February 13, 2025 • 29 mins
This week on Adapting, in honor of Tu BiShvat, Yoni Stadlin of Adamah challenges us to see our connection to the earth through a Jewish lens.
From his unconventional journey—spending three months living in the canopy of California redwoods—to his belief that Jewish environmentalism should be the default rather than a niche, Yoni reminds us that every breath we take is like receiving CPR from a tree. Tu BiShvat is more than a celebration of trees; it’s a powerful reminder that the earth is our home, and it’s a call to action to care for the planet as we would care for ourselves.
This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides. The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben.
This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.
If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating and review, or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released. To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.
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Episode Transcript
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Unknown (00:00):
Hi everybody, and we're recording today's episode of
adapting one week before to bespot the Festival of the trees,
and that's exactly what we'regoing to be talking about today,
but not just about the holidayitself, but the messages behind
what it means for us as Jews tobe connecting with nature, to be
connecting with the world inwhich we live, and yes,
connecting specifically totrees. I think it's also an
important reminder for us thatin the world in which we
(00:22):
currently live of what we shouldbe thankful for, what we should
be grateful for, and taking abit of the moment out of our
hectic everyday life, to reallybe at one with nature, and
especially on this day, the NewYear of the trees of tube spark
actually, to remember all thethings which are really
important to us, to the worldand to the planet in which we
inhabit. Thank you, as always,for listening to adapting today,
and happy to be smart. This isadapting the future of Jewish
(00:45):
education, a podcast from theJewish education project where
we explore the big questions,challenges and successes that
define Jewish education. I'mDavid breifman.
Hi everybody. I'm here with Yonistadlin, the chief program
officer at ADAMA, the largestJewish environmental
(01:05):
organization in North America,and we are dropping today's
episode of adapting on theJewish holiday of Tobi svat. So
welcome yoni.
Happy to be here. Happy to behere. So tell us a bit about
this too. Buchafestival, this holiday that
we're celebrating today,to be smart. This is the has
become the Jewish Earth Day.
This is where we stop and say,Thank you Earth. We love you.
(01:27):
Happy to be here. And it doesnot have the biblical roots, as
some of our other major youknow, you made you may say,
holidays, Yom Kippur, but thishas become the Jewish Earth Day.
It has its roots. And actually,as one of the four, I know this
might sound a bit like anoxymoron, but the four Jewish
New Years, there's RoshHashanah, the main year. So this
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is the new year of the trees.
You're saying, Why do the treesneed a new year? There's a
couple reasons. One of them is,you're not allowed to just pick
baby, you know, fruit tree. Youhave to leave the fruit on the
on the tree for several years.
So how do you, how do you knowwhen to start counting, and it's
also when you're farming, when,when the tax, when you can start
being taxed on those fruit, asmentioned the Mishna and the
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word to be spot is actually thedate in the month of spots, the
two stands for for a number, andspots is the month. So that's
how we know exactly when ithappens. And it coincides with
when, when the SAP startsrising. You know, the tree in
the winter starts burning itsenergy into its roots, and this
happens to be when, when theenergy starts to starts to come
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back up to the leaves of thetrees. So what
are some of the ways wecelebrate? What are some of the
ways that you you encouragepeople to celebrate this day?
Well, Iinvite everybody and anybody
every day, but especially on twoweeks, go outside, hang out with
a tree. How many trees do wepass in a year, in a month, in a
week, especially if you don'tlive in a city we pass by,
hopefully, 1000s, 1000s, 1000,hundreds of 1000s of trees. How
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many of you actually stop andmeet kind of like people? You
see some people, but sometimesyou stop. You say, Oh, there you
are. I see you find a tree. Hangout with it. Catch your breath.
Every Breath You Take is likeCPR from a tree. Every breath
you've ever taken in your lifeis a tree basically giving you
CPR, giving you, giving youoxygen, and you have an
exchange. So slow down with onetree. So that's the
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interpersonal invitation that Ihope everybody does and and
additionally, in more recenttimes, we've created a to be
spot Seder. In order, there's athere's a kind of like, there's
a Passover Seder. So there'salso to be spot ha godda, which,
by the way, on out of mywebsite, you can download one
for free. How to get yourfriends together and celebrate
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this holiday. It's very userfriendly, and it's not over the
top, I think you'll find veryenjoyable. And you can find also
on our website and lots ofplaces there's to be shot
Seders, where you go and eat andtalk play to celebrate this
holiday. There's lots of ways tochoose your own adventures on
this holiday.
(04:04):
So let's talk a bit about thisrelationship that you have with
trees, but more generally, whyother people should or could
have this relationship withtrees. But tell us a bit about
your journey with trees, andspecifically here, I'm referring
to part of your biography, whichsome people might know about,
which is the period of your lifewhere you spent some time, but
hanging out with some Californiaredwoods,
(04:25):
hanging out like a monkey allthe way up top. And I did spend
about three and a half months ofmy life living aloft all the way
up in the canopy of ancient andendangered redwood trees. These
are the tallest trees on planetEarth. Ball sounds way up top,
living, sleeping, cooking,eating, reading, fixing things,
(04:47):
building up there. And I'll cutto the chase the I had a lot of
time up there to think, couldyou imagine David Day Night,
you're just up in a tree byyourself? Well, you're. With a
forest at all times. It's withyou right now. I spent about two
or three weeks of that time withno other humans anywhere nearby
for dozens of miles. Sometimesthere was a network. There was a
(05:10):
bunch of people. The trees wereconnected by zip lines.
Sometimes would be 50 trees allconnected by a web. The main
idea was there's people comingto clear cut these forests,
which means where they take allthe trees and only one and by
the way, reminder, the forestsare the gills of the planet.
Anyway, I'd love to tell youmore about my time up in the
trees, but I'll cut to the chaselots of time to think and ponder
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and pontificate while you'resitting up in a tree all day and
night for weeks and weeks andweeks. And one of the main
quests I asked early was, whatare you doing? How did you get
up here? Why? What drove you tocome up and felt mind boggling,
what motivated me? And it reallywas, the answer was my Jewish
upbringing, the lessons of beingsomebody that cares and putting
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care into action, and the lessonthat Adam and Adama so the
Hebrew word for the human Earthis earthling Adam Adam. So
what's the word for Earth?
Adamah Adam Adam. By the way,this is the core the
organization I work for, thebiggest Earth caring
environmental religiousnonprofit in the world is a
Jewish one. The biggestenvironmental faith based
nonprofit in the world is aJewish one called ADAMA, where
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I'm proud to work, and we'recalled ADAMA, and we focus on
the intersection between Adamand Adam. So that was when I
thought why I got out there, andI'll just cut to the chase and
share what was my biggest ahamoment. The biggest takeaway of
sitting as a tree for three anda half months was coming down
when it came down. What was thebiggest takeaway that we are the
Earth. We think a lot of time ofthe Earth as like a museum.
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Let's go visit the nature. Let'sgo visit nature's over there.
We're over here. What chutzpahto think that we are not a part
of nature, and that divorce, Iuse that word pretty explicitly,
that perception that we aredivorced from nature, I think,
causes a lot of trauma, and usnot feeling at home in our home.
So this is a holiday to bring ushome to our home, to remember
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that we're part of the earth,and therefore, until then, to
love it, and therefore also tolove ourselves. So
when reading a bit about yourbiography, when you receive the
2017 pomegranate Prize Awardfrom the covenant foundation,
you wrote the following thing,or it was written of you. I'm
trying to add a culture ofkindness toward the earth,
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toward the people around us andtoward ourselves, to the
definition of Jewish education.
That part makes sense based onwhat you just said. And then the
part which you added after that,which I think is really, really
interesting and important,particularly for this
conversation, as you said, and Iquote, in my mind, that
shouldn't be so novel. It shouldbe the default. And I find that
really powerful that you'reactually saying that the default
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of Jewish education, or Jewishexistence, is becoming at one
with the earth.
I would love the word Jewishenvironmentalism to be like, Oh,
that's that's being redundant. Istarted this amazing two summer
camps called Eden village camp,when people are like, what's it
about kindness and caring forthe earth? And in my in the back
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of my head, I'm always saying,What a ridiculous, unfortunate
world we're living in, where thethat's a niche that Yiddish guy,
Judaism, you know, us gathering,spend all this energy to get
together in the form ofreligion, all these practices,
and we need to carve out a nichefor, he said, for kindness, for
caretaking, our home and ourbodies. And that needs to be a
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special you need us, even ifthose games is a specialty camp,
a specialty camp that we'rebecause the world we're living
in, we're being sweet and kindto ourselves and others, and the
planet is a specialty. It'ssomewhat sad and unfortunate. So
yes, I love to see a world wherewhere we're not needed, where
kindness is the default withanything in the world, but
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certainly anything Jewish, we'recaring for our planet, which
also means caring for ourselves.
So that's my that's my goal inlife.
So besides now just claimingthat you want to put Eden
village out of business, yeah, Iknow that's tell us a bit about
Eden village. Tell us a bitabout this camp that you
created.
It's, oh gosh, it's a camp wherethe kids, we're just trying to
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make it the world we want to sotake a moment. What is a world
you would love to live in, like,like, dream big. Like, don't
hold back your dream that youwant your kids to live in.
What's the environment, what'sthe vibe, what's the world? What
are people seeing? What are theysaying? What are they really
doing in this in a world that'smore, I'll say, more perfected,
more aligned with your dreams,and so, where there's fun and
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play and kids get to be kids,and so that was the starting
point of dreaming up this camp.
Had the idea one day while I wasdoing the dishes, I was at the
Jewish Theological Seminary ingraduate school. Had the idea
one day while doing the dishes.
Found out the day after mywedding, got a grant from the
foundation for Jewish camp for$1.1 million the day after my
wedding. Make your dream cometrue the UGA Federation. It's a
(10:00):
property to use that was about15 years ago, and now we have
another camp on the West Coast,and it first a lot of kids. It's
it's a place where they feel athome in their bodies with the
earth, and they get to be theirbest selves and feel comfortable
in their skin and comfortable onthe planet. And hopefully, take
that torch, take that magichome.
So a lot of our listeners areprobably familiar with Jewish
(10:23):
summer camp. What's like one ortwo differences, or one or two
stand out things that one woulddo at Eden village that really
make it, you know, the specialplace that you're talking about?
Well, thereare activities, obviously a big,
huge organic farm. There'sherbalism, where they're
learning to again, so the farm,by the way, if they're learning
how to grow carrots and fruits,but they're also learning I can
feed myself. David, do you knowthat light you're in education
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world self efficacy, where akid, a kid, a kid can go home
and feel you know what? I nowknow how to make food for myself
and my family and friends. Wehave herbalism, where they learn
how to take plants and turn itinto real medicine, to a kid to
go back home and through schooland community. Synagogues, I can
heal people. I know how to be ahealer. And deep spirituality,
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deep floralism. There's allorganic food, there's culinary
arts. I can feed people. Oh, andthen all the fun things and all
the other boating, swimming,rivers, hiking, you know, and
feeling at one, ideally, withthemselves and earth. So that
is, you know, programmaticallyand some of the outcomes. And
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I'd say, additionally, thecoolest thing that most people
go when they come back, talkabout is, and this is a real the
hidden curricula of what is thedefault setting in the culture,
what is acceptable? You got somecamps counselors screaming at
their kids. David, it's justlike, that's how they get their
kids to do things. You know?
(11:49):
They say no tolerant forbullying, but there's a lot of
tolerated bullying. You know?
What is the ex the defaultsetting of how we treat each
other? It's just different atedit village camps, but there's
a default settings. So whensomebody is bringing out their
harshest self is not beingconsiderate, it stands out in
the culture so that it can betended. There's a different
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culture of kindness there thatreally live in a different way.
That's what most people mostpeople come for the programming.
They hear about the farming andthe herbalism, the organic food.
And the reason they come backyear after year is really
there's a culture of kindnessthat puts a glimmer in the kids
eyes. This is how the worldcould be, and hopefully they
take that home with them.
(12:34):
So just to be up front, I havevisited the camp many times. My
son also went there for a summeras well. Two stories quickly.
One is, we were walking aroundthe camp, and I believe it was
you or one of your colleagues,said, Let's go to the vending
machine. Tell the audience aboutyour vending machine. The
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vendingmachine in the ground. Yes,
yeah, we snack gardens, wherethe kids, again, when they
wanted a snack, all the bunkshad little gardens next to the
cabins where they could pickthings that you could just grab
and go, cherry tomatoes, snappeas and berries, the vending
machine in the earth. Yeah. Andthen the second thing which
stands out to me is, then youintroduced another time you,
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that's when you when you got myson's attention. He told him
that you were playing Quidditch.
Oh, my god, yeah, yeah. Now thisjust for all the parents at home
that might be a little nervous.
This is land based Quidditch. Wealso do aquatic base on the
boats, but we are not yet atpermitted to do aerial broom
Quidditch. There's all kinds ofpermanent, you know, the health
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department before the kids goaloft in their broomsticks. But
yeah, the Quidditch feel forthose
people who have no idea we'retalking about, Quidditch is the
game of the Harry Potterphenomenon, and you decide you
want to stop playing Quidditchat camp. Why? Well,
the kids do. First of all,there's a lot of kids love Harry
Potter that come to camp, andthrough our herbalism
department, there's a lot ofkids that feel a bit like
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they're in herbology from fromthe Harry Potter books, and we
play off of that. And they, theythey really feel like they're
playing with and they, they doplay with a lot of the plants,
and work with the plants thatare in Harry Potter. And we do
have a cultural thing at theemotes camp, where this is a bit
of a tangent, but we have thisMo, random Mo, you know, we
spice up the culture. So I havein my closet right behind me a
yellow full body spandex outfit,and at any time during camp, a
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staffer can run, hands, feet,face covered in spandex. And it
turns no matter what's happeningin the camp, it's an all camp
tag, spontaneous. It gives themno idea when it's happening to
try to catch the snitch andwhoever tags the snitch first,
if they get tagged, I've done itseveral times, only been tagged
once I will say, I'm not, youknow, but it was, it's really
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intense when you run out of anoffice and there's 200 kids
chasing you full throttle, andwhoever wins gets to give, like,
you know, a two or three minutespeech in front of the whole
camp. We used to like put out aroyal table for the person to
catch the snitch. So there wassome of that in the culture and
down in. Remember, if a kid, akid brought the ideas we do a
couple things at the camp thatare obviously pretty unique. The
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kids, on a related topic,entirely safe. No one's ever got
a scratch do poi, which is firespinning and fire Hulu fire,
circus arts. Don't worry again.
It's all the kids that need totest out in a non flammable test
out to make sure they do it.
There's a lot of unique programsat the camp and but it's has
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been one of them. SoYoni, I can imagine a few of my
listeners listening to thispodcast and say this actually
sounds pretty unconventional.
This this guy sounds like he'soperating in a different mindset
or a different reality, to theto the world in which most of us
are operating in. You've heardthis before that you know you're
(15:49):
not, you're not running thenormal trend of Jewish of Jewish
trajectory of Jewish life. Whatdo you say when someone says to
you that you're, you're a niche,or you're an offshoot, or
you're, you're not the realJewish thing, but you feel like
you're a hobby on the side forthe Jewish community. Yeah. So
I get that, I would say normal,like, flip on the news. How's
normal going for everybody? I'dsay, you know, in addition to
(16:11):
reduce, reuse, recycle, the mostimportant one is rethink, like,
one could use something that ourJewish tradition, like, has in
mind. There is something better,right? We there's a better
there's something we're aimingfor. And, you know, I would say
there's quite a bit of Jewishlaws and about agriculture that
mostly have to do with justice.
We have an outdoor tentingholiday. We have a tree holiday.
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We have, I would say Shabbat isbasically a weekly Earth Day,
where, where, you know, mindyour electricity consumption,
you're driving consumption.
You're purchasing consumptiononce a week, all of the major
pilgrimage holidays,agriculturally based. Now, I
know we've gone straight, quiteaway from that. I you know, one
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that's a bit more of a stretchtoo, is we even have a holiday
that teaches us about resource,you know, conserving resources
oil, which is a limitedcommodity on the planet. You
know, petroleum that, you know,we're using up and burning up.
We actually already have aholiday. That's about, how do we
make resources last Hanukkah? Iknow it's not wait a lot of
people look at it, but so thereare some, you know, I think
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we've also, I get that normalnow is not this normal has
become, you know, go tosynagogue Hebrew school, learn
about Judaism in this other way.
But if you also talk to people,read the you know, read the
room. People are starting muchmore and more and more and more.
Thank God to come back to caringabout their health, the health
of the planet. Go talk to peoplein California right now this
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week, about how much they careabout the health of the planet
and climate change, and withclimate change on the radar too,
there's a Jewish imperative, youknow, it used to be saved the
trees. Saved the whales. Okay,that's a bit Do we really have
to care about the trees? Do weget to the whales? You know? I
know, at the beginning of theTorah, it says, you know, we're
to be guardians of the planet.
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We're told to be to use theplanet and to guard it. And
we're like, All right, we'reusing it more than we're
guarding it. But it used to be,save the whales, save the trees.
And now it's like, save thehumans. And we know Jewish law
says a lot. You're allowed tobecause never save a soul. Save
a human life. You're allowed todo just about anything to save
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human life. So with climatechange and natural disasters
happening, Jewish institutionsliterally burning to the ground,
this is not like when it's goingto happen, when are Jews going
to be infected? When are peoplegoing to it's happening, and
that gives you in terms ofJewish law now, it's like, Okay,
now we can really do a lot andteach a lot to save, save human
life. So I get it's a change.
Think Judaism has, has changedthroughout time, and in a way,
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this feels like a return, ratherthan a kid total, total newness,
total out of nowhere.
Do you have a vision in termsof, if your outlook was totally
successful? What would the whatwould the Jewish people look? Or
how would they look different tohow they appear today?
Thanks for that question. Iwould work, you know, thank god
(19:07):
Jews. I mean, I know there's alot of antiSemitism in the
world, but are also looked uponfor many contributions to
society, to the world, right?
There's things, oh, the Jewshelped in this way, laws,
contributions, science,medicine, one, it'd be great,
David. And it's in this time,there's like, social, emotional
suffering, and the earth iscrying out. You know, if we put
(19:29):
a microphone, if the earth couldspeak English, and you put a
microphone to the mouth of theEarth, like, what would the
earth be saying? I think mostpeople would hear the earth
crying out like, Hey, do better.
Help me. Help Help us all out.
Wouldn't it be great if, if theJews were just known for being a
light unto the nations, forthis, for caring for for helping
us get back on track, for livingmore close. Because here's the
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thing, when we say like, getback on track. Get closer to the
living, closer to the earth,closer. Closer to the source.
It's closer to ourselves. We payattention to literally, where
our breath comes from,literally, not like metaphor,
like actually, scientifically,where it comes. Oh, it's the
trees. Oh, well, let's have aholiday two spot where we
actually give thanks and focuson that, like that does
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something for my social,emotional sense of like, what is
to be alive, my wellness and thefood we eat. You know, it's in
the BROCA de adamah, like wesay, Where does bread come from?
Most people say the supermarket.
Hammoti, laka, Mina arts, wehave this like reminder, right
in our faith? No, it's not forthe supermarket comes from the
(20:36):
earth, but we're so divorcedfrom knowing in a meaningful
way. So what happens when we weintegrate that? Oh, right, I'm
part of this, and we have that,like, knowing sense. And so if
we could be the Jews, the Jewsnation could be part of, like,
reminding us where we come from,what's important, big, massive
scale. And that's what Adam isdoing. Yeah, we're doing, we're
(20:58):
working with high schoolers.
We're working with a coalition.
We have, we have three or 400Jewish nonprofits and
institutions creating climateaction plans. How do we, how do
we practically come back withJews, with climate movements? We
have youth groups. We haveJewish holiday retreats where
it's like, Come, let's like, bein Sukkot shampoo world, Rosh
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Hashanah in a in an environment,or a treat centers Pearl stone,
and it's about freedom, whereit's like we're gonna live close
to the earth as we do liveinside of these holidays. So
we're trying, and I'd ask ally'all to try. Let's be a light
into a nation for this. And itreally could be. It could be our
peak moment contribution tosociety. Let
(21:41):
me ask you this question. Idon't know if you feel
comfortable answering it, but alot of the issues that you're
talking about have becomepolitical issues, if not
partisan issues in the world inwhich we live. And I wonder, how
do you respond to people thatmight come at you, saying you're
actually pushing forward aparticular political agenda,
rather than what you're framingas an as an environmental
(22:02):
obligation, yeah, well,it's pretty easy to politicize
anything. I'd ask. You know,this sounds a little bit dark,
but the I hope this answers thequestion. The moment I noticed,
sadly, a lot of people realize,Oh, my God, Adam, Adam, Ma, we
are part of this earth. You knowwhat it is, David, don't take
guess what we come we are Earth.
Where do you think most peoplelike get it in a shocking, clear
(22:25):
way, the moment of death. Yeah,at a funeral, when you see
somebody we don't want to seethat. We feel divorce. We feel
separated. That unbelievablytender, I mean, the most tender
moment of our lives where we seesomebody actually getting
returned, I might say, into theinside of the earth. Is like, Oh
my God. We, when you see them,like physically about to become
(22:46):
back. Part of it, in that way,is where a lot of people have a
moment. And I think it's amoment. It's almost a scary
moment. It is a scary moment. Ohmy God. We are, you know, we're
taught David that dirt is dirty.
Think about that dirt is dirty,and it's what we're literally
made. Our food makes our body.
The dirt makes food. The foodmakes our body. We literally
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transform dirt. That's whatthat's the way we're created,
scientifically, God, really. Andwe go back right into it. That's
scary. But is that political? Isthat political that we are
literally, scientifically, ofthe earth, and go back right
into it? I don't think so. Andif we are the earth, let's,
let's, let's make it beautiful,make it healthy. Is that
political to it can be, you can,but that's also a bit of a game.
(23:32):
I'd say. You know, you can buyinto it or not. So I don't know
if that directly answers thequestion.
No, it doesn't, but it gives areally important take on the
question, I think, which is wellworth noting. And so, Yoni, how
did you get on this journey? Wasthere a particular educator in
your life, or somebody whohelped get you on this journey
to be the Ias a kid, for somebody that
(23:54):
always had, wherever I've lived,I've always had a tree that I
had, and I again to be spot. Gofind her tree. If you don't have
a tree in your life, find atree. Sit with it, hang out with
it, get to know it, look at itclosely. As a kid, for some
reason, I always had a tree. Andin college, it was a tree I go
climb. And now I the tree rightup down my window. And then it
was really my my my Alba, mystepfather, Rabbi Dov Elkins,
(24:17):
and I was lucky enough to go toshul every every Shabbat and
listen to him, and it's justthis basic. There wasn't one
thing he said, but that that theimperative is to be, and this is
good for be somebody that caresabout about making the world
better and do something about itlater and later, actions follow
your beliefs. If you believethere's a better world to
(24:39):
create. Do something better, bythe way. This is a this is a
strategy for living a morefulfilled and happy life later.
Actions follow your beliefs, notthe beliefs that the media or
some book or your friend or butyour truest your Neshama, your
soul's beliefs. What do I know?
And my soul of souls, my heartof hearts. And let your actions
follow that tonight. This recipefor living a life that it's more
(25:03):
at peace. And my Abba, you know,I remember hearing the lessons
about about being a person thatcares about about the state of
the planet and humanity, and dosomething about it. And so
that's, that's, that's kind ofwhere I got on the show. And
then I went on this greatprogram called Semester at Sea
that took me as great semesterabroad on a boat that went all
(25:23):
the way around the planet. And Iwas like, Oh my God. I fell
deeply in love and and I kind ofcommitted myself to be living a
life of service in some way, alot of different jobs that took
me in this direction.
Yoni, there's your discussionabout going to talk to trees is
(25:45):
personally really fascinating tome, and I think to many of our
other listeners as well. In someways, it's become almost a
cliche, but there is a chapterin Martin Buber book i thou
where he literally talks aboutdeveloping a relationship with
the tree. And in thatphilosophy, he talks about the
tree that most of us interactwith as not being an animate
(26:08):
object, about being able toreally participate with the tree
in a in a dialog, in aninteractive, mutual
relationship. And I don't knowif you're you're influenced by
that, but like when you'retalking about that, Buba comes
to mind straight away. Loveit. And by the way, I'll point
out, it's pretty easy to talk toa tree or any non human object.
It's a lot harder to hearsomething back, same with like
talking to God. Hey, God, needsome help with this that I could
(26:32):
talk to my guitar right now.
Hey, guitar to hear somethingback. That's, that's, that's the
way we got us pause really,listen deep. If you're feeling
shy about talking to a tree,just think people are on cell
phones, you know, talking reallybase got loud to themselves all
the time. So, you know, you'rejust doing that. Yeah, Moses
seemed to have a good time withit. At the burning bush, he came
(26:54):
away pretty you know, some gooddownloads from that, that whole
and by the way, there it is. Youknow, it's a big stretch to talk
to what Moses was not likeparked in a in a ShopRite
parking lot to talk to God.
Didn't pick up a pay phone, didit? Yeah? What was the channel?
What was the channel? And, bythe way, okay, if I could go
here that the, yeah, it's notnormal. The first, you know,
(27:15):
this Jewish environment notnormal in the first sentence of
God's and Moses's firstconversation. The very first
thing that is said is shown,take, take the shoes from off
your feet. Which, which in oneyou know, why take your shoes
off? By the way, nice to meetyou, God, Moses. But so first of
all, it's, it's Connect. Takeany boundary between you and the
(27:37):
earth, like take it off. I want,I want, I want full connection.
But shall now let them allright, like I could also be a
word play. Take the locks off ofyour pattern. Now, take the
locks off your patterns.
Patterns. Don't just do what'snormal, we shake. Don't just do
what you're told, what'spattern. So taking some
(27:58):
inspiration from Moses and finda tree talking to it's easy
peasy. I'm telling you, thewords can just come out. If you
don't know what to say to atree, you can say, Hello. Do you
have any wisdom to teach? That'sa nice little default question.
And the big trick is to stealyour voice, calm, your calm,
your inner voice, and to be opento to listening.
(28:20):
And with that listeners as ourmessage for tu Bucha, maybe try
something different. Maybe takethe time to unlock yourself from
the regular patterns of yourroutine. Go talk to a tree, but
just take some time to be at onewith nature on this day. And
perhaps it's worth adding likein the world in which we
currently live, maybe justtaking that deep breath is
probably what we all need morethan anything else. Thanks
(28:41):
Johnny for taking the time tojoin us on adapting today. I
really learned a lot from you,and really gained a lot from
your insights and perspectivesonto things which maybe I should
be taking more time out of mylife to pay attention to.
Today's episode of adapting wasproduced by Dina nussen Bomber,
Miranda Lapides. The show'sexecutive producers are myself,
Karen Cummins and nessa lieben,and our show is engineered and
edited as always by Nathan JBourne of njv media. If you
(29:04):
enjoyed adapting this season,please leave us a five star
rating on Apple podcasts, oreven better still, share it with
a friend to learn more about theJewish education project. Visit
Jewish and project.org There youcan see more about our mission
history and staff. As always, weare a proud partner of uj
Federation of New York. Thankyou as always, for listening
today. And if today is to wishluck for you when you listening,
then happy to wish fun you.
Hi everybody, and we're recording today's episode of
adapting one week before to bespot the Festival of the trees,
and that's exactly what we'regoing to be talking about today,
but not just about the holidayitself, but the messages behind
what it means for us as Jews tobe connecting with nature, to be
connecting with the world inwhich we live, and yes,
connecting specifically totrees. I think it's also an
important reminder for us thatin the world in which we
(00:22):
currently live of what we shouldbe thankful for, what we should
be grateful for, and taking abit of the moment out of our
hectic everyday life, to reallybe at one with nature, and
especially on this day, the NewYear of the trees of tube spark
actually, to remember all thethings which are really
important to us, to the worldand to the planet in which we
inhabit. Thank you, as always,for listening to adapting today,
and happy to be smart. This isadapting the future of Jewish
(00:45):
education, a podcast from theJewish education project where
we explore the big questions,challenges and successes that
define Jewish education. I'mDavid breifman.
Hi everybody. I'm here with Yonistadlin, the chief program
officer at ADAMA, the largestJewish environmental
(01:05):
organization in North America,and we are dropping today's
episode of adapting on theJewish holiday of Tobi svat. So
welcome yoni.
Happy to be here. Happy to behere. So tell us a bit about
this too. Buchafestival, this holiday that
we're celebrating today,to be smart. This is the has
become the Jewish Earth Day.
This is where we stop and say,Thank you Earth. We love you.
(01:27):
Happy to be here. And it doesnot have the biblical roots, as
some of our other major youknow, you made you may say,
holidays, Yom Kippur, but thishas become the Jewish Earth Day.
It has its roots. And actually,as one of the four, I know this
might sound a bit like anoxymoron, but the four Jewish
New Years, there's RoshHashanah, the main year. So this
(01:49):
is the new year of the trees.
You're saying, Why do the treesneed a new year? There's a
couple reasons. One of them is,you're not allowed to just pick
baby, you know, fruit tree. Youhave to leave the fruit on the
on the tree for several years.
So how do you, how do you knowwhen to start counting, and it's
also when you're farming, when,when the tax, when you can start
being taxed on those fruit, asmentioned the Mishna and the
(02:13):
word to be spot is actually thedate in the month of spots, the
two stands for for a number, andspots is the month. So that's
how we know exactly when ithappens. And it coincides with
when, when the SAP startsrising. You know, the tree in
the winter starts burning itsenergy into its roots, and this
happens to be when, when theenergy starts to starts to come
(02:35):
back up to the leaves of thetrees. So what
are some of the ways wecelebrate? What are some of the
ways that you you encouragepeople to celebrate this day?
Well, Iinvite everybody and anybody
every day, but especially on twoweeks, go outside, hang out with
a tree. How many trees do wepass in a year, in a month, in a
week, especially if you don'tlive in a city we pass by,
hopefully, 1000s, 1000s, 1000,hundreds of 1000s of trees. How
(02:57):
many of you actually stop andmeet kind of like people? You
see some people, but sometimesyou stop. You say, Oh, there you
are. I see you find a tree. Hangout with it. Catch your breath.
Every Breath You Take is likeCPR from a tree. Every breath
you've ever taken in your lifeis a tree basically giving you
CPR, giving you, giving youoxygen, and you have an
exchange. So slow down with onetree. So that's the
(03:20):
interpersonal invitation that Ihope everybody does and and
additionally, in more recenttimes, we've created a to be
spot Seder. In order, there's athere's a kind of like, there's
a Passover Seder. So there'salso to be spot ha godda, which,
by the way, on out of mywebsite, you can download one
for free. How to get yourfriends together and celebrate
(03:43):
this holiday. It's very userfriendly, and it's not over the
top, I think you'll find veryenjoyable. And you can find also
on our website and lots ofplaces there's to be shot
Seders, where you go and eat andtalk play to celebrate this
holiday. There's lots of ways tochoose your own adventures on
this holiday.
(04:04):
So let's talk a bit about thisrelationship that you have with
trees, but more generally, whyother people should or could
have this relationship withtrees. But tell us a bit about
your journey with trees, andspecifically here, I'm referring
to part of your biography, whichsome people might know about,
which is the period of your lifewhere you spent some time, but
hanging out with some Californiaredwoods,
(04:25):
hanging out like a monkey allthe way up top. And I did spend
about three and a half months ofmy life living aloft all the way
up in the canopy of ancient andendangered redwood trees. These
are the tallest trees on planetEarth. Ball sounds way up top,
living, sleeping, cooking,eating, reading, fixing things,
(04:47):
building up there. And I'll cutto the chase the I had a lot of
time up there to think, couldyou imagine David Day Night,
you're just up in a tree byyourself? Well, you're. With a
forest at all times. It's withyou right now. I spent about two
or three weeks of that time withno other humans anywhere nearby
for dozens of miles. Sometimesthere was a network. There was a
(05:10):
bunch of people. The trees wereconnected by zip lines.
Sometimes would be 50 trees allconnected by a web. The main
idea was there's people comingto clear cut these forests,
which means where they take allthe trees and only one and by
the way, reminder, the forestsare the gills of the planet.
Anyway, I'd love to tell youmore about my time up in the
trees, but I'll cut to the chaselots of time to think and ponder
(05:35):
and pontificate while you'resitting up in a tree all day and
night for weeks and weeks andweeks. And one of the main
quests I asked early was, whatare you doing? How did you get
up here? Why? What drove you tocome up and felt mind boggling,
what motivated me? And it reallywas, the answer was my Jewish
upbringing, the lessons of beingsomebody that cares and putting
(05:56):
care into action, and the lessonthat Adam and Adama so the
Hebrew word for the human Earthis earthling Adam Adam. So
what's the word for Earth?
Adamah Adam Adam. By the way,this is the core the
organization I work for, thebiggest Earth caring
environmental religiousnonprofit in the world is a
Jewish one. The biggestenvironmental faith based
nonprofit in the world is aJewish one called ADAMA, where
(06:20):
I'm proud to work, and we'recalled ADAMA, and we focus on
the intersection between Adamand Adam. So that was when I
thought why I got out there, andI'll just cut to the chase and
share what was my biggest ahamoment. The biggest takeaway of
sitting as a tree for three anda half months was coming down
when it came down. What was thebiggest takeaway that we are the
Earth. We think a lot of time ofthe Earth as like a museum.
(06:41):
Let's go visit the nature. Let'sgo visit nature's over there.
We're over here. What chutzpahto think that we are not a part
of nature, and that divorce, Iuse that word pretty explicitly,
that perception that we aredivorced from nature, I think,
causes a lot of trauma, and usnot feeling at home in our home.
So this is a holiday to bring ushome to our home, to remember
(07:05):
that we're part of the earth,and therefore, until then, to
love it, and therefore also tolove ourselves. So
when reading a bit about yourbiography, when you receive the
2017 pomegranate Prize Awardfrom the covenant foundation,
you wrote the following thing,or it was written of you. I'm
trying to add a culture ofkindness toward the earth,
(07:27):
toward the people around us andtoward ourselves, to the
definition of Jewish education.
That part makes sense based onwhat you just said. And then the
part which you added after that,which I think is really, really
interesting and important,particularly for this
conversation, as you said, and Iquote, in my mind, that
shouldn't be so novel. It shouldbe the default. And I find that
really powerful that you'reactually saying that the default
(07:49):
of Jewish education, or Jewishexistence, is becoming at one
with the earth.
I would love the word Jewishenvironmentalism to be like, Oh,
that's that's being redundant. Istarted this amazing two summer
camps called Eden village camp,when people are like, what's it
about kindness and caring forthe earth? And in my in the back
(08:12):
of my head, I'm always saying,What a ridiculous, unfortunate
world we're living in, where thethat's a niche that Yiddish guy,
Judaism, you know, us gathering,spend all this energy to get
together in the form ofreligion, all these practices,
and we need to carve out a nichefor, he said, for kindness, for
caretaking, our home and ourbodies. And that needs to be a
(08:34):
special you need us, even ifthose games is a specialty camp,
a specialty camp that we'rebecause the world we're living
in, we're being sweet and kindto ourselves and others, and the
planet is a specialty. It'ssomewhat sad and unfortunate. So
yes, I love to see a world wherewhere we're not needed, where
kindness is the default withanything in the world, but
(08:55):
certainly anything Jewish, we'recaring for our planet, which
also means caring for ourselves.
So that's my that's my goal inlife.
So besides now just claimingthat you want to put Eden
village out of business, yeah, Iknow that's tell us a bit about
Eden village. Tell us a bitabout this camp that you
created.
It's, oh gosh, it's a camp wherethe kids, we're just trying to
(09:16):
make it the world we want to sotake a moment. What is a world
you would love to live in, like,like, dream big. Like, don't
hold back your dream that youwant your kids to live in.
What's the environment, what'sthe vibe, what's the world? What
are people seeing? What are theysaying? What are they really
doing in this in a world that'smore, I'll say, more perfected,
more aligned with your dreams,and so, where there's fun and
(09:39):
play and kids get to be kids,and so that was the starting
point of dreaming up this camp.
Had the idea one day while I wasdoing the dishes, I was at the
Jewish Theological Seminary ingraduate school. Had the idea
one day while doing the dishes.
Found out the day after mywedding, got a grant from the
foundation for Jewish camp for$1.1 million the day after my
wedding. Make your dream cometrue the UGA Federation. It's a
(10:00):
property to use that was about15 years ago, and now we have
another camp on the West Coast,and it first a lot of kids. It's
it's a place where they feel athome in their bodies with the
earth, and they get to be theirbest selves and feel comfortable
in their skin and comfortable onthe planet. And hopefully, take
that torch, take that magichome.
So a lot of our listeners areprobably familiar with Jewish
(10:23):
summer camp. What's like one ortwo differences, or one or two
stand out things that one woulddo at Eden village that really
make it, you know, the specialplace that you're talking about?
Well, thereare activities, obviously a big,
huge organic farm. There'sherbalism, where they're
learning to again, so the farm,by the way, if they're learning
how to grow carrots and fruits,but they're also learning I can
feed myself. David, do you knowthat light you're in education
(10:46):
world self efficacy, where akid, a kid, a kid can go home
and feel you know what? I nowknow how to make food for myself
and my family and friends. Wehave herbalism, where they learn
how to take plants and turn itinto real medicine, to a kid to
go back home and through schooland community. Synagogues, I can
heal people. I know how to be ahealer. And deep spirituality,
(11:08):
deep floralism. There's allorganic food, there's culinary
arts. I can feed people. Oh, andthen all the fun things and all
the other boating, swimming,rivers, hiking, you know, and
feeling at one, ideally, withthemselves and earth. So that
is, you know, programmaticallyand some of the outcomes. And
(11:28):
I'd say, additionally, thecoolest thing that most people
go when they come back, talkabout is, and this is a real the
hidden curricula of what is thedefault setting in the culture,
what is acceptable? You got somecamps counselors screaming at
their kids. David, it's justlike, that's how they get their
kids to do things. You know?
(11:49):
They say no tolerant forbullying, but there's a lot of
tolerated bullying. You know?
What is the ex the defaultsetting of how we treat each
other? It's just different atedit village camps, but there's
a default settings. So whensomebody is bringing out their
harshest self is not beingconsiderate, it stands out in
the culture so that it can betended. There's a different
(12:12):
culture of kindness there thatreally live in a different way.
That's what most people mostpeople come for the programming.
They hear about the farming andthe herbalism, the organic food.
And the reason they come backyear after year is really
there's a culture of kindnessthat puts a glimmer in the kids
eyes. This is how the worldcould be, and hopefully they
take that home with them.
(12:34):
So just to be up front, I havevisited the camp many times. My
son also went there for a summeras well. Two stories quickly.
One is, we were walking aroundthe camp, and I believe it was
you or one of your colleagues,said, Let's go to the vending
machine. Tell the audience aboutyour vending machine. The
(12:54):
vendingmachine in the ground. Yes,
yeah, we snack gardens, wherethe kids, again, when they
wanted a snack, all the bunkshad little gardens next to the
cabins where they could pickthings that you could just grab
and go, cherry tomatoes, snappeas and berries, the vending
machine in the earth. Yeah. Andthen the second thing which
stands out to me is, then youintroduced another time you,
(13:15):
that's when you when you got myson's attention. He told him
that you were playing Quidditch.
Oh, my god, yeah, yeah. Now thisjust for all the parents at home
that might be a little nervous.
This is land based Quidditch. Wealso do aquatic base on the
boats, but we are not yet atpermitted to do aerial broom
Quidditch. There's all kinds ofpermanent, you know, the health
(13:37):
department before the kids goaloft in their broomsticks. But
yeah, the Quidditch feel forthose
people who have no idea we'retalking about, Quidditch is the
game of the Harry Potterphenomenon, and you decide you
want to stop playing Quidditchat camp. Why? Well,
the kids do. First of all,there's a lot of kids love Harry
Potter that come to camp, andthrough our herbalism
department, there's a lot ofkids that feel a bit like
(13:59):
they're in herbology from fromthe Harry Potter books, and we
play off of that. And they, theythey really feel like they're
playing with and they, they doplay with a lot of the plants,
and work with the plants thatare in Harry Potter. And we do
have a cultural thing at theemotes camp, where this is a bit
of a tangent, but we have thisMo, random Mo, you know, we
spice up the culture. So I havein my closet right behind me a
yellow full body spandex outfit,and at any time during camp, a
(14:24):
staffer can run, hands, feet,face covered in spandex. And it
turns no matter what's happeningin the camp, it's an all camp
tag, spontaneous. It gives themno idea when it's happening to
try to catch the snitch andwhoever tags the snitch first,
if they get tagged, I've done itseveral times, only been tagged
once I will say, I'm not, youknow, but it was, it's really
(14:45):
intense when you run out of anoffice and there's 200 kids
chasing you full throttle, andwhoever wins gets to give, like,
you know, a two or three minutespeech in front of the whole
camp. We used to like put out aroyal table for the person to
catch the snitch. So there wassome of that in the culture and
down in. Remember, if a kid, akid brought the ideas we do a
couple things at the camp thatare obviously pretty unique. The
(15:06):
kids, on a related topic,entirely safe. No one's ever got
a scratch do poi, which is firespinning and fire Hulu fire,
circus arts. Don't worry again.
It's all the kids that need totest out in a non flammable test
out to make sure they do it.
There's a lot of unique programsat the camp and but it's has
(15:28):
been one of them. SoYoni, I can imagine a few of my
listeners listening to thispodcast and say this actually
sounds pretty unconventional.
This this guy sounds like he'soperating in a different mindset
or a different reality, to theto the world in which most of us
are operating in. You've heardthis before that you know you're
(15:49):
not, you're not running thenormal trend of Jewish of Jewish
trajectory of Jewish life. Whatdo you say when someone says to
you that you're, you're a niche,or you're an offshoot, or
you're, you're not the realJewish thing, but you feel like
you're a hobby on the side forthe Jewish community. Yeah. So
I get that, I would say normal,like, flip on the news. How's
normal going for everybody? I'dsay, you know, in addition to
(16:11):
reduce, reuse, recycle, the mostimportant one is rethink, like,
one could use something that ourJewish tradition, like, has in
mind. There is something better,right? We there's a better
there's something we're aimingfor. And, you know, I would say
there's quite a bit of Jewishlaws and about agriculture that
mostly have to do with justice.
We have an outdoor tentingholiday. We have a tree holiday.
(16:35):
We have, I would say Shabbat isbasically a weekly Earth Day,
where, where, you know, mindyour electricity consumption,
you're driving consumption.
You're purchasing consumptiononce a week, all of the major
pilgrimage holidays,agriculturally based. Now, I
know we've gone straight, quiteaway from that. I you know, one
(16:56):
that's a bit more of a stretchtoo, is we even have a holiday
that teaches us about resource,you know, conserving resources
oil, which is a limitedcommodity on the planet. You
know, petroleum that, you know,we're using up and burning up.
We actually already have aholiday. That's about, how do we
make resources last Hanukkah? Iknow it's not wait a lot of
people look at it, but so thereare some, you know, I think
(17:18):
we've also, I get that normalnow is not this normal has
become, you know, go tosynagogue Hebrew school, learn
about Judaism in this other way.
But if you also talk to people,read the you know, read the
room. People are starting muchmore and more and more and more.
Thank God to come back to caringabout their health, the health
of the planet. Go talk to peoplein California right now this
(17:39):
week, about how much they careabout the health of the planet
and climate change, and withclimate change on the radar too,
there's a Jewish imperative, youknow, it used to be saved the
trees. Saved the whales. Okay,that's a bit Do we really have
to care about the trees? Do weget to the whales? You know? I
know, at the beginning of theTorah, it says, you know, we're
to be guardians of the planet.
(18:00):
We're told to be to use theplanet and to guard it. And
we're like, All right, we'reusing it more than we're
guarding it. But it used to be,save the whales, save the trees.
And now it's like, save thehumans. And we know Jewish law
says a lot. You're allowed tobecause never save a soul. Save
a human life. You're allowed todo just about anything to save
(18:21):
human life. So with climatechange and natural disasters
happening, Jewish institutionsliterally burning to the ground,
this is not like when it's goingto happen, when are Jews going
to be infected? When are peoplegoing to it's happening, and
that gives you in terms ofJewish law now, it's like, Okay,
now we can really do a lot andteach a lot to save, save human
life. So I get it's a change.
Think Judaism has, has changedthroughout time, and in a way,
(18:46):
this feels like a return, ratherthan a kid total, total newness,
total out of nowhere.
Do you have a vision in termsof, if your outlook was totally
successful? What would the whatwould the Jewish people look? Or
how would they look different tohow they appear today?
Thanks for that question. Iwould work, you know, thank god
(19:07):
Jews. I mean, I know there's alot of antiSemitism in the
world, but are also looked uponfor many contributions to
society, to the world, right?
There's things, oh, the Jewshelped in this way, laws,
contributions, science,medicine, one, it'd be great,
David. And it's in this time,there's like, social, emotional
suffering, and the earth iscrying out. You know, if we put
(19:29):
a microphone, if the earth couldspeak English, and you put a
microphone to the mouth of theEarth, like, what would the
earth be saying? I think mostpeople would hear the earth
crying out like, Hey, do better.
Help me. Help Help us all out.
Wouldn't it be great if, if theJews were just known for being a
light unto the nations, forthis, for caring for for helping
us get back on track, for livingmore close. Because here's the
(19:54):
thing, when we say like, getback on track. Get closer to the
living, closer to the earth,closer. Closer to the source.
It's closer to ourselves. We payattention to literally, where
our breath comes from,literally, not like metaphor,
like actually, scientifically,where it comes. Oh, it's the
trees. Oh, well, let's have aholiday two spot where we
actually give thanks and focuson that, like that does
(20:15):
something for my social,emotional sense of like, what is
to be alive, my wellness and thefood we eat. You know, it's in
the BROCA de adamah, like wesay, Where does bread come from?
Most people say the supermarket.
Hammoti, laka, Mina arts, wehave this like reminder, right
in our faith? No, it's not forthe supermarket comes from the
(20:36):
earth, but we're so divorcedfrom knowing in a meaningful
way. So what happens when we weintegrate that? Oh, right, I'm
part of this, and we have that,like, knowing sense. And so if
we could be the Jews, the Jewsnation could be part of, like,
reminding us where we come from,what's important, big, massive
scale. And that's what Adam isdoing. Yeah, we're doing, we're
(20:58):
working with high schoolers.
We're working with a coalition.
We have, we have three or 400Jewish nonprofits and
institutions creating climateaction plans. How do we, how do
we practically come back withJews, with climate movements? We
have youth groups. We haveJewish holiday retreats where
it's like, Come, let's like, bein Sukkot shampoo world, Rosh
(21:18):
Hashanah in a in an environment,or a treat centers Pearl stone,
and it's about freedom, whereit's like we're gonna live close
to the earth as we do liveinside of these holidays. So
we're trying, and I'd ask ally'all to try. Let's be a light
into a nation for this. And itreally could be. It could be our
peak moment contribution tosociety. Let
(21:41):
me ask you this question. Idon't know if you feel
comfortable answering it, but alot of the issues that you're
talking about have becomepolitical issues, if not
partisan issues in the world inwhich we live. And I wonder, how
do you respond to people thatmight come at you, saying you're
actually pushing forward aparticular political agenda,
rather than what you're framingas an as an environmental
(22:02):
obligation, yeah, well,it's pretty easy to politicize
anything. I'd ask. You know,this sounds a little bit dark,
but the I hope this answers thequestion. The moment I noticed,
sadly, a lot of people realize,Oh, my God, Adam, Adam, Ma, we
are part of this earth. You knowwhat it is, David, don't take
guess what we come we are Earth.
Where do you think most peoplelike get it in a shocking, clear
(22:25):
way, the moment of death. Yeah,at a funeral, when you see
somebody we don't want to seethat. We feel divorce. We feel
separated. That unbelievablytender, I mean, the most tender
moment of our lives where we seesomebody actually getting
returned, I might say, into theinside of the earth. Is like, Oh
my God. We, when you see them,like physically about to become
(22:46):
back. Part of it, in that way,is where a lot of people have a
moment. And I think it's amoment. It's almost a scary
moment. It is a scary moment. Ohmy God. We are, you know, we're
taught David that dirt is dirty.
Think about that dirt is dirty,and it's what we're literally
made. Our food makes our body.
The dirt makes food. The foodmakes our body. We literally
(23:07):
transform dirt. That's whatthat's the way we're created,
scientifically, God, really. Andwe go back right into it. That's
scary. But is that political? Isthat political that we are
literally, scientifically, ofthe earth, and go back right
into it? I don't think so. Andif we are the earth, let's,
let's, let's make it beautiful,make it healthy. Is that
political to it can be, you can,but that's also a bit of a game.
(23:32):
I'd say. You know, you can buyinto it or not. So I don't know
if that directly answers thequestion.
No, it doesn't, but it gives areally important take on the
question, I think, which is wellworth noting. And so, Yoni, how
did you get on this journey? Wasthere a particular educator in
your life, or somebody whohelped get you on this journey
to be the Ias a kid, for somebody that
(23:54):
always had, wherever I've lived,I've always had a tree that I
had, and I again to be spot. Gofind her tree. If you don't have
a tree in your life, find atree. Sit with it, hang out with
it, get to know it, look at itclosely. As a kid, for some
reason, I always had a tree. Andin college, it was a tree I go
climb. And now I the tree rightup down my window. And then it
was really my my my Alba, mystepfather, Rabbi Dov Elkins,
(24:17):
and I was lucky enough to go toshul every every Shabbat and
listen to him, and it's justthis basic. There wasn't one
thing he said, but that that theimperative is to be, and this is
good for be somebody that caresabout about making the world
better and do something about itlater and later, actions follow
your beliefs. If you believethere's a better world to
(24:39):
create. Do something better, bythe way. This is a this is a
strategy for living a morefulfilled and happy life later.
Actions follow your beliefs, notthe beliefs that the media or
some book or your friend or butyour truest your Neshama, your
soul's beliefs. What do I know?
And my soul of souls, my heartof hearts. And let your actions
follow that tonight. This recipefor living a life that it's more
(25:03):
at peace. And my Abba, you know,I remember hearing the lessons
about about being a person thatcares about about the state of
the planet and humanity, and dosomething about it. And so
that's, that's, that's kind ofwhere I got on the show. And
then I went on this greatprogram called Semester at Sea
that took me as great semesterabroad on a boat that went all
(25:23):
the way around the planet. And Iwas like, Oh my God. I fell
deeply in love and and I kind ofcommitted myself to be living a
life of service in some way, alot of different jobs that took
me in this direction.
Yoni, there's your discussionabout going to talk to trees is
(25:45):
personally really fascinating tome, and I think to many of our
other listeners as well. In someways, it's become almost a
cliche, but there is a chapterin Martin Buber book i thou
where he literally talks aboutdeveloping a relationship with
the tree. And in thatphilosophy, he talks about the
tree that most of us interactwith as not being an animate
(26:08):
object, about being able toreally participate with the tree
in a in a dialog, in aninteractive, mutual
relationship. And I don't knowif you're you're influenced by
that, but like when you'retalking about that, Buba comes
to mind straight away. Loveit. And by the way, I'll point
out, it's pretty easy to talk toa tree or any non human object.
It's a lot harder to hearsomething back, same with like
talking to God. Hey, God, needsome help with this that I could
(26:32):
talk to my guitar right now.
Hey, guitar to hear somethingback. That's, that's, that's the
way we got us pause really,listen deep. If you're feeling
shy about talking to a tree,just think people are on cell
phones, you know, talking reallybase got loud to themselves all
the time. So, you know, you'rejust doing that. Yeah, Moses
seemed to have a good time withit. At the burning bush, he came
(26:54):
away pretty you know, some gooddownloads from that, that whole
and by the way, there it is. Youknow, it's a big stretch to talk
to what Moses was not likeparked in a in a ShopRite
parking lot to talk to God.
Didn't pick up a pay phone, didit? Yeah? What was the channel?
What was the channel? And, bythe way, okay, if I could go
here that the, yeah, it's notnormal. The first, you know,
(27:15):
this Jewish environment notnormal in the first sentence of
God's and Moses's firstconversation. The very first
thing that is said is shown,take, take the shoes from off
your feet. Which, which in oneyou know, why take your shoes
off? By the way, nice to meetyou, God, Moses. But so first of
all, it's, it's Connect. Takeany boundary between you and the
(27:37):
earth, like take it off. I want,I want, I want full connection.
But shall now let them allright, like I could also be a
word play. Take the locks off ofyour pattern. Now, take the
locks off your patterns.
Patterns. Don't just do what'snormal, we shake. Don't just do
what you're told, what'spattern. So taking some
(27:58):
inspiration from Moses and finda tree talking to it's easy
peasy. I'm telling you, thewords can just come out. If you
don't know what to say to atree, you can say, Hello. Do you
have any wisdom to teach? That'sa nice little default question.
And the big trick is to stealyour voice, calm, your calm,
your inner voice, and to be opento to listening.
(28:20):
And with that listeners as ourmessage for tu Bucha, maybe try
something different. Maybe takethe time to unlock yourself from
the regular patterns of yourroutine. Go talk to a tree, but
just take some time to be at onewith nature on this day. And
perhaps it's worth adding likein the world in which we
currently live, maybe justtaking that deep breath is
probably what we all need morethan anything else. Thanks
(28:41):
Johnny for taking the time tojoin us on adapting today. I
really learned a lot from you,and really gained a lot from
your insights and perspectivesonto things which maybe I should
be taking more time out of mylife to pay attention to.
Today's episode of adapting wasproduced by Dina nussen Bomber,
Miranda Lapides. The show'sexecutive producers are myself,
Karen Cummins and nessa lieben,and our show is engineered and
edited as always by Nathan JBourne of njv media. If you
(29:04):
enjoyed adapting this season,please leave us a five star
rating on Apple podcasts, oreven better still, share it with
a friend to learn more about theJewish education project. Visit
Jewish and project.org There youcan see more about our mission
history and staff. As always, weare a proud partner of uj
Federation of New York. Thankyou as always, for listening
today. And if today is to wishluck for you when you listening,
then happy to wish fun you.
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