A welcoming community of Jewish life, worship and learning
Presented by The Green Team
The Green Team will be posting reflections on Judaism and the environment each month. While taking care of the environment may feel like a “popular” or “newer” tikun olam project, as we will share, this has always been a Jewish value. We hope these teachings inspire you to engage even more in Jewish environmental concerns.
In the Torah we read the story of Creation. God filled the world with wonderful creatures. With grass, fish, cows, creepy crawly things, water and human beings. In Genesis 1:28, God told the newly created humans to “…be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; have dominion over…every living thing…” Read alone, this verse might seem to give permission for us to live without concern for our surrounding. After all—we are in charge. But fortunately, it is explained further in Genesis 2:15 that “God placed the newly created human in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to guard it.”
We are in charge and it is up to us to care for our environment. We are charged with being shomrei adamah, guardians of the earth.
The Mitzvah of Bal Tashchit
by Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz
The mitzvah of Bal Tashchit, not wasting or destroying things, helps people learn how to take better care of the world and one another. A 16th century source, Sefer Ha-Hinukh: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education teaches that “The root reason for the precept [of Bal Tashchit/do not destroy] is known: for it is in order to train our spirits to love what is good and beneficial and to cling to it; and as a result, good fortune will cling to us,and we will move well away from every evil thing and from every matter of destructiveness. [This is the way of the kindly men of piety and the conscientiously observant; they love peace and are happy at thegood fortune of people, and bring them near the Torah.] They will not destroy even a mustard seed in the world, and they are distressed at every ruination and spoilage that they see; and if they are able to do anyrescuing, they will save anything from destruction, with all their power.” [vol. 5, p. 145]
Awareness of God’s Presence
by Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz
“God Everywhere, wherever I turn my eyes, around on Earth or to the heavens, I see you in the field of stars. I see You in the yield of the land, in every breath and sound, a blade of grass, a simple flower, an echo of Your holy Name.” (Abraham ibn Ezra, renowned Torah commentator) During the Fall Festival of Sukkot, it is z’man simchateinu, season of our rejoicing, as we thank God for the gifts of our bounty. It is a mitzvah to build a Sukkah, eat and sleep in it, shake the lulav and etrog and welcome guests (Ushpizin).
In the Sukkah or during services, we hold the lulav (palm branch with two willows and 3 myrtles attached) with the etrog and shake them in 6 directions: East, South, West, North, Up and Down. As we shake a few times in each direction, we draw the lulav and etrog towards ourselves. This shows we recognize God is everywhere, wherever we turn, and by pulling the lulav and etrog toward ourselves, we motion our desire to bring God closer to us.
"Purpose for All God's Creatures"
by Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz
Human beings sometimes (often) forget that there is a connection between all of God’s creatures. God gave the earth not just to be conquered but also to be tended (Genesis). As explained in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 77b:
Rab Judah said in Rab's name: Of all that the Holy One, blessed be God, created in God's world, God did not create a single thing without purpose. [Thus] God created the snail as a remedy for a scab; the fly as an antidote to the hornet[‘s sting]; the mosquito [crushed] for a serpent[‘s bite]; a serpent as a remedy for an eruption. and a [crushed] spider as a remedy for a scorpion[‘s bite]. [Soncino Translation]
"Community Supported Agriculture"
by Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz
Farmers’ Markets, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture), organic, fresh and local items are all trendy shopping patterns today. The summer is a ripe time to visit a local fruit and vegetable stand and purchase fresh-picked tomatoes, corn and many other delicious food. Participating in a CSA is an important way of supporting a farmer all season. Each week’s fresh bundle of food reflects the ongoing harvest. If there is a drought, the amount is smaller and the CSA participants feel the strain along with the farmer. Especially gratifying and labor-intensive is growing food at home. This means planning for your needs and planting in the Spring so you can reap rewards of wonderful fruit and vegetables in the Summer and Fall. Synagogues have also created mitzvah gardens and shared the bounty with those in need. Judaism teaches the value of gardening as we learn “It is forbidden to live in a town that does not have a green garden.” (Jerusalem Talmud, Kiddushin 4:12) While enjoying a freshly grown and harvested item from your garden or the local farmer, you are also upholding Jewish values.
“Not in My Backyard or Your Backyard”
by Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz
“The Talmud tells the story of a farmer who was clearing stones from his field and throwing them onto a public thoroughfare. A pious one rebuked saying, “Worthless one! Why are you clearing stones from land which is not yours and depositing them on property which is yours?” The farmer scoffed at him for this strange reversal of the facts. In the course of time, the farmer had to sell his field, and as he was walking on the public road, he fell on those same stones he had thoughtlessly deposited there. He then understood the truth of the pious one’s words: the damage he had wrought in the public domain was ultimately damage to his own property and well-being.” (Tosefta, Baba Kama, 10:2; cf Baba Kama 50b. Paraphrased by Jonathan Helfand, Judaism and Environmental Ethics)
Don’t Make a Mess of God’s World
by Rabbi Faith Joy Dantowitz
Caring for the environment includes following the old adage, “Don’t Litter.” An obvious motto to uphold, it remains as relevant as ever. In honor of Earth Day and other “clean up the park” events, there is always garbage to be collected. Though we as Jews know that we are the caretakers of the earth, we sometimes forget and may knowingly or unwittingly contribute to polluting our environment. Things such as leftover snack packages leftover at a ballgame to intentionally leaving a car running though idling pollutes the environment. These are two of many opportunities to improve our habits and care better for the environment. As the Torah teaches, "You shall not pollute the land in which you live.... You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the Israelites." (Numbers 35:33-34)
Tikkun Olam: The perfection/fixing of the world is in our hands
There is a midrash (Rabbinic commentary on the Bible) which Jewish environmentalists are fond of quoting:
“When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: “Look at my works! See how beautiful they are—how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.” (Midrash Kohelet Rabbah, 1 on Ecclesiastes 7:13)
In the Jewish liturgy there is a prayer called Aleinu in which we ask that the world be soon perfected under the sovereignty of God (le-takein ‘olam be-malkhut Shaddai). Tikkun olam, the perfecting or the repairing of the world, has become a major theme in modern Jewish social justice theology. It is usually expressed as an activity, which must be done by humans in partnership with God. It is an important concept in light of the task ahead in environmentalism. In our ignorance and our greed, we have damaged the world and silenced many of the voices of the choir of Creation. Now we must fix it. There is no one else to repair it but us.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
Environmental Justice is a Jewish value
The Torah has numerous laws, which attempt to redress the power and economic imbalances in human society and Creation. Examples are the Sabbatical year (Exodus 23:11, Leviticus 25:2-5, Deuteronomy 15:1-4) and the Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-24). There is a whole program in the Torah for creating a balanced distribution of resources across society (Exodus 22:24-26, Leviticus 25:36-37, Deuteronomy 23:20-1, 24:6,10-13,17). This is an expression of the concept of Tzedek, which means righteousness, justice and equity. It is the value, which tries to correct the imbalances, which humans create in society and in the natural world. In the modern world globalization has strived to achieve the free movement of people, information, money, goods and services but it can also create major disruptions in local cultures and environments. While globalization has created great wealth for millions of people, many millions more have been bypassed by its benefits and it has had in some cases a negative impact upon the environment and human rights. The Jewish concept of Tzedek demands that we create a worldwide economy that is sustainable and that is equitable in the distribution of wealth and resources.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
The Torah Prohibits the Extinction of Species and Causing Undo Pain to Non-Human Creatures
by Rabbi LawrenceTroster
Our ancestors could not have anticipated the loss of biodiversity that the modern world has produced; from their perspective, there was no natural extinction rate of species. God, they believed, had created all species at one time and there could be no new creatures. Only humans could cause extinction and bring about the loss of one of the members of the Creation choir. In the Torah there is a law that says:
“If along the road, you chance upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother with her young. Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life.” (Deuteronomy 22:6-7)
Ramban (Moses ben Nachman, Nachmanides, 1194-1270) in his commentary to the Torah wrote:
“This also is an explanatory commandment of the prohibition you shall not kill it [the mother] and its young both in one day (Leviticus 22:28). The reason for both [commandments] is that we should not have a cruel heart and be compassionate, or it may be that Scripture does not permit us to destroy a species altogether, although it permits slaughter [for food] within that group. Now the person who kills the mother and the young in one day or takes them when they are free to fly, [it is regarded] as though they have destroyed that species.”
It is evident from the first chapter of Genesis and other Biblical texts (Psalm 104, 148, and Job 38-41) that God takes care of, and takes pleasure in, the variety of life that makes up Creation. And although we might regard a species as unimportant or bothersome to human beings, God does not regard them so. The rabbis understood that we do not know God’s purpose for every creature and that we should not regard any of them as superfluous. “Our Rabbis said: Even those things that you may regard as completely superfluous to Creation – such as fleas, gnats and flies—even they were included in Creation; and God’s purpose is carried through everything—even through a snake, a scorpion, a gnat, a frog.” (Genesis Rabbah 10:7) In environmental terms, every species has an inherent value beyond its instrumental or useful value to human beings. Related to this idea is the concept of Tzar Baalei Chayyim, the prohibition of hurting animals without good purpose (based on Deut. 22:6, 22:10, 25:4, Numbers 22:32, Exodus 20:8-10, Lev. 22:27-8). These concepts bring to our relationships with the non-human world limits and controls over our power and greed.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
The Torah Gives an Obligation to Save Human Life
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
The Jewish tradition mandates an obligation to save and preserve life (called in Jewish legal sources: pikuach nefesh) based on an interpretation of Leviticus 18:5, “You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the Lord (See Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 74a).” Jewish law forbids us from knowingly harming ourselves (Leviticus 19:28). There are also numerous sources mandating the proper disposal of waste and that noxious products from industrial production be kept far from human habitation (see for example, Deuteronomy 23:13-15, Mishnah Baba Batra 2:9) In the Jewish tradition, the public good overrides individual desires. While there are many useful and even lifesaving technologies that come from modern chemicals and materials, we have an obligation to be cautious in their use. Pikuach nefesh demands that we consider the impact of our use of chemicals and other materials, not only in the short term but also in the long term. For the Jewish tradition, the Precautionary Principle can be seen as a modern form of the warning not to tamper too much with the boundaries of Creation.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
The Torah Prohibits the Wasteful Consumption of Anything
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
In Judaism, the halakhah (Jewish law) prohibits wasteful consumption. When we waste resources we are violating the mitzvah (commandment) of Bal Tashchit (“Do not destroy”). It is based on Deuteronomy 20:19-20:
“When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? Only trees that you know do no yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siege works against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been reduced.”
This law was expanded in later Jewish legal sources to include the prohibition of the wanton destruction of household goods, clothes, buildings, springs, food or the wasteful consumption of anything (see Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 6:8, 10; Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, 279-80). The underlying idea of this law is the recognition that everything we own belongs to God. When we consume in a wasteful manner, we damage Creation and violate our mandate to use Creation only for our legitimate benefit. Modesty in consumption is a value that Jews have held for centuries. For example one is not supposed to be excessive in eating and drinking or in the kind of clothes that one wears (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Discernment, chapter 5). Jews are obligated to consider carefully our real needs whenever we purchase anything. We are obligated when we have a simchah (a celebration) to consider whether we need to have elaborate meals and wasteful decorations. We are obligated to consider our energy use and the sources from which it comes.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
Humanity Should View Their Place in Creation with Love and Awe
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
It may be said that there are two books of God’s revelation to humanity: The Torah and Creation itself. The book of Creation can help us to perceive ourselves as “living breathing beings connected to the rhythms of the earth, the biogeochemical cycles, the grand and complex diversity of ecological systems.” (Mitchell Thomashow, Ecological Identity) This knowledge is gained both through an understanding of Creation through scientific knowledge. In Judaism, this can be understood as the fulfillment of the commandments to love and to fear God (Deuteronomy 6:5,13). Rambam (Moses Maimonides, 1135-1204) interpreted these commandments in the following way:
“When a person observes God’s works and God’s great and marvelous creatures, and they see from them God’s wisdom that is without estimate or end, immediately they will love God, praise God and long with a great desire to know God’s Great Name...And when a person thinks about these things they draw back and are afraid and realize that they are small, lowly and obscure, endowed with slight and slender intelligence, standing in the presence of God who is perfect in knowledge.” (Mishneh Torah, Sepher Madah, Hilkhot Yesodei Ha-Torah 2:1-2)
Thus, when we study Creation with all the tools of modern science, we are filled with love and a sense of connection to a greater order of things. We feel a sense of wonder but also a sense of awe and humility, as we perceive how small we are in the universe as well as within the history of evolution. Love and humility should then invoke in us a sense of reverence for Creation and modesty in our desire to use it. We should, according to Abraham Joshua Heschel see the world as God-centered, not human-centered. By putting God at the center of life, we see the sacred in everything and the natural world becomes a source of wonder and not only a resource for our use and abuse.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
Human beings are created in the Image of God
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
Human beings have a special place and role in the Order of Creation. Of all God’s creations, only human beings have the power to disrupt Creation. This power, which gives them a kind of control over Creation, comes from special characteristics that no other creature possesses (Psalm 8). This idea is expressed in the concept that humans were created in the image of God (tzelem Elohim). In its original sense, tzelem Elohim, means that humans were put on the earth to act as God’s agents and to actualize God’s presence in Creation. But it also has ethical implications, which means that human beings have certain intrinsic dignities: infinite value, equality and uniqueness. It also means that human beings possess God-like capacities: power, consciousness, relationship, will, freedom and life. Human beings are supposed to exercise their power, consciousness and free will to be wise stewards of Creation. They should help to maintain the Order of Creation even while they are allowed to use it for their own benefit within certain limits established by God (Genesis 2:14). This balance applies to human society as well to the natural world. Since the time of the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Creation has tended to be out of balance because of the human impulse towards inequality resulting from the misuse of its powers for selfish ends. The earth is morally sensitive to human misdeeds (Genesis 4, Leviticus 18:27-30).
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greefaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
God’s Creation is Good
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
In Genesis 1: 31 when God found all of Creation as “very good” it means several things. First of all it means that Creation is sufficient, structured and ordered (the rabbis called it Seder Bereishit, the Order of Creation). It is also harmonious. It exists to serve God (Psalm 148). This order reflects God’s wisdom (Psalm 104:24, Proverbs 3:19-20, 8:22-31), which is beyond human understanding (Psalm 92:6-7, Job 38-39). All of God’s creations are consequently part of the Order of Creation and all are subject to its nature (Psalm 148). Humans are also part of the Order, which can be said to be a community of worshipers.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greefaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
God Created the Universe
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
This is the most fundamental concept of Judaism. Its implications are that only God has absolute ownership over Creation (Gen. 1-2, Psalm 24:1, I Chron.29:10-16). Thus Judaism's worldview is theocentric not anthropocentric. The environmental implications are that humans must realize that they do not have unrestricted freedom to misuse Creation, as it does not belong to them. Everything we own, everything we use ultimately belongs to God. Even our ownselves belong to God. As a prayer in the High Holiday liturgy proclaims, "The soul is Yours and the body is your handiwork." As we are "sojourners with You, mere transients like our ancestors; our days on earth are like a shadow..." (I Chronicles 29:15), we must always consider our use of Creation with a view to the larger good in both time (responsibility to future generations) and space (others on this world). We must also think beyond our own species to that of all Creation.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Rabbinic Scholar in Residence at Greenfaith and co-founder of its Fellowship Program.
http://www.coejl.org/learn/je_tenje.php
