocultures—in biblical and rabbinic times there was no such thing as monocultures as we know them today. Ancient Israelite farmers times grew a variety of crops in order to sustain themselves and their families. The laws of kilayim do not prohibit this diversity varieties; on the contrary, kilayim texts offer a plethora of methods and techniques for growing a diversity of crops together, while still maintaining the integrity of each species. This Jewish value of integrity amongst diversity is kilayim’s dynamic tension and unique, beautiful agricultural heritage. • This is what it means to be a Jewish farmer? Are you in? Post-Learning / Take Home Piece Next time you plant something, use your goof! Besides planting, anytime you are measuring something, try to use your body as your ruler.

Appendices / Additional Resources Transplanting the Written Text to the Living Soil: A Summary Mishna Kilayim 3:1 “A bed of six handbreadths by six handbreadths may be sown with five seeds – four on the four sides of the bed, and one in the middle...” kilayim Mishnah 3:1 This sentence has many different rabbinic interpretations, each of which offers a different geometric planting scheme. The Tanna Kamma—the anonymous first voice of the Mishna—shows this interpretation/planting scheme:

We built an arugah box and showed the Tanna Kamma with strings and compost, like this:

Here’s our Tanna Kamma arugah with freshly planted greens:

See the following pages for additional diagrams and pictures.

Mishna 3:1 according to Rash

Mishna 3:1 according to Rabbi Yehuda

Mishna 3:1 according to Tanna Kamma (opinion 2)

*measurements are in tefachim

Diagram missing

Mishna 3:1 – disputed case

Mishna 3:1 according to Tanna Kamma (opinion 1)

*measurements are in tefachim

Appendix Arugot Box Construction (45 minutes) HOW TO BUILD AN ARUGOT BOX Materials: o Circular saw o Powerdrill o Screws o 2x4 wooden boards (approx 40 ft total) o Cardboard (boxes, flattened – a lot) o Topsoil o Compost soil BUILD Note - The facilitator should have experience with a circular saw and power-drill for this part of the lesson. You can build the arugot boxes beforehand and skip this BUILD section. •

Let’s ‘transplant’ these rabbinic interpretations of the mishnah from the page into the soil! We can build wooden arugah boxes, measuring one amah by one amah. But wait a second, everyone hold up your arm to look at your amah—the distance from your elbow to your fingertips. Are they all the same size? NO! So whose amah should we use? YOURS!! (See Use Your Goof! Lesson). Use your amah to measure—each piece should be one amah long. In order to create five arugot boxes, you need 20 pieces total, each one amah long. Only responsible adults with building experience should use the saw. After cutting your amahlength pieces of wood, screw them together in the shape of a square.

LOCATE • Locate the boxes in an open area where groups can gather beside each arugah box to study each rabbinic interpretation-diagram planting scheme. Create a row of arugot boxes, a semicircle, or some other arrangement that shows the progression from one interpretation to another. You can change the location of the boxes from season to season. SHEET MULCH • Once you locate your arugot—boxes, lay two layers of brown, non-waxy cardboard down beneath each box, completely covering the grass/plants growing within the arugah as well as a few inches around the outside of the box. Covering a larger area with the cardboard will provide greater weed control. Use lots of cardboard! After laying down cardboard, place each arugot frame centered on top of the cardboard. Fill each frame with half soil, half compost.

American Indians Have American Indians really been here for over 10,000 years? Archaeologists find evidence that the earliest human migrations to the North American continent occurred at least 12,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age when Siberia and Alaska were joined by an ice bridge across what is now the Bering Strait. Stabilization of the climate to conditions similar to today, around 8,000 BCE, led to widespread migration, crop cultivation and a dramatic rise in human population throughout the Americas. For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States Sweatlodge - (also called purification ceremony, sweat house, medicine lodge, medicine house, or simply sweat) is a ceremonial sauna and is an important event in some North American First Nations or Native American cultures. There are several styles of sweat lodges that include a domed or oblong hut similar to a wickiup, or even a simple hole dug into the ground and covered with planks or tree trunks. Stones are typically heated in an exterior fire and then placed in a central pit in the ground. For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatlodge Wigwam - A wigwam or wickiup is a domed room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast. The use of these terms by non-Native Americans is somewhat arbitrary and can refer to many distinct types of Native American structures regardless of location or cultural group. The wigwam is not to be confused with the Native Plains tipi which has a very different construction, structure, and use. For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigwam Teepee - A tipi (also te(e)pee) is a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins or birch bark and are popularised by Native Americans of the Great Plains. Tipis are stereotypically associated with Native Americans in general but Native Americans from places other than the Great Plains mostly used different types of dwellings. The term "wigwam" (a domed structure) is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a tipi. The tipi was durable, provided warmth and comfort in winter, was dry during heavy rains, and was cool in the heat of summer. Tipis could be disassembled and packed away quickly when a tribe decided to move and could be reconstructed quickly when the tribe settled in a new area. This portability was important to Plains Indians with their nomadic lifestyle. Modern tipi covers are usually made of canvas. Contemporary users of tipis include historical reenactors, back-to-the-land devotees, and Native American families attending powwows or encampments who wish to preserve and pass on a part of their heritage and tradition. For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teepee

Build a Seed Overview Based on the wilderness lesson, “Build a Tree” by Joseph Cornell, this lesson is ideal for younger participants and springtime planting, indoors or outdoors. Using drama, participants learn the parts of a seed and the necessary elements for growth, busting through the seed coat and germinating into a seedling (vocabulary optional depending on age). We conclude with a quiet solo seedplanting, focusing our kavana- intention on good wishes and blessings for both the seed and ourselves. Definitions • Seed - 1. the fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant, containing an embryo or rudimentary plant. 2. any propagative part of a plant, including tubers, bulbs, etc., esp. as preserved for growing a new crop. • Embryo - 1. the young of a viviparous animal, esp. of a mammal, in the early stages of development within the womb, in humans up to the end of the second month. 2. Botany . the rudimentary plant usually contained in the seed. 3. any multicellular animal in a developmental stage preceding birth or hatching. • Parts of a Seed (see appendix for diagram) o Seed Coat – outer layer that protects the seed. o Endosperm – the “food source” of the seed. o Cotyledons – the “first leaves” of a seedling, providing the first energy for growth • Germinate - to develop into a plant or individual, as a seed, spore, or bulb. • Kavana- spiritual intention Goals • Touch and feel seeds, seedlings, and fully grown plants • Learn different parts of a seed; BE different parts of a seed • Introduce sun, soil, water and air as necessary components for seeds and all life • Plant seeds well and send them home with participants • Bring kavanah-intention to planting, giving wishes and blessings to seeds Logistics Audience: Children ages 3-9 (Parents welcome) Setting: Greenhouse, garden, or farm Number of Participants: 4-18 Timing: Preparation – 10 minutes, Implementation – 30-45 minutes, Clean-up – 10 minutes Materials: • Large seeds that are easy to plant: sunflowers, beans, peas (not carrots or lettuce) • Planting materials (soil, trays or pots) • Water • Ideal but optional: just-germinated seedlings and lots of other plants Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Act out the parts of a seed and the germination process • Plant with kavanah-intention and water seeds Core Concepts - Participants will know: • All life begins small: plants, animals, people, universe • Seeds have inside them the parts they need in order to grow: seed coat, food source (endosperm), leaves (cotyledons) • Sun, soil, water and air are necessary for all life on earth 27

Lesson Outline Welcome to the greenhouse (or garden)! Let’s look around—follow me! • Walk through the garden or greenhouse slowly and see all the new young Trigger plants growing. Touch the tops of the plants, especially areas with lots of young 10 minutes plants growing close together (lettuce or other greens). Taste a few things. • How many plants do you think there are here? 100, 1000, 10,000? • How did all these plants start? As seeds! Plants start out as seeds; what about animals? Often hatched from eggs, also known as embryos, which is another kind of seed! What about people—you and me? Also embryos, seeds! Families are like seeds too– how is your family like a seed? All life starts from something small, and often it’s seeds Build a Seed (10 minutes) • What is a seed? Who wants to be a seed? • Let’s build a seed: get into groups of three or four—everyone will become part of a seed. Each small group come up with a name for your seed. • Seeds are amazing because they are so small but inside they have even smaller parts that they need in order to grow: 1. Seed coat – the tough outside shell protecting the seed from the outside. Who has a coat on? Who wants to be the seed coat? Can you play defense? Show us your seed coat moves! [suggestion—march around your seed-friends and chant: “Defense! Defense!” 2. Endosperm or Food Source—giving the seed energy to grow. Who wants to be the food source? What do you look like? [suggestion—rub your tummy and say “Yum-yum” 3. Cotyledons or First Leaves—the first leaves to burst out of the seed (germination), soaking up the sun’s energy to allow for more leaves to grow. Everyone else, you’re the cotyledons. Get ready to bust out of your seed. 1, 2, 3—go! Reach up high with both hands together and open up as you stand up to soak in the sun’s rays. Welcome to the world, we germinated! • All together now, act out the parts of the seed sound machine, culminating with germination

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Sun, Soil, Water, Air (8 minutes) That was great. Let’s go see some real seedlings that just germinated. [Recently germinated sunflowers, beans, or peas are great because you can see the cotyledons growing and often the seed coat is still attached, about to fall off]. What else does the seed need in order to grow, besides its own parts inside? There are four basic things that are VERY important for all life on earth. What are they? Jingle: “Sun, soil, water, air—everything we eat and everything we wear. Hebrew jingle: Shemesh, adamah, mayim, aviir—everything we eat and everything we wiir.

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Let’s get to know these four elements more closely: o Use potting soil or garden soil: invite participants to touch and describe what it feels like. o Take a deep breath, feeling the air fill up our lungs. We breathe in oxygen and our carbon dioxide—plants breathe in CO2 and out oxygen. We’re perfect partners. Go breathe together with a plant. o Feel the sunlight (and hopefully the warmth). o What about water? Spritz a little water on them (with teacher permission). Sing the chant again “Sun, soil…”. Do we like these four elements? Plants do too! They need them in order to grow. And it’s not just plants—all life on earth depends on them! 28

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Solo Planting Sit (10 minutes) Okay, who’s ready to plant? Walk over to seeding area. Planting is a very special thing to do—we need focus and calm in order to plant. Explain the right planting depth. First plant seeds for the garden or farm, many seeds over several trays (each child should plant at least 5 or 6). Now who wants one to take home? Before you plant, listen to this: R. Simon said, no seed exists below that does not have an angel in the heavens, who strikes it and says to it, Grow! -- Midrash Brieshit Rabbah

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Each of you will get a seed and a little pot, and you’ll have a few minutes to find a quiet spot to plant, just you and your seed. Just like the midrash says, you will be that angel for the seed you’re planting. Before planting, try to feel kavanah – intention. That means you can sit quietly for a few moments, look at the seed closely in your hand (or your parent/chaperone’s hand), and give it a wish or a blessing. You can even tell G!d what you want for this plant, and since planting is such a special moment, you can say other prayers to G!d too. You might even hear your seed whisper something back to you, but you’ll have to listen very closely to understand. [review proper planting technique]. Now, go find a quiet spot with your seed, take your time, and plant with kavanah-intention [1-3 minutes]. Closing (5 minutes) Share blessings and wishes given to the seeds. Did anyone’s seed whisper something back? Was this the first time you ever planted something? Say shehechianu:

Just one more thing to do—water! [spray everyone with a bit of water, with teacher’s permission] Post-Learning / Take Home Piece • Take your seed home, care for it with sun and water, and watch it grow • Play Build-a-Seed with your whole family • Plant lots of seeds, all different kinds, and learn from your garden all year long! Appendix/Additional Resources

Image from The Robinson Library http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/science/botany/anatomy/seedparts.htm Sources Cited Cornell, Joseph. Sharing the Joy of Nature: Nature Activities for All Ages. Dawn Pubns, 1st edition (June 1989).

‫ – אדם ואדמה‬Adam ve’Adamah – People and Earth Enlivening the Dead with Soil & Compost Overview Participants explore soil and compost hands-on, feeling different soil types and learning how soil is made and how it affects what we grow. We plant in Gan Adam—the Person Garden—and experience the connection between adam (humanity) and adamah (earth). Finally, participants learn to compost, taking part in the cyclical relationship between plants and soil. Definitions • Bracha – Hebrew blessing (pl. brachot) • Soil • Compost • Loam • M’Chayey Ha’Meytim – (Hebrew – lit.“who brings life to the dead.”) Closing of the bracha said traditionally during the Amidah – here used as blessing over compost. Goals • Touch and feel several different types of soil and compost • Learn how to compost on the farm or at home, and meet the worms who make it possible • See connection between adam and adamah—people and earth. Logistics Audience: K-6 Setting: Garden or farm Number of Participants: 10-20 Timing: Preparation – 50 minutes, Implementation – 40-60 minutes, Clean-up – 20 minutes Materials: • Bracha Poster/card - m’chayei ha’meytim • Seven Bins of as many soils as possible: sand, clay, silt, leafgro (leaf-grass compost), composted manure, vermicompost, and one extra empty bin. Removable labels for each bin • Food scraps & carbon for compost (straw or leaves are ideal) • Compost piles at different stages of decomposition (if possible) • Shovels and hand-trowels • Plants ready for transplanting • Finished compost • Water • Worm bin (if possible) Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Identify sand, clay, silt, leafgro, composted manure, and vermicompost • Start their own compost pile • Transplant seedlings and augment with compost soil • Describe the decomposition process Core Concepts - Participants will know: • Basic soil types and their textures, ingredients, moisture retention, nutrient levels • Steps in the decomposition process, and how to manage that process • The fundamental connection between adam and adamah—people and earth • The influence of soil on plants and crops that grow in it

Lesson Outline • Welcome to the garden! Who wants to play in the dirt? Dirt is just another name for soil—adamah in Hebrew. What is soil? Where is it? What role does soil play in Trigger the forest or on our farm? It’s where everything grows! Without soil, we could not have forests or farms—it is essential to life! We love soil! • Would you like to meet our soil? I just happen to have some dirt over here … Introduction – Soil Types (10 minutes) Walk to several soil bins: sand, clay, forest topsoil, leafgro, composted manure, vermicompost, etc •

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Meet our family of dirt! These 6 bins contain a variety of different kinds of soil. They’re excited to meet you, so everyone pick a bin and get to know the component in it—notice color, texture, particle size, clumpiness, and what else is there besides soil—twigs, roots, rocks, leaves, etc. Go through each bin and examine all the soil types. How well does each type hold water? Drain water? Hold onto nutrients? Support a plant? Feed a plant? [Pitchers of water] Can you guess what’s in the bins? These first three are clay, sand, and silt—the three main components of soil. The rest contain different kinds of compost. [put on labels for each bin] Transition – Soil and Plants (5 minutes) Now let’s meet these soils in a new way, as if we were plants. What kind of plant would you be? Spread your fingers through the soil like roots, holding your plant in the ground and drawing up water and nutrients from the soil. Try each bin. Which bin would you want to grow in? Why? Different plants might like different soils—can you guess what kind of soil your plant wants? What about mixing the bins—what mix would you want? Almost all soils on farms and in forests are mixes of these ingredients, and most fruits & vegetables like a mix too. It’s all about balance. What’s our soil like around here? [look it up]. This bin (#5 for example) is our native soil. Let’s start with this native soil and create our own garden compost mix in this empty bin What goes in the mix? Organic matter! Organic matter breaks up clay, improves water drainage, and makes a more nutritious soil for crops! If only we could somehow make our own organic matter that we could just add to the garden… Compost Exploration (15 minutes) Compost! What’s compost? Compost is a mixture of decaying organic matter, such as dead leaves, manure, or food scraps used for fertilizing soil. Would you like to meet our compost? Walk to the compost piles, ideally including three kinds: kitchen scrap compost, leafgro, and composted manure, worm compost, etc These are our fragrant mounds of herbs and spices! Feel free to stick your hands in and feel. [A live compost pile can be warm, and gives a neat sensation to participants] Explore compost at different stages—fresh, in process, and finished. What happens at each stage in terms of color, temperature, smell and appearance? Who makes this compost? How does food turn into soil? The FBI, that’s how. Fungus, bacteria and invertebrates – they do the work together with heat, moisture and plenty of oxygen. All we have to do is add greens and browns to the pile and mix it up every once in a while to let oxygen get in. What’s an invertebrate? Like … worms? Let’s look for worms in our compost piles [5 minutes]. Now let’s look for worms in our worm compost bin. Worms are awesome! Explore 31

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the worm-bin. What usually happens to these resources—foods scraps, leaves, grass, manure, newspaper, straw? Thrown away, to the landfill. Compost recycles food into soil, and then we can grow more food in that soil, compost that food, and around we go—that’s a healthy cycle! What are some differences between composting and recycling plastic, glass, or paper? Who likes composting? Who thinks they might do it at home? I love composting so much, I like to say a bracha-blessing each time I add to the pile. Can we come up with a blessing for compost? How about this one:

‫ ְמ ַחיֵּה ַה ֵמּתִים‬,'‫בָּרוּ ְך אַתָּה ה‬ •

Baruch ata adonai, mechayey hameytim. Blessed are you, Hashem our God, who brings life to the dead. How is compost like bringing life to the dead?

See appendix for additional resources, information and worm song! Closing—Transplanting and Adding to the Pile (10 minutes) Who wants to add some compost to the garden and plant? [Optional—Create Gan Adam, a garden in the shape of a human body. This is especially coollooking when you create raised beds in mounds and mark off the perimeter of the body with logs, lumber, or some other material to make the shape visually striking.] •

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Before planting, mix compost deeper into the soil (2-8 inches) around the plant and also provide a top-dressing of compost around the plant on the surface of the soil—these are two ways to use compost in the garden. Try planting one plant with compost and another without—watch what happens over time. Say a bracha-blessing as you augment the soil with compost, either mechayeh hameitim or another blessing the group made up. Pull a few weeds, dead crops, and/or other compostables and walk over to the compost pile. People have been composting for thousands of years, as long as we’ve been farming and interacting with soil. The Hebrew word for human is adam and the word for earth is adamah. If English were the same as Hebrew, our word for person would be earthling—in Hebrew it’s clear that we come from the earth. The Torah says that G!d made adam out of adamah. We are of the earth, and we can connect the cycle every day, just like this. [Add the compostables to the pile] Post-Learning / Take Home Piece Start a compost pile at your house—add greens and browns and turn it once a month Encourage your school to start composting—there are several companies that haul compost and bring back soil for a school garden! (see appendix) Explore your native soil at home and in your neighborhood. Meet your local worms

Appendices/Additional Resources: Soil Types In terms of soil texture, soil type usually refers to the different sizes of mineral particles in a particular sample. Soil is made up in part of finely ground rock particles, grouped according to size as sand, silt and clay. Each size plays a significantly different role. For example, the largest particles, sand, determine aeration and drainage characteristics, while the tiniest, sub-microscopic clay particles, are chemically active, binding with water and plant nutrients. The ratio of these sizes determines soil type: clay, loam, clay-loam, silt-loam, and so on. In addition to the mineral composition of soil, humus (organic material) also plays a crucial role in soil characteristics and fertility for plant life. Soil may be mixed with larger aggregate, such as pebbles or gravel. Not all types of soil are permeable, such as pure clay. From Wikipedia – Soil Type. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_type for full article. Fungus, Bacteria and Invertebrates (The FBI) The FBI are responsible for decomposing all organic matter. Fungus helps break down matter physically by spreading its mycelium (the fungus equivalent of roots, though actually the main body of the organism) through decaying matter. Invertebrates physically and biologically break down matter by burrowing through, consuming and digesting organic matter. Bacteria biologically break down matter, also through consumption and digestion. This document offers lesson plans and activities on decomposers: http://www.niu.edu/taft/outdoored/teacher_resources/DecomposerTB.pdf COMPOST Greens and Browns Greens (also called “wet” materials) are the food scraps, manure, and other heavy, wet organic materials that are high in nitrogen. Browns (“dry” materials) are high in carbon such as straw, newspaper, and leaves. Browns should make up the majority of a balanced compost pile. If the pile smells bad, turn it and add browns. Ratios change depending on location and material inputs, but generally browns make up 60-80% of compost materials, and greens 20-40% (by volume, not weight). Many garden scraps already contain a good ratio of green to brown (nitrogen to carbon). Keva and Kavanah (Shamu Sadeh, Director, ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship) Greens and browns can be thought of as the keva (structure) and kavanah (intention) of compost. Greens are high in nitrogen, more nutrient-dense. Nitrogen is a major nutrient needed by all plants, and because nutrient-rich soil is our intention for compost, greens can be thought of as kavanah. As important as kavanah is, it cannot succeed without the proper keva-structure to complement it. Without enough browns, the greens will not receive enough oxygen and will smell awful (anaerobic). Browns are the keva-structure that support our kavana-intention for fertile, nutrient-rich compost soil. As with compost, so with life—we must balance of keva and kavanah in all that we do. Basic Composting Instructions Starting a compost pile can be simple, easy and educational! Look for a partly shaded, partly sunny, convenient and accessible outdoor space. A compost pile can be just that – a pile – or can use a compost bin, which are available for purchase or can also be built by hand re-using many resources cheaply and effectively. Used shipping pallets can be tied together to create an easy-to-open box (make sure its untreated wood). You want approximately one square meter of volume to ensure enough mass to build up heat. You may want to line the bin with sticks or chicken wire to keep out scavengers! Try to find a spot with hose access – you’ll use it! Keep a 5-gallon bucket with lid in the kitchen to collect scraps from cooking and eating to save trips to the compost pile. When this gets full you can bring it out to your pile, dump it and rinse it. These are available for a couple dollars at Home Depot or check with your friendly industrial kitchen (synagogue, camp, etc) – bulk food items often come in 5 gallon buckets. Avoid adding diseased plants, meat and dairy products to your pile – while they can certainly be composted in a wellmaintained, hot system, they do not decay easily on their own. Disease will remain in low-heat compost, and meat and

dairy attracts rodents and other scavengers – way too much bother when you’re first starting out! Otherwise, you can add anything that rots. Make sure to also have a ready supply of browns. Every time you dump a bucket-full of greens from the kitchen, you’ll want to cover it with a layer of browns to maintain the proper ratios and avoid smells. Turn the pile every so often to make sure it’s getting enough oxygen. If it starts to smell it has probably gone anaerobic, meaning it lacks enough oxygen. Add browns, turn the pile, and add another layer of browns on top – this will help balance the carbon-nitrogen ratio, add oxygen, and the layer of browns on top helps contain any leftover smells. Sufficient moisture is also necessary for decomposition – add water to your pile if/when your area doesn’t get enough rainfall. That said, too much water without proper drainage will cause your pile to go anaerobic – i.e. stinky. Consider a layer of rocks or branches on the bottom of the pile to elevate and get some air flow underneath the pile, which will help excess water drain out. Decomposition is an exothermic process – it releases heat. Your compost will therefore get quite warm and even steam as the weather gets colder. This is a great sign! When the pile looks, feels and smells like soil – it’s done! Once a compost pile has reached critical mass (one square meter or larger) it can take anywhere from 1-2 months (turning 1-2 times a week) to a year if you let it sit and let nature do the work, also depending on size of the pile and what has been put in it. Building a wire-mesh bin using chicken wire and wooden stakes (including video!): http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Wire-Mesh-Compost-Bin Outsourcing your compost While it’s most efficient and educational to have your own compost pile, it may not be practical for some institutions to compost at full scale given lack of space, time and resources. Here are some resources to help you get the process started of outsourcing your compost to a commercial composting company: Get Started with Commercial Composting: http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=41785& Database of Commercial Composting Companies in the US: http://www.manta.com/mb_35_E836B7N1_000/compost Waste Neutral (Maryland-based commercial company) Waste Neutral (WN) provides sustainable waste management solutions for commercial and institutional applications by evaluating your business processes and waste streams to determine if there are cost effective alternatives to divert needless waste from going to the landfill.

http://wasteneutralgroup.com/ Worm compost resources How to make your own worm compost system: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Own-Worm-Compost-System Appelhof, Mary. Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up & Maintain a Worm Composting System. Flower Press; Revised edition (November 1, 1997)

Worm Song Little Worms (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star) Little worms in the bin so neat. How we wonder what you eat. Apples, eggshells, veggies too, All these things are good for you. Little worms in the bin so neat. Now we all know what you eat! Little worms in the bin so neat. How we wonder what you eat. Don’t give ‘em eggs, don’t give ‘em cheese. No matter what, no meat please. Little worms in the bin so neat. Now we all know what you eat!

‫ָשּׁם‬ ֶ ‫ַשּׁיב הָרוּ ַח וּמורִיד ַהגּ‬ ִ ‫ – מ‬Mashiv HaRuach U’Morid HaGashem …Who Makes the Wind Blow and the Rain Fall Overview Participants explore water and the water cycle, and how people and plants fit in. They experience water in various physical states of matter and learn the Jewish relationship to water and rain. Definitions • Evaporation –changing from a liquid or solid state into a gas, water vapor in this case. • Condensation—water vapor liquefies to form dew, fog, clouds, or the like, or solidifies to form snow or hail. • Precipitation – falling products of condensation in the atmosphere, such as rain, snow, or hail. • Filtration –water on the ground surface enters the soil and trickles (percolates) through soil and rock Goals • Understand basic needs of plants, particularly sun and rain • Distinguish between water in solid, liquid, and gaseous states • Introduce or review the water cycle • Recognize human reliance on water, particularly rain. Introduce Jewish prayers for rain • Learn about irrigation and water crops effectively Logistics Audience: K-6 Setting: Garden or farm Number of Participants: 6-20 Timing: Preparation – 10 minutes, Implementation – 30-45 minutes, Clean-up – 5 minutes Materials: • Water Source • Watering Cans or Hose • Drip irrigation supplies (if possible) Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Properly water plants • Dance the Water Cycle Boogie • Explain the prayer, “mashiv haruach u’morid hagashem” Core Concepts - Participants will know: • Differences between common states of water– liquid, gas, and solid • Stages of the water cycle • Basic methods of irrigation on the farm or in the garden

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Lesson Outline 1. Song—Mashiv haruach u’morid hagashem Have you ever been caught in a thunderstorm? What was it like? Was there ever a time when water saved your life?

2. Tell the story about Rabbi Akiva “The Water and the Rock” (see appendix) Why is water like the Torah? States of Matter (5-10 minutes) What is it like to be water? Let’s find out—everyone become water molecules, and stay within this designated area (25’ x 25’). Water molecules behave differently depending on their physical state: • Liquid water (medium speed): wander about, bump into each other, close quarters • Ice (stop): Freeze! Lock elbows so that each molecule is attached to others around it, forming an ice crystal! Ice molecules still move, but very slowly—so try to move slowly as one unit • Water Vapor-Gas (fast): Gas molecules move quickly in all directions, as far apart as space permits. Stay within the set space limits! Lots of bumping, be safe. Shout out several changes in state, such as lake, ice rink, fog, stream, glacier, snowflake, or cloud. The Water Cycle Boogie (5 minutes) Now that we’ve experienced water in its different forms, let’s learn-review the water cycle. Who knows the water cycle boogie?! (See appendix) Here’s the chorus (dance as you chant): Evaporation! Condensation! Precipitation! Filtration! The water cycle boogie goes up and down The water cycle boogie goes round and round!

Where does water come from? Where does it go? Looks like a cycle, no? Talk through the stages of the water cycle, then repeat the song. Dance parties encouraged Rain, Israel, & Irrigation (10 minutes) Now that we’ve learned about water, let’s water our farm/garden! • How do plants usually get their water? Rain. When we use a hose, where does that water come from? Under the ground! But where before that? It’s a cycle, but it’s also beyond our control. Most of North America receives enough rain or snow, but Israel is different. • The land of Israel has depended on rain for thousands of years. This desperate need is reflected by the short prayer, “mashiv haruach u’morid hagashem—who makes the wind blow and the rain fall”. This prayer asks G!d to bless Israel with rain that gives us life. • Our Israeli brothers and sisters were in a pickle—they needed to grow lots of food in a hot, dry climate. So about 50 years ago they helped invent a world-famous system called drip irrigation (see appendix) that saves a ton of water by watering each plant drop by drop right at the soil surface. Farmers worldwide now use drip irrigation—including us! • Let’s do some drip irrigating—pass out irrigation supplies and show them how to hook it up. Let them try different connections and experiment with it—it’s a fun, intuitive process. • We also have a rain barrel that catches rainwater for irrigation (see appendix). Explore the rain barrel too Watering and Closing (5 minutes) Enough experimenting, let’s do it! Use drip irrigation, hoses, watercans, etc to water everything in site. Water helps the most when it goes straight to the plant’s roots, so we should try to water at the base of the plant. If we water too high up it will evaporate and not help the plants at all. 36

[Give each participant a chance to water 1-3 plants—one challenge is to give the right amount of water. Depending on the season, crops may need very little to a whole lot of water. We find that people usually don’t water enough, so encourage them to give it plenty.] Say or sing Mashiv haruach u’morid hagashem as you water. Drink some water too—L’mayim! On a hot day, and with teacher’s permission, spray everyone a bit for the final ending.

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Post-Learning / Take Home Piece Set up drip irrigation and/or a rain barrel at home to irrigate efficiently Drink lots of water, especially on hot days—l’chaim l’mayim! Test the water quality of streams, lakes, and rivers near you. Share the results Appendix/Additional Resources

The Water Cycle Boogie http://freesongsforkids.com/videos/water-cycle-boogie http://www.bananaslugstringband.com/ for additional resources Water and the Rock ELUL: A Time to Reflect. Rabbi Akiva, Master of Teshuva. http://www.ou.org/chagim/elul/akiva.htm Drip Irrigation http://www.dripworksusa.com/ Water Testing http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/ Rain Barrels Rain Barrel Guide - How to use rain barrels for rain water harvesting http://www.rainbarrelguide.com/

Shmittah Salad Encountering Wild & Domesticated Plants Overview Participants experience part of the Shmittah year by exploring wild edibles and their related cultivated varieties. This plant walk validates Shmittah through realizing humanity’s impact on plants and nature’s innate capacity to provide human nourishment. Goals • Understand Shmittah more fully by encountering wild edibles and medicinals. • Appreciate both wild and cultivated plants, inspire action to protect and preserve them. Logistics Audience: Adaptable for all ages Setting: Outdoors—forest and/or garden Number of Participants: 5-25 Timing: Preparation – 20 minutes, Implementation – 2 hours, Clean-up – 5 minutes Facilitator must have basic knowledge of wild edibles and medicinals

Materials Local field guide– a book with pictures and information about plants (see appendix) Reusable grocery bags or salad bowl, even salad dressing may come in handy Notebooks and pencils for drawing pictures, taking notes, and collecting samples. Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Identify and describe at least one new plant or wild edible and their healing qualities • Recognize poison ivy • Connect with plants, intellectually and spiritually Core Concepts - Participants will know: • Shmittah radically changes our relationship with wild and domesticated plants. • Many plants in nature are edible and/or have healing qualities. • Our brachot-blessings distinguish between plants that grow in the earth vs. on a tree. • Human food and medicine exists in wild plants; agriculture is the domestication of wild plants.

Lesson Outline Shmittah Vayikra-Leviticus 25:4-7 .‫בוּאָתהּ‬ ָ ‫ ְתּ‬-‫ ֶאת‬,‫אָס ְפ ָתּ‬ ַ ְ‫ וְ ֵשׁשׁ ָשׁנִ ים ִתּ ְזמֹר ַכּ ְר ֶמ ָך; ו‬,‫ג ֵשׁשׁ ָשׁנִ ים ִתּ ְז ַרע ָשׂ ֶד ָך‬ .‫ וְ ַכ ְר ְמ ָך לֹא ִת ְזמֹר‬,‫ ָשׂ ְד ָך לֹא ִת ְז ָרע‬:‫ ַלהי‬,‫ ַשׁ ָבּת‬--‫אָרץ‬ ֶ ‫ ַשׁ ַבּת ַשׁ ָבּתוֹן יִ ְהיֶה ָל‬,‫יעת‬ ִ ‫וּב ָשּׁנָה ַה ְשּׁ ִב‬ ַ ‫ד‬ .‫אָרץ‬ ֶ ‫ יִ ְהיֶה ָל‬,‫ ְשׁנַת ַשׁ ָבּתוֹן‬:‫יר ָך לֹא ִת ְבצֹר‬ ֶ ‫ ִענְּ ֵבי נְ ִז‬-‫ וְ ֶאת‬,‫יר ָך לֹא ִת ְקצוֹר‬ ְ ‫יח ְק ִצ‬ ַ ‫ה ֵאת ְס ִפ‬ .‫ ִע ָמּ ְך‬,‫ָרים‬ ִ ‫ ַהגּ‬,‫תוֹשׁ ְב ָך‬ ָ ‫וּל‬ ְ ,‫יר ָך‬ ְ ‫וּל ַע ְב ְדּ ָך וְ ַל ֲא ָמ ֶת ָך; וְ ִל ְשׂ ִכ‬ ְ ,‫ ְל ָך‬--‫אָכ ָלה‬ ְ ‫ ְל‬,‫אָרץ ָל ֶכם‬ ֶ ‫ו וְ ָהיְ ָתה ַשׁ ַבּת ָה‬ .‫ ֶל ֱאכֹל‬,‫בוּאָתהּ‬ ָ ‫ ְתּ‬-‫ ִתּ ְהיֶה ָכל‬:‫אַר ֶצ ָך‬ ְ ‫ ֲא ֶשׁר ְבּ‬,‫וְ ַל ַחיָּה‬--‫ז וְ ִל ְב ֶה ְמ ְתּ ָך‬ 4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the Lord; do not sow your field, nor prune your vineyard. 5 That which grows of itself of your harvest do not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine do not gather; it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath-produce of the land shall be for food for you: for you, and for your servant and for your maid, and for your hired servant and for the settler by your side that sojourn with thee; 7 and for your cattle, and for the beasts that are in your land, shall all the increase thereof be for food. What do you think happened when all the ancient Israelite farmers stopped farming at the same time for a whole year? No plowing, planting, pruning, weeding, or harvesting. What did they eat? What’s “shabbat ha’aretz ‫אָרץ‬ ֶ ‫ ַשׁ ַבּת ָה‬- the produce Sabbath of the land”. It could refer to farm crops that grow by themselves. Or maybe it refers to edible plants that grow in the wild! The next Shmittah is coming up in just a few years (Rosh Hashanah 2014), let’s prepare by learning about wild edibles. This knowledge will help if we ever experience Shmittah, and there’s not so much farm food around! • • • • • •

Poison Ivy Familiarization Go to a field, yard, or border area where the wild ecosystem has been disturbed. Who is familiar with poison ivy? Find poison ivy growing in as many forms as possible (on the ground, as a bush/shrub, and as a hairy vine on a tree). How would you describe this plant to someone who had never seen it before? What do you think this plant is trying to tell us? Learning Something New About Something Old Go find a plant you recognize and bring back a sample to the group; don’t kill the plant. Did anyone bring the same plant? Solicit names of plants and any information about them. The facilitator can also point out other things that participants might not know, such as edibility, healing properties, and stories of origin. Common plants may include plantain, dandelion, various clovers, lemon sorrel, doc, poke week (edible and poisonous!), yellow rocket, etc. Discussion (10 minutes)

Safety • Are wild plants always safe to eat? Get to know your local danger-plants, and be certain when you identify any plant. Also consider the soil health and air quality before consuming wild plants. • How does the season affect edibility? (Flavor, texture, which parts to eat, medicinal value, etc.) • Pass around the Field Guide and begin learning how to use it. When in doubt, don’t eat it! Gratitude • Harvest a few wild edibles from a safe but disturbed area. Why do disturbed spaces contain so many wild medicinal and edible plants, even through cracks in the sidewalk? What does this 39

•

mean to you? Say a bracha-blessing together before eating:

‫ העץ‬/ ‫ בורא פרי האדמה‬,‫לוהינו מלך העולם‬-‫ברוך אתה ה' א‬ Baruch ata Hashem, Elokeinu melech ha olam, borei p’ri ha adamah / ha-etz. Blessed are you Lord, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth/tree. Jewish Sources • Participant reads Genesis 1:9-13 (appendix) describing the earth’s first vegetation. What is a plant in this passage? • Another participant reads Genesis 1:29-31 (appendix), wherein G!d designates plants as human and animal food. What is the difference in the text between human and animal food? [Humans get “seed-bearing plants and fruit trees” for food; animals get “green plants”] Wild Edibles Activities (95 minutes) Solo Encounter (15 minutes) • Everyone can develop relationships with plants. Shamans and plant healers worldwide say that wisdom about plants is received directly from the plants themselves. Let’s slow down and connect with plants using both our hearts and minds. • Close your eyes and breathe deeply, releasing any tension in your body into the earth. Can you hear your own heart beating? Feel your feet on the ground. Open your eyes; breathe deeply. • When I say go, everyone walk slowly, silently, on your own, using all your senses to find a plant somewhere near here that is calling out to you. Sit with your plant and explore it with each of your senses, but don’t taste it. Notice any emotional responses you have to your sensory experiences. Be still with your plant, and open to receive its wisdom. • Debrief Chevruta Plant Encounters (15 minutes) • Now describe your plant in detail to a partner. Your partner has five minutes to find a match. • Then partners switch roles. Afterwards: Was it difficult describing your plant? Was it hard to find your partner’s plant? What descriptions were helpful? What was unhelpful? Why? • How do botanists describe plants? Look at a Field Guide and its focus on plant botany. • How did our ancestors classify different types of plants? Read Kilayim Mishnah 1:1 (appendix) Wild Edibles Walk (30 minutes) • Go for a group stroll in urban, suburban, agricultural, disturbed, and/or wild areas. Use books and field guides (see appendix) to help you identify wild edibles and medicinals and describe their folklore, uses, and any other information you know about them. • Bring along a bowl, bag, or basket to gather a shmittah salad. Extra credit for salad dressing. Alternatively, the group can collect plants and make tea at the end. • Each wild edible tasting moment is also a bracha-blessing opportunity. Infomercials (15 minutes) • Divide into small groups; each group chooses a wild plant and uses all their learning so far (solo encounter, chevruta, wild edible walk, and books) to create an commercial for their plant. • Perform commercials for each other. Gathering, Gardening, and Gratitude (10 minutes) 40

•

• •

Focus on harvesting wild edibles. Focus the entire group on harvesting one easily identifiable wild edible, but always leave enough for the species to recover. Rule of thumb: always harvest less than one-third of a total plant population. How much can we harvest in five minutes? Make sure not to overharvest anywhere. Assess the harvest. How much did we get? How many meals can this harvest provide? Was that hard work? Was it fun? What would have been easier? What’s the differences between foraging and farming? What are the pros and cons of wild foods? (e.g. often more nutritious and flavorful, but involves greater time and different use of resources for the consumer)

Planting a Wild Garden (10 minutes) • Pick a wild edible to domesticate. Wild onions work well because they can be transplanted easily. Dig up a sample and contrast the wild and cultivated cousins. What traits in this food are most valuable? To a consumer? To a farmer? To a supermarket? To a rabbi? To you? • Ask the group to select a preferred trait for a domestication experiment. Eg—big bulbs • Collect a few wild onions that exhibit the preferred trait, but don’t damage the roots. • Select a desirable site for your garden. Is it safe from critters? Plenty of sun? Healthy soil? Water source? Competition/cooperation among other plants? Insect life? • Plant the garden with your wild onions, domesticating them as a group. • What might happen year after year if we keep selecting preferred traits and domesticating? [Eventually the onions won’t be so wild anymore, but they will show the preferred trait.] Where would we be if our ancestors had not domesticated so many crops already? We’d still be foraging in the woods! • Let’s acknowledge our ancestors (Jews and non-Jews) going back thousands of years, for their unrelenting agricultural labor: planting, harvesting, and saving seeds in order to sustain themselves and their children. Because of them, we now appreciate relative predictability, easy harvesting, large fruits and roots, ever-improving tools, and other food luxuries. • How can we show our gratitude? How can we take responsibility? What can we do differently? Closing Questions • When G!d put Adam into the Garden of Eden, it was Adam’s job to name every animal—they had no names before Adam. What if we felt that same responsibility for all the wild plants around us? Then every time we look at a plant, on the farm or in the forest, we would need to understand its essence. For the rest of the day, let’s try to encounter each plant, animal, and even people as if we’ve never seen them before. We’re still in Gan Eden. What should we do? • Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers), 5:11 Exile comes upon the world on account of the failure to observe the Shmittah. What would it mean for the whole world to be in exile, and what does that have to do with Shmittah? Maybe Shmittah teaches an essential awareness of nature in its original potent wild state, before agriculture makes things so easy for us. If we lose that awareness, that wildness, that faith, maybe our world is lost without a home. Encountering wild plants and nature reminds us of our original home, and Shmittah reconnects us to that awareness and vulnerability. Post-Learning / Take Home Piece • Take some wild edibles home to share at dinner. • Re-encountering plants, animals, and people for the first time, give them new names that make more sense to you. Don’t worry about their official names—call them by what you see as their essence. 41

Appendices/Additional Resources Genesis 1:9-13

,‫ָשׁה ֶארֶץ‬ ָ ‫ י וַיִּ ְקרָא אֱלֹהִים ַליַּבּ‬.‫כֵן‬-‫ָשׁה; וַיְהִי‬ ָ ‫ ַהיַּבּ‬,‫ וְ ֵת ָראֶה‬,‫מָקוֹם ֶאחָד‬-‫ַשּׁ ַמיִם אֶל‬ ָ ‫ יִקָּווּ ַה ַמּיִם ִמ ַתּחַת ה‬,‫ט וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים‬ ‫ עֵץ‬,‫ֵשׂב ַמזְרִי ַע זֶרַע‬ ֶ ‫ֶשׁא ע‬ ֶ ‫ְשׁא הָאָרֶץ דּ‬ ֵ ‫ ַתּד‬,‫ יא וַיֹּא ֶמר אֱלֹהִים‬.‫טוֹב‬-‫ כִּי‬,‫וּ ְל ִמ ְקוֵה ַה ַמּיִם ָקרָא יַמִּים; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים‬ ‫ וְעֵץ‬,‫ ְלמִינֵהוּ‬,‫ֵשׂב ַמזְרִי ַע זֶרַע‬ ֶ ‫ֶשׁא ע‬ ֶ ‫ יב וַתּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ דּ‬.‫כֵן‬-‫הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי‬-‫בוֹ עַל‬-‫ֲשׁר זַרְעוֹ‬ ֶ ‫ א‬,‫עֹשׂה ְפּרִי ְלמִינוֹ‬ ֶ ‫ְפּרִי‬ .‫ִישׁי‬ ִ ‫ יוֹם ְשׁל‬,‫בֹקֶר‬-‫ ֶערֶב וַיְהִי‬-‫ יג וַיְהִי‬.‫טוֹב‬-‫ כִּי‬,‫ ְלמִינֵהוּ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים‬,‫בוֹ‬-‫ֲשׁר זַרְעוֹ‬ ֶ ‫ ְפּרִי א‬-‫עֹשׂה‬ ֶ 9 God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of waters He called Seas. And God saw that this was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. Genesis 1:29-31

,‫עֵץ‬-‫בּוֹ ְפרִי‬-‫ֲשׁר‬ ֶ ‫ ָהעֵץ א‬-‫כָּל‬-‫ וְאֶת‬,‫הָאָרֶץ‬-‫ ְפּנֵי כָל‬-‫ֲשׁר עַל‬ ֶ ‫ֵשׂב זֹ ֵר ַע זֶרַע א‬ ֶ ‫ע‬-‫כָּל‬-‫ ִהנֵּה נָ ַתתִּי ָלכֶם אֶת‬,‫כט וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים‬ ‫בּוֹ נֶפֶשׁ‬-‫ֲשׁר‬ ֶ ‫ א‬,‫הָאָרֶץ‬-‫ַשּׁ ַמיִם וּלְכֹל רוֹמֵשׂ עַל‬ ָ ‫עוֹף ה‬-‫ ַחיַּת הָאָרֶץ וּ ְלכָל‬-‫ ל וּ ְלכָל‬.‫ לְאָ ְכלָה‬,‫ ָלכֶם יִ ְהיֶה‬:‫זֹ ֵר ַע זָרַע‬ ;‫ לְאָ ְכלָה‬,‫ֵשׂב‬ ֶ ‫יֶרֶק ע‬-‫כָּל‬-‫ אֶת‬,‫ ַחיָּה‬. ‫ ֶערֶב‬-‫טוֹב מְאֹד; וַיְהִי‬-‫ וְ ִהנֵּה‬,‫ָשׂה‬ ָ ‫ֲשׁר ע‬ ֶ ‫א‬-‫כָּל‬-‫ לא וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת‬.‫כֵן‬-‫וַיְהִי‬ ‫ַשּׁ ִשּׁי‬ ִ ‫ יוֹם ה‬,‫בֹקֶר‬-‫וַיְהִי‬ 29 G!d said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food. 30 And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so. 31 And G!d saw all that He had made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Kilayim Mishnah 1:1

‫ב[ הקשות והמלפפון אינם כלאים זה בזה רבי יהודה אומר כלאים חזרת וחזרת גלים עולשין ועולשי שדה כרישים‬ ‫וכרישי שדה כוסבר וכוסבר שדה חרדל וחרדל מצרי ודלעת המצרי והרמוצה ופול מצרי והחרוב אינם כלאים זה בזה‬ 2 Cucumbers and melons are not kilayim. R. Jehudah says they are. Lettuce and cabbage-lettuce are not kilayim; neither are endive and wild succory; nor common [garden] leek and wild leek; nor common coriander and wild coriander; nor common mustard and Egyptian mustard; nor Egyptian pumpkins and bitter pumpkins; nor Egyptian beans and pod-beans. Wild Edibles Resources For a list of good books and field guides relating to this lesson: http://theforagerpress.com/bookstore/plantguides.htm Brill, “Wildman” Steve w/Evelyn Dean. Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not-So-Wild) Places. William Morrow/Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1994. Thanks go also to the late Frank Cook, friend and mentor to Kayam. See the following website for more about Frank and for further resources: http://www.plantsandhealers.com/

Min HaMuvchar – ‫ – מן המובחר‬The Choice Kind Overview Participants explore traditional and contemporary food hierarchies using Jewish text as a resource. Rabbinic texts imply values when distinguishing between foods, which may inform but not necessarily align with today’s choices at the supermarket. Definitions • Min Hamuvchar—the choice kind • Bracha – Hebrew blessing (pl. brachot)

Goals • Explore food hierarchies: ancient & contemporary, personal and communal • Discover rabbinic choices and share our own hierarchies, exploring similarities and differences • Eat good food together

Logistics Audience: Ages 9 and up Setting: Mealtime around a table Number of Participants: 4-16 Timing: Preparation – 60 minutes, Implementation – 60 minutes, Clean-up – 10 minutes Materials: • Source text (see appendix) • Food preferences form (appendix) • Breads (as many as possible): whole wheat and white, home-made and store-bought, barley, spelt, rye, whole loaves and cut, challah, and “soiled” (dirty). • Modern processed and unprocessed foods such as o potatoes and potato chips o corn on the cob, canned corn, cornchips, and corn syrup products o apples and apple juice o fruit and fruit snack gummies • Seven species (as many as possible)—grape, pomegranate, wheat, rye, fig, date, • Alternative (not ideal)– pictures of the above ingredients

Core Competencies - Participants will be able to: • Identify food hierarchies and their associated values • Compare their own food preferences with rabbinic choices • Make choices based on personal preferences and values, informed by Jewish tradition

Core Concepts - Participants will know: • Our everyday food choices reflect a broader system of values and hierarchies • Rabbinic food dichotomies such as whole vs. processed, seven species vs. regular • Similarities and differences between local-organic-sustainable food hierarchies and Jewish hierarchies

Lesson Outline A table spread before the group with a meal about to be shared. Display an assortment Trigger of breads in pairs (whole wheat and white, home-made and store-bought, barley, spelt, rye, “soiled” (dirty), whole loaves and cut, challah, etc). Choices! (10 minutes) • Every day we make food choices—about three times a day in fact. What preferences influence your choices? taste, convenience, kashrut, local, organic, free-range, etc. Here are some foods on the table in front of us. Fill out a Food Preferences form based on our lunch (or dinner) table. You have five minutes. • Come back together—what did people choose and why? What are these choices based on? What was an easy choices? What was difficult? Does this feel familiar? Chevruta Study (10-20minutes) • Let’s look at a Jewish text that explores food preferences in a different way, rabbinically. Read the text together (appendix). Note that the rabbinic food hierarchy is expressed in the text by deciding which to bless first. The food receiving the first bracha (blessing) is implied to be of higher quality– better in some way, “min hamuvchar—the choice kind.” • Break into chevruta or small groups to navigate the text for 5-20 minutes (visit each chevruta for questions, clarifications, and insight into the text) Follow up Discussion (30 minutes) • Review—go around the table and confirm which item in each pair is the preferred min hamuvchar—the choice kind, according to the Rabbis. Write the choices down on an easel or whiteboard titled “Rabbinic Preferences” where everyone can see. Name each choice, the rabbinic preference, and the value(s) implied. • How do the rabbis select min hamuvchar? • Compare your own Food Preferences form with the Rabbinic Preferences sheet. Where do you disagree with the Rabbis? Why? Where do you agree? Do you understand their preferences? Would they understand yours? • Has the text made you rethink any of your initial choices? • Eat your min hamuvchar! Just a taste of each—five minute break. CHOOSE AGAIN • Display a second assortment of contemporary foods (or if necessary pictures). • Select min hamuvchar as a group, incorporating contemporary and rabbinic preferences. • What are the major tensions between the text’s preferences and our own? • Why do these tensions exist historically? What has happened to our food since the time of the rabbis? • Does the preference of the seven species—Israel’s holy produce—imply something special about local foods more universally, beyond just the land of Israel? • How does this impact our understanding of kashrut? Will this impact your food choices? Closing (5 minutes) Pick up your min hamuvchar-choice kind, say a bracha-blessing, and begin the meal. L’chayim! • • •

Post-Learning / Take Home Piece Go to a farmers market and look for local foods at the supermarket. Select a min hamuvchar at every meal and say a bracha-blessing over that item first. Notice the many subtle food differences and preferences applied towards them across cultures. 44

Appendices/Additional Resources Talmud Yerushalmi, Brachot 45b It was taught: [when a person has before him several foods to eat] one should recite the blessing over the breadstuff which is of the highest quality. How so? [If one has before him] a [whole] fine loaf and a whole home‐made loaf [of the same grain], he says [the blessing] over the whole fine loaf. [If one has] a piece of a fine loaf and a whole home made loal, he says [the blessing] over the whole homemade loaf. [If one has] a piece of a fine loaf and a whole home made loaf, he says [the blessing] over the whole home made loaf. [If one has] wheat bread and barley bread he says [the blessing] over the wheat bread. [If one has] a piece of wheat bread and a whole barley bread, he says the blessing over the piece of wheat bread. [If one has] a barley bread and a spelt bread, one says [the blessing] over the barley bread. But is not spelt bread better [quality] than barley bread? But this [grain, i.e. barley] is one of the seven kinds [of produce of the Land of Israel, mentioned in Deut. 8:8] and that [grain, i.e. spelt] is not one of the seven kinds [T 4:15]. R. Yaakov bar Acha said in the name of R. Zeira, “This [last spelt] is not one of the seven kinds [T 4:15]. R. Yaakov bar Acha said in the name of R. Zeira, “This [last rule (H)] accords with R. Yehudah: [If one had before him many different kinds of foods] R. Yehudah says, ‘If among them there are foods of the seven kinds [of produce of the Land of Israel], one must recite the blessing over that [food]’ [M. 6:4].”

‫תני מברכין על הדגן כשהוא מן המובחר‬ ‫קלוסקין ושלימה של בעל הבית אומר על‬ ‫הקלוסקין פרוסה של קלוסקין ושלימה‬ ‫של בעל הבית אומר על השלימה של בעל‬ ‫הבית פת חיטין ופת שעורין אומר על של‬ ‫חוטין פרוסה של חיטים ושלימה של‬ ‫שעורים אומר על הפרוסה של חטין פת‬ ‫שעורין ופת כוסמין אומר על של שעורין‬ ‫והלא של כוסמין יפה ממנה אלא שזו‬ ‫ממין שבעה וזו אין ממין שבעה ר׳ יעקב‬ ‫בר אחא בשם ר׳ זעירא דר׳ יודה היא דר׳‬ ‫יודה אמר אם יש ביניהן ממין שבעה עליו‬ ‫ פת טמאה ופת טהורה ר׳ חייא‬.‫הוא מברך‬ ‫בר ווא אמר אומר על הטהורה פת נקייה‬ ‫טמאה ופת קיבר טהורה ר׳ חייא בר אדא‬ .‫בשם ר׳ אחא על איזה מהן שירצה יברך‬

[If one has before him to eat] an unclean bread and a clean bread, R. Chiyya bar Abba said, “One says [the blessing] over the clean bread.” [If one has before him] an unsoiled [ritually] unclean bread and a soiled [ritually] clean bread, R. Chiyya bar Ada said in the name of R. Aha, “One may recite the blessing over which ever one he chooses”.

Food Preference Choice (circle one) Whole Fine Loaf Whole Homemade Loaf Piece of fine loaf Whole homemade loaf Wheat bread Barley bread Piece of wheat bread Whole barley bread Barley bread Spelt bread (ritually) Clean bread (ritually) Unclean bread Unsoiled, unclean bread Soiled, clean bread

Reason