The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Canfei Nesharim and the Fortress of Orthodoxy

Canfei Nesharim is the premier organization teaching eco-Torah in the Orthodox community. They also refuse to share any Torah coming from a non-Orthodox rabbi or even to link to other eco-Torah sites that are not Orthodox. This author (Reb Duvid) has been twice asked to write articles for Canfei Nesharim publications by people who know my work, only to have the offer withdrawn later when someone looked up my gushpanke (which comes from JTS and Reb Zalman).

Does this isolation help Orthodoxy? I can't say. I do know that CN is worried that people will label them treif if they let them selves hold hands with anyone who might be seen as treif. I personally teach in Orthodox settings, though those settings are more Carlebachian than anything else. But couldn't CN have a section of "views from beyond Orthodoxy"?

We already know that the Orthodox world, has, at this moment in many many places, shut down it's capacity to renew and learn, though there are a few luminous exceptions. If studying and applying ecology to Torah, and Torah to ecology, isn't one of those exceptions, then we, meaning the Jewish people, and we, meaning the earth, are in trouble!

Bottom line: I no longer feel comfortable linking to Canfei Nesharim's website on the links page, even though I think they do some good work. I'm kind of attached to that kindergarten rule, "Plays nicely with others". If you want to go there (or write to them), however, here's the link you can copy into your browser:

www.canfeinesharim.org

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006