lover of nature

Here, we invite you to leave your memories of Aryeh and his love of nature, gardening and preserving the environment

aryeh-garden

3 Responses to “lover of nature”

Karyn Moskowitz Says:
January 16, 2009 at 2:17 am
It was 1997, and I was living in Portland, an unaffiliated disconnected Jew, working very hard to protect the last of our magnificent, old growth forests in the Cascades. I was organizing in the community, and then asked the question, “where are the Jews?” One of my friends told me about Rabbi Aryeh. I called him up and asked him what the Jewish community of Portland was doing to help protect the public forests. He told me to come on over to P’nai Or.

Later I found out from him that he was a “Redwood Rabbi” who did non-violent, civil disobedience in front of logging trucks in Northern California to protect the old growth redwoods. Then, I started to ask him about Judaism.

Soon I was attending services for the very first time, lighting Shabbat candles, taking courses in Torah, and finding the delights of P’nai Or, Rabbi Aryeh, and Jewish Renewal. Rabbi Aryeh brought me back to Judaism and for that I am forever grateful. He even taught me Biblical Hebrew (I still have his notes). Alas, I met my future husband, fell in love and moved away to southern Indiana. We flew back to P’nai Or and Rabbi Aryeh when our daughter was born, so that Aryeh could lay her in the Torah scroll and name her. My memory of her rolling around in that scroll surrounded by those Hebrew letters and Aryeh’s shining face will forever be with me.

I went on to love Biblical Hebrew so much that I have taught at least five people Hebrew through Aryeh’s notes, including a group of conservative Christians in the Bible Belt of southern Indiana. This led me to do Interfaith environmental work, including banding with my Christian friends to resist a horrible state-owned casino in a flood plain. We lost but our relationship lives on.

Rabbi Aryeh lovingly sent me on this path. One can see all the people he was able to touch thousands of miles away, people who have never met him but who share in his passion for the earth. This Shabbat we will honor him at Temple Beth Shalom in Bloomington, Indiana, and sing his songs. My love to all of you in Portland. Rabbi Aryeh, you are missed.

Love,
Karyn Moskowitz
Riqi Kosovske Says:
January 25, 2009 at 2:07 am
Dear Karyn,
I didn’t know your beautiful relationship to Reb Aryeh. I’m so moved and by knowing how he opened this path for you. He is a blessing through you and those whose lives he has opened in this way. All my love,
Riqi Kosovske
Art Bernstein Says:
September 17, 2020 at 11:10 pm
Reb Aryeh had a love of nature that I admired but only an educated layman’s knowledge. Since I am a graduate Forester, I invited him to go hiking with me while he was the Rabbi in Ashland, and it ended up one of the great experiences of my life. I learned all sorts of things about spirituality and Judaism on the hike, which remain important to my life. In exchange, I taught him to identify several tree and shrub species and explained to him about forest communities, ecology and succession. I was very sad when he moved to Portland and was unaware until recently of his tragic early passing. G*d bless Reb Aryeh and his family.