This year, Tu B'Shvat begins Tuesday, January 30 and ends at sundown on Wednesday, January 31. This festival, which means "the new year of the tree," occurs on the full moon in winter during the month of Shevat. While many people now think of Tu B'Shvat as a sort of Jewish arbor day, that is not [...]

With funding from the Gendler Grapevine Project and Kreiger Foundations as well as support from the In For Of, Inc. (IFO) organization, the Olam Ubuntu Youth Leadership Program will build participants’ capacity for thoughtful intercultural dialogue. Following a pilot program in 2016-2017, the current Olam Ubuntu program brings together a carefully selected cohort of young [...]

Today is Martin Luther King Day. We are sharing a post that Rabbi Gendler wrote in April 2013. It is a nice reflection about his participation in a demonstration at the Arlington National Cemetery with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and specifically Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath. He shares a history and perspective not often discussed in regard to [...]

Yeshivat Chovevei Torah’s (YCT) Gendler Grapevine Project included sending YCT student Sam Englender to an eight-week program where he would study Arabic at Zaytuna College, America’s only Muslim liberal arts college. He partook in Zaytuna’s Intensive Summer Arabic Program and was one of two non-Muslim students. He had the opportunity to be immersed in a [...]

Jewish Farm School’s initiative, Shorashim: Rooted in Justice, is a teen-focused series of workshops that uses food as a lens through which to explore a rich range of topics, including sustainability, worker’s rights, social justice, and Jewish traditions. Their project hit the ground running this fall. They are currently in the middle of the series with their [...]

The goal of Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism’s (HCRJ) Gendler Grapevine Project initiative (Plan Bee: Honey Production in a Jewish Context) is to offer a range of learning opportunities for students of all ages that revolve around the production of honey from an onsite beehive. In August, they had their first professional development meeting of [...]

The Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center's (EDCJCC) Gendler Grapevine Project initiative will develop a family workshop series focused on environmental and food justice. For their first activity, they hosted a successful fall family food justice workshop. They brought together six families (a total 24 participants) on Sunday, September 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. for Apples for Everyone! A [...]

JCC Chicago’s Gendler Grapevine Project, Environmental Infused Shabbat and Holiday Programs, centers on environmental-focused community programming for Shabbat and Jewish holidays. They have built upon the momentum of this initiative's extremely successful first year and in its second year are continuing and expanding the programming with a shared environmental and Jewish lens. Through this program, they’ve engaged and [...]

Hazon is a recipient of a Gendler Grapevine Project "L'dor V'dor" grant. For their initiative, they are developing a ritual craft making project in Teva, their experiential Jewish environmental education program for middle school children. Through this initiative, they will develop lesson plans for five ritual crafts: Wood-burned Challah Boards; Recycled Glass Kiddush Cups; Recycled Metal Washing Cups; Hand-whittled [...]

Guest Blog Post by Michael Fraade שִׁבְעָ֥ה שָׁבֻעֹ֖ת תִּסְפָּר־לָ֑ךְ מֵהָחֵ֤ל חֶרְמֵשׁ֙ בַּקָּמָ֔ה תָּחֵ֣ל לִסְפֹּ֔ר שִׁבְעָ֖ה שָׁבֻעֽוֹת׃ וְעָשִׂ֜יתָ חַ֤ג שָׁבֻעוֹת֙ לַה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ מִסַּ֛ת נִדְבַ֥ת יָדְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּתֵּ֑ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר יְבָרֶכְךָ֖ ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall observe [...]