386 results for tag: Environmental Justice
Earth Etude for Elul 15 – Wasting Food
by Scott Lewis, Ph.D.
~When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. (Deuteronomy 20:19)
The mitzvah of Bal Taschit, do not waste, helps frame Jewish environmental concerns. While most Jewish environmental activists recognize the importance of Bal Taschit for prohibiting wasting energy and polluting the earth, we might easily overlook the commandment’s important connections to Food Waste.
Our sages understood this link. The Rambam, for example, pointed out that the Biblical passage ...
An Acclaimed Documentary That Can Help Save the World”
Our planet is imperiled as perhaps never before by climate change and other environmental threats. It is urgent that steps be taken immediately to avoid the unprecedented catastrophe toward which the world is rapidly heading.
Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), now named Jewish Veg, has produced a major documentary about how Jewish teachings can help address current environmental crises.
While this one-hour documentary -- entitled "A SACRED DUTY: Applying Jewish Values To Help Heal the World" -- is especially suitable for synagogues, temples, JCCs, Jewish schools and other Jewish institutions, its universal message also makes it approp...
Earth Etude for Elul 14 – Time to Rest
by Tali Anisfeld~
Night summoned day again this morning, and the dawn told me to rest. This surprised me. Isn’t it the setting sun – rather than its rising companion – that usually coaxes us into rest? But then again, maybe she was hinting at something about rest that comes with motion (the reach and stretch of the day), rather than with stillness (the hushed retreat of night).
It is time to rest; it is time to be awoken in prayer and to laugh with the tickling grasses. To climb and jump and run and let the sweat of your body mix with the rain of the heavens. It is time to eat from the fruit of the bush, the tree, the vine. To kiss ...
Earth Etude for Elul 8 – Where Are We Now?
by Rabbi Dorit Edut~
These narrow, dark cobblestone streets still echo with the click-click of many shoes, sandals, boots…. of the modern tourists, flamenco dancers and local yuppies who now populate these gentrifying neighborhoods where once there stood a Jewish ghetto – Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada… Small tiles with the words” Chai” in Hebrew or the Menorah symbol can be found scattered on the sidewalks. A Magen David is discovered above a balcony window, etched in the stone wall. The synagogues are now museums or churches or convents. Even at the advertised Sefardic restaurants there are no Jewish servers or managers. ...
Earth Etude for Elul 7 – Our Last Elul?
by Judith Felsen, Ph.D.
~If this were our last Elul
might we see a different world?
On the verge of our demise
would each spark of nature
sent by You remind us
of Your light we are?
In these days of hidden peace
do we know we are Your kin
together in the field?
In darkest times does not
the moon and sun still shine on us?
Today may elements of earth be manna,
all reminders of divine connection
and Your care through deserts now.
This Elul may we see You within all shadow
and not be blinded by our darker nature.
May we not only see Your back
but perceive that ...
Hurricane Harvey Should Be a Wake-up Call to the Urgency of Working to Avert a Climate Catastrophe
The catastrophic effects of Hurricane and now Tropical Storm Harvey should be the latest and strongest of wakeup-calls to the fact that the world is heading toward a climate catastrophe.
Of course there have always been severe storms, but we have now had three (Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey) in 13 years, whereas in the past they may have happened once in 100 years or more.
There are three important climate change factors that are making storms more severe, and they are all increasing:
1. Warmer air holds more moisture;
2. the seas have risen which increases storm surges;
3. The waters are warmer, which adds ...
A Forgotten Mitzvah: Tsa’ar Ba’alei Chaim
While tsa’ar ba’alei chaim (the Torah mandate to avoid causing “sorrow to living creatures”) is a Torah prohibition, most Jews, including many religious Jews, seem to be unaware of it or to not consider it of any great importance. Some examples reinforce this assertion:
Upon reading an article about my efforts to get Jewish teachings on animals onto the Jewish agenda, a member of my former modern Orthodox congregation was incredulous. “What? Jews should be concerned about animals?” she exclaimed.
2. Some years ago, I was at a Sukkot gathering at which there were some ducks in an adjacent backyard. Upon seeing them, two youngsters of ...
Update on the Major Effort to Restore and Transform the Ancient New Year for Animals
In an effort to restore the ancient New Year for Animals and to transform it into a day devoted to increasing awareness of Judaism's teachings on compassion to animals and how far current realities are from these teachings, the message below has been sent to many rabbis and other influential Jews. please help by sharing the message widely. Many thanks.
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Dear Rabbi,
Please let us know if you are willing to sign the message below that encourages the restoration of the ancient New Year for Animals and its transformation into a day devoted to increasing awareness of Judaism’s beautiful teachings on compassion to animals and how these ...
An Audacious Initiative to Restore the Ancient New Year for Animals
The conditions under which animals are raised for food today are completely contrary to Jewish teachings about compassion to animals:
While Judaism teaches that “God’s compassion is over all His works” (Psalms 145:9), egg laying hens are kept in cages so small that they can’t raise even one wing and they are debeaked without anesthetic to prevent them from harming other birds due to pecking from frustration in their very unnatural conditions. Male chicks fare even worse as they are killed almost immediately after birth, since they can’t lay eggs and have not been genetically programmed to produce much flesh;
While Judaism ...
Ten Reasons for Restoring and Transforming the Ancient New Year for Animals
A coalition of Jewish groups (list in formation at the end of this article) have supported efforts to restore and transform the ancient and largely forgotten Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana L’Ma’aser BeHeima (New Year's Day for Tithing Animals) into a day devoted to considering how to improve our relationships with animals. The holiday occurs on the first day of the month of Elul and was initially devoted to counting domesticated animals intended for sacrificial offerings (Mishna, Seder Moed, Tractate Rosh Hashana 1:1).
Below are ten reasons why renewing this holiday as a Rosh Hashanah LaBeheimot (a New Year for Animals) and transforming it is an ...
What People Are Saying About “A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values To Help Heal the World,” a Powerful One-Hour Documentary on Jewish Teachings on the Environment and Vegetarianism
What People Are Saying about A Sacred Duty
"We at CLAL believe that if Judaism is going to be taken seriously by American Jews and for that matter by all Americans, Jewish wisdom needs to contribute to and to add value to the debates at the center of our culture and politics. This documentary - whether or not one agrees with every detail - is an important contribution to one of the critical public policy conversations facing this country and a serious example of taking Jewish wisdom public. Produced at a high quality, this documentary reminds us that it is our sacred duty to become aware of current threats and our responsibility ...
Links to the video of the Jerusalem inter-religious forum on climate change, and related material
Below are Links to various aspects related to a July 26 inter-religious climate change forum/press conference at the Jerusalem Press Club on July 26, 2017.
Video of the complete event
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMJM6aTWts&feature=youtu.be
2. Statement on climate change and the list of 37 Israeli Orthodox rabbis who signed it
http://www.jewishecoseminars.com/statement-by-israel-orthodox-rabbis-on-the-climate-crisis/
3. Articles about the climate change forum and press conference, with some discussion or mention of the statement signed by the rabbis
Jerusalem Post article
“In Jerusalem, Abrahamic faith leaders unite against global ...
Aytzim (Ecological Judaism) is Back—Let’s reconnect!
It’s a mystery — we lost our Aytzim facebook page and all our facebook friends. So we will be sending out new invites to like our page. In case you have forgotten, we are all about the environment — saving our world. And these days, it has become more important than ever.
Aytzim is the umbrella organization of: Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology.org, EcoJews, and Shomrei Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth.
Aytzim means “trees” and here’s a little about the other organizations in our product grove:
Green Zionist Alliance—Since its founding in 2001, the Green Zionist Alliance has successfully worked for the declaration of new ...
A Tisha B’Av Message: Will We Again Fail To Heed the Warnings?
Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) which we commemorate this year (2017) on July 31 - August 1, reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah about the importance of changing their ways, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the first of many negative things that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple as well.
Today there are no prophets like Jeremiah to issue warnings, but we are getting increasingly dire warnings from climate scientists that now it is not just Jerusalem but the entire world that is threatened by climate change and its ...
Statement I Drafted on Climate Change Threats and the List of 37 Israeli Orthodox Rabbis Who Signed It
STATEMENT BY ISRAELI ORTHODOX RABBIS ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS
“In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, he took him and let him pass before all the trees in the Garden of Eden and said to him: "See my works, how fine and excellent they are. Now all that I created I created for your benefit. Think upon this and do not corrupt or destroy my world. For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.” (Midrash: Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)
Today, 97% of climate scientists and all the major science academies worldwide-- an overwhelming consensus-- state that climate change is occurring, is primarily caused ...
Working With Israeli Orthodox Rabbis To Reduce Climate Threats
Working with Israeli Orthodox Rabbi Yonatan Neril. founder and director of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, I have put together a statement on climate change (below) that urges Israel and Israelis to become more actively involved in reducing climate threats. The names and affiliations of the 23 rabbis who already signed the statement are also below, as is a press release for a major interfaith climate forum that is taking place at the Jerusalem Press Club on July 26, in conjunction with the release of the rabbinic statement and signatures.
We hope to increase the impact of the statement by getting many more, so please pass the ...
Tisha B’Av and Vegetarianism
There are many connections between vegetarianism and the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av:
1. Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Today the entire world is threatened by climate change, and modern intensive livestock agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
2. In Megilat Eichah (Lamentations), which is read on Tisha B'Av, the prophet Jeremiah warned the Jewish people of the need to change their unjust ways in order to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem. Today, climate scientists are warning that the world may be very close to a climate ...
Relating Tisha B’Av to Today’s Environmental Crises
Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) which we commemorate this year on July 31-August 1, reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the first of many negative things that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple as well.
Today there are many “Jeremiahs” warning us that now it is not just Jerusalem and its Temple but the entire world that is threatened by climate change and its effects, species extinction, soil erosion, destruction of tropical rain forests and other valuable habitats, and ...
Responding Jewishly to Trump Withdrawal of the U.S. From the Paris Climate Pact
President Donald J. Trump has received well-deserved condemnation from leaders of many nations, many governors and mayors, environmentalists, corporate CEOs, Jewish and other religious organisations, and others, for withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Paris climate change pact that was agreed to by all the 195 nations that attended, including Israel and the United States. How should Jews respond to the U.S. withdrawal”
First Jews should become very familiar with the issues involved. Ten important climate-related factors that Jews should be aware of are:
1. Science academies worldwide, 97% of climate scientists, and 99.9% of peer-reviewed ...
My VERY Comprehensive Talk on Why Jews Should Be Vegetarians
https://archive.org/details/talk_Synagogue
This talk was presented at the Flatbush Jewish Center in 2008. It is still VERY relevant.