In this week’s episode we are on plague number two of our Ten Plagues series with the plague of frogs. We talk about how the plague of frogs can be seen in the light of air pollution, since the smell of the frogs is specifically described. We talk about how involving a strong motivation like fear of disease (frogs everywhere including places involving preparing and consuming food, or air pollution causing asthma and heart disease) can be a strong motivator for change. We also talk about how climate change involves the extinction of many species and how amphibians are at a heightened risk, so in the modern era we are suffering the plague of no frogs. We end with an encouragement to seek out ecosystem restoration projects. 
Follow along with the source sheet here: http://sefaria.org/sheets/642211

In this week’s episode we kick off our Ten Plagues series with the first plague, the plague of blood, seeing how changing water availability (which climate change fundamentally does), has a cascading effect on ecosystems and agriculture. We also see the speed of human ingenuity and thus climate resilience as the Egyptians start to build wells and create our own midrash about Israelite cultural knowledge of well-building being shared in this difficult time. Follow along with the source sheet here: http://sefaria.org/sheets/642209

In this week’s episode we study another excerpt from Maasechet Taanit about Rav Hunah and how he would buy all the leftover vegetables from the farmer’s market on Friday afternoon and throw them in the river. This sparks a discussion about food waste, what methods we have on a large, medium, and personal scale to address food waste, including innovative selling of imperfect produce, donating food to food banks, buying only what we need, and composting and preserving. We also talk about the anxiety of not having enough food, wanting to treat food respectfully, and being aware of the food insecurity of others. Follow along with the source sheet here: http://sefaria.org/sheets/642200

In this week’s episode we look at an excerpt from Maasechet Taanit about Rav Hunah and how he would ride around in his golden carriage identifying walls that were in danger of falling, notifying the owners, and requiring the walls to be repaired, either with the owner’s money or Rav Hunah’s (if the owner couldn’t afford repairs). We talk about how this story shows an early rabbinical form of regulating buildings, but also incentivizing their upgrades, and how building weatherization and energy efficiency are two ways we can act to slow climate change. We also talk about getting into climate action in one’s middle age, giving charity in a way that also fights climate change, and the importance of imagination in environmentalism. Follow along with the source sheet here: http://sefaria.org/sheets/642199

In this week’s episode (third installment in the Shmita series with guest Avi) we study another text from Mishna Sheviit talking about how Shmita, an exemplar of a traditional Jewish attitude towards the land, is also a remittance of all loans. How does a respect for the autonomy and sacredness of the land interact with our economic system? We discuss land as collateral, conflicts between helping the poor and protecting the environment, and instituting our own personal and communal commitments to the environment during the Shmita year. Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/615576

In this week’s special Shavuot episode of Honi’s Circle, we study a text from Leviticus and one from Ruth—first, in Leviticus, the commandment in the Torah to set aside a corner of your field for the poor to glean from; second, the story in Ruth, seeing gleaning in action. We speak about how Shavuot is a holiday of recommitment to the Torah, embodying loving-kindness and a system of laws that ask the community to sustain those without resources, and how developing a system to recommit to fighting climate change can keep us in action for years to come. Follow along with the source sheet here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/642207

In this week’s episode we study a text from Mishna Sheviit about how money functions differently in the Sabbatical year, ie. Shmita. After a conversation about the non-fungibility of money involved in the purchase of Shmita produce, we look at how both Shmita and working to prevent Climate Disaster requires significant change in our personal lives. We also see that to achieve a true Shmita, and to prevent Global Warming, we need involvement on a societal level. Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/615587.1

In this week’s episode we study a text from Leviticus about the laws of the Sabbatical year, ie. Shmita. The section describes a special connection between the land and the divine, which points to a spiritual orientation of treating the land as an autonomous entity deserving of rest and respect. The text also talks about the anxiety of the sixth year; articulating the uncertainty of reorienting our economic and agricultural practices. Avi, our guest, also talks about the LA fires, and how a natural disaster can wake us up to the realization that nature is an independent force that needs to be respected. Follow along with the source sheet here: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/615585

In this week’s special Passover episode of Honi’s Circle we study a text from the Haggadah about the original move of Jacob and his family to Egypt. We have a saying “We were refugees too” because Jewish history is filled with a series of persecutions and expulsions, but what if we go back to our very first immigration as a family (ie. the family of Jacob) moving from the land of Canaan to Egypt because famine was “heavy in the land.”? Having as part of our identity a people formed by climate refuge seeking can help instill empathy and move us to action for the millions being caused to move by the climate making their homelands unlivable. Follow along with the source sheet here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/550019 

In this week’s episode we study a text from the Shulchan Aruch about ways to bring joy for a holiday, which includes meat and wine, toasted nuts and grains, and new clothes. We talk about the joy of getting new things, and how, often in our modern society, we buy so many new things that the joy diminishes. Some ideas we discuss are saving the joy of something special and new to coincide with a special event or a holiday and buying used clothes which can contain the extra joy of wearing something historical, unique, and the story of its previous wearer. Follow along here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/609796 .