This is a very special time on the Jewish calendar, as we count the remaining days between Passover and the holiday of Shavuot. It is said that the birds guided the Jewish people and kept watch over their crossing during the splitting of the Red Sea, following the first Passover. For seven weeks after the […]
Tag Archives: Torah
The Griffon Vulture is a large and awesome bird of prey, one of the largest and the highest flying of all birds (Nature’s Song, Slifkin, p.222). It is believed by many to be the Nesher (נֶשֶׁר) of the Torah, a bird very often translated instead as Eagle. (As in the moving verse where G-d tells the […]
We just returned from an amazing 3 weeks in Israel, where we attended the Eilat Migratory Birds Festival . On the first morning, we were lucky enough to see huge flocks of migrating Storks soaring overhead.They seemed to sail along effortlessly, heading northward, taking advantage of the high, warm thermals between the mountains of Judean Desert […]
The smallest member of the falcon family, this handsome little American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) can be found throughout North America and much of South America (Arkive.org).Only about 9-12″ in length, the elegant but fierce little bird of prey feeds mostly on insects, small rodents and amphibians, and small birds. Yet, due to its petite size, the American Kestrel itself sometimes […]
The mornings and evenings are a bit cooler and less humid these days, and some migrating birds have arrived in our area. But the wetland birds’ courting and breeding season that brings so many visitors has really not yet begun. Lots of marsh plants are still in bloom, including these delicate Fireflags dangling over the ponds, and […]
This past week, our Shabbat Torah reading, which was the second portion of the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), opened with one of the most poignant and moving statements ever made by the great leader Moshe Rabbenu (Moses). G-d has previously told Moshe that, despite Moshe’s great love for Eretz Israel, he will never enter the […]
Did you ever play Animal Lotto as a kid, the Memory game of matching picture pairs? That’s where I first learned about the Ostrich, the Platypus, and many other unique curiosities of the animal world. Many years later, I saw Ostriches for the first time in the wild at the Hai Bar, a large preserve established in the 1970’s […]
In this week’s Torah portion, we read the story of the Jewish people crossing the Red Sea, following the Exodus from Egypt. After the splitting of the Sea and their miraculous rescue across on dry land, the people sang a beautiful song of thanks and praise to G-d, the Song of the Sea, when they reached the opposite […]
I was intrigued by an article called Birding without Borders, in the current issue of Audubon magazine, because it was about a wonderful young author/birder named Noah Stryker. A few months ago, I had read and included mention of Stryker’s new book, The Thing with Feathers (a real treat to read!) in a post on my blog. Imagine […]
Birds are found everywhere in Torah!! This past week’s Torah reading includes important references to birds, including the name of Zipporah (which means ‘bird‘, in Hebrew), who is the wife of the great leader Moshe (Moses). There are numerous references to Zipporah’s swift actions, comparing her behavior to the swiftness of a little bird. This week marked […]
Birder's Journey 