Ten Jewish Teachings on Judaism and Environmentalism

Jewish Thought and Texts

By Rabbi Lawrence Troster

1. God created the universe.

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 own selves 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.

2. God’s Creation is good.

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), 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.

3. Human beings are created in the image of God

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 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).

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Dark Green Environmentalism

On Tu Bishvat, Jews Must Move Beyond 'Light' Activism

Tu Bishvat, which takes place later this month, has become over the last 40 years the Jewish Earth Day. Whatever its origins, Tu Bishvat is the most likely time that synagogues "do" Jewish environmentalism. And while this is a good thing, it tends to isolate the environment as an issue like any special Shabbat program that happens once a year.

And while the present Jewish environment movement has been doing a very good job on educating and activating the Jewish community on the issues of food sustainability and energy conservation, there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done. I find that much of Jewish environmentalism is based on an underlying philosophy of what has been called Light Green environmentalism. This is an environmentalism that seeks to solve issues like sustainability and climate change through green consumerism, new technology and green job promotion. All of this is good but it will not solve climate change, environmental injustice or species extinction. It ignores the role of population and development in the environmental crisis; and it ignores the serious critiques the world economic system which is a major component in creating climate change and environmental injustice. Light Green environmentalism is based on a stewardship ethic which still privileges human needs and refuses to incorporate a more biocentrist approach to environmental ethics. In other words, a Dark Green environmentalism.

I believe that the Jewish community has been reluctant to enter into this Dark Green environmentalism for a number of reasons one of which is that we are afraid to face the kind of self-analysis that Dark Green requires, we have avidly embraced the new technology, and a lot of our community's wealth comes from many of the industries and corporations that have come under this critique. Thinking Dark Green also means putting aside much of our anthropocentric ethics and create a new ethical system that incorporates the reality of modern technology.

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This Tu Bishvat - A Nobel Environment Pize

Like nature itself, Tu Bishvat has gone though a number of different seasons throughout its existence. From its Biblical origins as a tax day on fruit trees, to its Kabbalistic transformation as a nature-mystical holiday, and more recently as the environmental holiday par excellence of Judaism.

Our tradition is saturated with nature-sensitive messages, from the charge to “guard” the earth (Genesis 2:15) to the nature-intoxicated words of many of the Psalms, to the sublime message not to disturb the environment on Shabbat.

The environment is synonymous with life, and we are commanded in Deuteronomy to “choose life” (30:19). We know that the condition of our shared global environment is increasingly vulnerable and that we must act with greater resolve to address its condition.

One way to affirm that commitment would be the establishment by the Nobel Foundation of a Nobel Environment Prize.

As the Tu Bishvat and the seasons change, so has the Nobel Prize. From 1901 until 1969, Nobel prizes were awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. However, in 1968 the Nobel Prize in Economics was added and the first award conferred the following year.

While the establishment of a new Nobel prize should not be taken lightly, humanity has entered a new century where Alfred Nobel’s goal to improve the human condition and the conditions for our survival now face grave challenges caused by the deterioration of our global environment. The Nobel Prize in Economics was established by a large donation by the Riksbanken, the central bank of Sweden, to the Nobel Foundation.

While the prize in Economics was not part of Alfred Nobel’s original list of prizes as described in his will, it is considered almost as prestigious. A similar donation by an individual or foundation could be the catalyst for the establishment of the Nobel Environment Prize.

There are those who will say that the Nobel Peace Prize is the appropriate venue to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of the environment, as was done four years ago.

There is a logical connection between peace and the environment. More and more government agencies, think tanks and academics understand the connection between the debasement of environmental conditions and military conflict. Severe drought caused by climate change has been a factor in the conflict in Darfur. In contradistinction the environment can serve as an agent for peacebuilding as, for example, seen through the bridge-building work of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Kibbutz Ketura.

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Spotlight On: Tu B’Shvat’s Connections to the Environment and Service

by Dvora Meyers

The evening of January 25th marks the start of Tu B’Shvat (the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shvat), which is the rabbinically ordained birthday of trees. The original purpose of giving trees a birth date was to calculate their age in order to know when to tithe them. In Leviticus 19: 23-25, it is written:

When you come to the land and you plant any food tree, you shall surely block its fruit [from use]; it shall be blocked from you [from use] for three years, not to be eaten. And in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit; [do this, in order] to increase its produce for you. 

For most of us, these verses have little application to our modern lives. Only a small percentage of people actually farm and there is no temple or priestly caste to deliver the tithed fruits and produce to. Perhaps this holiday would’ve been consigned to the dustbin had it not undergone a transformation in the 20th Century. In Trees, Earth, and Torah: A Tu B’Shvat Anthology, edited by Ari Elon, Naomi Mara Hyman, and Arthur Waskow (Jewish Publication Society), an article discusses the beginning of the Jewish environmental movement that would eventually expand the meaning and focus of Tu B’Shvat:

Early in the 1970s, there began to emerge a special literature that explored what Judaism had to say about the adam-adamah, human-earth, relationship. Some of it sprang directly from increasing public concern that new forms of human technology were damaging the earth.

With an increased focus on bringing Jewish textual sources and values to confront growing ecological global problems, Tu B’Shvat, the holiday that celebrates trees, was naturally adopted by Eco-Jews as their own. One of the events that many environmentally concerned individuals will participate in is a Tu B’Shvat seder, which like the better known Passover variety, is dominated by fours – sections of the service, cups of wine and types of fruit. There is no established liturgy for this emerging ritual (just as there is no set English spelling of the holiday’s name) so the text and emphasis can vary from one to the next. But many will use it as an opportunity to raise awareness of pressing environmental issues and bring Jewish ideas, such as bal tashchit, a biblical injunction against wastefulness, to the fore. If you live in Northern California, you can buy tickets for the Bay Area Eco Tu B’Shvat Seder.

If you would like to create a seder of your own, there are online resources that can help. Hazon, a Jewish environmental nonprofit, produces its own guide to the Tu B’Shvat seder, which you can download for free here. My Jewish Learning also provides a comprehensive review of this evolving ritual.

In addition to the seder, there are some other things you can do on this holiday, including service. Check with your local synagogues and Jewish Community Centers for opportunities.