400 results for tag: Eco-Theology
Environmental and Vegetarian/Vegan Lessons from the Shabbat Morning Service
While there has been recent progress on Jewish consideration of environmental and vegetarian issues, much more needs to be done. One approach is to show how central these issues are in the Jewish tradition. This article discusses several statements in the Shabbat morning prayers that point to Judaism's great concern about animals and the environment.
In the Baruch Sheh'amar prayer, it states that, "Blessed is the One (God) Who has compassion on the earth; blessed is the One Who has compassion on the creatures [animals and people]". Since Judaism teaches that human beings, uniquely created in God's image, are to imitate God's positive ...
Jewish Views on Population and Population Growth
This posting is chapter 11 of the 2002 2nd edition of my book, "Judaim and Global Survival." I have not updated it.
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"For the Jewish people, the problem [of the population bomb] does not exist. On the contrary, it would be more accurate to describe our situation as a "Population Bust"... which spells demographic disaster for Jewry."
Jewish Population: Renascence or Oblivion -- a report of the N. Y. Jewish Federation[i] [written in 2001]
"Jews are rightfully concerned about the seriousness of the world population problem. However, there is also widespread concern in the Jewish community about the effects ...
Judaism and Climate Change
This posting is from chapter 10 of the 2nd edition of my book, "Judaism and Global Survival." While it was initially written about 16 years ago, I am posting it for its historical value, the concepts and ideas are still valid, and it has some insights that are relevant and seldom considered today.
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"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29: 18
Global climate change may be the most critical problem the world will face in the next few decades.There is a growing scientific consensus that we are already experiencing the effects of global warming, and that human actions are playing a significant role.[i]
Global average ...
Jewish Teachings on Human Rights and Responsibilities
This posting is from chapter 2 of the 2nd edition of my book, “Judaism and Global Survival" (Lantern Books, 2002)
"One person (Adam) was created as the common ancestor of all people, for the sake of the peace of the human race, so that one should not be able to say to a neighbor, 'My ancestor was better than yours.'
"One person was created to teach us the sanctity and importance of every life, for one who destroys a single life is considered by scripture to have destroyed an entire world, and one who saves a single life is considered by scripture to have saved an entire World.
"One person was created to teach us the importance of the ...
Jewish teachings on Involvement and Protest
This material is chapter one from my book, "Judaism and Global Survival"
"Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of his own family and does not do so is punished [liable, held responsible] for the transgressions of his family. Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the people of his community and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of his community. Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the entire world and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of the entire world."
Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 54b
Judaism urges active involvement in issues facing society. A Jew must ...
A Potentially Game-Changing Rabbinic Statement on Vegetarianism
Jewish Veg
Rabbinic Statement
“Judaism’s way of life, its dietary practices, are designed to ennoble the human spirit. It is therefore a contradiction in terms to claim that products that come through a process that involves inordinate cruelty and barbarity toward animal life can truly be considered kosher in our world. In our world today, it is precisely a plant-based diet that is truly consonant with the most sublime teachings of Judaism and of the highest aspirations of our heritage.”
Rabbi David Rosen, Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland
We, the undersigned rabbis, ...
The Custom of Kappparot (Kaporus) in the Jewish Tradition
Rabbi Yonassan Gershom is co-author of this article.
Every year, before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), some Jews perform the ceremony of kapparot. The following, in question and answer format, is a discussion of the ritual and its relation to the treatment of animals.
What is kapparot [in Ashkenazic Hebrew or Yiddish, kapporos or shluggen kapporos]?
Kapparot is a custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl (or a substitute object—as discussed below). First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited; then a rooster (for a male) or a hen (for a female) is held ...
Our 2017 (5777) Collection of Earth Etudes for Elul
Introduction by Susan Levine~
Elul is the month before Rosh Hashanah, a time when we review our lives and think about how we will live the coming year. And during Elul this year, we have seen three category 4 hurricanes (Harvey, Irma, and Maria) wreak havoc in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and several other Caribbean islands. The scientists have blamed increased ocean temperatures for the high winds and rising floodwaters. What other evidence do we need to believe that climate change is real? Our earth etudes actually connect our earth with the spirit of Judaism--Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.
We would like to thank Rabbi Katy Z. Allen for ...
Shana Tova — May You Have a Good Year
by Rabbi Katy Allen • photos by Gabi Mezger
~As you journey through these the Yamim Noraim, Days of Awe, may you find yourself more able to remain present in the moment, may you find meaning in unexpected places, and my your heart open ever wider.
May you search among the needles for the gifts of seeds.
May you find beauty among that which at first glance seems no longer needed, but which in fact is vital.
May your gaze turn upward toward vistas without end.
May you notice gifts that pop up quickly in unexpected places.
May your eyes and your heart be opened to wonder.
May subtleness strike you ...
Earth Etude for Elul 29 – Farmers of Our Souls
by Molly Bajgot~
something that the earth knows well
is our attempts to conquer, manipulate, and control her.
in this High Holy season,
in the return to oneself,
we are asked to abstain from the conquering,
manipulating and controlling —
that it may lead to understanding our impulses for doing so:
to each other, the earth, other beings, and our own soul.
we have a task, this Holy season,
to do teshuvah —
to relinquish, however micro or macro we can -
the impulses and ways we farm our subconscious and conscious minds
with seeds that have been handed to us
back in times of vulnerability or fear,
that ...
Elul: A Time to Start Shifting Our Imperiled Planet Onto a Sustainable Path
by Richard Schwartz~
Elul is here. It represents an opportunity for heightened introspection, a chance to consider teshuva, changes in our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High holidays" of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to consider positive changes.
How should we respond to Elul today? How should we respond when we hear reports almost daily of severe, often record-breaking, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and storms; when we ...
Earth Etude for Elul 28 – Another Blue Day
by Thea Iberall, Ph.D.
~I have a picture of my mother Helene with Heidi Klum, the blonde supermodel and TV star. We were in Heidi’s trailer on the Warner Bros lot in Burbank watching her prep for a commercial shoot. Heidi and her makeup entourage gathered around my mother who was wearing her “Kiss Me I’m 100” T-shirt. They wanted to know her secret to aging well. My mom laughed and told Heidi about the gin-soaked raisins she eats every morning to ward off arthritis. Then she talked about the raw apple cider vinegar she takes before every meal to overcome gas. And the walnuts and blueberries and probiotics. The classes and crossword ...
Earth Etude for Elul 27 – Re-Connecting to the Land
by Rabbi Lawrence Troster
~On a recent vacation to my home town of Toronto, as I drove around the countryside and saw the many places I knew so well from my childhood, I reflected again on how the landscape in which I lived affected who I am and how I see the world. I was born in Toronto which is in an area that was covered by glaciers over 10,000 years ago and the land still is shaped by that ancient event: spoon shaped hills called drumlins, ridges called eskers which are the remains of the river beds that flowed from the retreating ice. And lakes: I spent many of my summers at camp in Northern Ontario beyond the glacial till where the major ...
Earth Etude for Elul 26 – Three Levels of Holiness
by Rabbi David Seidenberg~
In the Torah, three things are called "shabbat shabbaton" – the seventh day, Yom Kippur, and Shmitah (the Sabbatical year).
Agnon, in his book The Days of Awe, shares a teaching from Rabbi Tzvi Hakohen of Rymanov about this. The rabbi was asked, if both Yom Kippur and the Sabbath itself are called "shabbat shabbaton", how is Yom Kippur more special? And he answered, the seventh day is called "shabbat shabbaton l’adonai" – a sabbath of sabbaths for God. Yom Kippur is called "shabbat shabbaton lakhem" – a sabbath of sabbaths for all of you. On Yom Kippur we don't just reach toward the divine realm, we draw it into ...
Earth Etude for Elul 24 – Water Down the Wall
by Carol Reiman~
from www.thinkcds.org/category/policy/
Borne
on the water
that etches
the rock
(of tablets
and of temples),
the breath of life
glistens
as it falls
down
and down
and
down
the wall,
pooling below, in blue green deep,
a balm for bathers, to wash away
the ash of grief and tired day;
turning on,
the waters pass slowly here,
clotted
by the blood of battle,
iron arms lapped
in reeds--
land of dust and stone
sealed off to some--
left in pieces,
separated parts.
Eicha!
From the voices
of those gathered,
tuned to the shofar,
condensing...
Earth Etude for Elul 23 – Collective Versus Personal Action in the Jewish Bible
by Andy Oram~
Environmental activists are constantly juggling between the personal and the political. Do we devote our efforts to using our cars less, substituting vegan meals for meat, and recycling? Or do we canvas our friends and neighbors to pressure governments and businesses to adopt more planet-friendly technologies? We know that we need to do both the personal and the political, but those of us who have taken the environment as our cause have found ourselves swinging between them in a way that is frustrating and distracting. And as we prepare for the High Holidays, we always look for how to do more good in the upcoming year.
Perhaps we ...
Earth Etude for Elul 22 – The Wonder of Life
by Maggid David Arfa~
If I had influence with the good fairy... I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life. --Rachel Carson, Women’s Home Companion Magazine 1956
Awareness of a mystery is shared by all..., yet, as we have seen they usually mistake what they sense as being apart from their own existence, as if there was only wonder in what they see, not in the very act of seeing, as if the mystery were merely an act of observation….The mystery is not apart from ourselves, not a far off thing like a rainbow in the sky, the mystery is…not a something apart, but a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 21 – Eco-Kaddish
By Judith Felsen, Ph.D.~
Master of the Universe, Lord of All Worlds
May I know You
when I see a tree
feel the wind
gaze at stars
touch the ground
smile at flowers
May I see You
in all cycles of life
through and around me
May I sense You
with every breath
footstep, touch, thought and feeling
knowing You are near
and we are always One.
This Elul
may I join with You
becoming One
in nature’s presence
never to leave.
© Judith Felsen, Ph.D.
Judith Felsen holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, certificates in hypnotherapy, NLP, Eriksonian Hypnosis, and Sacred Plant Medicine. She is a poet...
Earth Etude for Elul 20 – In the Hands of Billionaires
by Mirele B. Goldsmith, Ph.D.~
Recently I had the opportunity to hear a presentation about the UN Sustainable Development Goals by Jeffrey Sachs, the world’s best-known economist. Sachs emphasized that poverty and climate change are interrelated. He focused on the financial cost of a “just transition” to a world of decent livelihoods and renewable energy for all. Sachs explained that the cost of this transition could easily be financed if the world’s 2,043 billionaires contributed a mere 3% of their annual income.
I find this analysis to be very encouraging. The problem is simple. Instead of changing the behavior of the 7.5 billion ...
Earth Etude for Elul 19 – Keeping Agreements as a Spiritual Practice
by Rabbi David Jaffe~
I am a people pleaser. On the surface that may sound just fine. I get along well with people, care about people and want to give them what they want. But the motivations for my people pleasing reveal its dark underside. I don’t like conflict, so I will do whatever is necessary to make sure people like me. For example, I will say yes to things I know I will never do, sacrificing my integrity to avoid the momentary discomfort and hard feelings of saying no.
I am not sharing this publicaly to self-flagellate. Rather, my own condition is instructive for many people because these patterns of behavior are not of my own ...