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Yaira's blog

We Will Not Save What We Do Not Love

Submitted by Yaira on Tue, 2011-08-02 21:55

Chesapeake Bay sunrise

Last week when I saw this article about nearly 1/3 of the Chesapeake Bay being a “dead zone” this year, it felt like someone punched me in the gut. I made some kind of audible groaning sound and reeled—as much as that’s possible while sitting in a chair at the kitchen table. For this native Texan who’s lived in the Lone Star State her whole life (except for a nine-month stint in New Orleans when I was five) to be so moved by environmental trauma in another part of the country might seem odd. I mean, there are environmental traumas happening every day all around the world. Why does this one make me want to curl into a little ball of wounded sorrow?

Interfaith Tips: Telling Our Stories

Submitted by Yaira on Sun, 2011-07-24 23:45

Going to the park, to work, to the grocery store or pretty much anywhere today is venturing out into a religiously pluralistic setting. In all of those places, there are bound to be people who profess different religious beliefs than you do, or who profess no beliefs at all. In many of these settings, we keep quiet about our religious views so as not to offend or distance ourselves from others. I wonder, though, if this leaves us saying nothing real at all, and sometimes increases the distance between us rather than bringing us together in actual relationship.

Words of Torah: Acharei Mot

Submitted by Yaira on Sun, 2011-04-17 12:49

On Saturday, April 16th, I offered the d'var Torah, literally, "words of Torah" in the alternative worship service at Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin, TX. In Jewish congregations, one portion (or parsha) is studied each week. The parsha for this week was Leviticus 16.1-18.30, and is called Acharei Mot. My words are below:

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In Austin: Interfaith Environmental Network

Submitted by Yaira on Mon, 2011-03-07 22:20

There were about 25 of us gathered on a Tuesday night in a synagogue in Austin, Texas: a handful of Baptists and Jews; a few Episcopalians; a couple of Methodists, Presbyterians and members of a Unity church; one Muslim; one Wiccan; one member of a Sufi order and one member of a non-denominational Christian church. Some were clergy, some volunteer and staff leaders in their religious communities, and some concerned laypeople. All were interested in learning more about how we can better work together to care for creation—people and the planet.

It was a good beginning.

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