Core Teaching #3: Animal Welfare
Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Animal Welfare. Discussion questions provided!
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.
See all Core Teaching Animal Welfare Materials!
Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!
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Core Teaching #3: Animal Welfare
Compassion for all Creatures
By Rabbi Dovid Sears
"God is good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works" (Psalms 145:9). This verse is the touchstone of the rabbinic attitude toward animal welfare, appearing in a number of contexts in Torah literature. The Torah espouses an ethic of compassion for all creatures, and affirms the sacredness of life. These values are reflected by the laws prohibiting tza’ar baalei chaim (cruelty to animals) and obligations for humans to treat animals with care.
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Core Teaching #3: Animal Welfare
The Torah espouses an ethic of compassion for all creatures, and affirms the sacredness of life. These values are reflected by the laws prohibiting tza’ar baalei chaim (cruelty to animals) and obligations for humans to treat animals with care.
Explore all Animal Welfare Materials:
Summary Article
Longer Article
Source Sheet
Audio Podcast
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s ...
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Core Teaching #3: Animal Welfare
Compassion for all Creatures
By Rabbi Dovid Sears
"God is good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works" (Psalms 145:9). This verse is the touchstone of the rabbinic attitude toward animal welfare. The Torah espouses compassion for all creatures and affirms the sacredness of life. These values are reflected by the laws prohibiting cruelty to animals and obligations for humans to treat animals with care.
A basic rule of Jewish ethics is the emulation of God's ways. In the words of the Talmud, ...
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Printable PDF New Freedom Seder for the Earth, with full-color graphic cover!
The Shalom Center has created a 40th Anniversary New Interfaith Freedom Seder for the Earth to help us free ourselves from the greatest dangers of our time: What are the Ten Plagues endangering the earth and human life today, and what are the Ten Blessings we ourselves can bring to heal the earth and our own societies?
If you want to use this text, or part of it, for an Earth Seder in your own community -- perhaps a week before Pesach or for Earth Day on April 22, or the weekend before ...
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Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit - Summoning the Will Not to Waste
The commandment of Bal Tashchit-- do not destroy or waste-- has long been considered central to a Jewish environmental ethic. Indeed, Rabbi Norman Lamm understands it to be “the biblical norm which most directly addresses itself to the ecological situation.”[1] What is the basis for the commandment not to waste? We will explore what Bal Tashchit is, how it applies to food, and how it relates to our lives.
Explore all Bal Tashchit Materials:
Summary ...
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Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit
Download this audio podcast to learn more about Bal Tashchit, the prohibition of wasting and destroying.
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.
See all Core Teaching Bal Tashchit Materials!
Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!
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Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit
Enjoy this video on the topic of Bal Tashchit.
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.
See all Core Teaching Bal Tashchit Materials!
Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!
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Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit
Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Bal Tashchit. Discussion questions provided!
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.
See all Core Teaching Bal Tashchit Materials!
Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!
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Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit
Summoning the Will Not to Waste
By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]
The commandment of Bal Tashchit-- do not destroy or waste-- has long been considered central to a Jewish environmental ethic. Indeed, Rabbi Norman Lamm understands it to be “the biblical norm which most directly addresses itself to the ecological situation.”[2] What is the basis for the commandment not to waste? We will explore how the Jewish tradition widely forbids wasteful acts, how wasting contributes to degradation of the planet, and how not wasting can ...
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Core Teaching #2: Bal Tashchit
Summoning the Will Not to Waste
By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]
The commandment of Bal Tashchit-- do not destroy or waste-- has long been considered central to a Jewish environmental ethic. Indeed, Rabbi Norman Lamm understands it to be “the biblical norm which most directly addresses itself to the ecological situation.”[2] What is the basis for the commandment not to waste? We will explore what Bal Tashchit is, how it applies to food, and how it relates to our lives.
The Torah teaches:
“When you ...
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Dear Friends,
Can you hear the owls of Shevat calling? They are beckoning us to find ways to bring our Jewish communities outside. I’d like to share a simple program that gets our community of different aged folks bundled up and joining a night hike filled with owl calls, wind song, star gazing, storytelling and fair-trade organic hot chocolate.
Here’s what we do. We gather when the Shevat moon is waning, on a Saturday night post Tu B’Shevat. Peak owl listening time may be 4am, but we just ramble around after dinner, wide open and trusting ...
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Core Teaching #1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Jewish tradition teaches us the importance of planting trees, protecting them, and using them responsibly. Jewish teachings help us understand lessons of long-term sustainability which apply not only to trees, but to the natural environment as a whole.
Explore all Trees Materials:
Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth: Summary Article
Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth: Longer Article
Trees in Jewish Thought: Source ...
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Core Teaching #1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Please enjoy this video entitled “Planting, Protecting, and Using Trees Wisely”.
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.
See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!
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Core Teaching #1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Download this audio podcast to learn more trees in Jewish thought.
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.
See all Core Teaching Trees Materials!
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Core Teaching #1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of trees. Source categories include “Sustainability: Planting For the Long-Term”, “The Tree of the Field is a Person”, and “Use Them Wisely”. Discussion questions provided!
These materials are posted as part of Jewcology’s Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Jewcology thanks the Shedlin Outreach Foundation and the ROI community for their ...
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Core Teaching #1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Trees, Torah, And Caring for the Earth
By Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]
Tu b’Shevat, “the New Year of the Tree,”[2] has become known as a day for raising Jewish-environmental awareness. That the New Year of the Tree has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Many Jewish sources connect trees with our proper stewardship of the earth. Understanding these teachings on Tu b'Shevat can help us ...
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Core Teaching #1: Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
By Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]
Tu b’Shevat, “the New Year of the Trees,” [2] has become known as a day for raising Jewish-environmental awareness. That Tu B'Shvat has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Trees occupy a special place in Jewish thought. Their symbolic and practical importance is woven throughout traditional Jewish sources, ...
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A zip file with great resources for Tu Bishvat from neohasid.org -- only 1 MB!
People have been using these resources for years; they are incredibly valuable, and you can mix and match what you need.
Included files:
1) A simple haggadah anyone can use.
2) The One-Page Kabbalistic Flowchart haggadah -- in black and white and in color versions.
3) The blessing from the first published Tu Bishvat seder (P'ri Ets Hadar) -- in doc and pdf formats.
4) Three pages of great texts for learning and discussion.
Get it, you won't regret it!
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I had the honor of speaking at a town hall meeting on November 3, 2011 in support of wind power in Maryland. Here is the text of my talk:
Thank you for having me tonight.
I’d like to begin by telling you a story.
Two years ago, my family went on a trip to Colorado. We spent a few days hiking in what was – what had been – the amazing pine forests of Colorado. But instead what we were hiking in were miles and miles of dying trees. The pine beetle has been decimating the forests of Colorado, partly as a result of climate change. Some of the trees were falling ...
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