Workshops
Workshops
Upcoming Shoresh Workshops:
Organic Gardening 101: Planning and Planting
Sunday, March 11, 2012 (1-4pm)
Cost: Sliding scale $20-$40
Location: St. Clair and Oakwood area
Preserving the Harvest
Sunday, September 9, 2012 (1-5pm)
Cost: Sliding scale $40-$60
Location: TBD
For more information, or to register, please e-mail education@shoresh.ca or call 416-805-8382.
Are you looking for adult learning opportunities that are relevant, engaging, and strongly rooted in Jewish teachings? Hire a Shoresh educator to facilitate a study session or workshop at your school, synagogue, home, or community centre today! Shoresh is pleased to offer a wide variety of timely and thought-provoking limmudim (learning sessions) for adults all across the Jewish spectrum. Choose from any of the following options or work with a Shoresh educator to create a limmud/workshop that is unique to your organization/group/gathering.
Jewish Environmental and Food Ethics
Jewish Environmentalism 101
Judaism is rich in texts and teachings that encourage and demand us to adopt a strong environmental ethic. In this workshop, participants will study the core sources that frame the Jewish environmental movement.
Bereshit (Genesis): The Root of Contemporary Jewish Environmental Ethics
How we respond to contemporary environmental issues as Jews is strongly conditioned by Judaism’s understanding of the relationship between humans and the natural world. This seminar explores the differences and similarities between the two creation accounts found in the Book of Genesis, and seeks to consider how both together can form the basis for a strong Jewish environmental ethic.
Jewish Food for Thought
What does Judaism have to say about how we eat? A lot! This workshop will explore some of the core issues being discussed in the Jewish Food Movement (such as brachot, kashrut, vegetarianism, factory farming, GMOs, and fair trade practices) from a uniquely Jewish perspective. Participants will also walk away with activities for students of all ages and abilities that will get them thinking about food…Jewishly.
Contemporary Kashrut
What does it mean to keep kosher in contemporary North America? Are the traditional laws of kashrut enough to determine what is “fit” to eat? Do the laws of kashrut need to be expanded to reflect modern-day food issues such as factory farming and genetic modification? This session explores the laws and ethics that determine what should and should not be on our plates.
Blessings can be a powerful tool for re-awakening mindfulness and gratitude. In this session, participants will explore biblical and rabbinic sources that illustrate Jewish understandings of gratitude, as well as some of the different Jewish blessings that can help us connect more deeply with our food and with the land that sustains us.
Jewish Agricultural Law 101
Jewish law doesn’t just tell us what to eat…it also tells us how to grow our food! So what does it mean to be a Jewish farmer? This session explores the Jewish agricultural laws outlined in the Torah and explores both how they were practiced in biblical Israel and how we can honour the spirit of these laws in our farming practices and food choices today.
Lo Tashchit: Judaism and the Art of Waste Reduction
Explore biblical, rabbinic, and contemporary sources around the issue of Waste Reduction. Participants will brainstorm ways to reduce waste in their school/classroom while thinking creatively about how to encourage and enable students to make changes that will conserve our natural resources.
La’Briyut! A Jewish Perspective on Health
This workshop explores health from a uniquely Jewish perspective. Participants will investigate biblical, rabbinic, and contemporary sources offering different definitions of what it means to be healthy, while learning how they can empower students to think about their own health, and the health of their family and community members, through a Jewish lens.
Guided Nature Walk
Have a Shoresh educator lead your group on a guided nature walk! Learn about the plants and animals that live in our city (including wild edibles and medicinal plants) while exploring Jewish understandings of the relationship between humans and the natural world. Multiple locations throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
Jewish Urban Homesteading
Chocolate Making Workshop
Wouldn’t Chanukah gelt taste so much better if it was made from raw, vegan, fair-trade ingredients? Make chocolate that nourishes your body and spirit!
Jam Making and Canning Workshop
Who doesn’t love strawberry hamentashen!?! Learn how to make and can your own jam so you can enjoy a little taste of summer goodness next Purim.
Pickling Workshop
No sandwich is complete without a kosher dill pickle! Learn how to make your own pickled products such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickled beans.
Beer and Kombucha Brewing Workshop
Hebrew? Webrew! Or at least we will brew….beer and komucha that is! Learn how to make your own deliciously fermented beverages! L’Chayim!
Herbal Salve Making Workshop
In addition to Bubbie’s chick soup, local herbs can be used to encourage health and healing! Learn how to make your own herbal salves to nourish your skin.
Paper Making Workshop
Tu B’Shvat is celebrated as the birthday of the trees! Show your deep love for our flora friends by learning how to recycle old paper into beautiful cardstock!
Jewish Organic Gardening
Organic Gardening 101: Planning and Planting
Discover how to grow your own Garden of Eden! Learn gardening basics, such as garden design, planting, and garden maintenance. This workshop is ideal for new gardeners and those looking for a spring refresher!
Composting
According to our rabbis, a righteous person does not waste even a mustard seed! Discover how to turn your vegetable scraps, eggshells, and used napkins into nutrient-rich soil!
Organic Pest Control
Weren’t crop-eating pests one of the ten plagues? Learn how to deter common insects and critters from negatively impacting your garden without using chemical pesticides.
Water Conservation
Wandering in the desert for forty years, our ancestors quickly learned to conserve water! Discover water saving techniques in the garden, such as mulching, rain-water catchment, and drip irrigation.
Native Plants
The Torah highlights seven species that grow in the land of Israel. Learn what plant species are native to southern Ontario and how planting these species can attract native pollinators to your garden.
Seed Saving
In Bereshit/Genesis it is written, “To your seed I will give this land” (12:7). Learn how to save seed from this year’s harvest for next year’s vegetable garden!
Jewish Holidays
Shabbat and Sustainability
Shabbat is our weekly day of rest – a day to take a step back from the hurry scurry pace of our modern world. This session will examine Shabbat, both practically and theoretically, and explore how our most important holiday embodies and encourages the Jewish ethic of sustainability.
Tu B’Shvat: A New Year for the Trees!
Tu B’Shvat has evolved over time from an agricultural date regulating tithing to a contemporary Jewish “Earth Day.” This session will explore the different ways Jews have acknowledges and celebrated Tu B’Shvat throughout history, while also honouring trees for all that they do for us.
Shavuot: Bread in Jewish History & Thought
In Biblical Israel, Shavuot celebrated the beginning of the wheat harvest. This session explores the agricultural roots of Shavuot, and examines the unique and intentional relationship between humans and bread in Jewish thought and history.
Sukkot: Celebrating the Harvest
Sukkot is the third of our three yearly harvest festivals (the first two being Pesach and Shavuot). This session explores the agricultural roots of Sukkot and examines what it means to celebrate the harvest today, living in a global food system.
For more information, or to book a program, please e-mail education@shoresh.ca or call 416-805-8382.
