THIS OCTOBER, DO NOTHING WITH US
GREEN SABBATH WEEKEND
This October 13 through 15, we will be holding a Green Sabbath Weekend across Berlin. A variety of friends and organizations have come together to co-create and co-host local events that promote a universal weekly day of rest for ourselves, our communities, and most of all, for our beloved Mother Earth.
The weekend was chosen to coincide with shabbat bereshit (the sabbath on which Jews read the creation story from Genesis in synagogues).
Partner With Us
We invite you to join us. We ask that partners – organizations, congregations, neighborhoods, etc. – (1) host some kind of local green sabbath event at some point over the weekend, and (2) allow their name to be listed in our Green Sabbath materials with links to the event if possible (see below for the list of partners).
Events can be extremely simple: a walking meditation in the woods, a vegan potluck meal, reading from nature poetry, picking up litter in an abandoned lot. The idea is to do something meaningful, together, ideally in a way that requires minimal impact on the environment; to create ecological practices that will inspire ecological living. Check out our list of suggestions for green sabbath practices or activities.
Some examples of green sabbath weekend events planned by partners:
Institut für Körperforschung und Sexuelle Kultur
Minimal Circular Dances
We will offer a space of silence, reflection and collective non-doing, interwoven with a practice of minimal collective dancing.
At every full hour we will offer a 20 minute White Noise meditation, followed by a 40 minutes phase of meditative movement in a group.
Felix Ruckert will choreograph a series of simple circular dance especially for the occasion. The dances will be slow and minimal, sometimes even without almost any movement, the focus is on collaboration and listening. All dances are technically very easy and require no previous experience with dance or music.
Friday, 13.8, 15.00 - 18.00
Entrance Free
After prayers on Saturday morning, Prof. Dr. Jonathan Schorsch will lead a study group in which we will think about the tree of life, look at shabbat (sabbath) as an ecological practice, and read some poems by Nelly Sachs.
Saturday, 14.10
~13.00
Open to everyone
The Green Sabbath Project
Kabbalat shabbat prayers (welcoming the sabbath)
This prayer service was created in the 16th century by kabbalists in Safed, who also welcomed the sabbath by going to the local orchards and fields. Much of the service is made up of Psalms filled with nature imagery. We are hoping to do this prayer service outdoors (weather permitting) and if not, then we will do it inside. The prayers will be conducted in a particularly ecstatic, neo-hasidic (Carlebach) style.
Friday, 13.10
18.00
Tempelhofer Feld
Open to everyone
After prayers on Saturday morning, Prof. Dr. Jonathan Schorsch will lead a study group looking at shabbat (sabbath) as an ecological practice.Saturday, 14.10
~13.00
If you are already hosting an event that is in alignment with our Green Sabbath vision and mission, let us know!
Would you like to co-host an event? If so, please contact us
To see events co-hosted by our partners, check out our calendar of events!
If you would like to register for the Green Sabbath Weekend to receive updates and resources, please sign up below.
