How Jewish Is Jewish Environmentalism?

The wildly popular movement relies on simplified and selective readings of traditional sources. We deserve better.

By Julian Sinclair for Mosaic

A remarkable feature of American Jewish life over the past 40 years has been the growth of Jewish environmentalism. From origins on the fringes of the community, dozens of organizations today enlist tens of thousands of Jews every year in a plethora of activities that include the “greening” of synagogue buildings, organic farming, and environmental lobbying under a Jewish umbrella. The Union for Reform Judaism devotes several pages of its website to a programmatic initiative aimed at “integrating Jewish values, learning, and actions that promote shmirat ha-adamah—protection and renewal of the world.” In the annual observance of Tu b’Shvat, once a footnote on the liturgical calendar, Jewish environmentalism has even created its own holiday.

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How Israeli Desalination Technology Is Helping Solve California’s Devastating Drought

By Betty Ilovici, NoCamels

Four years of devastating droughts in California have pushed cities and counties in the Golden State to seriously consider turning to the one drinking source that is not depleting anytime soon – seawater. With the Pacific Ocean abutting their shores, water desalination may be the much-needed solution for Californians. But desalination has its disadvantages, the chief ones being the high costs and the potential environmental damage.

To address these challenges, California is turning to the world leader in cutting edge desalination technology – Israel. A $1 billion desalination project is already underway in San Diego County – which will be the largest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere – and Israeli engineers have been called in for their expertise.

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How a Biblical Edict Became a Boon for Palestinian Farmers

Naomi Zeveloff at The Forward

Just beyond the Israeli military’s Al Hamra checkpoint, the Jordan Valley opens into a checkerboard of red soil farms that make up the Palestinian village of Froush Beit Dajan. It is a land under Israeli occupation. But occupation notwithstanding, in early October, an intricate year-long transaction was underway in the village that crosses this stubborn region’s usual ethnic, religious and geographic lines.

Soon after the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashanah, workers in Froush Beit Dajan loaded boxes of young cucumbers with yellow blossoms still attached to their stems into a truck bed shaded by a blue tarp. The cucumbers were destined for Israel, where, to the consternation of some Israeli Jews, they would be sold almost exclusively to the ultra-Orthodox.

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Extinct Tree Resurrected from Ancient Seeds is now a Dad

APRILHOLLOWAY for Ancient-Origins.net

Ten years since the Judean Date Palm was miraculously brought back to life following the chance discovery of seeds in the 2,000-year-old ruins of Masada, the male date palm tree named Methuselah, the only one of his kind, has become a father.

For thousands of years, the date palm was a staple crop in the Kingdom of Judea, as it was a source of food, shelter and shade.  Thick forests of the palms towering up to 80 feet and spreading for 7 miles covered the Jordan River valley from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the shores of the Dead Sea in the south.

So valued was the tree that it became a recognized as a symbol of good fortune in Judea.  It is chronicled in the Bible, Quran and ancient literature for its diverse powers, from an aphrodisiac to a contraceptive, and as a cure for a wide range of diseases including cancer, malaria and toothache.
However, its value was also the source of its demise and eventual extinction.  The tree so defined the local economy that it became a prime resource for the invading Roman army to destroy.  Once the Roman Empire took control of the kingdom in 70 AD, the date palms were wiped out in an attempt to cripple the Jewish economy. They eventually succeeded and by 500 AD the once plentiful palm had completely disappeared, driven to extinction for the sake of conquest.

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Israel installs record-setting solar field on Knesset roof

From Israel Hayom

Israel has installed solar panels on the roof of its parliament building, creating what it calls the largest solar field of any national assembly in the world.

The office of the parliament speaker says energy generated from some 1,500 solar panels will provide 10% of the electricity used at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, and saving approximately $400,000 annually.

"We have here 4,600 square meters [1.1 acres] of photovoltaic panels and this makes the Knesset the greenest parliament in the world and it's part of an amazing, extremely exciting project called Green Knesset that contains altogether 13 projects of making the Knesset more friendly to the environment," said Knesset spokesperson Yotam Yakir.

The array of solar panels, according to a Knesset press release, provides a capacity of 450 kilowatts.

The Knesset is also advancing other energy-saving projects, like installing energy-saving light bulbs, automatically shutting down lawmakers' computers at the end of each workday, and using water from air conditioning systems to help irrigate the gardens surrounding the building.

The statement says the measures will reduce the Knesset's energy use by a third.

Scientists will also conduct ecological research on the parliament roof.

The Knesset unveiled the solar field in a dedication ceremony on Sunday.

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Why Earth Day is a Jewish Holiday

By Robert Rabinowitz for COEJL

April 22 is Earth Day. The very name makes many Jews nervous. A special day to celebrate the Earth sounds suspiciously pagan, bringing to mind images of Druids conducting fertility rites at Stonehenge or modern witches dancing to invoke nymphs in a misty forest glade. Perhaps what makes us so wary of this modern festival, first celebrated in 1970, is the idea of introducing the Earth as a “being” or moral agent with its own needs and mystical powers. And yet, ironically, the Bible is full of references to the way in which the Earth responds to the behavior of the people who live on it. The book of Leviticus, for example, warns the Children of Israel that immorality will cause the Land of Israel to “vomit” them out (Lev. 18:24-28, 20:22). In the shema prayer, it describes both the earthly benefits – rain, fertility and abundance – for listening to the commandments and loving God, and the costs – drought and famine – for ignoring God’s word (Deut. 11: 13-21). One compelling way to read this text is to think of it as suggesting that a major way for us, as individuals and as a society, to judge our actions and policies is by their environmental consequences. The shema warns: “Beware that your heart be deceived and you turn and serve other Gods and worship them” (Deut. 11:16). The “other Gods” need not be idols, but could just as well be the idolizing of wealth and power that often has profound negative environmental consequences. As we know, corruption and oppression frequently lead to poverty and hunger.

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Court approves removal of Rishon Lezion beach restaurants

The owners of the five restaurants must destroy and evacuate their facilities by April 20, the Rishon Lezion Magistrates Court ruled.

From JPost.com


The Rishon Lezion Magistrates Court approved the evacuation of five beachside eateries in the central Israeli city on Tuesday, accepting the state's previous decision on the subject and rejecting the business owners' appeals.

As part of the "Coasts Project" run by the State Attorney's Office and the Environmental Protection Ministry, and according to the stipulations of the 2004 Coastal Environment Law, the state has issued removal orders for the five restaurants in question – built without permission on the Rishon Lezion beach, a Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office statement said. The aim of the project is to restore the country's coastal resources and provide the public with free passage on the beaches, the statement said.

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