By: Isaac Hametz

Isaac Hametz — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:04:34 +0000

Jesse, I appreciate your comment. I also agree with you that most anyone who identifies themselves as a Jewish Environmentalist is in fact just that – a Jewish Environmentalist. The thing that gets me, and the major point I was trying to make in my post is that we always seem to analyze what people are doing. Then we decide if they fit in to our view of Jewish, Environmentalist, or Jewish Environmentalist. Sadly though that conversation often deteriorates in to a simplistic discussion about lifestyle politics as opposed to a deeper discussion about how we choose to make difficult life choices. I think Jews, environmentalists, and especially Jewish environmentalists would benefit from asking questions about how we do things. What processes do we undergo when approaching a problem? How do we move from action A to action B? If we can look at those questions and interrogate them honestly, we might find that orthodox, conservative, reform, recnstructionist, and renewal Jews all use similar processes – looking at tradition/precedents, analyzing those past choices, learning from them, adapting them to our times, etc. And the same is true for understanding the similarities and unique qualities of different groups of environmentalists. To put it simply, I think we all have more to gain from questioning our processes and sharing those ideas then questioning our actions and fighting about what we all do.

By: Jesse Glickstein

Jesse Glickstein — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:25:55 +0000

Isaac I think this is a very important question, and to me, I think the answer should be the same as to the question of what is Judaism. As you state, there are many ways to practice Judaism and there are many ways to approach the concept of environmentalism. However, I think that the same issues of that come about between different denominations of Jews happens all to often in the environmental world as well. Instead of trying to find areas where we can work together, I think too often we are divided by our differences. Although these differences need to be discussed and maybe we can help others to change their view to be in line with our own, it should be conversation and not an yelling match. So, my answer to what is a Jewish Environmentalist is that anyone who identifies as a Jew and and environmentalist, in whatever form that takes. That person belongs in the discussion and their opinions should be valued.

Comments on: What is Jewish Environmentalism?

By: Isaac Hametz

By: Jesse Glickstein