Glean from the AbundanceShalom and welcome to Tikkun Tips, a monthly nugget of eco-Jewish thought from your friends at the Teva Learning Center. The beginning of next week marks Rosh Chodesh Sivan and shortly after that the holiday of Shavuot, during which we celebrate receiving the Torah. This is a time of movement, of transitions, both physically and spiritually. The school year is coming to an end and we begin to think about plans for the summer and beyond. We are generally on the move. Spiritually, we are in the final days of the Omer and we are focusing on completing the transition from a nation of slaves to one ready to receive its identity.
On both Rosh Chodesh and Shavuot we recite Hallel, the collection of praise-filled psalms. Within the Hallel service lies some valuable eco-wisdom, especially given that this is a season of transitions. Furthermore, on Shavuot we retell the story of Ruth who uncovered her destiny while gleaning in the fields of Boaz.
Psalm 118 states “The stone that the builder refused shall be the head cornerstone.”
Let me tell you a little bit about my day today. Today is what is known in West Philly as “Penn Christmas.” As the University of Pennsylvania ends its spring semester, most of the student body is heading off for the summer. In the past, these students, often rushed to move out of their dorms or apartments, would simply throw out an immense amount of stuff. You name it, books, furniture, food, clothes, appliances, pretty much anything. It was too much stuff for the year-round dumpsters to handle, so there would be huge piles all along the streets of West Philly. During the subsequent days, more permanent residents would glean through the products left behind.
Ryan Kuck, a longtime West Philadelphia resident and veteran dumpster diver is baffled that the university’s response to the tremendous waste was to pay for additional dumpsters rather than try to find some effective system for recirculating the items. It took a handful of resourceful Penn students to create the M.O.D. (Move Out Drive) Squad which collects items from students as they move out. The M.O.D. Squad then brings all of these products to a warehouse and makes them available, first to non-profit organizations, and then to the general public, free of charge.
So today I headed over to the warehouse and spent about an hour sifting through kitchen appliances, clothing, electronics and office supplies. In total, my friends and I left with several hundred dollars worth of items, piled onto our bike trailers as we made our way through West Philly.
While the work of the M.O.D. Squad is encouraging, Kate McArdle, its current point person, expressed frustration at how hard it has been to recruit volunteers to help out in the effort to divert useful items out of the garbage stream and into the hands of necessary recipients. On other campuses there are models for the M.O.D. Squad to emulate. Michigan State University’s Surplus Store , which has been in business since 1920, is responsible for selling off all of the university’s surplus property. Considering that the university has over 45,000 students and 10,000 faculty, there ends up being an enormous amount of surplus.
In past editions I’ve written about organizations such as Food Not Bombs that salvage food and make it available to those who are hungry. But there are other ways that we too can embrace the value of gleaning from the abundance of goods that otherwise would be thrown away, and the system works both ways as there are often others eager to receive what we no longer need. Websites such as Freecycle and Craigslist make it extremely easy to find items or takers for our own items, keeping useful products out of the landfills and slowing down, even ever so slightly, the resource-intensive processes of production.
So as we transition into summer, maybe you are moving into a new place, or heading off for the next few months. Or maybe you need some new furniture. Think about the value of reclaiming what someone else considers trash before spending your money and the precious resources on a new product. Think about the line from Psalms and the gleaners we read about on Shavuot and remember that Kind David himself comes from their direct line. There is tremendous spiritual and ecological wisdom in reclaiming that which is refused.
Chodesh Tov and Chag Sameach. Signing off from Philadelphia,
Nati Passow
Nati Passow is a carpenter, educator and writer living in Philadelphia, Pa. He is Co-Director of the
Jewish Farm School .
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June 5th-8th, 2006
at Surprise Lake Camp
Only two week until the Teva Seminar!! Spend four days learning about the connection between Judaism and the Environment with Jews of all ages and denominations. Learn how to share this knowledge with your camp, synagogue, school, or youth group.
Programming tracks include:
* Jewish Ethics
* Congregational Education
* Camp and Wilderness
* Organic Agriculture and Educational Gardening
Register Now.
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