Winter Sunset, Rockefeller State Park Preserve, Julie Danan
Shalom! Like the dormancy of winter, this site has been quiet for a while. The quiet of the site is the mirror opposite of my busy life: leading a small congregation, teaching two classes for the ALEPH Rabbinic Program, traveling (to Israel, Colorado, and Florida in the past 3 months) and being involved with my family. It’s all wonderful and gratifying, but hasn’t left any time to work on this website (or on the book that I am slowly building from the site). However, with the awakening of spring, I have recently begun a new Gateway that I hope to launch soon, on the theme of “Holy Land,” to be accessed through the Portal of Earth. You can get a sneak peak at the type of content I plan to share there but checking out this post on my Rabbi’s Blog, “Finding a Sanctuary in Nature.”
Meanwhile, please keep in touch by following me @Wellsprings on Instagram, where I post daily original nature photography, often with accompanying spiritual reflections. Much of this content, along with other environmentally oriented posts, can also be found on the Wellsprings of Wisdom Facebook page.
And please continue to enjoy exploring the 14 Gateways (content pages) already on this site. Each Gateway explores an ancient symbol from Nature as a path to personal growth and action. In addition, three Resource Guides will help you continue your explorations of Jewish spirituality in nature.
Jerusalem View from Haas Promenade, JHD
In December, my husband and I (and two of our grown children) visited Israel for the first time in nearly a decade. I’ll continue reflecting on this journey and our experiences in my Rabbi’s Blog. Please check it out if you would like to learn more. Meannwhile, I’ve added a Gallery of Seashore in Israel to the Gateway of the Sea. In Israel, I exchanged wintry walks at the woods of the Hudson Valley for sunny walks on the shores of the Mediterranean. The sea enraptured me with it’s light, color, and warmth. The rhythm of the waves and the sea air filled me with a sense of peace/Shalom and well-being. I hope that my photos will share those feelings with you.
For daily nature photography interspersed with some spiritual reflections, please follow Wellsprings on Instagram.
Shalom! Just checking in to let you know that this site is active, even if it’s not like a blog with continual updates. I haven’t added a new Gateway (themed content page) to Wellsprings of Wisdom this fall, but I’m continuing to add some new posts to current Gateways, update existing posts,and add to the resource guide. I also post daily content (my own nature photos and some inspirational messages) on Instagram @wellsprings. I hope to continue to add content to Wellsprings of Wisdom over time, but I’m turning much of my creative attention–when not working at my job as a rabbi or teaching classes or being busy as a mom and grandma!–to writing a nature-centered spiritual memoir on the same themes as Wellsprings of Wisdom.
I recently attended a workshop by the Jewish Book Council and that gave me a lot of encouragement. I wrote one book years ago, then went off to graduate school and rabbinical school and wrote a dissertation. Since then, the publishing world has changed so it’s good to get a refresher! Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy the existing content. Feel free to write to me through the website if you have any questions. Your comments on any posts and your posts in the Sharing Circles in each Gateway are much appreciated, and I’m looking into different ways to get together by offering classes online. Let me know if that interests you.
Happy Thanksgiving! This is a wonderful time to cultivate gratitude. One thing I’m grateful for, since moving the Hudson Valley from California (and Texas before), is the amazing fall foliage in this part of the country. In honor of the season, I’ve added a new Autumn Gallery to the Gateway of Seasons. I hope you enjoy it.
I know that I’ve being growing as a photographer since my “Seasonal Scenes” gallery, and it’s developed into a real hobby. I also purchased an second hand camera (to upgrade from phone photos alone) and took a photography class.
I try to use my photography for mitzvot (good deeds), for example my current fundraiser of greeting cards and tote bags with my photos from Chico, California, all profits going to NorCal Wildfire Relief.
Thanks to a reader/fellow traveler who wrote to me with several suggestions for the Resource Guide, it continues to expand. I’ve recently added more programs for hiking, family retreats, organic farms and summer camps that focus on Jewish spirituality in nature. Locations span the United States, Canada Mexico, England, and Israel. I present these as a public service and listing does no imply endorsement, so please check them out for yourself!
It’s been a very hard couple of weeks. First, the tragic antisemitic killings at Tree of Life- Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh shocked and saddened the Jewish community and all of America. People of many faiths came together together in prayer and support around the country. Read my rabbi blog to read the messages that I shared with our community. For those who want to give tzedakah/charity to support the Pittsburgh Jewish community, you can do so here.
Then less than two weeks later, devastating wildfires ravaged parts of California, with the most destructive fire in California history decimating Paradise, California, the nearest town to our former home of Chico. Watching these tragic events from afar, I wanted to give back in some way.
To help the community in Northern California, I have started a Wellsprings Fundraiser for Fire Relief. I’ve made my nature photos from a recent trip to Chico into greeting cards and tote bags, that you can purchase here.
All profits benefit the Northern California Fire Relief Fund of the North Valley Community Foundation. Feel free to donate directly there, too! And please keep everyone in your prayers.
Just updated the pathway (post) about Rosh Hodesh, the women’s celebration of the New Moon. I r
ealized that most of my suggested resources were rather “vintage,” from the heyday of women’s rediscovering this holiday in the 1970’s and 80’s. Now there’s a great new organization, At the Well, offering beautiful materials online to support women and others who want to form Well Circles and celebrate this ancient holy day to promote both spirituality and wellness.
I’m constantly delighted to find wonderful initiatives among the younger generation in Judaism, nature and the outdoors. Today I had a wonderful conversation with Julia Plevin, founder of the Forest Bathing Club of San Francisco. (The “bathing” reference is to the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku, “Forest Bathing,” therapeutic immersion in nature.) Founding the popular club and getting involved in nature-based spirituality has been a catalyst to Jewish self-discovery for Julia, who has participated in San Francisco-based Wilderness Torah.
A website is kind of like a garden. I have to keep checking my posts and links for necessary updates. I have updated the pathway (post) on the Rainbow of Community, in the Gateway of Rainbows, to reflect changes in organizations that foster inclusiveness and diversity.
Right in the middle of all the Jewish Fall Holidays…it’s a new post! Rabbi David Seidenberg recently shared a very thoughtful post about the “Four Species (palm branch, willows, myrtles, and citron/etrog) that are waved as a Sukkot Ritual, explaining the ecological symbolism. He was kind enough to share it with Wellsprings of Wisdom, and you can find it here, in the Gateway of Wilderness, along with another post about the holiday of Sukkot being celebrated this week. Chag Sameach, Happy Sukkot!
Post holiday update: Another friend, Shir Yaakov Feit, posted a beautiful picture of a lulav and etrog in a natural setting, so I have incorporated that into the post as well.
Even with Rosh Hashanah on the horizon, I have posted some photos that I took on recent nature walks in preparation for the New Year. You will find them in this new Gallery in the Gateway of Gardens, along with an explanation of the Hassidic teaching that in Elul (the late summer month before the New Year) “the King is in the Field.”
Hearing the crickets and cicadas, seeing the drying flowers and hints of fall foliage, feeling the texture of the air at late summer, all these connect me to the change of season and the Divine Presence that pervades all things. May I suggest that you take some time in these waning days of Elul to go outside and seek your inspiration for the new year?
With a new post on the challenges of being a peace-seeking dove in the human world, the Gateway of Wings is complete (for now!). I’ve enjoyed creating this Gateway (content page) about birds and other winged creatures, and it has sparked my own interest in birding and bird (and butterfly) photography.
I’ll be sending out a letter to all website subscribers, so sign up with the form on this page if you want to keep in touch!
With Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, right around the corner, I’m very busy as a rabbi and probably won’t be posting much, but be sure to take a look at Wellsprings of Wisdom posts about customs and themes of the season, including Shofar videos and how to do Tashlich at a flowing stream or other natural body of water.
I’m continuing to learn about exciting new initiatives of Jewish spirituality in nature, and adding or updating them in the Resource Guide so that you can find a great retreat, adventure, or organic farm experience. I do this as a public service at no fee, and listing does not imply endorsement; please check them out for yourself!
Please enjoy exploring all the Gateways on Wellsprings of Wisdom.They are not time-sensitive and the idea is to explore what interests you, whether by individual pathway (post) or by theme. There are now fourteen Gateways to explore!
I just had the fantastic experience of teaching a class on “Tikkun Olam: A Jewish Tradition of World Repair” at the Chautauqua Institution, a wonderful summer festival of learning, culture, and interfaith dialgogue in a beautiful seasonal village in Western New York.
Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, is a venerable phase with roots in rabbinic law and mystical tradition. Today it has come to stand for all the holy efforts to make our world more just, loving, and sustainable. In each Gateway of Wellsprings of Wisdom, I offer one or more suggestions for how to get involved in world-healing actions related to the theme of that Gateway.
The most recent addition is a new post about the Audubon Society in the Gateway of Wings. Audubon is much more than bird-watching! Be sure to check it out.
The beautiful Redwinged Blackbird is guardian of the newly added Sharing Circle in the new and growing Gateway of Wings. I welcome your comments on any post, but the Sharing Circle in each Gateway is especially devoted to sharing your own experiences of spirituality and nature. Join the conversation and help make Wellsprings of Wisdom into an interactive community. You can also interact by emailing me though this site, or on my social media accounts linked from each page.
Thank you for being part of Wellsprings of Wisdom!
Today was Tisha B’Av, the fast to commemorate the destruction of the Temples in ancient Jerusalem. It is also seen as a day to mourn all brokenness, exile, and loss in the world, and to rededicate ourselves to sowing healing and love. At the end of the day I received this video with a moving chant and visuals to remind us of our responsibility to the ultimate temple, our home planet. I decided to share it on the Gateway of Seasons, for it is relevant every day of the year.
I’ve added a new pathway (post) on Winged Insects as Soul Symbols to the new and growing Gateway of Wings. I’m inspired by the beautiful butterflies and dragonflies of summer to ponder lessons of transformation.
I would love to hear back from you! Your comments on pathway posts and Sharing Circles means so much for making Wellsprings of Wisdom into a participatory community. I’m also happy to talk to you on Social Media, especially Instagram and Facebook. You can also email me from this site.
The Gateway of Wings is gradually turning me into a birder! I’ve added some more of my original bird photos to the Gallery of Birds, and also started to organize the Gateway of Wings into its more finished form. But there’s a lot more to come this summer! Sign up with the form on the top of this page, to get an email when it’s complete. 
I had thought that connection to the symbol of feathers was my own idiosyncrasy, until I remembered the role that feathers play in two important Jewish traditions. Check out this new post on feathers, in the growing Gateway of Wings.
For fun, I’m sharing some favorite nature photos that I took myself. First some fauna, then some flora, some more “abstract” nature views, and then landscapes. I’ve been using more of my own photos on the site as time goes by and my skills improve. I started with an iPhone6, moved on to an iPhone7plus, and then got a fixed lens camera and took some lessons. I also borrowed my daughters DSLR camera and macro lens for a few of the flower closeups. If you enjoy my nature photography, I post regularly on Instagram as
Wellsprings.
Today I added two Pathways (posts) in the new 
Gateway of Wings. I share my own perspective on meaningful encounters with birds through texts and photos. I also uploaded an Instragram post with one of my favorite videos that I took of a Great Egret in flight. Enjoy watching the Gateway of Wings as it grows.
Grackle amidst magnolias in my neighborhood, JHD
Today I was at a shiva (memorial) service and my friend, a rabbi, sang a simple, touching song that helps her keep her faith in the face of a difficult loss. “Be Like the Bird” inspired me and I decided to include it in the new and growing Gateway of Wings. The words of the song are from a poem by Victor Hugo.
There are a number of versions of the song on YouTube, including one with great bird graphics, but I quickly realized that someone had put that video together without getting permission to use the music and without crediting the performers. So I have embedded the original YouTube video of Be Like the Bird posted by the composer, and shared some of her story in the post.
I’m adding pathways (posts) to the new Gateway of Wings in no particular order, or should I say in the order of inspiration. When the Gateway (themed content page) is more or less complete, I plan to reorder the posts so that they create a thematic pathway through the Gateway page. But you can always explore in any order that interests you.
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