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Staying Grounded to Keep Growing

According to Jewish law, all fruit trees need to be left to grow for a three-year period ending on Tu B’Shvat, the 15th day of the month of Shvat. Then, after a ritual redemptive process in Jerusalem, we may eat the saplings of the fifth year. This process is called “Orlah.” On the surface, this long and complicated process may seem tedious and unnecessary. But if you dig a bit deeper, the law of Orlah offers us a valuable lesson about the importance of patience when undergoing growth processes.

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October 7th – The Jewish Collective Trauma Response

By Talya Gordon | I don’t have the answers for how or even if we will be okay. Right now, all we can do is sit with the pain and be honest about how we are doing. We are not okay. We need the world to do more. We need to mourn and cry and take care of ourselves. We need support from non-Jews, so we know people outside of our community care about our safety.

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Tweens, Teens, and Mental Health with In the City Camps

The Blue Dove Foundation recently partnered with In the City Camps, to talk about important issues related to raising mentally healthy children, and fostering mental wellness within our children. We hope you find them as helpful and impactful as we do.

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Immersive Experience Staff Journal

We know staff mental health needs are important, and we hope this resource offers an opportunity to better support the staff’s mental health over the summer. The Blue Dove Foundation is proud to partner with BeWell, an initiative of Jewish Federations of North America, and Foundation for Jewish Camp in the creation of this meaningful resource.

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Summer Camp Staff Journal

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The Blue Dove Mental Health Glossary

This glossary contains common mental health terminology. It is a great jumping-off point to learn more about terms you may hear when engaging in conversation about mental health. In Judaism, we read the same weekly parshiot (portions) from the Torah in the same order each year. While we may be familiar with the parsha (portion) of the week, we reread it to refresh ourselves with the story and glean something new as we approach it with fresh eyes and an open heart. In a similar vein, you may be familiar with many of the terms in this glossary. We encourage you to continue to learn and explore mental health terminology, so you can make connections to mental health in a way that supports where you are on your journey.

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Looking for Chametz – Inside and Out

Chametz is also symbolic of other things like the yetzer harah (the ego, the self, mental clutter, negativity) that live within us and distract us from our true goals. We are tasked with cleansing ourselves of that kind of "chametz" as well, which allows us to focus on what matters in our lives. In a way, this is a mental cleanse as much as it is a physical cleanse. Try this fun mental cleanse resource to make space in your mind for freedom.

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Learning to Love Your Tree

By Jaime Glazerman | The Torah compares the human body to a tree and writes that "For man is a tree of the field” (Deuteronomy 20:19). Just like we love and appreciate trees of all shapes and sizes, we must learn to love and appreciate our own unique "trees".

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Love Your Tree – Tu B’Shvat and Body Positivity

The month of February is set aside as Eating Disorders and Body Image Awareness Month. It is a time when we call attention to people who are struggling with all kinds of eating and body image-related challenges and a time to celebrate people of all shapes and forms. Tu B’Shvat and body positivity are surprisingly related within Jewish tradition.