In honor of Registered Dietitians Day, we will be sharing some kid-friendly nutrition tips and tricks from our on-staff Registered Dietitian, Farmer Shoshi.  No-Pressure, No-Problem! We want our students to love the foods we grow, but we know that not all children are excited to try new foods. Often, when children feel pressured to eat, they go the opposite direction. In our gardens, we use a pressure-free approach to tasting. We explore the foods together - we talk about colors, textures, smells, and other defining factors. This exploration makes it feel less scary to try somethi ..read more

Also shared in the Prizmah Newsletter Rosh Chodesh Shvat, according to Beit Shammai, marks the New Year for trees. We observe the date, however, according to Beit Hillel, on the 15th of this month (טו בשבט), which arrives this Wednesday night, January 24, 2024. This machloket (disagreement) highlights for us the fact that this whole season is important for trees; this holiday is marked in the middle of winter because in Israel the fruit trees start to open up their blossoms right around this time of year - marking the new cycle for this year’s fruits. Wherever you are, there is something you ..read more

    965 pounds of trash were collected by 232 volunteers making a happier Bronx River Parkway and Thousands of happier trees. Thank you so much to all of our volunteers for coming out today as part of the UJA Federation MLK Day of Service! GrowTorah and Westchester Parks Foundation organized this cleanup as part of a broader UJA initiative with 60 partner organizations and 5500 volunteers across NYC, Long Island and Westchester.     We are grateful to SAR Academy, Westchester Day School, and Young Israel of Scarsdale for joining as sponsoring partners, and The Bayit, The ..read more

Dear Farmily,  Happy Merge-a-versary! This month we’re celebrating four years since GrowTorah merged with Canfei Nesharim - bringing Experiential and Environmental Torah education to thousands!  We wanted to highlight a few initiatives this year that are a direct result of this merger: Library: On Tu b’Shvat 5783 we launched our Environmental Torah Library, with support from The CBRAT foundation. It includes a wealth of information, for free! 18 Core Lessons: This project was organized by Rabbi Yonatan Neril and Evonne Marzouk for Canfei Nesharim, as part of the Jewcology project ..read more

  In this monthly feature, we showcase one of our Shorashim Partners - this month is Barkai Yeshivah. GrowTorah programming has flourished at Barkai Yeshiva since 2018. It is incredibly meaningful to partner with teachers and students who share our passion for cultivating the earth using Torah values. Every week, classes attend lessons in the Stephanie Sultan Garden A”H with Farmer Spence. These lessons are rooted in texts and values from the weekly parsha. Each lesson contains a parsha learning goal relating to GrowTorah’s Core Values, an interactive garden exploration, and garden work ..read more

  In each monthly feature, we showcase one of our Anafim Partners - this month is Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, VA. Joining the Anafim program in May of 2021, Gesher Academy has revitalized their garden space and engaged their community in a beautiful way.     Gesher’s Growtorah garden had a fantastic community rebuild day to install a brand new garden! Educators Shana Ramierez and Lindey Tiles lead half-hour classes in the garden and assist other teachers to teach their own garden classes as well. Students learn regularly about Torah values, environmental stewardship, a ..read more

  In each monthly feature, we showcase one of our Anafim Partners - this month is Chabad Preschool, Gan of Greenwich. Joining the Anafim program in May of 2021, Chabad of Greenwich has built a gorgeous and inspiring garden and nature program. From upcycling tree logs to create their raised beds, nature scavenger hunts and growing delicious foods, the garden program has been a fantastic sucsess.     Each week, Garden Educator, Nicole Hebel, teaches environmental stewardship, and appreciation for the beauty in nature through beautiful crafting projects. A special thank you to Cha ..read more

  In this monthly feature, we showcase one of our Shorashim Partners - this month is Ben Porat Yosef. We are delighted to feature Ben Porat Yosef - they were our FIRST New Jersey partner school in March 2016! It is truly incredible to share in the journey we have taken together and to celebrate this spring as our SEVENTH growing season. The garden program at BPY is called “Grammy’s Torah Garden”, and the original layout included beds in the shape of a violin, because “Grammy” was a renowned musician, and the Eagle family (who created the program) wanted to bring their love of music into t ..read more

In this monthly feature, we showcase one of our Shorashim Partners - this month features The Moriah School. In 2018, The Moriah School of Englewood partnered with GrowTorah, joining the Shorashim program. From an early point, Moriah shared a vision with GrowTorah to cultivate a more passionate, compassionate and sustainable future driven by Torah values. Every week, classes attend lessons in the bountiful Gribetz Family Educational Garden with Farmer Sara. These lessons are rooted in texts and values from the weekly parsha. Each lesson contains a parsha learning goal relating to GrowTorah’s Co ..read more

In this monthly feature, we showcase one of our Anafim Partners - this month features Westchester Day School. With our partnership initiated by Rabbi Joshua Lookstein, WDS joined the GrowTorah Anafim program in 2021. Rabbi Nuriel Klinger of Young Israel of Scarsdale, WDS’s Rabbi-In-Residence, in conjunction with Science teacher, Ms. Rebecca Shapiro, operate and educate in their GrowTorah Garden. In the garden, students learn regularly about the parsha, environmental stewardship, and appreciation for the beauty in nature. GrowTorah shares a unique relationship with Westchester Day School, havin ..read more