DENVER -- When Rabbi Marc Soloway is troubled, he goes to the goats. It's a short walk to the Jewish goat-milking co-op in his semirural neighborhood, and when he cradles a kid in his arms, his face radiates joy. "It really lifts my spirits after a hard day when there's a lot of emotional trauma going on," he said. "The energy of the animals is so calming to be around."
Tough times came this year, when both his home and his synagogue were hit in the historic floods. Congregation Bonai Shalom, the only conservative synagogue in Boulder, suffered so much damage that rebuilding won't be finished until late summer.
On Passover, his message centered on two themes: triumph over adversity, and connection to ancient traditions through local, organic food. His words are rooted in personal experience because -- just as seasons cycle from winter's bleakness through summer's harvest -- his year has yielded both darkness and light.
About the time that the basement in his house -- "pretty toxic from the mold" -- was gutted down to the studs, Soloway was named one of "America's Most Inspiring Rabbis" by Jewish Daily Forward.
He's lauded for leadership in the new Jewish food movement that's helping to reconnect alienated Jews with Jewish life by linking religious values with contemporary food issues. The chicken-and-goat co-op is part of this movement, along with a network of Jewish communal farms, gardens and community-supported agriculture (CSA) groups like Tuv Ha'aretz, which means "good for the earth" and "good from the earth" in Hebrew.
"The Jewish people are known as 'the People of the Book' because of so much studying, but this is about getting back to nature," said Ru Wing, who with her husband, Bob, started the Beit Izin co-op, which is Hebrew for "the house of goats."
She also belongs to the Tuv Ha'aretz CSA and distributes much of the farm-fresh produce to nonprofit organizations that help feed hungry families.
"Charity, or tzedakah, is very important in Judaism," she said. "It's important to give a lot, and this is another way of using the land, giving from our farms."
Soloway, a member of Hazon's Rabbinical Advisory Board, says participation in the food movement has been "a real gift."
"It's changed my relationship to Passover as a ritualized feast," he said.
Now, he sees the Seder through the eyes of the Jewish food movement, which focuses on everything from workers' rights to humane treatment of animals.
"I feel very strongly that the Torah invites us to be very conscious about what we eat and how our food is produced," he said.
"Is there ethical treatment of animals and workers?" he said. "What is the environmental impact of the food we're eating?"
This Passover, some Seder tables were featuring homegrown versions of the foods traditional to the meal. Talia and Dan Haykin grew their own horseradish for the bitter herbs that symbolize the bitterness of slavery. After tending it all winter, they harvested just before Passover.
"It's really exciting to have something we grew on our Seder table," said Talia, who is spokeswoman for the JCC.
The daughter of a rabbi, her life centers on religion, and she belongs to the Ekar Farm urban garden in Denver that's based on Jewish principles. She and her husband are so passionate about growing food that he proposed in the Ekar Farm garden with a ring hidden in a garden glove.
For people like Soloway, the Jewish food movement isn't all that new.
"Our ancestors had a deep and real relationship to the land, which we've lost," he said. "They were farmers and shepherds with a great love and respect for nature -- the right kind of rain falling at the right time."
A special prayer for dew is said on the first day of Passover so that plants will be nourished with its gentle moisture.
And at the Jewish goat co-op, they've witnessed the miracle of birth. Now they are weaning the kids from the mother goats, an annual rite of spring, and they've just started milking.
"It's something amazing," said Soloway, "to be part of a farm."
Religion on 04/19/2014