About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff role models, we foster our campers’ positive Jewish identity and genuine commitment to tikkun olam (healing the world). Our 3 acre educational farm and orchard are based on principles of permaculture, sustainable and organic farming. We produce annual vegetables, perennials, and tend educational gardens as well as animals.

About the Farm Educator Apprenticeship: This is a paid six-month apprenticeship for young adults seeking hands-on experience. In the Spring build your knowledge based on agriculture, farm-based education and Jewish community. In the Summer, work at our 8-week intensive summer camp as Jewish Farm Educators. In the fall, take ownership and integrate your new skills by diving deeper into independent projects.  Live on-site at our beautiful camp, one hour north of New York City. By joining the farm staff at Eden Village, apprentices will hold two main responsibilities – tending our growing spaces and educating in our all of our programming through the spring, summer and fall. Apprentices will also have an opportunity to dive deeper into one of four focus areas: perennials, annuals, animals, and educational gardens. In these specialties apprentices will gain a deeper understanding of certain aspects of farming and will take on leadership and special projects to booster their learning and the learning of campers and program participants.

Details: April 14th, 2015 – October 22nd 2015, Apprentices receive full room and board at Eden Village, as well as a modest stipend. Extensive experience is not necessary but experiential curiosity is required. We recommend you explore our website thoroughly to get more information about our apprenticeship, farm, camp, and more at Eden Village Camp.

More questions? Explore the FAQ page. For all other questions, contact farm@edenvillagecamp.org

This ia a free opportunity for young adults 19-29 to come together in an interfaith setting for Jews, Christians and Muslims to live, farm and study together from June 1st – July 23rd 2015 at the Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, NY, with time for mentoring and vocational discernment. It is a Multifaith, Peace, Justice and Earthcare program. We seek students who are grounded in their religious tradition, serious about spriiuality and the state of the planet, and open to learnig and living in an intentional community setting. This is our 6th annual program run by the Community of Living Traditions on the Stony Point Center 32 acre campus.

For more details and to apply go to: www.stonypointcenter.org/SummerInstitute Deadline is March15, 2015

17 Cricketown Rd, Stony Point, NY 10980 845-786-5674

Vayetzei dish

This post originally appeared on Neesh Noosh: A Jewish Woman’s Year Long Journey to Find Faith in Food.

In Vayetzei, we read that Jacob leaves Beer-sheva at sunset to travel to Laban’s house. Jacob is at Laban’s house for 20 years, during which time he faces many challenges and uncertainties that shroud his life in darkness. After the 20 years there, he leaves Laban’s house at sunrise.

The Etz Hayim commentary describes “the 20 years at Laban’s house as a ‘dark night for the soul,’ years spent struggling with the dark forces represented by Laban’s treachery and Jacob’s confronting his own attracting to deceit” (p. 166).

However, despite the challenges and darkness that Jacob deals with in the 20 years, he also connects with God.  Etz Hayim continues, “when the Sages attribute to Jacob the institution of the evening prayer (Ma’ariv), they may be crediting him as the first person able to find God in the midst of darkness” (p. 166)

La Cienega farmers market. Pomegranate

Jacob’s time of darkness was an opportunity for him to find God. And, as  Yael Shy comments, “Jacob leaves us with the challenge of recognizing our encounters with God in all God’s forms.” There are many dark and challenging parts of our lives and society. Our food system is one. How is it possible that the wealthiest nation in the world has 45.3 million citizens living in poverty and 49.1 million hungry people?  In addition, for 29 million Americans who live in low-income areas, the nearest supermarket is more than a mile away. When someone is poor, without transportation and/or living in a low-income area without a supermarket, it significantly hampers one’s ability to eat nutritious food. Despite, this dark aspect of our society, there are countless individuals who recognize this challenge and are re-imagining our food system.

Black wild rice

Rabbi Brad Artson writes in The Bedside Torah, about the “power of imagination” in Vayetzei. He writes that, “through the power of imagination, each of us retains the ability to transform the world. . . . Our religion trains us to visualize a better world. . . .[and] as with Jacob, our imagination can provide the necessary first step toward transforming our world and ourselves” (p. 47-48).

Many Americans are envisioning and transforming our food systems to ensures that poverty and hunger are eliminated and that all people have regular access to nutritious foods.

One such person is Karyn Moskowitz of New Roots in Louisville, KY. She’s featured in  Faith in Food: Changing the World One Meal at a Time, a fabulous new book by Susie Weldon and Sue Campbell that shares inspiring, exciting stories of global food activists who, guided by their faith, are re-imagining their food systems Karyn’s organization runs “Fresh Stops” which works with residents who are low-income and live in neighborhoods without access to fresh produce. Through New Roots, residents pool their money and SNAP (food stamps) benefits to bulk purchase fresh produce from local farms. Without this program, participants would not be eating these healthful foods.

My mandarin tree

The recipe I created this week symbolizes Jacob’s journey from sunset to sunrise, with darkness in the middle of his journey. The dish is anchored on both ends by a citrus mixture, symbolizing sunset/sunrise and black wild rice in the center to represent darkness.  The pomegranate seeds mixed with the rice are a reference to God’s recognition of Jacob’s hard work tending to Laban’s ” streaked, speckled and mottled flock.”  After presenting on a platter, to symbolize the journey, one can then blend everything together in a bowl to enjoy.

Wild Rice, Citrus, Pomegranate Dish

Ingredients

2 Valencia oranges, chopped
2 Mandarin oranges, chopped
1 cup black wild rice
1/2 Pomegranate seeds
1 handful mint, chopped
olive oil
salt

Vayetzei, part 2

Preparation

1. Cook rice over medium heat until done.

2. Chop oranges into small pieces. Finely chop mint and blend with oranges.

3. When rice is done, fold in seeds, drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Place in center of platter and citrus mixture on each end.

4. After serving, blend ingredients together.

B’tayavon!

Connections. Everything is about connections. Connections across space. Connections across time. Connections in thought and spirit. Connections between. Connections among. Just connections, nothing else. That’s what prayer is about. That is what faith is about. That is what life is about.

In this week’s parashah, Chayyei Sarah, “Isaac went forth to [lasuach] in the field toward evening.” (Gen 24:63) The rabbis teach us that lasuach has the meaning, “to pray,” and they provide a connection to Psalm 102:1, which begins, “A prayer for a poor man when he enwraps himself [lishpoch sicho] to pour out his heart before the One.” Isaac was pouring out his heart, pouring out his words, his conversation (sicho) to G!d.; he was praying.

As Isaac prayed a deep heart-felt prayer, the medieval commentator, Sforno, says that “he turned away from the public path so as not to be interrupted by wayfarers, and went into the field to pray, even though he had already prayed in Be’er lachai-ro’i. But before he prayed he was answered.”

What!? Yes, Sforno is saying that Isaac’s prayer was answered even before he spoke it. Wow! What is the basis for this ancient teaching? What does this mean? Could our prayers also be answered before we speak them?

The answers begin with a connection to the previous verse, “Isaac was on his way, coming from Be’er lachai-ro’i” (Gen. 24:62). Just prior to his wandering in the field, Isaac had been in a place whose name, according to another medieval commentator, Rashi, (Gen. 16:14), means, “a well upon which a living angel appeared.” The name by which Hagar calls G!d in the previous verse, Gen. 11:13, is El Ro’i, “the G!d of seeing,” connecting thus the name of the well also to the Divine Presence. This place through which Isaac passed is the same place where Hagar’s prayers were answered, where she experienced G!d seeing what was happening to him, and where G!d told her that she would conceive and give birth to a son, Ishmael. (Gen. 16:11)

Is there something special—magical almost—about this well? Is Be’er lachai-ro’i a place to go to when we want our prayers answered? Maybe. After all, since prayers were answered for Hagar, the rabbis reasoned that therefore prayers could be answered in the same place for Isaac, too.  And maybe for others as well?

The sages cite other evidence that Isaac’s prayer could already have been answered—evidence from other people for whom this happened. They remember the prophet Daniel, who reported on his vision: “And he said to me “Fear not, Daniel, for since the first day that you set your heart to contemplate and to fast before your God, your words were heard;” (Daniel 10:12) They cite Isaiah, “Thus G!d said to Isaiah that it will one day come to be:  ‘And it shall be, when they have not yet called, that I will respond; when they are still speaking, that I will hearken.’” (Is. 65:24) If prayers could be answered before they were spoken for Daniel and Isaiah, why not for the patriarch Isaac?

But perhaps the answer is deeper. The verses about Hagar’s prayers, Genesis 16:11-14, give us connections to Ishmael as well as to Hagar, for this is the place where the reality of his conception entered Hagar’s consciousness. In this instance, the connection to Hagar and Ishmael is through the place, Be’er lachai-ro’i. But the sages make another connection between Isaac’s prayer and Hagar and Ishmael with Gen. 21:15, when Hagar and Ishmael have been sent away by Abraham at Sarah’s behest, and in Hagar’s despair she “cast the child [Ishmael] under one of the bushes [hasichim].” The two words lasuach and sichim, have the same three-letter root. They have different etymologies, and different meanings, but because of the similarities, the rabbis find meaning, as they often did, by noting and strengthening the connection, in this case connections within the family.

Isaac’s meditation in the field has a connection to his father, too. From the Talmud (Berachot 6b), we learn that Abraham instituted the morning prayers, Shacharit, Isaac the afternoon prayers, Mincha, and Jacob the evening prayers, Ma’ariv. But the Biblical commentators (e.g. Rach, Gen. 24:63) don’t credit Isaac alone for bringing the Mincha prayer service into being; they tell us that the Mincha prayer originated with Abraham, but was brought to fruition and named through Isaac. The innovation of the afternoon prayer had to be passed from one generation to the next in order to secure for the tradition a place into the future. Connections to past generations.

Connections to the past don’t end with Hagar and Abraham. They go all the way back to Creation. Rashbam, in his commentary on “Isaac went forth to pray in the field [lasuach basadeh] toward evening” focuses on the words lasuach basadeh, and he refers us to Genesis 2:5 and the creation of every “bush/herb of the field (siach hasadeh),” for which he provides the association, “to plant trees and to see the fruits of his efforts.” The fruits of the planter’s efforts, the answers to the pray-er’s prayers—the connection to Creation offers additional evidence that our prayers, our pouring out of our hearts in time of need, are answered.

The verse Rashbam comments on comes from the second creation story and in its entirety it reads, “Now no tree of the field was yet on the earth, neither did any herb/bush of the field yet grow, because the Lord God had not brought rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the soil.” (Gen 2:5) It is followed by, “A mist ascended from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.” (Gen 2:6) Two verses later, G!d “planted a garden in Eden” (Gen 2:8). Although we understand from the ancient rabbis that there is no “before” and “after” in the Torah, nevertheless, here in this narrative we find that even before rain began falling, there was mist rising to water the plants!

How often do we understand the rising mist as the answer to our prayer for falling rain? When rain has not yet been created, we must expand our minds and our hearts to be able to see that the rising mist may indeed be how our prayer is answered. A mist that rises from the ground may be the precursor to the rain that falls from the sky, or it may even have the same function.

So can our prayers be answered before we speak them? What would it mean if they were? The answer I believe,  is ultimately about allowing connections. Isaac was physically alone in that field, but in his heart and mind he was connected across time and space to Hagar, Ishmael, a special well, G!d, Earth, and Creation. And, perhaps most importantly, his heart was open to receive a message, the message that G!d was ready to send him.

When we open our hearts and allow ourselves to be connected to those in our lives—living and dead, near at hand and far away—to G!d, to the Earth, to the past, to all of this and more—then our prayers are answered. We may not always see and recognize our answers as easily as Isaac did—he lifted up his eyes and there was Rebecca coming toward him, his new love, his wife to be. But if we listen closely to our hearts and souls, if we keep them open, despite whatever obstacles get thrown our way, if we stand beside a well with a seeing or seeable angel upon it, then, we, too, can feel or see or hear an answer coming to us, too.

Many prayers of petition are built into our tradition, such as the blessings of the weekday Amidah (Shmoneh Esreh) and the prayer for healing recited during the Torah service. Many of the petitionary blessings end with a chatimah, a closing signature, sort of a summary of what the blessing is about.  However, if we look closely at these, we see that they are, in essence, statements of what G!d does. For example, the morning blessing for the body ends with “Blessed are You, Adonai, healer of all flesh and worker of miracles.” This is a statement of who and what G!d is and does, as much as, or more than, it is a request for what we hope will be.

Hope, what does this word really mean? Dictionary.com defines the verb “to hope” as “to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence,” but also as, “to believe, desire, or trust.” If we take all those closing signatures of blessings as statements of reality, they can give us faith, faith without an indirect object. Not faith IN something or someone, just faith—the sense, the knowledge, the understanding, the trust, that whatever happens, there will still be meaning, we will still be able to find meaning and well being and self-integrity. We will, on some very basic and fundamental level, be OK.

This, I believe, is what it means to have our prayers answered before we pray. Our prayers are not a request for something to happen, but a statement of our faith, and therefore they are answered even before we say them, for if not, we wouldn’t even say them.

What makes it possible for us to have this kind of faith? Lawrence Hoffman in his book The Art of Public Prayer, discusses patterns. The anthropologist Gregory Bateson spoke of “the pattern which connects” and described the patterns upon patterns that are present in the living world, their increasing complexity, and how they all connect. Lawrence Hoffman refers to Bateson’s description of the levels of patterns  He asks us to think of connections between patterns in the universe and, as we compare more and more sets of patterns, how quickly they become so complex that they are beyond the capacity of the human mind to fathom. He suggests that these infinite levels of patterns are not only evidence of order in the universe, but are also a way of seeing a Divine Presence in the universe.

Faith is about connecting all the patterns, and trusting that those we cannot understand really exist. It is about certainty and knowing, combined with humility, something we feel in the pit of our stomach. It is about knowing our smallness in the vast sweeps of space and time that constitute the Universe—and beyond. It is about knowing our importance and the difference we can make in this world when we say YES to the still small voice we hear within us. Faith is about feeling the rightness of that choice in the deepest recesses of our soul.

Faith is about knowing—through the myriad connections between us and all that surrounds and encompasses us—that we are part of, not separate from, all of Creation, the natural world that surrounds us.

Patti Ann Rogers, in her poem “The Family Is All There Is,” begins: “Think of those old, enduring connections found in all flesh–the channeling wires and threads, vacuoles, granules, plasma and pods, purple veins, ascending boles and coral sapwood (sugar- and light-filled), those common ligaments, filaments, fibers and  canals.” She goes on to lyrically express all kinds of connections with the world around us that wouldn’t have come readily to my mind, reminding us that we are very much a part of all that is, and not separate. Faith is about opening our hearts to all these unseen connections and trusting that they—and others exist.

Faith is about embracing the Butterfly Effect, the concept in chaos theory that a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. It is about believing that there is meaning in our lives and in our existence, and that we have a meaningful impact.

Faith is about the “Supposition” Pattiann Rogers writes about: “Suppose the molecular changes taking place in the mind during the act of praise resulted in an emanation rising into space….Suppose benevolent praise, coming into being by our will, had a separate existence, its purple or azure light gathering in the upper reaches, affecting the aura of morning haze over autumn fields, or causing a perturbation in the mode of an asteroid. What if praise and its emanations were catalysts to the harmonious expansion of the void? Suppose, for the prosperous welfare of the universe, there were an element of need involved.” Faith is about knowing that our own faith has a positive impact on the Universe.

We need to pray, not so that we will get what we pray for, but in order to understand that the answers—the connections—are already present, which is why the answering of our prayers is in the praying. The answers are in the connections, and they are always available for us to see, understand, and accept into our hearts and souls. All we need to do is open our eyes, as Hagar did, our hearts, as the poor man in the Psalm did, and our bodies and minds, and as Isaac did when he walked out into the field, under the open sky, surrounded by G!d’s creatures, where the connections could flow without impediment. For, as Pattiann Rogers tells us: “I’m sure there’s a god in favor of drums…. [and] the heart must be the most pervasive drum of all. Imagine hearing all together every tinny snare of every heartbeat in every jumping mouse and harvest mouse, sagebrush vole and least shrew living across the prairie; and add to that cacophony the individual staccato ticking’s inside all gnatcatchers, kingbirds, kestrels, rock doves, pine warblers crossing, criss-crossing each other in the sky, the sound of their beatings overlapping with the singular hammerings of the hearts of cougar, coyote, weasel, badger, pronghorn, the ponderous bass of the black bear; and on deserts, too, all the knackings, the flutterings inside wart snakes, whiptails, racers and sidewinders, earless lizards, cactus owls; plus the clamors undersea, slow booming in the breasts of beluga and bowhead, uniform rappings in a passing school of cod or bib, the thidderings of bat rays and needlefish.” Faith is in connecting to all these heartbeats, our own, and countless others across space and time.

Faith is knowing that our prayers are answered. Before we speak the words.

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and leader of Ma’yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope inWayland, MA, and a staff chaplain at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is the co-convener of the Jewish Climate Action Network, a member of the Jewcology.org editorial board, a board member of Shomrei Bereishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth, and the co-creator of Gathering in Grief: The Israel / Gaza Conflict.

by Rabbi Katy Z. Allen

My first seeds from the Seed Library arrived in the mail today, part of a gift membership that I had given to myself. Gift packets to my two sons arrived in their mail as well. The packet is artistic, aesthetic, and pleasing not only to the eye, but also to the heart and the soul. Every packet is designed by a different artist. Inside are heirloom seeds, in the one I received are Purple Podded Peas. These are peas that grow 5-6 feet high, have scarlet blossoms, and produce dried peas good for soups and other winter dishes. I am reminded of the scarlet runner beans my father always planted in his garden, also tall pole beans with bright flowers. They were, if my memory serves me correctly, a reminder to him of the garden of his childhood, which was critical to his family for their dinner table all year long.

This week's Torah portion, Sh'mot, begins, "These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household," and then the text goes on to list them.

We are beginning a new book of the Torah this week, and a whole new story. Up until now, in the book of Genesis, we read of the creation of the world and the personal and family stories of our ancestors, from Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Abraham and Sarah, and eventually to Joseph. These were personal stories of struggle and death and survival and connection to the Creator. Now, in Exodus, the story changes. "A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph." The Israelites become a people, they are enslaved by Pharaoh, driven hard by taskmasters, redeemed from bondage, experience revelation at Sinai, and wander in the desert.

What did Abraham, Rebecca, Rachel, Joseph or any of our other Biblical ancestors know of this story of enslavement, redemption, and revelation? They knew nothing. They had no idea of what the future would bring. But when the story shifts, and a new story begins in this new book, the first thing the Torah reminds us of is all of those in the last generation of the previous story. We begin by naming those who came before us. We begin by remembering our ancestors. And then the story continues.

I shared a lovely pot-luck breakfast with three Transition Wayland friends last week, and we talked seeds. We shared knowledge, dreams, plans, and hopes. We agreed to share seeds. We deepened friendships.

My new garden bed asleep for the winter

And then, today, in my mail, arrived heirloom seeds. Seeds from generations past. These will go into my garden in spring, and along with them will go memories of my father's garden in my childhood, and the knowledge of memories of my grandfather's garden in my father's childhood, along with a memory of my uncle's garden. Planting my newly expanded vegetable garden is physical, but also spiritual. I work my body, I (hopefully!) will feed my body, but I also, with every shovelful of dirt and every seed that enters the ground, nourish my soul and connect myself to all those who have gone before me, whether related or not, who worked the soil, planted the same (or different) kinds of seeds I will plant, and nourished themselves and their families from the Earth they tilled.

As Thomas Berry tells us, we need a new story, the old stories don't work any more. And as climate scientists around the world tell us, we are entering into a new story (for example), into a new era, an era of runaway climate change, of "peak everything" and beyond, and, like the characters that populate the Book of Genesis, we have no idea what the coming story will be. And so, let us name our ancestors, let us plant their seeds, let us grow friendships together with our gardens, and let us hold in our hearts the faith that if we experience again enslavement, that we will also experience again both redemption and revelation.

May the year 2013 of the Common Era bring you strength, healing, peace, and a story that nourishes your spirit and your soul.

It’s right there in the opening chapter of Genesis.

Discovering this changed The Beet-Eating Heeb’s life and the life of Wife of BEH, too.

Their discovery occurred on Rosh Hashanah morning, 5766, when The Beet-Eating Heebs were still meat-eating Heebs.

The morning’s service had plodded along for two hours or so when the Torah was taken from the Ark to be read. At this point, many of our fellow congregants weighed two options:

1. Head to the restroom and stay there for an extended period.

2. Doze off.

But BEH and Wife of BEH chose a third option: Actually pay attention.

When the Torah reader arrived at Verses 29 and 30 of the opening chapter, we did a double take. Here’s what it says:

And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed–to you it shall be for food.

'and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, [I have given] every green herb for food.’ And it was so.

Every herb-yielding seed. The fruit. Every green herb. It seems filet mignon, chicken cordon bleu, and Thanksgiving turkey didn’t make the cut.

Wait. It gets better. Or very good, anyway.

In the very next verse, Genesis 1:31, it says:

And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Not just good, mind you. Very good.

And that’s very significant.

G-d evaluates his creation seven times in the first chapter of Genesis. On the first six occasions, he gives His handiwork a rating of “good.”

Only after giving Adam and Eve a vegan menu does G-d utter “very good,” or, in Hebrew, “tov m’ode”.

It’s painfully obvious. G-d wants us to eat fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains. Period.

Bible-literate carnivores, please hold your fire. The Beet-Eating Heeb knows what you’re going to say. And he is going to address those arguments in future blog postings.

For now, suffice it to say that BEH and Wife of BEH looked at each other (lovingly) that Rosh Hashanah morning five years ago and simultaneously decided to become vegetarians.

That was their beginning.

The Torah is also in line with the natural rhythms of life including the seasons of the year. In the Parsha “Toldot”, Esau and Jacob are born and grow up quickly, Esau being a hunter and Jacob a “dweller of tents”. I think that in fact what the Torah means here is that he was a farmer. Jacob couldn’t wander too far from his tents because he had to tend to his garden. It would be interesting to consult with Jacob on the ins and outs of his green thumb, how he prepared his compost, or when to plant and harvest.

When wondering how Jacob’s home garden would look, we could be sure that he was growing lentils. We also know that they were red lentils because Esau asks to eat some of the “red porridge” that Jacob was preparing. That lentil soup must have been so tempting to Esau because he had just come back from a hunt, cold and tired. The stew must have smelled delicious because Esau sold his birthright for it. Maybe in the moment it may have been a good decision to warm his body, but soon after Esau came to despise his birthright.

Biblical times and now aren’t too different in terms of what is good to grow in the winter. In the Kalisher Garden, in Beersheba, the Ethiopian immigrants are just starting the winter planting season. We are anticipating this year’s crop of lentils, many of them Ethiopian varieties, to make our own delicious and nutritious stews.

Lentils are great for the soil as a nitrogen-fixating crop, replenishing our soil after a long summer of corn. Lentils are also full of protein, which make you feel full and give your body energy to warm itself!

As it rains here in Beersheba, I am thinking about making my own lentil soup . . . Here is Moran’s recipe.

Here is Moran’s recipe for a delicious lentil soup:

Preparation time: 15 minutes.

Cooking time 1 hour

Onion 1

Tomatoes 2

Carrots 2

Sweet Potato 1

Celery 1 stalk

Red Lentils ½ Cup

Green Lentils 1 Cup

Salt and Pepper To Taste

Cumin One Teaspoon

Parsley or Cilantro To Taste

Olive Oil 3 tablespoons

Sautee chopped onion until golden, add chopped garlic. After 2 minutes add chopped tomatoes. After a few minutes add chopped carrot and sweet potato. Let the veggies cook and after another two minutes, add lentils. Fill the pot with water until the water is well over the top of the vegetables, while leaving space in the pot. Add the spices and stir. Cover the pot and let the soup cook for one hour on low flame.

(If you want to cut cooking time, you can soak the green lentils in lukewarm water for an hour.

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of We are How We Eat: A Jewish Approach to Food and Sustainability. 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 #13 We are How We Eat: A Jewish Approach to Food and Sustainability!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

We are How We Eat: A Jewish Approach to

Food and Sustainability

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril

The beginning of the Torah makes clear the centrality of eating to human existence: “And the Lord God commanded man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).

Adam and Eve transgressed this command with the first sin – eating from the Tree. Rabbi Tsadok HaKohen teaches that the Tree of Life represents holy eating, while the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represents eating suffused with physical pleasure.[1] Based on this, Sarah Yehudit Schneider, a contemporary teacher of Torah in Jerusalem, writes that

humanity's first sin was not Adam and Eve's eating of forbidden fruit, but rather the way they ate it. The Tree of Knowledge… was not a tree or a food or a thing at all. Rather it was a way of eating. Whenever a person grabs self-conscious pleasure from the world, he falls, at that moment, from God consciousness….Whenever we eat without proper kavanna (intention) we repeat this original sin. The primary fixing of human civilization is to learn to eat in holiness.

A Jewish Approach to Eating

In a pivotal moment in the book of Genesis, Esau returns tired from the field and encounters Jacob, who has prepared a red lentil stew. Esau says to him, “Pour me (haliteni) some of that red red stuff,”[2] and agrees to sell his birthright in exchange for the stew. Esau’s consumption represents a paradigmatic case in the Torah of a human being eating in an unrefined, base way. The Midrash[3] links Esau to a camel through the word 'haliteni'—a word used to describe pouring food into a camel's belly so it will walk on a long journey without needing to stop to eat.[4] Based on this, Rabbi Samphson Rafael Hirsch (19^th century Germany) explains 'haliteini' as to "greedily to gulp down." Esau’s animalistic eating without thought therefore serves as an example of an inappropriate and unholy way to eat.[5]

Eating food is a significant part of the Jewish spiritual path, and Jewish teachings and practices provide guidance for how to eat in a holy manner. These include being selective and mindful of which foods we eat (based on the kosher laws), and how we eat them. In Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen’s “A Treatise on Eating,” he cites the mystical book of the Zohar, which calls the moment of eating “the time of combat.”[6] This is because in eating a Jew must engage in the spiritual fight to ensure the act is a holy one.[7]

If Esau teaches how not to eat, what wisdom does our tradition offer for how we can consume in holiness? We will briefly explore four ideas suggested by Jewish teachings.

Why am I eating? Rebbe Nachman of Breslov identifies the desire for food and drink as the central desire of the human being, and the one from which other desires emanate.[8] Rabbi Shlomo Volbe teaches that a person needs to distinguish between eating because of a healthy desire of the body (i.e., eating in order to be healthy), versus eating out of base physical desire.[9] Of course we also know that many people today also eat out of emotional desire. It is therefore important to clarify, before eating, that what I am eating is for the right reason.[10] To eat in a Jewish way, we should eat when we are hungry, to fulfill our body’s needs, rather than out of physical or emotional cravings.

How fast do I eat my food? While it is possible to eat a meal in a few minutes, Jewish teaching cautions against doing so.[11] Rabbi Natan of Breslov states: “Be careful not to swallow your food in a hurry. Eat at a moderate pace, calmly and with the same table manners that you would show if an important guest were present. You should always eat in this manner, even when you are alone.”[12] Along with the physicality of his cravings, Esau’s fast eating is also considered unholy. A Jewish way of eating includes eating food slowly and consciously.

Where do I eat? In the Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish teach that a person's table has taken the place of the Temple of ancient times in atoning for that person. One understanding of their statement is that when a person eats in holiness at their own table, they have made proper use of their table in a way parallel to the altar of the Temple.[13] This underscores the significance in Jewish thought of eating at a table, and not while standing or walking. Today some of our eating takes place at a desk or even in a car! We will eat more healthfully if we take wholesome meals at a table.

With whom do I eat? In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) we learn that Rabbi Shimon would say: “Three who eat at one table and do not speak words of Torah, it is as if they have eaten of sacrifices of the dead…But three who eat at one table and speak words of Torah, it is as if they have eaten at G-d's table…”[14] The act of eating with others and sharing not only food, but also Jewish wisdom, bestows upon the meal an aura of sanctity, and elevates eating to a holy act.[15] A shared opportunity for blessing before and after one eats also serves to connect the act of eating to a higher purpose.[16] These practices elevate our bodily needs and can help transform our eating to become an act of holiness and devotion.

Where Our Food Comes From– A Biblical View

Even with the above practices, eating as a spiritual practice becomes difficult when a person is disconnected from the food he or she eats. Reflecting upon the sin of eating from the Tree, the Ohr Hachaim (Rabbi Chaim ben Moses ibn Attar, 1696-1743 C.E., Morocco)comments that Adam did not know he was eating from the forbidden fruit, and that his sin was in not making an effort to find out where the fruit Eve gave him came from.[17] So, perhaps the most fundamental sin of the first human being was in neglecting to ask about the origin of the food he was given.

How we eat is fundamentally linked to our understanding of where our food comes from. The Torah describes a reality in which every Jewish family owned and farmed its own land in the land of Israel.[18] Following the Israelite conquest of the land of Israel over 3,000 years ago, the land was divided into homesteads which Jews worked as subsistence farmers. These family homesteads were passed down from generation to generation. Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Edels (17^th century Poland) wrote, “when the Jewish people were on their land, every man had land.”[19] This reality had great benefit, as the Psalmist wrote, “When you eat the toil of your hands you are fortunate and it is good for you.”[20]

At the end of the book of Genesis, Jacob’s blessings highlight characteristics that are unique to each son and to the tribes of their descendants. According to the preeminent commentator Rashi, four of these blessings focus on the agricultural specificity of each tribe’s territory in the Land of Israel.

For example, in Judah’s blessing, “Binding his foal to the vine…he washes his garments in wine.”[21] Rashi comments that this related to the abundance of wine in Judah’s domain.[22] Similarly, interpreting the blessing to Issachar, “He saw a resting place, that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant,”[23] Rashi writes that his land would produce good fruit.[24] Issachar, whose tribe’s destiny was immersion in Torah learning, received land where ready-to-eat food grew in abundance and devotion to study would be practical.[25] According to Rashi, the tribe of Naftali, which included the Sea of Galilee, was also known for its fruits.[26] In the Galilee region, the tribe of Asher was renowned for its olive trees and abundant olive oil.[27]

These teachings elucidate the regional nature of Biblical food production. Many parts of the Land of Israel were known for the particular kinds of crops and produce native to them, and the tribes from these areas became known for their produce. The others of the nation knew that the members of the tribe of Yehuda grew their grapes, those in Asher made olive oil, those in Issachar harvested the fruit. A biblical Jew could, if he or she chose, trace the relatively short journey of each item from the region of Israel, via the specific tribe, to their plates.

Where Our Food Comes From — Today

Rabbi Edels, who wrote that when Jews lived in the land of Israel every family had land, also wrote, “But from when they were exiled, they did not have land to plant.”[28] The denial of land ownership to Jews was one factor contributing to the historical shift among Jews away from agriculture. Today, for a variety of reasons, the vast majority of Jews do not work in agriculture. In Israel, in 2009 2.1% of all employed Israeli residents worked in agriculture (including supporting services), a decrease from 4.2% of Israeli citizens working in agriculture in 1990.[29] Of the small number of Israeli citizens working in agriculture, Jews are perhaps only five to ten percent.[30] Among those Israeli Jews who do work in agriculture, many manage industrial agricultural operations employing non-Jewish workers. The shifts away from agriculture are evident among people globally and especially in the Western world. In the United States, less than 1% claim farming as an occupation.[31]

This shift contains profound religious, social, and ecological significance.[32] After thousands of years of specialization within human society, it seems unlikely that large numbers of people will choose to return to a subsistence lifestyle.[33] Contemporary Jews, along with most Westerners, have lost most connection to the origins of their food, including the people who plant, pick, and transport it or the place where it is grown. We buy our industrially produced and packaged food in supermarkets that are identical from Brooklyn to Brookline and from Skokie to Silver Spring. The typical item of food on an American dinner plate has traveled 1500 miles.[34]

Does this matter? In his influential book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan argues that it matters very much. Pollan claims that the industrial food chain relies on a thick veil of ignorance being cast between us and the process of production. From meat raised in CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), to corn-fed cattle emitting methane, to the raising of monoculture fruits, vegetables and grains, to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on our produce, we simply do not know, and perhaps do not want to know, too much about how what we eat arrives on the supermarket shelves.

If we were fully aware of the cruelty frequently involved in raising our food, the environmental degradation caused by growing it, the health risks to consumers in processing and preserving it, and the immense expenditure of fossil fuels in transporting it, we would be troubled– if not repulsed. Modern food production and consumption contributes to a host of environmental problems, including rainforest deforestation (to clear land for cattle and crops) and impact on water . Runoff of agricultural byproducts, including nitrogen fertilizers and animal wastes, enter bodies of water with major effects. In the Midwestern United States this has caused one of the world’s largest ‘Dead Zones’ in the Gulf of Mexico. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Gulf of Mexico have resulted in blooms of algae, which depletes oxygen in the Gulf and results in the decline of many other forms of sea life.[35]

The production, transportation, refrigeration, and disposal of food also contribute to climate change. In 2006, agriculture contributed about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.[36] The production of red meat is one of the single largest contributors to global climate change. This is because the digestive system of cattle produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas, which is exhaled.[37] According to a study by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, reducing or eliminating red meat intake would have a far greater impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than buying all of one's food locally.[38]

The globalization of food production and consumption also means that a drought in one part of the world impacts the price of food in another part. This is especially important when high costs limit the ability of the poor to buy food. For example, the World Bank reported that from June to July, 2012, the price of corn and wheat rose by 25 percent each to record highs, and the price of soybeans by 17 percent. These price increases are due to weather events in a number of countries, including drought occurring in the lands of major food exporters such as the U.S., Russia, the Ukraine, and Brazil.[39] James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, expressed "a high degree of confidence" that the extreme heatwaves in Europe in 2003 and Russia in 2010, as well as the Texas and Oklahoma droughts of 2011, were "a consequence of climate change."[40] With the increasing reality of climate change, the reliance on a few countries for food staples increases food vulnerability for all.

Finally, the link between how much we eat and the environmental ‘footprint’ has been made clear by several studies. Adults in the United States on average eat 500 calories more per day (about one large hamburger) than they did in the 1970s.[41] Between 1983 and 2000, US food availability (food consumption including waste) increased by 18%, requiring an additional 3.1% of total US energy consumption as well as more land and water to produce the food.[42] By 2006, agriculture contributed about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, making it a major factor in addressing global climate change.[43] Modern food production and consumption also contributes to rainforest deforestation (to clear land for cattle and crops) and water pollution (from pesticide and fertilizer use). Expanding agriculture to meet growing demand based on overeating only exacerbates these impacts.

Toward a Return to Repaired Consumption of Food

Knowledge is power, but it also creates responsibility. How can we develop the knowledge, and exercise the ethical responsibility that comes with knowledge about the sources of our food? If we make an effort to know the people who grow our food, we can take a measure of responsibility for how it is grown and how it reaches us. Pollan quotes Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farm, a pesticide and fertilizer free farm where the animals are all free-range: “The only meaningful guarantee of integrity is when buyers and sellers can look one another in the eye.”

It is unquestionably a challenge for the urban and suburban Jew to achieve this. One small way to close the gap between food producer and food consumer is through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects. City-dwellers or suburbanites subscribe at the beginning of the growing season, pay several hundred dollars for the season, and receive a box of produce each week. Thousands of Jews subscribe to CSAs, in part based on the conviction that we need to consider the full range of ethical issues involved in our food’s production. A second way to purchase local food is through farmer’s markets, which can also offer the chance to meet local farmers.

Another way is by appreciating the food we eat and eating it in holiness. The Jewish teachings mentioned above regarding mindful eating provide us helpful guidance. These include eating only when we are hungry, to fulfill our body’s needs, slowly and consciously, at a table, and preferably with others while sharing Jewish wisdom. When we eat with greater intention and awareness, we will likely consume less because we will be more attuned to what our bodies actually need. This will also reduce the impact our food consumption has on the environment.

Bringing awareness and holiness to our consumption of food can generate profound healing to ourselves, our communities, and our planet. At the individual level, one who eats in a proper way will feel healthier and more connected to the Infinite. At the communal level, conscious eating can bring members of the community together and inspire others to join the community. At the global level, the changes we make in our food consumption will affect people, animals and plants in faraway places.

Embedded within urban, modern society, we can still reclaim a level of sanctity, balance, and sustainability in our food consumption. Jewish teachings can help us make our way back from the tortured complexity of the industrial food chain towards a healthier relationship with what we eat.

In light of the centrality of food to the human experience, repairing the way we relate to food can make a difference for ourselves, our community, and the earth. By repairing the way we eat and the way we relate to food, we can help address many crises facing modern society: health, environmental, and social. May we eat with intention, and in so doing, help bring the world closer to its perfected state.[44]

About the Authors:

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. Since 2006, he has worked with Canfei Nesharim in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment. He received a BA and MA from Stanford University, during which time he conducted research in Mexico on food issues. He completed his rabbinic studies at Yeshivat Hamivtar, and lives with his family in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair is a writer and teacher. He is Senior Rabbinical Scholar at Hazon. Previously he was campus rabbi at Cambridge University where he also taught in the Divinity School. Rabbi Sinclair earns a living working in clean tech in Israel. He is currently Vice President and Head of Research at Gigawatt Global, an international solar developer. Before that he worked for two years on the founding team of Alma Ecocities Ltd where he was Director of Communications. He holds degrees from Oxford and Harvard Universities as well as Orthodox semichah and lives in Jerusalem.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.comis a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI communityfor their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

[1]Pri Tzadik, Rabbi Zadok HaKohen Rabinowitz of Lublin(Kreisburg, 1823 – Lublin, Poland, 1900),

Torah portion of Genesis, section 8

[2]Genesis 25:29.

[3]Part of the Oral tradition explaining the Written Torah

[4]Midrash Genesis Raba (Vilna edition), 63:12, citing Mishna, Tractate Shabbat 24:3. Rashi cites this Midrash in his commentary to Genesis 25:29. This teaching also appears in Genesis Raba chapter 21, Midrash Tanchuma, Pinechas 13, and elsewhere

[5]It also was done at significant cost, since it involved the sale of the birthright.

[6]Cited in Rav Tzadok Hacohen, Kitzur Kuntras Eit HaOchel, section 9

[7]In a similar vein, Rabbi Natan Sternhartz of Breslov teaches that the main spiritual exertion with relevance to the outside world concerns eating, which is the hardest act of spiritual separation (berur) to engage in. He cites the Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Shekalim 5a. His teaching is found in Likutei Halakhot, Betziat HaPat 5.7

[8]Likutei Moharan I, 62:5

[9]Alei Shor, page n/a.

[10]Rabbi Moshe Rafael Seror (contemporary, Israel) suggests a practice for when we feel a desire to eat. We can ask ourselves whether the desire to eat that we feel is for a specific food that we like, for example chocolate, and whether the feeling of hunger extends to foods we don't like. If we can feel in our body that the desire is for the latter, then it is genuine hunger coming out of the body's need for nourishment, and not a smokescreen of the inclination that seeks instant gratification by means of sugary, fatty, or salty foods.

[11]One creative approach to thinking about food comes from the word for food in Hebrew, ochel, which is spelled aleph, caf, and lamed. These letters correspond to the first letters of three words: eich (how), cama (how much), and lama (why). That is, a Jew should examine the way they are eating by asking: how am I eating, how much, and why?

[12]Chayey Moharan #515, by Rabbi Natan Sternhartz, translation by R’ Avraham Greenbaum. In a similar vein, Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen in section five to his Treatise on the Time of Eating teaches about the importance of moderation to temper the desire to eat, swallow, and finish quickly. He cites the Talmud, Tractate Berachot 2a-b on how a person should prepare themself before eating.

[13]Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Hagigah p. 27a

[14]Chapter 3, Mishna 4

[15] Similarly, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin writes about "Eating—A Religious Experience," in A Happening Haggadah " He writes, “The Seder can serve as a model to teach us the Jewish philosophy of eating. We permit ourselves to have only a tiny portion of karpas. By immediately withdrawing from the food, we learn discipline and restraint. As human beings we must learn the self-control to put the food aside and make the meal a religious experience. By learning to do not what we have the urge to do, but what He commands, we serve God… On [Pesach] we became a people of God whose primary purpose is to serve Him. We do so by subsuming the physical to the spiritual—by turning our meal into a learning experience and a prayer experience. Indeed the learning and prayer come first. It is through karpas that this lesson is brought home to the children around the Seder table."

[16] Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen, Pri Tzadik, Treatise on the Time of Eating, section six

[17]Commentary to Genesis 3:17

[18]This description occurs many times in the Torah, including in Numbers 34:13.

[19]The Maharsha, 1555-1631, Poland, commentary to Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Menachot, p. 103b

[20]Psalms 128:2. The Talmudic sage Rabbi Ahai ben Yoshiya expresses the value of eating food one has grown him or herself: “During the time that a person eats from what he has grown himself—his mind is tranquil. Even one who eats from that which his father has grown or from that of his mother's or son's, his mind is not tranquil—and you do not [even] need to say [food grown] from that of others [non-relatives].” (Avot d'Rabbi Natan, version 1, chapter 30, translation by Hazon.) The rabbis understand this to be a teaching about food security—of being assured about where one's next meal will come from. Ultimately, Rabbi Ahai understands that this can only occur when a person grows his or her own food.

[21]Genesis 49:11

[22]Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 98:9; Rashi to Genesis 49:11, s.v. osri lagefen iryo The Talmud describes the grapes and wine grown in the lands of Judah: “Any palate that tastes it says, ‘Give me! Give me!’”Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ketubot 111b

[23]Genesis 49:15

[24]Rashi to Genesis 49:15

[25]Rashi to Genesis 49:15 based on Targum Onkelos and Bereshith Rabbathi

[26]Rashi to Genesis 49:21

[27]Rashi to Genesis 49:20

[28]The Maharsha, 1555-1631, Poland, commentary to Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Menachot, p. 103b

[29]From the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, online at http://www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/?MIval=cw_usr_view_SHTML&ID=418 See also “Agriculture in Israel 2004,” Statistifile No. 55, online at http://www1.cbs.gov.il/www/statistical/agri04_e.pdf They also note that “the percentage of persons employed in agriculture in Israel is one of the lowest in the world, resembling that in the US and Canada. By comparison, in Greece the share is 15% and in Jordan 10%.” In economics, this phenomenon is called ‘structural transformation’ of an economy.

[30]Maariv online news (Hebrew), “Poll: Only 14 percent of those employed in agriculture are Jews,” by Dahlia Mazori, 5.17.2010, online at http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/108/007.html The article notes that “According to Ami Bergman, director of the Sting Systems polling company, the survey data include only legal workers who were paid, but many of the foreign workers – about 40 percent is estimated – are illegal and therefore not listed in the survey.” Based on this, I estimate that 5 to 10 percent of agricultural workers are Jews.

[31]http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/demographics.html According to a different sourse, in 2009 just 0.7% claimed farming, forestry, and fishing (all of whom are defined as agriculture) as their occupation. See https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2048.html

[32]For example, at a religious level, following the destruction of the second Temple, Jews no longer bring first-fruit offerings from their crops to Jerusalem.

[33]In The Rational Optimist, Matt Ridley compares life in modern society to that of subsistence farmers and explains the many ways in which our standard of living has improved as reasons for why a voluntary return to subsistence living is unlikely.

[34]Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, New York, Penguin, 2006. p. 239

[35]For more information, see the Carleton College Science Information Resource Center at http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/deadzone/

[36] “Climate Change and Agriculture,” 2006, Martin Parry and Cynthia Rosenzweig, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (U.K. Meteorological Office and Goddard Institute for Space Studies), online at http://cgiar.bio-mirror.cn/pdf/agm06/agm06_ParryRosenzweig_climatechange%26agr.pdf

[37]See US Environmental Protection Agency, “US Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2012,” Chapter 6: Agriculture, section 6.1 of http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/Downloads/ghgemissions/US-GHG-Inventory-2012-Chapter-6-Agriculture.pdf In addition, a second source of methane from cattle is from the anaerobic decomposition of their manure (see section 6.2).

[38]“Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States,” Dr. Christopher Weber and Dr. H. Scott Matthews, Environmental Science & Technology. 2008, 42 (10), pp 3508–3513, online at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es702969f The article notes that “shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more greenhouse-gas reduction than buying all locally sourced food.”

[39]The full report is available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTPOVERTY/Resources/336991-1311966520397/Food-Price-Watch-August-2012.pdf, and the press release, “Severe Droughts Drive Food Prices Higher, Threatening the Poor,” The World Bank, August 30, 2012, is online at

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2012/08/30/severe-droughts-drive-food-prices-higher-threatening-poor

[40]As reported by Reuters, “Climate change poses risks to food, beyond U.S. drought,” by Alistar Doyles, 8.12.12, online at http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/16/us-climate-drought-idUSBRE87F0RY20120816

[41] "Increased food intake alone explains the increase in body weight in the United States," Boyd Swinburn et al. oral presentation, 17th European Congress on Obesity,5.9.2009, news abstract online at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149553.php The researchers consider this increased food consumption to be the leading cause of the obesity epidemic.

[42]“Luxus Consumption: Wasting Food Resources Through Overeating,”By Dr. Dorothy Blair and Dr. Jeffery Sobal, Agriculture and Human Values, Volume 23, Number 1 (2006), p. 63-74

[43] “Climate Change and Agriculture,” 2006, Martin Parry and Cynthia Rosenzweig, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (U.K. Meteorological Office and Goddard Institute for Space Studies), online at http://cgiar.bio-mirror.cn/pdf/agm06/agm06_ParryRosenzweig_climatechange%26agr.pdf

[44]Indeed, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches thatthe eating of Israel brings G-d, Blessed be He, and the Shechina (G-d’s Immanent Presence) face to face (Likutei Moharan I 62:1).

We are How We Eat: A Jewish Approach to

Food and Sustainability

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov identifies the desire for food and drink as the central desire of the human being, and the one from which other desires emanate.[1] Jewish teachings can help us appreciate the food we eat and eat it in a spirit of holiness. Doing so can also help the environment, as we will explore.

What does it mean to eat in a Jewish way? First of all, we should eat when we are hungry. Rabbi Shlomo Volbe teaches that a person needs to distinguish between eating because of a healthy desire of the body (i.e., eating in order to be healthy), versus eating out of base physical desire.[2] (Of course many people today also eat out of emotional desire.) It is therefore important to clarify, before eating, that what I am eating is for the right reason,[3] rather than out of physical or emotional cravings.

Not only what we eat, and but also how we eat is important. A Jewish way of eating includes eating food slowly and consciously. While it is possible to eat a meal in a few minutes, Jewish teaching cautions against doing so. Rabbi Natan of Breslov states: “Be careful not to swallow your food in a hurry. Eat at a moderate pace, calmly and with the same table manners that you would show if an important guest were present. You should always eat in this manner, even when you are alone.”[4]

Where we eat also matters. In the Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish teach that a person's table has taken the place of the Temple of ancient times in atoning for that person. One understanding of their statement is that when a person eats in holiness at their own table, they have made proper use of their table in a way parallel to the altar of the Temple (Chagigah p. 27a). This underscores the significance in Jewish thought of eating at a table, and not while standing or walking. Today some of our eating takes place at a desk or even in a car! We will eat more healthfully and with more holiness if we take wholesome meals at a table.

Finally, the act of eating with others – and sharing not only food, but also Jewish wisdom – bestows upon the meal an aura of sanctity, and elevates eating to a holy act.[5] In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 3:4) we learn that Rabbi Shimon would say: “Three who eat at one table and speak words of Torah, it is as if they have eaten at G-d's table…” A shared opportunity for blessing before and after one eats also serves to connect the act of eating to a higher purpose.[6] These practices elevate our bodily needs and can help transform our eating to become an act of holiness and devotion.

How we eat, and consequently, how much we eat, has a bearing on our ‘environmental footprint,’ as several studies make clear. Adults in the United States on average eat 500 calories more per day (about one large hamburger) than they did in the 1970s.[7] Between 1983 and 2000, US food availability (food consumption including waste) increased by 18%, requiring an additional 3.1% of total US energy consumption as well as more land and water to produce the food.[8] By 2006, agriculture contributed about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, making it a major factor in addressing global climate change.[9] Modern food production and consumption also contributes to rainforest deforestation (to clear land for cattle and crops) and water pollution (from pesticide and fertilizer use).

Expanding agriculture to meet growing demand based on overeating only exacerbates these impacts. When we eat with greater intention and awareness, we will likely consume less because we will be more attuned to what our bodies actually need. This will also reduce the impact our food consumption has on the environment.

Bringing awareness and holiness to our consumption of food can generate profound healing to ourselves, our communities, and our planet. At the individual level, one who eats in a proper way will feel healthier and more connected to the Infinite. At the communal level, conscious eating can bring members of the community together and inspire others to join the community. At the global level, the changes we make in our food consumption will affect people, animals and plants in faraway places. May we eat with intention, and in so doing, help bring the world closer to its perfected state.[10]

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. Since 2006, he has worked with Canfei Nesharim in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.comis a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI communityfor their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

[1]Likutei Moharan I, 62:5

[2]Alei Shor

[3]Rabbi Moshe Rafael Seror (contemporary, Israel) suggests a practice for when we feel a desire to eat. We can ask ourselves whether the desire to eat that we feel is for a specific food that we like, for example chocolate, and whether the feeling of hunger extends to foods we don't like. If we can feel in our body that the desire is for the latter, then it is genuine hunger coming out of the body's need for nourishment, and not a smokescreen of the inclination that seeks instant gratification by means of sugary, fatty, or salty foods.

[4]Chayey Moharan #515, by Rabbi Natan Sternhartz, translation by R’ Avraham Greenbaum. In a similar vein, Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen in section five to his Treatise on the Time of Eating teaches about the importance of moderation to temper the desire to eat, swallow, and finish quickly. He cites the Talmud, Tractate Berachot 2a-b on how a person should prepare themself before eating.

[5] Similarly, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin writes about "Eating—A Religious Experience," in A Happening Haggadah " He writes, “The Seder can serve as a model to teach us the Jewish philosophy of eating. We permit ourselves to have only a tiny portion of karpas. By immediately withdrawing from the food, we learn discipline and restraint. As human beings we must learn the self-control to put the food aside and make the meal a religious experience. By learning to do not what we have the urge to do, but what He commands, we serve God… On [Pesach] we became a people of God whose primary purpose is to serve Him. We do so by subsuming the physical to the spiritual—by turning our meal into a learning experience and a prayer experience. Indeed the learning and prayer come first. It is through karpas that this lesson is brought home to the children around the Seder table."

[6] Rabbi Tzadok Hacohen, Pri Tzadik, Treatise on the Time of Eating, section six

[7] "Increased food intake alone explains the increase in body weight in the United States," Boyd Swinburn et al. oral presentation, 17th European Congress on Obesity,5.9.2009, news abstract online at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149553.php The researchers consider this increased food consumption to be the leading cause of the obesity epidemic.

[8]“Luxus Consumption: Wasting Food Resources Through Overeating,”By Dr. Dorothy Blair and Dr. Jeffery Sobal, Agriculture and Human Values, Vol. 23, No. 1 (2006), p. 63-74

[9] “Climate Change and Agriculture,” 2006, Martin Parry and Cynthia Rosenzweig, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (U.K. Meteorological Office and Goddard Institute for Space Studies), online at http://cgiar.bio-mirror.cn/pdf/agm06/agm06_ParryRosenzweig_climatechange%26agr.pdf

[10]Indeed, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches thatthe eating of Israel brings G-d, Blessed be He, and the Shechina (G-d’s Immanent Presence) face to face (Likutei Moharan I 62:1).

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Genesis and Human Stewardship of the Earth. 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.

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Genesis and Human Stewardship of the Earth

Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]

The first two chapters of Genesis contain teachings with profound relevance for ourselves and our world today. In the first chapter of Genesis, twice in three verses, G-d speaks of humans ruling over other living beings. In the second instance, after creating Adam and Eve, G-d blesses them, saying "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."[2] What does it mean for humans to subdue the earth and have dominion over other creatures?

Human Righteousness and Dominion of the Planet

One of the central precepts of Rabbinic Judaism is that the Written Torah must be understood within the context of the 2,300 year-old rabbinic tradition (including the Midrash and other works) that interprets it. While on the surface the words of this verse appear to give people license to degrade and subdue the earth, the Rabbis for the most part[3] do not read them this way. The rabbinic commentaries reveal much about these verses beyond the simple reading. The Oral tradition makes clear that a wholly different message is being conveyed.

The Midrash offers a key insight into the dominion about which the Torah speaks. It teaches, “Rabbi Chanina said, ‘if he [the human being] merits it then [G-d says] have dominion, while if he does not merit, then [G-d says] he will be taken down.’[4] Rabbi Yaakov of Kfar Chanin said, ‘If he [acts] in Our image and likeness [then] 'he will rule,' if he [acts] not in Our image and likeness, then 'and he will be taken down.'”[5] The Midrash is based on a play on words in Hebrew, in which the root of the word 'to rule' is the same root as the word 'to be taken down.'

The great commentator Rashi writes based on the Midrash that if we do not merit, we will be ruled by animals.[6] In this vein, the Soncino translator writes, “Man is entitled to pre-eminence only as long as he cultivates his G-d-like qualities; when he voluntarily abandons them he is even lower than the brute creation.”[7] Can humans be ruled by animals today? At first one may think that human beings are so powerful as to be immune to these predictions, but one only need think of insect infestations (even in the Western world) which have caused tremendous havoc. One example is the “bed bugs” outbreak in North America in 2010. Another example relates to diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and the West Nile Virus. These are spreading into new areas as the range of certain mosquitoes extends to more northern latitudes as a result of human-induced climate change.[8]

The Midrash above links human dominion of creation to humanity’s righteousness: if humanity merits through its righteousness, then it shall rule over nature. But if it does not merit because it does not act in an upright fashion, then humanity itself will descend and not be granted rulership over nature. One key message emerging from the Midrash is that G-d’s blessing to rule over other creatures depends on our living as righteous people. The rabbis learn this from the juxtaposition of G-d saying that the human will be created in G-d's image and then G-d saying the human will rule over other creatures.[9]

Another Midrash makes clear that part of human righteousness involves being stewards of the earth. The Midrash says that G-d showed Adam around the Garden of Eden and said, “Look at my works! See how beautiful they are — how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.”[10] Acting righteously thus involves treating the world with utmost respect; for this the human will merit dominion of creation.

What Does it Mean to Rule?

Maimonides understands our verse about dominion as teaching us that humans have a disposition to dominate, but that is not the purpose for which G-d created us. He writes, “The Torah tells man, "And rule over the fish of the sea etc." – this does not mean that he was created for this purpose, but rather it informs us of the nature that the Holy One implanted in him.”[11]

The Toldot Yitzhak addresses the following question: why does G-d state that human beings are only permitted a vegetarian diet after G-d tells them to rule over the fish, fowl, and animals? His answer teaches that the ruling over these creatures does not involve killing them for human food.[12]

A further question: why does the Torah (here in Genesis 1:26 and 1:28) use the order fish– birds– animals?[13] The Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, Prague,1550-1619) explains,[14]

Of these three species, man has the ability to rule over one to a greater extent than the other. Indeed, man has the ability to rule to a greater extent over domestic and wild animals and over everything that creeps on the earth, for they are present with him and man can follow them in all the places they run to and fro. This is not the case with birds and fish since man cannot fly in the air or go down to the depths of the sea.

He explains that if humans do not merit, then not only will they not dominate the fish, which are harder to catch, but also the birds and animals, which are easier.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, writes that “no intelligent, thinking person could suppose that when the Torah instructs humankind to dominate… [[that] it means the domination of a harsh ruler, who afflicts his people and servants merely to fulfill his personal whim and desire, according to the crookedness of his heart…”[15] Rabbi David Sears writes on this:

Rather, it comprises a form of stewardship for which humanity is answerable to G-d. Both Talmudic and Kabbalistic sources state that it is forbidden to kill any creature unnecessarily, or to engage in wanton destruction of the Earth’s resources. All forms of life are precious by virtue of the divine wisdom that brings them into existence, whatever rung they may occupy in the hierarchy of creation… The divine mandate for man to dominate the natural world is a sacred trust, not a carte blanche for destructiveness.[16]

Subduing in the Context of Being Fruitful

Rabbi Daniel Kohn beautifully contextualizes the command to ‘subdue the earth’ and sheds new light on what it means. In his understanding, it is very much connected to the command that precedes it, ‘be fruitful and multiply,’ to spread and make life manifest. He teaches that ‘be fruitful and multiply’ describes a natural process of things growing and diversifying without control—disorganized, disconnected. ‘Subduing’ is about organizing this abundance, giving things their place and actively caring about them, so that they come to their full expression in the context of an integrated and balanced harmony with one another. Rabbi Kohn emphasizes that subduing involves the application of intelligent planning and foresight — always in the context of the Divine imperative to spread and diversify life.

Rabbi Kohn continues that subduing can only be as G-d intended when it grows out of a commitment to life. To cause extinction would be the opposite of this—it would be ‘shachet,’ destroying. ‘Subduing’ does not imply destroying, extincting, oppressing, or annihilating, but rather it requires preserving life's diversity and helping life perpetuate itself. In this sense G-d's command impels diverse and sustainable living.[17]

In a similar light, Rabbi Norman Lamm, former chancellor of Yeshiva University, writes that “ ‘Subdue it’ is not only not an invitation to ecological irresponsibility; it is a charge to assume additional moral responsibility, not only for the natural world as such, but even for the manmade culture and civilization that we found when we were born into this world.”[18]

Genesis 2:15: To Work It and to Protect It

The second chapter of Genesis includes a second story of Creation that focuses on human beings in the Garden of Eden. The Torah tells us that G-d placed the human being “in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it.”[19] Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out the significance of the two Hebrew verbs used to describe the human being's mandate. He writes, “The first– le'ovdah—literally means "to serve it." The human being is thus both master and servant of nature. The second—leshomrah--means "to guard it." This is the verb used in later biblical legislation to describe the responsibilities of a guardian of property that belongs to someone else. This guardian must exercise vigilance while protecting, and is personally liable for losses that occur through negligence. This is perhaps the best short definition of humanity's responsibility for nature as the Bible conceives it.”

Modern Industrial Society

A glaring contrast emerges between the Kli Yakar’s 17th century description of the limited human capacity for domination of the animals, birds and fish of the natural world and what we know about the ability of contemporary society to dominate the land, air, and sea of planet earth.[20] The 20th century witnessed the extinction of numerous species of land animals and birds, including species of tigers and rhinoceroses.[21]

While the Kli Yakar emphasizes that fish are not visible to people, sonar, satellite data and the Global Positioning System (GPS) enable fishermen to effectively ‘see’ giant schools of fish with pinpoint accuracy. These technologies were developed by militaries during the Cold War and then transferred to commercial fishing trawlers post-1989. According to a study led by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, these changes have contributed to a dramatic fall in fish populations in all of the world's oceans. One of the researchers, Villy Christensen, said “The total weight of tablefish—species eaten by man—in the oceans has declined by a total of 85 percent in the last century and continues to decline at 2 percent or more per year. Many species are being hunted right down to the last fish.”[22]

Several examples illustrate the extent of human domination of the waters. In recent years, Canadian cod serves as an example of overfishing and the dramatic drop in cod populations that resulted.[23] This spurred the Canadian government to ban Northern cod fishing in 1992.[24] In 2010 the Yangtze River Dolphin was reported functionally extinct; a New York Times article was aptly titled: “20 Million Years and a Farewell.”[25] In January 2011, the Israeli government banned for two years commercial fishing in the Sea of Galilee. Explaining the decision, Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Dafna Yurista said, "The data raised serious concerns of an ecological disaster that would take place, turning the Kinneret [Hebrew for Sea of Galilee] into a lake completely devoid of fish."[26] When human mastery grows such that we seriously deplete the numbers of a particular fish, our continued access to this fish quickly diminishes.

Industrial technology has changed the scope and scale of human mastery of the earth. The BP oil spill revealed the consequences of human domination. Today people extract oil thousands of feet below the surface of the sea. In April 2010, a deep-water oil spill released millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. People, birds, fish, and plants in this ecologically-rich region face the decades-long effects of the spill Despite some claims that the oil released simply disappeared, researchers have stated that hydrocarbon levels near the blowout "exceeded background levels by up to 75,000 times." As the oil spreads it has the potential, by blocking sunlight, to decrease algal growth. As algae are at the base of the Gulf food chain, this may present problems for ecosystem health. While less algae at the surface means less falling to the bottom of the Gulf to decompose, an oxygen-consuming process, it is also likely that oil-consuming bacteria will increase in numbers. Because such bacteria also consume oxygen, such an increase in microbial activity may extend the area of the human-caused hypoxic "dead zone" in the Gulf currently caused by fertilizer runoff and sewage discharges that travel down the Mississippi River.[28] Since sea creatures depend on oxygen in the water for their survival, this will likely negatively impact sea life in these areas.

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes, “The real and present challenge to Jews specifically, humanity generally, is to wrestle with the ever more consequential challenges of human action. To believe either that we are accountable to no one, or that G-d will somehow intervene to save us from ourselves, is consistent but irresponsible, and this is not how I read my faith or understand the human condition.”[29]

Rabbi Daniel Kohn links the blessing to subdue (kivshuha) in our verse with the Mishna’s use of ‘subdue’ in a different context. In the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirke Avot), Ben Zoma teaches, “Who is strong? One who subdues his inclinations. As is stated (Proverbs 16:32), "Better… one who rules over his spirit than the captor of a city." That is, spiritual discipline comprises true strength, and not physical prowess. Rabbi Kohn teaches that a person must decide in their own life which desires to subdue and which desires to bring to realization.

Jewish tradition teaches us that we only merit the opportunity to rule the earth if we behave righteously. This includes the spiritual discipline to use our resources wisely, and subdue with a sense of moral responsibility. In our times, we have demonstrated our ability to subdue the earth. A central question facing humanity concerns whether we will exhibit the strength to rein in our desires. If we do not, we may be taken down by our lack of righteousness. May we pray for the strength to conquer our short-term desires, live with righteousness, and merit an enlightened dominion of the planet G-d created.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.com is a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

[1] The author would like to thank Evonne Marzouk for her significant editorial comments.

[2] Genesis 1:28

[3] The explanation of Nachmanides (Ramban) goes in a different direction than many other commentaries. In explaining ‘kivshu’ha,’ ‘subdue it,’ the Ramban emphasizes that G-d gives people the power to uproot trees and to extract resources from the earth through mining, among other human activities vis a vis the earth. Had this permission not been granted, Noah would never had built the ark, and humans would not have entered the Bronze Age.

[4] Or, let others (the besasts) rule over him (footnote of Soncino translation)

[5] Midrash Genesis Raba (Vilna Edition), 8:12. The Maharal explains in Gur Aryeh to Genesis 1:26 that “the verse uses ‘v’yirdu’ for ‘ruling,’ from the root resh-dalet-heh, rather than the more common ‘mashal,’ so that it can be expounded as if it were from the root yud-resh-dalet, ‘declining, degenerating,’ as well.” (From Artscroll Rashi Bereishit)

[6] Rashi to Genesis 1 :26

[7] As contained in footnote 3 of Judaic Classics Library version of Soncino translation.

[8] See the most recent Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, available at www.ipcc.ch

[9] Rabbi Zev Wolff Einhorn in his commentary (Perush Maharzav) to the Midrash explains that this Midrash is explaining the different grammatical uses of the verb ‘to rule’ in verses 26 and 28. In verse 26, before the human being has been created, G-d says about them, ‘v’yirdu,’ in the future tense, meaning ‘and they shall rule over.’ Verse 27 reads ‘And G-d created Man…’ Verse 28 contains G-d’s blessing to people, in the imperative form ‘urdu,’ meaning ‘rule over.’ The Midrash, however, reads the latter verse differently. The lettering can also be read ‘v’yeiradu,’ in the passive form meaning ‘they [people] will be ruled over [by animals].

[10] Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 7:13

[11] The Guide for the Perplexed, 3:13. Another interpretation is provided by Rabbi Daniel Kohn. He writes that “In this [first] story [of Creation] G-d is called Elokim, a name which implies Power, differentiation and judgment. Man is created to be like G-d Who rules by power: “and G-d said we will make man in our image and form and he will rule over…the world.” He is created in the image of G-d, specifically in His manifestation as Elokim… The first story is one of din alone, and is about a world which cannot survive.”

[12] Toldot Yitzhak (Wagshal edition, Jerusalem, 1994) to Bereishit 1:28

[13] He also contrasts this usage with that in the Torah portion of Noah and in Psalms 8:7-9, in which the reverse order of animals– birds– fish is used. He answers by saying that here the Torah uses a ‘not only this, but even that’ formulation which is also seen in the Mishna and Talmud. Rabbi Yitzhak Frank explains that formulation: “Some texts list cases in a climactic sequence—starting from the most obvious case and progressing until the climax, which is the least obvious and hence the most novel case.” Practical Guide to the Talmud, Ariel: Jerusalem, 1995, p. 131

[14] To Genesis 1:26

[15] "A Vision of Vegetarianism and Peace,"by HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook. Edited by HaRav David Kohen, the Nazir of Jerusalem. Translated by Rabbi David Sears.

[16] The Vision of Eden, Orot: Spring Valley, NY, 2003, p. 69-70

[17] Rabbi Kohn also provides an interpretation of the differing commands in the first two chapters of Genesis. He writes, “Genesis chapter 1 can be summarized as a rulership mandate – where people are the ruler and the planet is a servant in the sense of G-d’s name ‘Elokim,’ which signifies din (judgment), of a master-servant relationship where the master subjugates his servant to keep him from becoming independent– an antagonistic relationship. The resources of the earth are here to serve me, since I am their master and they are created for me. Genesis chapter 2 can be summarized as a stewardship mandate, where we are the father and the planet is our child, where the father desires the best for his child – based on Rachamim (compassion), as in the name of G-d ‘Hashem.’ The earth is unfurling of man’s will by man praying for rain and through G-d bringing rain to cause plants to grow.” (From essay on prayer wrriten December 2011.)

[18] “Ecology in Jewish Law and Theology” in Torah of the Earth vol. 1, p. 125. Rabbi Lamm is also the editor of the journal 'Tradition.'

[19] Genesis 2:15

[20] David Roberts, citing a June 2012 tipping point study in the journal Nature, wrote that “it is becoming increasingly clear that the decisions made by people alive today will determine the fate of life on Earth for centuries to come.” Grist Mazagine, 6.11.2012, online at http://grist.org/business-technology/getting-used-to-being-in-charge-of-the-planet/

[21] For a full treatment of this subject, see Wilson, E.O., The Future of Life (2002) and Leakey, Richard, The Sixth Extinction : Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind,

[22] As cited in “Cold war military technologies have devastated global fish populations.” National Geogrphic Magazine, Bijal P. Trivedi, 2.25.2002, online at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0225_0225_TVnomorefish.html

[23] See Clover, Charles (2004). The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat. London: Ebury Press.

[24] "Marine World – Will Atlantic cod ever recover". Ices.dk. http://www.ices.dk/marineworld/recoveryplans.asp.

[25] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/weekinreview/17basics.html by Andrew Revkin

[26] CBN News, “Temporary Fishing Ban for Sea of Galilee,” 11.15.10, online at
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2010/November/Temporary-Fishing-Ban-for-Sea-of-Galilee-/

[27] In "Magnitude and oxidation potential of hydrocarbon gases released from the BP oil well blowout" Samantha B. Joye , Et Al Nature Geoscience 4, 160-164 (2011) http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v4/n3/full/ngeo1067.html

[28] See background sheet from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), online at see http://www.noaa.gov/factsheets/new%20version/dead_zone_oil.pdf).

[29] To Heal a Fractured World, p. 14

Genesis and Human Stewardship of the Earth

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]

The first two chapters of Genesis contain teachings with profound relevance for ourselves and our world today. After creating Adam and Eve, G-d blesses them, saying "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."[2] What does it mean for humans to subdue the earth and have dominion over other creatures?

One of the central precepts of Rabbinic Judaism is that the Written Torah must be understood within the context of the 2,300 year-old rabbinic tradition (including the Midrash and other works) that interprets it. While on the surface the words of this verse appear to give people license to degrade and subdue the earth, the Oral tradition makes clear that a wholly different message is being conveyed.

The Midrash teaches, “Rabbi Chanina said, ‘if he [the human being] merits it then [G-d says] have dominion, while if he does not merit, then [G-d says] he will be taken down.’[3] This teaching links human dominion of creation to humanity’s righteousness: if humanity merits through its righteousness, then it shall rule over nature. But if it does not merit because it does not act in an upright fashion, then humanity itself will descend and not be granted rulership over nature.

Another Midrash makes clear that part of human righteousness involves being stewards of the earth. The Midrash says that G-d showed Adam around the Garden of Eden and said, “Look at my works! See how beautiful they are — how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.”[4] Acting righteously thus involves treating the world with utmost respect; for this the human will merit dominion of creation.

Rabbi David Sears writes that the blessing to dominate “comprises a form of stewardship for which humanity is answerable to G-d. Both Talmudic and Kabbalistic sources state that it is forbidden to kill any creature unnecessarily, or to engage in wanton destruction of the Earth’s resources… The divine mandate for man to dominate the natural world is a sacred trust, not a carte blanche for destructiveness.”[5]

In the Torah, the order of domination is fish-birds-animals: “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." The Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz) explains that man has a greater ability to rule over land animals than birds (out of reach in the sky), and fish (out of reach and out of sight, in the sea). [6] If humans do not merit, then not only will they not dominate the fish, which are harder to catch, but also the birds and animals, which are easier.

Yet a glaring contrast emerges between the Kli Yakar’s 17th century description of the limited human capacity for domination of the animals, birds and fish of the natural world and what we know about the ability of contemporary society to dominate the land, air, and sea of planet earth.

For example, while the Kli Yakar emphasizes that fish are not visible to people, sonar, satellite data and the Global Positioning System (GPS) enable fishermen to effectively ‘see’ giant schools of fish with pinpoint accuracy. According to a study led by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, these changes have contributed to a dramatic fall in fish populations in all of the world's oceans.

When human mastery grows such that we seriously deplete the numbers of a particular fish, our continued access to this fish quickly diminishes. Our lack of righteousness leads us to lose our domination of this resource in the long-term.

Rabbi Daniel Kohn links the blessing to subdue (kivshuha) in our verse with the Mishna’s use of ‘subdue’ in the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirke Avot), in which Ben Zoma teaches, “Who is strong? The person who subdues their inclinations.” Spiritual discipline comprises true strength. A person must decide in their own life which desires to subdue and which desires to bring to realization.

Jewish tradition teaches us that we only merit the opportunity to rule the earth if we behave righteously. This includes the spiritual discipline to use our resources wisely, and subdue with a sense of moral responsibility. In our times, we have demonstrated our ability to subdue the earth. A central question facing humanity concerns whether we will exhibit the strength to rein in our desires. If we do not, we may be taken down by our lack of righteousness. May we summon the strength to conquer our short-term desires, live with righteousness, and merit an enlightened dominion of the planet G-d created.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.com is a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI community for their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

1 The author would like to thank Evonne Marzouk for her helpful editorial comments.

2 Genesis 1:28

3 Or, let others (the besasts) rule over him (footnote of Soncino translation) Midrash Genesis Raba (Vilna Edition), 8:12, translation by Soncino Press. The Maharal explains in Gur Aryeh to Genesis 1:26 that “the verse uses ‘v’yirdu’ for ‘ruling,’ from the root resh-dalet-heh, rather than the more common ‘mashal,’ so that it can be expounded as if it were from the root yud-resh-dalet, ‘declining, degenerating,’ as well.” (From Artscroll Rashi Bereishit)

4 Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 7:13

5 The Vision of Eden, Orot: Spring Valley, NY, 2003, p. 69-70

6 To Genesis 1:26

by Susie Davidson

In his master work "Walden," Henry David Thoreau wrote, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us." Thoreau, who is largely credited as a forefather of the environmental movement, was issuing a dire warning that progress can, ultimately, lead to enslavement. He sensed that for all the conveniences that new modes of transportation, farming, communication and manufacturing could provide, we would ultimately become, for all intents and purposes, mere cogs entwined in our machinery. As the Industrial Revolution in his 19th Century America followed that of Great Britain and Europe, his fellow citizens were excited and empowered by the thought of being able to control their immediate environment and society. But visionaries like Thoreau far preferred to remain closer to the world in its natural state. One wonders if he could even have foreseen the detrimental effects of industry we have come to know – increased pollution, overuse of finite resources, and even global warming.

I could not help but think of Thoreau's quotation when I heard the new report by government scientists naming this July officially the hottest month in the recorded weather history of the contiguous United States. This came as little surprise to many, given the current drought affecting two-thirds of the country and the generally scorching conditions across the continent. Indeed, three of the five hottest months in the history books have been recent: 2012, 2011, and 2006. It is no wonder that NASA scientist James Hansen has declared that we are now in the midst of climate change.

In Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 7:28, we read: "When G-d created the first human. he took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him, 'See my works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy my world – for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.'"

It is sadly ironic to consider that humankind's pursuit of industry, powered by a cavalier desire to control one's surroundings, may in fact lead to a situation of humankind's own making that is, in fact, uncontrollable. Thoreau somehow sensed this. In light of our biblical teachings, we must nonetheless continue to respect the earth even when we feel we are but a tiny cog in the wheel of humanity. As stated in Pirkei Avot 2:21, attributed to Rabbi Tarfon, "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work [of perfecting the world], but neither are you at liberty to desist from it."

Susie Davidson, who coordinates Boston COEJL, is a poet, journalist, author, and filmmaker who writes regularly for the Jewish Advocate, the Jewish Journal, the Jewish Daily Forward, JointMedia News Service and other media, and has contributed to the Jerusalem Post, the Eagle Tribune, the Boston Sunday Globe, and the Boston Herald. She has also authored four books and made a film on local Holocaust survivors.

Praying for a Sustainable World

By Evonne Marzouk

“Change your lightbulb! Call your senator! Buy a hybrid car!” Today’s environmental movement seems to focus strongly on doing. There are things to buy, actions to take, policies to advocate.

It is rare for environmentalists to think of prayer as a tool for change. Yet Jewish teachings express a very different view of prayer.[1] Prayer is one of the key tools that God has given us to change the world, and it is our responsibility and opportunity to pray for the health of the earth and human civilization living on it and with it.

At the moment before the human was first created, the Torah expresses an important lesson about our role in creation:

Now all the plants (siah) of the field were not yet on the earth and all the herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for Hashem G-d had not yet sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to work the soil.” (Gen. 2:5)

Rashi comments based on the Talmud:

For what is the reason that G-d had not yet sent rain, because there was no man to work the land and there was no one to acknowledge the goodness of the rain, and when man came and knew that they (the rain) are a need for the world, he prayed for them and they came down, and the trees and grasses sprouted.”[2]

In this understanding of our creation story, the very first task of the person is recognizing G-d, and then praying to G-d on behalf of creation. As Rabbi Daniel Kohn explains (based on Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook), one of the first acts of humans on this planet was to care for creation – by praying for it.[3]

Traditionally, Jews pray three times a day. The Talmud identifies Isaac as instituting the afternoon prayer service, based on the verse: “And Isaac went out to su’ah in the field before evening” (Gen. 24:63).[4] mThe word “su’ach” is unclear, but the Sages conclude that he was praying based on the linguistic similarity between this word and another reference for prayer in the Psalms.

Based on this, Rabbi Natan Sternhartz teaches: “Meditation and prayer are called 'sichah.' A plant or shrub is called 'si'ach.' When the plants of the field begin to return to life and grow, they all yearn to be included in one's sichah, in meditation and prayer."[5] This implies that not only does G-d want our prayers for the creation – the natural world is seeking them, as well.

Perhaps reflecting the importance of the prayer-human-creation relationship, the liturgy of Jewish prayers is filled with nature imagery and recognition of our dependence on natural resources. Nature takes on symbolic roles in relationship to humanity, to G-d, and to righteous activities for which we are encouraged to strive:

“A righteous person will flourish like a date palm, like a cedar in the Lebanon he will grow tall. Planted in the house of Hashem, in the courtyards of our G-d they will flourish. They will still be fruitful in old age, vigorous and fresh they will be.”[6]

Jewish prayers also help us recall and appreciate the beauty and consistency of nature, and how much we rely upon it and its Creator. This constancy is alluded to in the Psalm (repeated each morning in the Jewish liturgy):

“He Who illuminates the earth and those who dwell upon it, with compassion; and in His goodness renews daily, perpetually, the work of creation.”[7]

These nature-centric verses in the Jewish liturgy remind us to be grateful to G-d for providing the natural world we live in, and themselves serve as a prayer for continued blessing of natural resources.

Many of us long to make a difference in healing the world today. According to Jewish mystical teachings, our desire to make a difference comes from our souls.[8] Prayers are the language of the soul, and by praying we can affect ourselves and the world around us. It is also a basic Jewish understanding that when we pray, G-d listens and acts on the physical reality based on our prayer. Jewish tradition is filled with descriptions of these types of effective prayers.[9][10]

Jewish teachings help us realize that a moment spent in prayer is an active moment, with the power to make a difference. When we pray with a community, we become connected to the needs of the community and the rest of the world. To pray on behalf of the entire planet is to summon the entire earth within us.

Prayer is a vision for what can become, with a heart full of hope, inspiring a brighter future. Today, perhaps the most important thing for us all to pray for is the health of the earth and of a return to balance within human civilization. Let us pray.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.comis a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI communityfor their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Evonne Marzouk is the founder and Executive Director of Canfei Nesharim: Sustainable Living Inspired by Torah.

[1] This article reflects a meaningful approach to Jewish prayer focusing on its relationship to nature and protecting the environment. This represents one Jewish understanding of prayer. Within our rich tradition, of course, there are others as well.

[2] Rashi to Genesis 2:5, s.v. ki lo himtir, based on Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Chullin p. 60b.

[3] Essays on Prayer, distributed in 2011.

[4] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Brachot 26b

[5] Sichot HaRaN

[6] Psalms 92:13-15, translation of Artscroll Siddur.

[7] Morning blessings before Shema, as found in Artscroll Siddur, p 85-87.

[8] Based on the teachings of Rabbi Daniel Kohn on prayer, taught at Yeshivat Hamivtar in 2010.

[9] For example, Moses’ prayer for forgiveness, Exodus 32:32

[10] For example, Chanah’s prayer for a child, I Samuel 1:11

Praying for a Sustainable World

By Evonne Marzouk[1]

“Change your lightbulb! Call your senator! Buy a hybrid car! Think global, act local!” Sound familiar? These are today’s strongest environmental messages, the messages of action that we most likely associate with protecting the environment.

Today’s environmental movement seems to focus strongly on doing. There are things to buy, actions to take, petitions to sign, policies to advocate. It is rare for environmentalists to think of prayer as a tool for change. Many people in today’s society think of prayer as a passive, contemplative activity – a break from action.

Jewish leachings express a very different view of prayer.[2] The paradigm was established over 3,000 years ago in Egypt: “We cried out to G-d and He heard our voice; He sent an emissary and took us out of Egypt.”[3] The Midrash, part of the Jewish oral tradition, teaches based on this verse of a special power of Jews praying and G-d hearing their prayer.[4] What is true for the people is also true for their leader. The Midrash teaches that the greatest power of Moses, the leader of the Jewish people, was his communication with God via his mouth.[5] For example, when the desert tribe of Amalek attacked the Israelites in the desert, Moses' response was to act at both a physical and a spiritual level. He appointed Joshua to lead Israelite soldiers in battle, and then ascended a mountain to pray to God for the Israelites' success.[6] The Torah makes clear that his prayer– and not the military prowess of Joshua or his soldiers—was what decided the battle.

Prayer is one of the key tools that God has given us to change the world. As we will see, it is our responsibility and opportunity to pray for the health of the earth and human civilization living on it and with it.

Created to Pray

At the moment before the human was first created, the Torah expresses an important lesson about our role in creation.

Now all the plants (siah) of the field were not yet on the earth and all the herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for Hashem G-d had not yet sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to work the soil.” (Gen. 2:5)

What was this human role in relationship to rain and land? Rashi comments based on the Talmud:

For what is the reason that G-d had not yet sent rain, because there was no man to work the land and there was no one to acknowledge the goodness of the rain, and when man came and knew that they (the rain) are a need for the world, he prayed for them and they came down, and the trees and grasses sprouted”[7]

The rabbis teach that human beings’ prayers for rain are what make plants grow. In this understanding of our creation story, the role of the human being is apparent. The very first task of the person is recognizing G-d, and then praying to G-d on behalf of creation. As Rabbi Daniel Kohn explains (based on Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook), one of the first acts of humans on this planet was to care for creation – by praying for it.[8]

The verse immediately before this lesson states: “These are the products of the heaven and the earth when they were created on the day that Hashem G-d made earth and heaven” (Gen. 2:4). The proximity of these two verses demonstrates the direct connection between G-d’s creating of theearth and the tending of the creation, to be done by human beings. In other words, G-d created it in order for us to tend to it. Our integral role, however, is not exclusively through our actions. It is also through our prayers.

Many Jewish environmentalists have focused on another verse in Genesis: the instruction “to work and to protect” the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15). Interestingly, some commentators understand the “l’ovda” (to work) as spiritual work: meaning prayer. Understood this way, our human responsibility is two-fold – to pray for it and to protect it.[9]

Praying for Creation

Traditionally, Jews pray three times a day, in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The Talmud cites a verse from the Book of Genesis to establish each prayer. The afternoon prayer, established by Isaac, has an interesting connection to nature. It is written:

Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer service, as it is said, “And Isaac went out to su’ah in the field before evening” (Gen. 24:63); and [the Talmud goes on to explain] there is no sihah except prayer, as it is said, “A prayer of the afflicted man when he swoons, and pours forth his supplications (siho) before Hashem” (Ps. 102:1).[10]

What was Isaac doing in the field before evening? The word “su’ach” is unclear, but the Sages conclude that he was praying based on the linguistic similarity between this word and another reference for prayer in the Psalms. If we contrast this word with the verse from Genesis above (“Now all the plants (siah) of the field were not yet on the earth”) we can see that there is also a relationship between the root of the word for prayer and the word for plants.

Rabbi Natan Sternhartz teaches: Meditation and prayer are called 'sichah.' A plant or shrub is called 'si'ach.' When the plants of the field begin to return to life and grow, they all yearn to be included in one's sichah, in meditation and prayer."[11] This implies that not only does G-d want our prayers for the creation – the natural world is seeking them, as well.

Other Jewish teachings also imply that every aspect of creation has its own special song, the basis of the text known as Perek Shira (literally, Chapter of Song). This understanding would seem to indicate that all non-human aspects of creation – inanimate, vegetable, and animal – are themselves constantly praying to G-d.[12]

Nature in our Prayers

Perhaps reflecting the importance of the prayer-human-creation relationship, the liturgy of Jewish prayers is filled with nature imagery and recognition of our dependence on natural resources. Nature plays a prominent role in the liturgy, taking on symbolic roles in relationship to humanity, to G-d, and to righteous activities for which we are encouraged to strive.

Numerous verses in the traditional liturgy identify nature as a commendable example, either for praise to G-d or in the righteousness identified within the natural systems. For example:

“Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all bright stars. Praise Him, the most exalted of the heavens and the waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the Name of Hashem, for He commanded and they were created…Praise Hashem from the earth, sea giants and all watery depths. Fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word. Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars. Beasts and all cattle, crawling things and winged fowl.”[13]

“A righteous person will flourish like a date palm, like a cedar in the Lebanon he will grow tall. Planted in the house of Hashem, in the courtyards of our G-d they will flourish. They will still be fruitful in old age, vigorous and fresh they will be.”[14]

Jewish prayers also help us recall and appreciate the beauty and consistency of nature, and how much we rely upon it and its Creator. Because the rhythms of nature are so constant, we may forget how special it is that the sun rises each day, that waters continue to flow in the streams, and that intricate ecosystems thrive with numerous creatures in our forests and preserves. Aside from their intrinsic worth, these things also have a value to human beings. Without the water we drink, without the sun to warm the earth, without the rain – without any of these aspects of creation, we would not be able to survive. Environmental economists have termed nature’s processes ‘ecosystem services,’ and have valued them in the tens of trillions of dollars per year.[15] This constancy is alluded to in the Psalm (repeated each morning in the Jewish liturgy):

“He Who illuminates the earth and those who dwell upon it, with compassion; and in His goodness renews daily, perpetually, the work of creation. How great are Your works, Hashem, You make them all with wisdom, the world is full of Your possessions.”[16]

These nature-centric verses in the Jewish liturgy remind us to be grateful to G-d for providing the natural world we live in, and themselves serve as a prayer for continued blessing of natural resources.

Healing the World: Through Prayer

Many of us long to make a difference in healing the world today. We may assume that our instinct to improve the world comes from our minds, our genes, or the society in which we live. According to Jewish mystical teachings, our desire to make a difference comes from our souls. The soul has experienced true bliss in the place where it comes from, and it knows that more is possible in this world. The soul sees that things in this world have not achieved their full potential. Our soul is the part of us that is not satisfied with the way things are and desires healing for the world.[17] Prayers are the language of the soul, and by praying we can affect ourselves and the world around us.

As souls seeking healing for our world, what can we pray for? At the general level, we can pray for the wisdom of our leaders, for more committed action by the Jewish community, for the success of our individual projects, and for all involved in the effort to build a more sustainable world. More specifically, we can pray for the strength to make environmentally positive choices, for the health of other species, and for people who are affected by environmental tragedies.

According to Rabbi Daniel Kohn (based on Rashi according to the Talmud), prayer is a tool for changing the world because by praying, we change our inner reality. Since we are part of the world, by praying, we become more complete and then bring that completeness into our world. Our inner life is the part of the world that we have the most influence upon; by changing our inner life through prayer, we bring goodness into the world. In this way, prayer is an active and critical part of our difference-making work.

In addition, it is a basic Jewish understanding that when we pray, G-d listens and acts on the physical reality based on our prayer. Jewish tradition is filled with descriptions of these types of effective prayers, from Moses’ prayer for forgiveness[18] to Chanah’s prayer for a child[19]. It is also a basic Jewish teaching that it is our responsibility to pray for the people and projects for which we are responsible.[20]

One prayer may make a world of difference, but the combined prayers of hundreds or thousands of people may, perhaps, inspire change on a global scale. A physical action like biking instead of driving impacts this process by reducing the amount of carbon emitted. A spiritual action like praying works at the transcendent level and may subtly generate far-reaching changes.

Jewish teachings help us realize that a moment spent in prayer is an active moment, with the power to make a difference. When we pray with a community, we become connected to the needs of the community and the rest of the world. To pray on behalf of the entire planet is to summon the entire earth within us. The more a person cares about this world and turns to G-d to make it complete and whole, the more G-d gives.

Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook emphasized the positive spiritual value of a person singing their song with all of God's creatures. He wrote:

Then there is one who rises toward wider horizons, until he links himself with all existence, with all God's creatures, with all worlds, and he sings his song with all of them. It is of one such as this that tradition has said that whoever sings a portion of song each day is assured of having a share in the World to Come.[21]

Prayer is a vision for what can become, with a heart full of hope, inspiring a brighter future. Today, perhaps the most important thing for us all to pray for is the health of the earth and of a return to balance within human civilization. Let us pray.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.comis a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI communityfor their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Evonne Marzouk is the founder and Executive Director of Canfei Nesharim: Sustainable Living Inspired by Torah.

[1] The author acknowledges Rabbi Yonatan Neril for his helpful editorial suggestions on this piece.

[2] This article reflects a meaningful approach to Jewish prayer focusing on its relationship to nature and protecting the environment. This represents one Jewish understanding of prayer. Within our rich tradition, of course, there are others as well.

[3] Numbers 20:16

[4] Midrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 9, cited in Rashi to Numbers 20:16.

[5] Midrash Tanchuma, 3, cited in Rashi (Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki, France, 1040-1105 C.E.) to Numbers 22:4.

[6] Exodus 17:8-13.

[7] Rashi to Genesis 2:5, s.v. ki lo himtir, based on Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Chullin p. 60b.

[8] Essays on Prayer, distributed in 2011.

[9]As explained by R' Natan Greenberg. The Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, b. Mir, Russia, 1816 – d. Warsaw, Poland, August 10, 1893, in his commentary Harchiv Davar) teaches on Gen 2:15 that the 'work' of Gan Eden was spiritual work, and not agricultural work. Rabbi Greenberg connects this to the inherent link between people's spiritual work and the maintenance of the world.

[10]Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Brachot 26b

[11] Sichot HaRaN

[12] As explained by Rabbi Avraham Aryeh Trugman in The Mystical Power of Music, p. 66.

[13] Psalms 148:1-10, translation of Artscroll Siddur.

[14] Psalms 92:13-15, translation of Artscroll Siddur.

[15]“The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital,” Costanza et. al, Nature 387, 253 – 260 (15 May 1997); online at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v387/n6630/abs/387253a0.html The article notes that “for the entire biosphere, the value (most of which is outside the market) is estimated to be in the range of US$16–54 trillion (1012) per year, with an average of US$33trillion per year. Because of the nature of the uncertainties, thismust be considered a minimum estimate. Global gross national product total is around US$18 trillion per year."

[16] Morning blessings before Shema, as found in Artscroll Siddur, p 85-87.

[17] Based on the teachings of Rabbi Daniel Kohn on prayer, taught at Yeshivat Hamivtar in 2010.

[18] Exodus 32:32

[19] I Samuel 1:11

[20] The model for this behavior is the High Priest who, during Temple times, was expected to pray for his generation. See Babylonian Talmud, tractate Makkos 11a, as cited in To Kindle A Soul: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Parents and Teachers by Lawrence Kelemen, p. 66.

[21] Orot HaKodesh vol. II, p. 444-445, translation by Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman in The Mystical Power of Music, p.132

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Resources . 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.

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The tenth topic in the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment, Water: Appreciating a Limited Resource, has just been released!

Human beings depend on a sufficient supply of high quality fresh water for their survival. Because of this essential dependence, Jewish sources equate water with life. By recognizing our dependence on water, and ultimately our dependence on G-d, we can strengthen our appreciation and protection of our precious natural resources, and our relationship with the Creator of the world.

See all Passing the Test of Water: Appreciating a Limited Resourse!

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Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Water: Appreciating a Limited Resource. 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 Water: Appreciating a Limited Resource!

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Water: Appreciating a Limited Resource

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]

Human beings depend on a sufficient supply of high quality fresh water for their survival. Because of this essential dependence, Jewish sources equate water with life.[2] By recognizing our dependence on water, and ultimately our dependence on G-d, we can strengthen our appreciation and protection of our precious natural resources, and our relationship with the Creator of the world.

Water in the Desert

Even before the Israelites entered the land of Israel, water was central to their collective experience. In the desert, uncertainty about water resources inspired numerous complaints and lessons for the wandering Jews.[3] The Talmud teaches that in the merit of Miriam's song, a well appeared in the desert which accompanied the Jews wherever they went.[4] G-d gave us this essential resource, without which we could not live for more than a few days, in the water-scarce desert. But the long-term security of the resource was never certain.

The Biblical experiences with water in the desert can be understood as a spiritual training to cultivate appreciation for G-d's goodness. Through the process of taking water for granted, losing it and then receiving it directly from G-d, the desert wanderers certainly appreciated water and the One Who provided it. The Prophet Jeremiah refers to G-d as the 'Source of Living Waters,'[5] since water is one of the chief means by which G-d provides life to people. Thus, at the end of the Jews' desert experience, they sang an exultant song about their appreciation to God for water.[6]

Water in the Land of Israel

Upon entering Israel, the experience of water scarcity continued for our ancestors, living in an agrarian society whose bounty or famine was regulated by rain. The Talmud teaches that G-d directly waters the land of Israel and the rest of the world is watered by a messenger.[7] Yet Israel is a semi-arid country with no major rivers. It receives modest rainfall, averaging less than 100 millimeters per year in the extreme south to 1,128 millimeters in the north.[8] (By comparison, New York City averages between 710 and 1140 millimeters of precipitation per year.[9]) Why is it that the one land in the world that G-d waters directly is a land that receives far less water than many other lands? Since water is a sign of blessing, would not the Pacific Northwest or the rainforests of Brazil or Indonesia be more appropriate candidates for the Promised Land?

This water insecurity is by Divine design,[10] to help us realize that G-d is the ultimate Provider of water and all our needs. The Land of Israel contrasts with the land on both sides of the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris rivers. In those river valleys, farmers are able to irrigate their crops year-round from a reliable water source. Yet until the 20^th century, most agriculture in Israel was rain-fed and not irrigated. The seven species that the Torah associates with the Land of Israel (grapes, olives, dates, pomegranates, figs, wheat, and barley) are all species that do not require irrigation in order to survive.[11] The farmers who planted, tended, and harvested these particular crops depended on the winter rains in order to eat and live. In their acute need for rain each year, they depended on the G-d who provided it, a spiritual reality that was not present in the more water abundant river valleys of nearby civilizations.

Appreciating Water through Prayers and Blessings

Jewish prayers and texts reinforce this message and remind us of what our ancestors knew about water. Our prayers and texts are replete with appreciation for rain, profound recognition of the importance of water, prayers imploring G-d to provide us with water, and gratitude for the rains when they come. For example, Dr. Jeremy Benstein notes that Biblical Hebrew contains at least six different words to describe liquid precipitation (geshem, matar, yoreh, malkosh, revivim, se'irim), which denote different times and intensities of rainfall.[12] For example, yoreh refers to the early rains of October, and malkosh refers to the late rains of April.

Furthermore, the Talmud records: “Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: 'We give thanks to You, Hashem, our G-d for every single drop which you have caused to fall upon us.'”[13]This is said at the beginning of each fall rainy season. And the Talmud teaches, "The day when rain falls is as great as the day on which heaven and earth were created.”[14] Kabbalistically, water symbolizes consciousness,[15] and is thus an appropriate means through which we cultivate our awareness of G-d. Praying for rain helps develop our relationship with our Creator by reminding us that G-d provides us water – along with everything else we need – each day.

Water in Our Times

Today, the industrialization of water distribution has increased the availability of water yet reduced our appreciation of its importance. We generally do not see where food is grown or the rain or irrigation that waters the crops. In Israel, for example, the National Water Carrier distributing water from the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and electric pumping of the underground aquifers has enabled irrigation of most Jewish farmland, increasing crop yields. Most recently, desalinization of Mediterranean seawater is becoming an increasing source of freshwater to fulfill increasing demand and to make up for expected future decrease supply from these other sources. (However, desalinization requires a significant amount of energy to produce the water.) Throughout the world, irrigation through electric pumping of water has transformed crop production. For households, piped water now comes directly to us, replacing reliance on local water sources.

These innovations have relieved us from transporting water from streams and cisterns to our homes. While this represents a tremendous improvement in quality of life, it also blinds us to where water comes from – both physically and spiritually. With this, we have lost the deep-seated experience of the preciousness of water. For many, this is partly a spiritual loss: lacking the sense of our ultimate dependence on G-d for all our needs. But it also has very significant practical impacts, because whereappreciation ends, misuse begins.

The world increasingly faces a water crisis, experienced most by those in Africa, South Asia, and China. A lack of sufficient drinking water is recognized to be a leading cause of death in the world. Some 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe drinking-water sources.[16] The United Nations Environment Program notes that two-thirds of the world's population is likely to face water stress by 2025, a result of “climate change, uncontrolled urbanization, unplanned water withdrawal and inappropriate water policies.”[17]

In the United States, many counties in the West and Southeast experience increasing water scarcity, with government agencies forced to regulate consumption or call for conservation.[18]Over-pumping of groundwater in Texas, India, and elsewhere threatens the agricultural future of many farmers.^[19]

In the Land of Israel, Israel’s main aquifers and the Sea of Galilee have dipped below their red lines in recent years, endangering water quality.[20] This has been due to increasing demand and overall reduced rainfall. The Israeli Ministry of the Environment has warned that “Preservation of the country's scant water sources may be the greatest challenge facing Israel today.”[21]

Piped water and irrigated fields give us the misimpression that the availability of fresh water is virtually limitless. Yet freshwater is scarce on planet earth.[22] And these technologies obscure how water is becoming even more limited due to a plethora of factors, among them increasing demand, climate change, and pollution of freshwater supplies. Can human society simultaneously enjoy pumped and piped water and use it wisely?

For modern use of water to continue in the long-term, we will have to develop a deeper water awareness. That is where the teachings of our 3000-year old tradition come in. These teachings on rain and water can help us cultivate an appreciation for water, and inspire us every day to value and protect everything we use.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

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 Teaching 10 Water Appreciating a Limited Resource!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

[1] Evonne Marzouk contributed significantly to the development of this article.

[2] Avot of Rabbi Natan 34:10. This introduction is based on Dr. Akiva Wolff's “Water: A Sukkos Drash”

[3] See, for example, Numbers 20:3

[4] Midrash Tanchuma Bamidbar 2 and Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit 9a,. When Miriam dies, the well goes away (see Numbers 20:1-2)

[5] Jeremiah 2:12, 17:13

[6] Numbers 21:17

[7] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta’anit 10a, citing Job 5:10. Thus when rain is withheld in Israel, it is because of Divine intervention in response to Israel's actions, as the second paragraph of Shema makes clear.

[8] "Climate: Israel". U.S. Library of Congress, online at http://countrystudies.us/israel/36.htm

[9] Normals & Extremes, Central Park, New York, 1869 to Present, National Weather Service Forecast Office, 01 April 2006.

[10] For example, Rabbi Alex Israel teaches regarding rain in the Land of Israel: “The dependency of the mountain-land makes it a difficult place to live. Throughout the book of Genesis we read of periodic famine in Canaan. Israel is destined to live a life of dependency on God. This is Israel's legacy, its historic challenge. The land of Israel is naturally insecure and that is precisely the reason that it was destined for Israel.”Commentary to Parshat Eikev, 5766, originally posted on website of Midreshet Lindenbaum, Jerusaslem.

[11] Jewish National Fund, written site information at Ein Sataf, Israel. The wheat and barley were planted during the winter rains. Fig and date trees survive near water sources, while olives trees, grapevines, and pomegranate trees are able to subsist on the water they receive in the world during the six months from April to October when it usually does not rain in Israel.

[12] “Forgotten Language of Rain,” Jerusalem Report, Fall 2005. Moses uses four of the words in one verse of Torah (Deuteronomy 32:2)

[13] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit, p. 6b

[14] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Ta'anit 7b, Artscroll translation.

[15] See, for example, Sefer Yetzira.

[16] The 2010 Report of the World Health Organization/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, available online at http://www.wssinfo.org/download.php?id_document=1289

[17] “Note of the Executive Director,” 2003, available online at www.unep.org/GC/GC22/Document/K0263442.doc

[18] Andrew Gumbel, “The wrath of 2007: America's great drought,” The In dependent (UK) June 11, 2007, available online at http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2643033.ece

[19] Ogallala Aquifer: Water Hotspots, BBC News 2003, online at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/world/03/world_forum/water/html/ogallala_aquifer.stm

[20] Summer 2008, from Israeli Ministry of the Environment, www.environment.gov.il and Adam Teva v'Din, www.adamteva.org.il

[21] Israeli Ministry of the Environment, “The Environment in Israel,” 2002, p. 73

[22] The Science Advisory Board of Canfei Nesharim writes: “Although water is seemingly abundant, the amount of fresh water is not. 97.5% of all water on Earth is salt water, leaving only 2.5% as fresh water. Nearly 70% of that fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland; most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human use. Less than 1% of the world's fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses. This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. Only this amount is regularly renewed by rain and snowfall and is therefore available on a sustainable basis. Water, however, is not equally distributed. Of the very small amount of water that is usable by humans, approximately 20% is in the Great Lakes of North America (equal to 84% of all surface freshwater in the US, with another 20% in the Russian Lake Baikal.”

Water: Appreciating a Limited Resource

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]

Human beings depend on a sufficient supply of high quality fresh water for their survival. Because of this essential dependence, Jewish sources equate water with life.[2] By recognizing our dependence on water, and ultimately our dependence on G-d, we can strengthen our appreciation and protection of our precious natural resources, and our relationship with the Creator of the world.

Even before the Israelites entered the land of Israel, water was central to their collective experience. In the desert, uncertainty about water resources inspired numerous complaints and lessons for the wandering Jews.[3] The Talmud teaches that in the merit of Miriam's song, a well appeared in the desert which accompanied the Jews wherever they went (Tractate Ta'anit 9a).[4] G-d gave us this essential resource, without which we could not live for more than a few days, in the water-scarce desert. But in the desert the long-term security of the resource was never certain.

The Biblical experiences with water in the desert can be understood as a spiritual training to cultivate appreciation for G-d's goodness. Through the process of taking water for granted, losing it and then receiving it directly from G-d, the desert wanderers certainly appreciated water and the One Who provided it. The Prophet Jeremiah refers to G-d as the 'Source of Living Waters,' since water is one of the chief means by which G-d provides life to people (Jeremiah 2:12, 17:13). Thus, at the end of the Jews' desert experience, they sang an exultant song about their appreciation to God for water (Numbers 21:17).

In the Land of Israel prior to modern times, the agrarian society’s bounty or famine was regulated by rain. Israel is a semi-arid country with no major rivers. It receives modest rainfall, averaging less than 100 millimeters per year in the extreme south to 1,128 millimeters in the north.[5] Until the 20th century, most agriculture in Israel was rain-fed and not irrigated; farmers depended on the winter rains in order to eat and live. This water insecurity is by Divine design[6], to help us realize that G-d is the ultimate Provider not only of water, but all our needs.[7]

Jewish prayers and texts reinforce this message and remind us of what our ancestors knew about water. Our prayers and texts are replete with appreciation for rain, profound recognition of the importance of water, prayers imploring G-d to provide us with water, and gratitude for the rains when they come. For example, Dr. Jeremy Benstein notes that Biblical Hebrew contains at least six different words to describe liquid precipitation (geshem, matar, yoreh, malkosh, revivim, se'irim), which denote different times and intensities of rainfall.[8]

Today, the industrialization of water distribution has increased the availability of water yet reduced our appreciation of its importance. We generally do not see where food is grown or the rain or irrigation that waters the crops. Piped water now comes directly to us, replacing reliance on local water sources.

These innovations have relieved us from the burden of transporting water from streams and cisterns to our homes. However, they have blinded us to where water our comes from – both physically and spiritually. With this, we have lost the deep-seated experience of the preciousness of water. For many, this is partly a spiritual loss: lacking the sense of our ultimate dependence on G-d for all our needs. But it also has very significant practical impacts, because whereappreciation ends, misuse begins.

The world increasingly faces a water crisis, experienced most by those in Africa, South Asia, and China. A lack of sufficient drinking water is recognized to be a leading cause of death in the world. The World Health Organization reports that some 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe drinking-water sources.[9]In the United States, many counties in the West and Southeast experience increasing water scarcity, with government agencies forced to regulate consumption or call for conservation.[10]And in the Land of Israel, Israel’s main aquifers and Lake Kinneret have dipped below their red lines in recent years, endangering water quality.[11]

Piped water and irrigated fields give us the misimpression that the availability of fresh water is virtually limitless. Yet freshwater is scarce on planet earth.[12] These technologies also obscure that water is becoming even more limited due to a plethora of factors, among them increasing demand, climate change, and pollution of freshwater supplies. Can human society simultaneously enjoy pumped and piped water and use it wisely?

For modern use of water to continue in the long-term, we will have to develop a deeper water awareness. That is where the teachings of our 3000-year old tradition come in. Theseteachings on rain and water can help us cultivate an appreciation for water, and inspire us every day to value and protect our resources — and everything we use.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

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 Teaching 10 Water Appreciating a Limited Resource!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

[1] Evonne Marzouk contributed significantly to the development of this piece.

[2] Avot of Rabbi Natan 34:10. This introduction is based on Dr. Akiva Wolff's “Water: A Sukkos Drash”

[3] See, for example, Numbers 20:3

[4] See also Midrash Tanchuma Bamidbar 2. When Miriam dies, the well goes away (see Numbers 20:1-2)

[5] "Climate: Israel". U.S. Library of Congress, online at http://countrystudies.us/israel/36.htm By comparison, New York City averages between 710 and 1140 millimeters of precipitation per year.Normals & Extremes, Central Park, New York, 1869 to Present, National Weather Service Forecast Office, 01 April 2006.

[6] For example, Rabbi Alex Israel teaches regarding rain in the Land of Israel: “The dependency of the mountain-land makes it a difficult place to live. Throughout the book of Genesis we read of periodic famine in Canaan. Israel is destined to live a life of dependency on God. This is Israel's legacy, its historic challenge. The land of Israel is naturally insecure and that is precisely the reason that it was destined for Israel.”Commentary to Parshat Eikev, 5766, originally posted on website of Midreshet Lindenbaum, Jerusaslem.

[7] The Talmud teaches that G-d directly waters the land of Israel and the rest of the world is watered by a messenger, as Job 5:10 says. Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 10a. Thus when rain is withheld in Israel, it is because of Divine intervention in response to Israel's actions, as the second paragraph of Shema makes clear.

[8] “Forgotten Language of Rain,” Jerusalem Report, Fall 2005

[9] The 2010 Report of the World Health Organization/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, available online at http://www.wssinfo.org/download.php?id_document=1289

[10] Andrew Gumbel, “The wrath of 2007: America's great drought,” The In dependent (UK) June 11, 2007, available online at http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2643033.ece

[11] Summer 2008, from Israeli Ministry of the Environment, www.environment.gov.il and Adam Teva v'Din, www.adamteva.org.il

[12] The Science Advisory Board of Canfei Nesharim writes: “Although water is seemingly abundant, the amount of fresh water is not. 97.5% of all water on Earth is salt water, leaving only 2.5% as fresh water. Nearly 70% of that fresh water is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland; most of the remainder is present as soil moisture, or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater not accessible to human use. Less than 1% of the world's fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses. This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. Only this amount is regularly renewed by rain and snowfall and is therefore available on a sustainable basis. Water, however, is not equally distributed. Of the very small amount of water that is usable by humans, approximately 20% is in the Great Lakes of North America (equal to 84% of all surface freshwater in the US, with another 20% in the Russian Lake Baikal.”

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Passing the Test of Wealth: A Challenge for Our Time. 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 Passing the Test of Wealth: A Challenge for our Time materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

Passing the Test of Wealth: A Challenge for Our Time

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]

The Talmud teaches that money is what stands a person on their feet.[2] The holy, conscious use of the physical world is a key means to serving G-d. Wealth can provide us with food, clothing, shelter and other needs. For one who is wealthy, proper use of wealth can be a force for positive change in the world.

The Talmudic sage Rabbi Ilai teaches that a person is revealed through actions in three areas, one of them being how one uses their money.[3] A different sage, Rabbi Yochanan, teaches that G-d’s Immanent Presence only rests on a person who is strong, rich, wise, and humble.[4] According to the Talmud, Moses was wealthy — and even used his wealth to carve the second set of tablets for the Ten Commandments.[5] The Judges he appointed over the Jewish people were also wealthy, so that they would not play favorites, according to Jewish sources.[6]

The Jewish tradition does not call for living as ascetics or in poverty. However, wealth can be a corrupting influence. Money and wealth, meant to be in service of higher aspirations and lofty deeds (such as charity), can instead become the aspiration itself. The means then become the end, and wealth changes from being an instrument for good to something that diminishes a person spiritually.

The Torah's narrative about the Exodus, receiving the Torah, and the Israelite experience in the desert teach us about a Jewish approach to material consumption. We will examine these experiences in turn.

The Exodus and Material Wealth

Rabbi Natan of Breslov teaches that Egypt was the heart of materialism – and was pervaded by a lust for money so intense it became like idol worship.[7] This powerful material desire led to the enslavement of the Israelites, in order to build Egypt's material infrastructure.

Part of Egypt's abundance (as a result of the fertility of the Nile River valley) was used in idol worship and in gratifying the elite's feeling of power. For example, Egyptians worshiped sheep as G-ds[8] because of their value. The Midrash teaches that the Egyptians even risked and lost their lives by pursuing the Israelites into the sea, in order to recapture the slave population and regain the wealth the Israelites had taken.[9] This irrational and spiritually unhealthy attachment to property is one aspect of what G-d wanted the Israelites to leave behind when they departed from Egypt.

According to Jewish sources, G-d charged the Israelites with the task of uplifting the wealth they took from Egypt, through holy use.[10] The Israelites brought out the holy potential in the Egyptians’ gold and silver by using them to create the Tabernacle, a physical vessel — a portable Temple in the desert — as the dwelling place for G-d in the world. After building this Tabernacle, they were also to elevate their remaining wealth by using it according to the commandments in the Torah, including doing acts of kindness to others.

Thus, when the Israelites emptied Egypt's wealth– the greatest resources available in the world at the time– they brought those physical things towards the purpose for which they were created, i.e. serving G-d. They passed a spiritual test, as well as a physical one. In so doing, they avoided the fate the Egyptians succumbed to in the Sea of Reeds.

Contrasting the Egyptians’ obsession with wealth with the Israelite use of wealth for holy purposes, we can begin to understand a Jewish approach to wealth.

Do Not Covet and Jealousy

A second lesson regarding a Jewish approach to wealth can be found in the Ten Commandments, received after the Exodus from Egypt. These commandmentsculminate with the 10^th commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbor.”[11]

The Torah emphasizes not coveting what your neighbor has. The Torah does not say ‘do not covet a home,’ but ‘do not covet your neighbor’s home.’ Rabbi Daniel Kohn, a contemporary teacher in Jerusalem, links coveting to jealousy, i.e. feeling that one is not receiving what one should from the world. Jealousy is being upset with a perceived lack, based on what others have.

It would seem easy to avoid coveting what others have, especially when we are grateful for what we do have. Yet we find ourselves struggling with this commandment – wanting what others have, even though we know we shouldn’t. Why do people covet?

Coveting is grounded in a poor sense of what one needs and what one does not need. Given our path in life, there may be certain things we need and certain things we do not. Accordingly, Rabbi Kohn notes that coveting – wanting what another has – arises when a person loses sight of their actual needs. The person then begins to desire things for the wrong reasons: because others have it, or because having ‘it’ will give them pleasure or a feeling of power or importance. Due to our poor sense of what we need, we compare ourselves to others, and even judge our own value by how much we have.

When we are comparing ourselves to others, it may seem that we need the latest gadget: a new iPod or tablet computer, perhaps. Everyone else seems to be using them, so it must be something we need as well. At that point, it is worthwhile to look at what we actually need – and what is just coveting what another has.

Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg[12] relates the command not to covet to another one: “You shall love the Eternal One your G-d with all your heart.”[13] He explains that the Torah emphasizes loving G-d with all of one’s heart to teach that a person should be fully committed to Divine service, and not split between love of the Eternal and love of physical pleasures.

In other words, what the heart yearns for is intimacy for G-d: a connection with a higher reality. When it does not get that, it covets things from the material world. These things cannot nourish the soul’s true hunger; it’s like drinking soda when the body needs real nourishment. Accordingly, when we covet physical objects, each time we get one we are not satisfied – we need another thing not long after buying the first one.

The Torah instructs us that to address an unhealthy materialistic lifestyle, we should increase our spiritual connection to G-d. In this way, spiritual satisfaction serves as a check against runaway consumerism.

The Midrash teaches that G-d “caused [Israel] to hear the Ten Commandments since they are the core of the Torah and essence of the mitzvot (commandments), and they end with the commandment ‘Do not covet,’ since all of them depend on [this commandment], to hint that for anyone who fulfills this commandment, it is as if they fulfill the entire Torah."[14] Rabeinu Bachya teaches that 'do not covet' seals the Ten Commandments because it is as weighty as all the other nine commandments, in that transgressing it will lead a person to violate the other commandments.[15]

“Do not covet” thus stands as one of the central messages of Divine revelation, and especially relevant in a time of rampant consumer desire. So a second Jewish lesson regarding our use of resources is that we can reduce our desire for physical things by finding other sources of spiritual satisfaction, and by deepening our spiritual connection to G-d.

Korach and Material Wealth

The story of Korach, following the receipt of the Ten Commandments, conveys a final Jewish teaching on material wealth. Korach, a leading member of the Israelite tribe of Levi, assembled a group of 250 prominent Israelites to challenge the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the desert. They said to Moses and Aaron, “…why do you raise yourselves above the assembly of G-d?”[16]

The Torah narrates the response G-d designated for Korach and his followers: “The earth beneath them opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and all the men who were with Korah and all the property.They, and all they possessed, descended alive into the grave; the earth covered them up, and they were lost to the assembly.”[17]

What was behind the demise of Korach and his followers? To answer this, let us notice that the Torah twice mentions that the earth swallowed up all the property of Korach's assembly. The Talmud teaches that Korach was extremely wealthy; upon leaving Egypt he discovered and removed treasures that Joseph had hidden as Viceroy of Egypt.[18]

Rabbi Ephraim Luntchitz writes that the wealth of Korach's fellow rebels overtook them, generating power-seeking based on greed.[19] Reflecting upon this, he cautions that “money [can] rise up against a person and rule over him and cause him to go against his own intelligence and the awareness of his Acquirer [G-d]…This acquisition [money] leads its owner to great danger, and is what killed Korach, since he trusted in his wealth and then fell.”

According to this teaching, the wealth of Korach and his followers inflated their sense of entitlement, leading them to think that they, not Moses and Aaron, should lead the Jewish people.

Rabbi Daniel Kohn teaches that wealth misled Korach into thinking that power, self-worth and importance come from external sources. Having so much wealth led him to confuse outer sources of value with inner ones, and to develop a ‘taking,’ egotistical mentality.

As a society, we also tend to prioritize wealth and consumption instead of intrinsic sources of satisfaction like relationships and personal growth. However, academic studies point out that these intrinsic goals are in fact more important to happiness and satisfaction. For example, psychologists at the University of Rochester found that recent graduates had higher self-esteem and a greater sense of well-being when they achieved intrinsic goals (for example, meaningful relationships, health and personal growth) than extrinsic goals (like wealth, fame and personal image).[20]

Korach and his followers allowed their wealth to distort their perspective, ultimately leading them to challenge Moses’ leadership. As a result, Korach and his followers suffered a physical punishment similar to that of the wealth-obsessed Egyptians. The Egyptians were swallowed by the sea; Korach's assembly was consumed by the earth.

The Test of Wealth

Today’s western consumer society represents a new epoch in materialism, making the material wealth of the Egyptians pale by comparison. Professor James Twitchel, a sociologist of modern American society, writes that

“the average American consumes twice as many goods and services as in 1950… Branding, packaging, fashion and even the act of shopping itself are now the central meaning-making acts in our postmodern world… Shopping is the chief cultural activity in the United States.. .For most of us in the Western world, the act of shopping has very little to do with the necessities of life. We shop to satisfy desires, not needs, and in this act we help produce meanings for objects and, by extension, for ourselves.”[21]

For example, the motto of Nestle, “Do what feels good,” conveys the satisfaction of a physical desire from consuming their product.

The context of the original commandment "Do not covet” is an agrarian, pre-consumer society. In the first 3000 years of Jewish history, a person might have coveted their neighbor’s two-room house, donkey or field. We live in different times – modern, consumer-oriented and technological. Therefore we covet different things, and more of them: cell phones, tablet computers, luxury cars, fancy vacations and large homes. As advertisers learned long-ago, one who covets soon comes to consume.

Misuse of wealth, including through over-consumption, represents both a spiritual liability and a physical danger. Rabbi Elchanan Samet explains the view of Philo, a Greco-Jewish philosopher in first century Alexandria: "the family, the land and all of humankind can ultimately be destroyed as a result of failure to suppress desires for various pleasures."[22] In our times,there are clear links between over-consumption and environmental degradation.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, comprised of executives from major international corporations, notes that global consumption levels and patterns which impact the environment are primarily driven by three factors. The first factor is rapid global population growth, with the global population expected to reach nine billion by 2050, according to UN estimates.[23] The second is the rise in global affluence and associated consumption. Finally, the third factor is “a culture of ‘consumerism’ among higher income groups, which account for the greatest per capita share of global consumption.[24] The report continues that “global consumption is putting unsustainable and increasing stress on the Earth’s ecosystems.” In a similar vein, a report by National Geographiccites how “consumers in wealthy countries have a proportionately greater impact on the environment than others.”[25]

How much does present-day consumption draw on the resources of the earth? The “Living Planet Report 2012,” co-produced by the Zoological Society of London, the World Wildlife Fund, and The Global Footprint Network researched how many acres of biologically productive space the average person uses per year, in terms of their food, water, energy, and other consumption. The unit of measure is a global hectare (gha), a unit used by scientists to quantify the biocapacity of the earth. According to the report, “In 2008, the Earth’s total biocapacity was 12.0 billion gha, or 1.8 gha per person, while humanity’s Ecological Footprint was 18.2 billion gha, or 2.7 gha per person. This represents an ecological overshoot of 50 per cent. This means it would take 1.5 years for the Earth to regenerate the renewable resources that people used in 2007 and absorb CO2 waste.” The report also noted “a 30% decline in the health of species since 1970, based on 9,014 populations of

2,688 species of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish.”[26]

Humanity’s environmental impact or ‘footprint’ on the planet is a ‘macro’ problem observed by thousands of scientists, in the form of air and water pollution, species extinction, and now climate change.[27] But at its core it is a ‘micro’ problem centered on the human being, his or her consumption, and the desires that drive that consumption. Multiplied by seven billion people it reaches a planetary scale. Consequently, global environmental problems will not be solved in any meaningful way unless billions of people decide to confront and elevate their desire for wealth and physical pleasure.

Today’s Choice

As a society and as individuals, how can we use our enormous wealth for good? One way for a person to avoid being controlled by wealth is to give it to people or causes that need it more than we do. For example, Rabbi Kohn teaches that in contrast to Korach, both Moses and Samuel stated that in all their years of service to the Jewish people, they never took anything for themselves. Giving tzedakah is a mitzvah, and represents an elevation and proper use of wealth.

Right after the story of Korach, G-d commands the giving of one tenth of one’s income to the Levites. This is the response and repair for his actions, to sanctify the Israelites' wealth and promote a mentality of giving to others. The current custom to give ten percent of one's income to charity can achieve this today.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches that donating to people in need is an effective way to break a mindset of just wanting to increase one's own material comfort level.[28] Instead of constantly seeking a nicer house, a fancier car, a more luxurious vacation, we can ask ourselves, do we need everything that we have? Do others have everything that they need? What can we give to others? And are we using our resources for holy purposes,[29] like the Israelites in the desert, or being taken over by them like the ancient Egyptians and Korach?

Over-consumption, driven by the enormous wealth of our society, poses both a spiritual and a physical challenge. The spiritual challenge is to overcome wealth's pull towards self-gratification and a sense of entitlement. The physical challenge manifests in environmental problems like species loss and pollution.

We are members of a society more wealthy than any in history, and we are being tested by our use of wealth in ways never before seen in the history of Jewish life. Jewish tradition teaches us to beware the dangers that wealth can pose. May we use our resources for holy purposes and to help others, and meet the tests that wealth presents.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.comis a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI communityfor their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

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 Passing the Test of Wealth: A Challenge for our Time materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

[1] The author thanks Evonne Marzouk for her helpful editorial comments.

[2] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 110a

[3] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 65b

[4] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nedarim 38a

[5] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nedarim 38a

[6] Rashi to Exodus 18:21, based on Mechilta (a Midrash).

[7] Likutei Halachot, Hilchot Purim, 6:1. Rabbi Natan was Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's main student.

[8] Midrash Shemot Raba 11

[9] Midrash Mechilta, cited in Rashi to Exodus 14:5. See also Exodus 12:36

[10] Likutei Halachot, Hilchot Purim, 6:9

[11] Exodus 20:14, Judaica Press translation

[12] In his book Haketav VehaKabala, published in 1839 in Prussia.

[13] Deuteronomy 6:5

[14] Midrash Melech Moshiach, as quoted in Torah Shelma. See also Zohar Chadash 44c. Parparoth Lechokhmah, Mekhilta, Yitro discusses how ‘do not covet' includes all the other commandments, as citedby R' Aryeh Kaplan in Rebbe Nachman’s Stories, story #12..

[15] In Kad HaKemach. See also Siftei Cohen for a similar point.

[16] Numbers 16:3

[17] Deuteronomy 16:32-33

[18] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 110a

[19] Author of Kli Yakar, Prague 1550-1619, commentary to Deuteronomy 11:6

[20] Edward Deci et. Al, in Journal of Research in Personality, June 2009. Cited in LiveScience, by Robert Goodier, 6.2.2009, online at http://www.livescience.com/5462-happiness-wealth.html

[21] Lead Us Into Temptation: The Triumph of American Materialism, by James B. Twitchell, Columbia University Press: New York, 1999, p. 18, 14, 25, and 31 respectively.

[22] "The Tenth Commandment: 'You Shall Not Covet.'" Online at http://www.vbm-torah.org/parsha.63/17yitro.htm. Translated by Karen Fish.

[23] UN News Center, “World population to reach 9.1 billion in 2050, UN projects,” 2.25.2005, online at http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13451&Cr=population&Cr1

[24] “Sustainable Consumption Facts and Trends, From a Business Perspective,” World Business Council for Sustainable Development, p. 9, online at http://www.mapeo-rse.info/sites/default/files/Sustainable_consumption_facts_and_trends_from.pdf

[25] “Greenscan 2009 Survey—Consumer Choice and the Environment—A Worldwide Tracking Survey,” online at http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/greendex/2009-survey/

[26] See report “Living Planet 2010: Biodiversity, Biocapacity, and Development,” available online at http://www.footprintnetwork.org/press/LPR2010.pdf

[27] A study in the journal Nature states that the global ecosystem “is approaching a planetary-scale critical transition as a result of human influence.” See “Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere,” Barnosky et al, June 7, 2012, online at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v486/n7401/full/nature11018.html

[28] Likutey Moharan 13:1, see also Likutey Halachot, Hilchot Tefillah 4:14 by Rabbi Natan Sternhartz

[29] For more on this theme, see the materials on ‘Holy Use: Relating to Resources Sustainably,” at http://www.canfeinesharim.org/coreteaching7/

Passing the Test of Wealth: A Challenge for Our Time

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril[1]

The Talmud teaches that money is what stands a person on their feet.[2] The holy, conscious use of the physical world is a key means to serving G-d. Wealth can provide us with food, clothing, shelter and other needs. For one who is wealthy, proper use of wealth can be a force for positive change in the world.

The Jewish tradition does not call for living as ascetics or in poverty. However, wealth can also be a corrupting influence. A wide range of rabbinic teachings provide insights on the place of wealth in Jewish thinking. One particular example is the story of Korach, which expresses the harm that can come from material wealth.

Korach, a leading member of the Israelite tribe of Levi, assembled a group of 250 prominent Israelites to challenge the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the desert.[3]The Torah narrates the response G-d designated for Korach and his followers: “The earth beneath them opened its mouth and swallowed them and their houses, and all the men who were with Korach and all the property.”[4]

What was behind the demise of Korach and his followers? Based on the Torah mentioning that the earth swallowed up all the property of Korach's assembly, the Talmud teaches that Korach was extremely wealthy.[5]

Rabbi Ephraim Luntchitz writes that the wealth of Korach's fellow rebels overtook them, generating power-seeking based on greed.[6] Reflecting upon this, he cautions that “money [can] rise up against a person and rule over him and cause him to go against his own intelligence and the awareness of [G-d]…This acquisition [money] leads its owner to great danger, and is what killed Korach, since he trusted in his wealth and then fell.”

According to this teaching, the wealth of Korach and his followers inflated their sense of entitlement, leading them to think that they, not Moses and Aaron, should lead the Jewish people. Korach and his followers allowed their wealth to distort their perspective, ultimately leading them to challenge Moses’ leadership. As a result, Korach's assembly (and their property) was consumed by the earth.

Today our society is also being misled by our wealth, with serious harm as a potential consequence. We have been living comfortably upon the abundant resources of the world, and feeling secure with our possessions and advanced technology, without fully recognizing the effects of our actions.

A report of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, comprised of executives from major international corporations, identifies ‘a culture of ‘consumerism’ among higher income groups, which account for the greatest per capita share of global consumption.[7] The report continues that “global consumption is putting unsustainable and increasing stress on the Earth’s ecosystems.” A report by National Geographic also notes that “consumers in wealthy countries have a proportionately greater impact on the environment than others.”[8]

How much does present-day consumption draw on the resources of the earth? The “Living Planet Report 2012,” co-produced by the Zoological Society of London, researched how many acres of biologically productive space the average person uses per year, in terms of their food, water, energy, and other consumption. The unit of measure is a global hectare (gha), a unit used by scientists to quantify the biocapacity of the earth. According to the report,

“In 2008, the Earth’s total biocapacity was 12 billion gha, or 1.8 gha per person, while humanity’s Ecological Footprint was 18.2 billion gha, or 2.7 gha per person. This represents an ecological overshoot of 50 per cent. This means it would take one and a half years for the Earth to regenerate the renewable resources that people used in 2007….”

Humanity’s environmental impact or ‘footprint’ on the planet is a ‘macro’ problem observed by thousands of scientists, in the form of air and water pollution, species extinction, and now climate change.[9] But at its core it is a ‘micro’ problem centered on the human being, his or her use of money, and the desires that drive our consumption. As members of affluent Western society, how will we use our wealth for good?

One way for an individual to avoid being controlled by wealth is to give it to people or causes that need it more than we do. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches that donating to people in need is an effective way to break a mindset of just wanting to increase one's own material comfort level.[10] Instead of constantly seeking a nicer house, a fancier car, a more luxurious vacation, we can ask ourselves, do we need everything that we have? Do others have everything that they need? What can we give to others? And are we using our resources for holy purposes,[11] or being taken over by them like Korach?

In our contemporary consumer culture, over-consumption represents a particular challenge. We are members of a society more wealthy than any in history, and we are being tested by our use of wealth in ways never before seen in the history of Jewish life. Jewish tradition teaches us to beware the dangers that wealth can pose. May we use our resources for holy purposes and to help others, and meet the tests that wealth presents.

This material was produced as part of the Jewcology project. Jewcology.comis a new web portal for the global Jewish environmental community. Thanks to the ROI communityfor their generous support, which made the Jewcology project possible.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

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 Passing the Test of Wealth: A Challenge for our Time materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

[1] The author thanks Evonne Marzouk for her helpful editorial comments.

[2] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 110a

[3] Numbers 16:3

[4] Deuteronomy 16:32

[5] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 110a

[6] Author of Kli Yakar, Prague 1550-1619, commentary to Deuteronomy 11:6

[7] “Sustainable Consumption Facts and Trends, From a Business Perspective,” World Business Council for Sustainable Development, p. 9, online at http://www.mapeo-rse.info/sites/default/files/Sustainable_consumption_facts_and_trends_from.pdf

[8] “Greenscan 2009 Survey—Consumer Choice and the Environment—A Worldwide Tracking Survey,” online at http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/greendex/2009-survey/

[9] A study in the journal Nature states that the global ecosystem “is approaching a planetary-scale critical transition as a result of human influence.” See “Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere,” Barnosky et al, June 7, 2012, online at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v486/n7401/full/nature11018.html

[10] Likutey Moharan 13:1, see also Likutey Halachot, Hilchot Tefillah 4:14 by Rabbi Natan Sternhartz

[11] For more on this theme, see the materials on ‘Holy Use: Relating to Resources Sustainably,” at http://www.canfeinesharim.org/coreteaching7/

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis. 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 Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis Materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril

Human beings believe, in their arrogance, that if they continue developing the world on the basis of an ever-expanding science and technology, they will eventually achieve an environment that will afford everyone unlimited gratification of the senses and a life of untrammeled ease and pleasure. There can be no greater error than this.

-Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler[1]

In our times we are beginning to witness the planet's ecological balance weakening due to human influence: rainforests shrinking, deserts expanding, forests burning, the planet heating.[2] What is driving the deterioration of the natural world? To be sure, there are physical reasons, as well as deeper societal structures causing our environmental challenges. Yet to answer 'fossil fuels' or 'wood use' or even 'consumerism' would provide only partial answers.

Beyond the physical causes, the environmental crisis conveys a deeper message. The widespread degradation of the natural world indicates that our way of life is out of balance. Thus the environmental crisis also reflects a spiritual crisis. Ecological disruptions reflect the inner imbalance within billions of human beings. The change required of us to correct this is, to a significant degree, of a spiritual nature.

The Talmud teaches that the First and Second Temples were destroyed because of Israel's sins: the First Temple because of idol worship, sexual immorality, and bloodshed, and the Second Temple because of senseless hatred.[3] The Maharal of Prague explains that “the destruction [of the First Temple occurred] when it was not fitting for the Shechina [Divine Presence] to dwell among them, that is, when [the Jewish people] made the Temple impure, as G-d does not dwell amidst their impurity.”[4] At a proximate, physical level, the Babylonians destroyed the First Temple and the Romans the Second Temple. But at an ultimate level, the Sages teach that actions of the Jewish people determined the Temple's fate.

To demonstrate this point, our Sages record a powerful story about the Babylonian general Nebuzaradan after he set fire to the First Temple. “His mind was now elated [with his triumph], when a voice came forth from Heaven saying to him, ‘You have slain a dead people, you have burned a Temple already burned…”[5] At a physical level, the Temple had not been 'already burned'–the Cohanim (priests) were bringing offerings soon before it was destroyed. Rather, the Talmud is speaking of a spiritual deterioration that made way for the destruction of the physical structure.

Addressing the Environmental Crisis at its Roots

The Talmud shows us that in order to truly understand a problem, we need to look under its surface to understand theunderlying causes, which center not on the physical but on the spiritual health of human beings. If one only sees physical causes (such as, in the case of the Temple, the foreign armies), one may incorrectly view them as the only reason for an effect occurring. The response to the problem, then, will also be limited to the physical level alone. Yet if we neglect the underlying spiritual source, the problem will keep reemerging in different physical forms, growing out of the underlying root. On the other hand, as Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the Rashba, Spain, 13^th century) taught, when you address the roots of a problem, the outer problems naturally fall away.[6]

Our usual pattern today is to turn to scientists and politicians for technological solutions to our environmental challenges. If the problem is too much carbon in the atmosphere and too much fossil fuel use, the solution must be hydrids cars, incandescent light bulbs, and other technological solutions. Yet these solutions are not sufficient to address today’s global problems. For example, the problem of addressing climate change and other significant environmental challenges cannot be solved with technology alone, but also requires people to change their attitudes and action on energy use. A report from the McKinsey Global Institute cited how China relies on coal-burning power plants to produce as much as 85% of its electricity. The report estimated that were China, an emerging leader in electric cars, to replace gasoline-powered cars with similar-size electric cars, it would only reduce the greenhouse emissions from those cars by 19 percent.[7] This is because the electric cars would draw on energy generated by burning coal for their electricity. Scientists have stated that humanity must reduce its emissions by many times that amount in order to reduce the impact of climate change.

The most important and powerful aspect of a Jewish environmental approach may be our understanding that unless we repair the spiritual roots of the environment crisis, the problems branching outward will not be addressed in any meaningful way.Over the last decades we have seen and at some level addressed numerous environmental challenges, from reducing the depletion of the ozone layer to decreasing garbage through recycling campaigns. Still, environmental problems continue to spring up faster than before; even if we address today’s issues we can see clearly that more difficulties lie ahead. This is because we have not addressed our environmental challenges at the root.

What are the spiritual roots of the environmental crisis? How do these roots drive abuse of the natural world? And how can we rectify these roots today?

Let us explore—through the prism of Jewish teaching– several fundamental root causes of our contemporary environmental challenges. Some of these roots include arrogance, insecurity, desire for honor, modern man's disconnection from nature and from other people, and the need to feel in control. We will focus on three: shirking responsibility for one's actions, desire for instant material gratification, and lack of being present.

Taking Responsibility

Being responsible and taking responsibility is key to being human. G-d placed humans in the Garden of Eden l’ovda u’leshomra, 'to work it and protect it.' Rabbi Shlomo Riskin teaches that to be a shomer (a protector) means to be responsible. This is very clear from Cain's response to God when asked of Abel's whereabouts: "Am I my brother's keeper? (shomer) -in the sense of protection. The Bible resoundingly answers, yes! In this vein, Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik taught this core Jewish value: I am responsible, therefore I am.

Humans have the ability to choose to do evil, and therefore our responsibility to exercise our freedom of choice properly is tremendous.[8] Yet human beings do not always succeed in the challenge of being responsible. In fact, after this instruction to be a protector, the Torah continues with the story of Adam and Eve’s failure to take responsibility for their actions.[9] The Talmud extends this to taking responsible for one's family, community, and world, when others will listen to the person's call to others to improve their ways.[10]

Today, not being responsible for our actions allows us to avoid attending to the significant environmental challenges of the world. We use the resources of the world – trees, mineral ores, petroleum – without sufficient attention to how these resources are produced, transported, and disposed of. We likely do not see the impacts on our air and water and on people’s health in faraway places. To awaken the Jewish value of being responsible, we must broaden our perspective to include people we do not know, and the children of the next generation. We will use our resources more responsibly if we can be attentive to the broader effects of our actions.

The tendency to avoid responsibility affects most people today. To address this root in your own life, try expanding your sense of responsibility for others and your small, invisible impacts on them. Then, think of one specific action you can do to take on greater responsibility for how you live and consume.

Desire for Pleasure

The Sages teach that desire or lust is one of three traits that remove a person from the world.[11] Today, we see this root in the form of desire for instant material gratification – the continual purchasing of more, better, different – the newest clothing, shoes, computers, cell phones.

A person driven by desire is less likely to consider the effect of his or her actions, both in producing and in consuming. If all I want is the end product, then I am likely not to consider the consequences of the means employed. Yet those means—especially in producing consumer goods for billions of individuals– are causing species to go extinct, polluting air and water, and altering the planet's climatic balance.

We can address this spiritual root of the environmental crisis by being satisfied with what we have. As the Mishna in Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) says, “Who is rich? The one who is happy with their lot.”[12] The shift in awareness to being satisfied with what one has is what generates wealth for a person, and not the accumulation of money or physical possessions.

To address this in your own life, think of one thing you have been wanting to buy, that you know you do not really need. Then, choose not to buy it, based on the teaching of being satisfied with what you already have. This simple action may begin a cascade as you share it with others and allow it to affect your future choices.

Being Present in the Moment

In our society, we rush from one task to another with hardly a moment to pause and reflect in a long week of work. Our culture tells us to do more, work harder, and buy more – an endless cycle which undermines our peace of mind and causes tremendous impacts on our environment. By not being present in the moment, and we lose sight of what truly matters. Our hectic pace leads to using our planet’s resources more rapidly than they can be renewed, and leaving too little for others and future generations.

As with the previous two traits, a lack of being present leads a person to disregard what impact their action has on other people and the natural world. The solution, then, is to cultivate the trait of being present.

How can a person cultivate this quality within himself or herself? By being conscious and aware in the present moment. The Psalmist, King David, teaches: “I hold G-d before me always”– 'Shiviti Hashem l'negdi tamid.'[13]The awareness that G-d is always present with us enables a person to 'make friends with the present moment,'[14]because they know that whatever is happening now emanates from the Higher Source.[15]

Rabbi Daniel Kohn helps us understand what it means to be present:

Say, for instance, you were looking at the sweet face of a small child, beatific and shining as he holds a candle, vibrant with life and with Presence. Say, then, you would soften your glance, and emotions, and simply be present to this dear moment; not in judgment, nor in thought, but in simple, sweet, presence. Your initial connection to what is at that moment indeed may be through your eyes, but as you ''soften'' into what is here, your experience will become more of '''resonance'' with this life that is beaming, with this warmth of vital sentience, with something you, and this child, share and are united by. It may only be a moment, before you think ''how beautiful'' or ''how cute'' or ''where's the camera, I never want to forget this''… But at that moment, that child's face, that sense of good, become windows to all that is, to all of Creation in its vibrancy, goodness and light.[16]

Being present satiates a person spiritually and cultivates humility and modesty. A person becomes less driven toward environmentally destructive material consumption, and more aware of how their consumption impacts others.

One way to cultivate presence is by slowing down and resting on the Jewish Sabbath. Taking one day a week to be with oneself, one's family, and one's community can promote subtle spiritual changes within a person. This suggestion to be present in the moment on the Sabbath applies even to people who are currently “Sabbath-observant.” Using the Sabbath to slow down and create moments of being present can make a big difference for us all.

A Common Thread: Long-term Thinking

These three roots – avoiding responsibility, succumbing to desire for instant gratification, and not being present in the moment – have a common thread. Each of them leads us to ignore the impacts our action will have at a future time.

Jewish tradition teaches, “The wise man has his eyes in his head.”[17] The Sages learn from this that a wise person foresees what will come while still at the beginning of an action.[18] Thus when Alexander the Great asked the Jewish Sages, “Who is called a 'wise man'?” They responded to him, “The person who sees the consequence of an action.”[19] The Rambam understands this to mean that a person in the present is able to see the effect their actions will have in the future.[20] He emphasizes that the Sages are teaching about the present—one who sees in the current moment what is likely to be in the future.

Ironically, being more in the present moment helps a person act with greater concern for the future, by rooting himself or herself in what is important now and for the future. Presence and foresight go hand in hand: one who is truly present with what they are doing will be better able to sense what effect one’s action will have.

Today we desperately need this long-term thinking as we approach our complex environmental challenges. Though climate change receives the most attention, our problems extend beyond this single issue. The Pulitzer-prize winning scientist Jared Diamond identifies what he sees as the twelve greatest current environmental problems, among them water scarcity, overfishing, soil salinization, and biodiversity loss.[21] Today, Diamond writes that these twelve problems are like time bombs in our modern society, each with fuses of less than 50 years.[22] Clearly, a more fundamental cultural and spiritual shift is needed.

Jewish teachings are characterized by long-term thinking. Our prayers hearken back to the Temple which was built about 3,000 years ago and first destroyed over 2,500 years ago. By comparison, when scientists write about likely ecological disruptions in 2050—41 years from now, when we or our children are likely to be living—we may discount their warnings as unimportant long-term admonitions. But we do so against the wisdom of our Sages.

Today our foresight must be informed by global and ecological awareness, as well as by Jewish values. The wisdom of our tradition is vast and accessing its deep-rooted spiritual messages will be critical in addressing today's environmental challenges at their root. We can elevate our desires and take greater responsibility for our actions. By taking responsibility, resisting our impulses to buy what we do not need, and being present in the moment, we can make a significant difference in protecting the environment and addressing our environmental challenges at their roots.

The message of the Sages to Alexander the Great remains relevant for us, the Western world, and the whole world today: Be present now to the consequences of your actions. Wise action stemming from such foresight will set an example to the world—a light for the nations—that can inspire humanity to live sustainably.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

[1]Strive for Truth, vol. 3, English translation published 1989 “The Destructive Philosophy of Materialism,” lecture given at Gateshead in 1944 p. 143

[2]Concerning climate change induced decline of forests, see “With Deaths of Forests, a Loss of Key Climate Protectors,” Justin Gillis, The New York Times, 10/1/2011

[3]Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma 9b.

[4]Sefer Netzach Yisrael, chapter 4, p. 58-9, translation by the author. Similarly, Rabbi Sholom Noach Berezovsky taught about both Temples that “Israel's sins caused the holy, elevated influence from G-d to stop, and then there was not able to be a higher union [between Israel and G-d]…Since the strength of the Temple was taken away, the Temple was destroyed on its own.” Sefer Netivot Shalom: Bamidbar, p. 210, translation by the author.

[5]Babylonian Talmud,Tractate Sanhedrin 96b, translation adapted by the author from Judaic Classics Library translation. The Talmud teaches how Nebuzaradan single-handedly broke through the walls of Jerusalem, struck down Jerusalem's defenders, and set fire to the Temple. As he was feeling haughty over what he did, a voice came down from heaven telling him the above.

[6]Chidushei HaRashba to Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nida, p. 11a. He said this in regard to the laws of Nida. See also Beit Yosef to Tur, Yoreh Deah 184:6. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto made a more general statement that to deal with a sickness from its uproot, one must uproot the cause (Da’ath Tevunoth/A Knowing Heart, translated by Shraga Silverstein, Feldheim Publishers: 1982, p. 304)

[7]“China Charges Up: The Electric Vehicle Opportunity,” Paul Gao et. Al, October 2008,p. 9, online at http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/greaterchina/mckonchina/pdfs/China_Charges_Up.pdf

[8]Rabbi Ovadia Sforno, commentary to Genesis 1:26

[9]See Genesis 3:8-13

[10]Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, p. 54b

[11]The Sefat Emet quotes this teaching of the Sages in his commentary to Sefer Bamidbar, Parshat Beha'alotcha, year 5644.

[12]Pirke Avot 4:1, in the name of Ben Zoma

[13]Psalms 16:8, translation by the author.

[14]Eckhart Tolle writes extensively about this and cultivating presence in his books The Power of Now and A New Earth, and provides practical techniques for how to do this.

[15]Rabbi Shalom Arush in The Garden of Emuna focuses on the importance of emunah, which is related to being present with what is occurring.

[16] “Chanukah and the Light of the Small Vessels,” unpublished essay, December 2010.

[17]Ecclesiastes 2:14, Artscroll translation.

[18]Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sotah 8:10.

[19]Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Tamid 32a. Translation by the author. Similarly, Pirkei Avot (Chapter 2, sections 10 and 13) teaches that “Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai had five [primary] disciples…He said to them: Go out and discern which is the proper way to which a man should cling. Rabbi Shimon says: One who considers the outcome of a deed.” (ha'ro'eh et ha'nolad') Translation by Artscroll.

[20]Maimonides, Commentary on the Mishna to Avot 2:9, based on Rabbi Yosef Kapach Hebrew translation from the Arabic.

[21]Collapse, p. 487. He lists the twelve most serious environmental problems as 1) Destroying natural habitats 2) Overfishing and the environmental impact of aquaculture 3) Biodiversity loss. 4) Soil erosion and salinization 5) Energy ceilings for fossil fuel extraction 6) Over-utilization of fresh water 7) Using or diverting sunlight for human purposes vs. allowing it to be used for plants 8) Impacts of chemicals on the natural world and people 9) Alien species 10) Emissions leading to a depletion of the ozone layer and climate change 11) Population growth 12) Human consumption.

[22]Collapse, Viking publishers: New York, 2005, p. 498.

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 Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis Materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]

In our times we are beginning to witness the planet's ecological balance weakening due to human influence: rainforests shrinking, deserts expanding, hurricanes intensifying, the planet heating. What is driving the deterioration of the natural world? To be sure, there are physical reasons, yet to answer 'fossil fuels' or 'wood use' or even 'consumerism' would provide only partial answers. In order to truly understand a problem, we need to look under its surface to understand the root causes. In regard to the great loss of the First and Second Temples, the Jewish sages focus not on the destroying armies but on the spiritual deterioration which made way for the destruction of the physical structure.[2] For many ecological issues, the root issues beyond the physical symptoms lie in the spiritual health of human beings.

If one only sees physical causes, one may incorrectly view them as the only reason for an effect occurring. The response to the problem, then, will also be limited to the physical level alone. Yet if we neglect the underlying spiritual source, the problem will keep reemerging in different physical forms, growing out of the underlying root. On the other hand, as Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (the Rashba, Spain, 13^th century) taught, when you address the roots of a problem, the outer problems will naturally fall away.[3]

Over the last decades we have seen and at some level addressed numerous environmental challenges, from reducing the depletion of the ozone layer to decreasing garbage through recycling campaigns. Still, environmental problems continue to spring up: climate change, deforestation, water insecurity. This is because we have not addressed our environmental challenges at the root.

Our usual pattern today is to turn to scientists and politicians for technological solutions to our environmental challenges. If the problem is too much carbon in the atmosphere and too much fossil fuel use, the solution must be hydrid or electric cars, incandescent light bulbs, and other technological solutions. Yet these solutions are not sufficient to address today’s global problems. For example, a report from the McKinsey Global Institute cited how China relies on coal-burning power plants to produce as much as 85% of its electricity. The report estimated that were China to replace gasoline-powered cars with similar-size electric cars, it would only reduce the greenhouse emissions from those cars by 19 percent.[4] This is because the electric cars would draw on electricity generated by burning coal. Scientists have stated that humanity must reduce its emissions by many times that amount in order to reduce the impact of climate change.

Beyond the physical causes, the widespread degradation of the natural world indicates that our way of life is out of balance. Thus the environmental crisis also reflects a spiritual crisis. Human-caused disruptions to the natural world emerge from the inner imbalance within billions of human beings. The change required of us to correct this is, to a significant degree, of a spiritual nature. This insight may be one of the most important contributions of a Jewish environmental approach.

What are the roots of our contemporary environmental challenges? There are many. One that we can all address is learning to take responsibility for our actions. As the Torah teaches, G-d placed humans in the Garden of Eden l’ovdah uleshomra, 'to work it and protect it.' Rabbi Shlomo Riskin teaches that to be a shomer (a protector) means to be responsible. His rabbi, Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik taught this core Jewish value: I am responsible, therefore I am. Being responsible and taking responsibility is core to being human. This is very clear from Cain's response to God when asked of Abel's whereabouts: "Am I my brother's keeper?” The term used is shomer, in the same sense of “protection” mentioned in the Garden of Eden. The Bible resoundingly answers, yes!

Our failure to take responsibility for our actions on a planet of seven billion people has major environmental consequences today. We use the resources of the world – trees, mineral ores, petroleum – without sufficient attention to how these resources are produced, transported, and disposed of. We likely do not see the impacts on our air and water and on people’s health in faraway places.

To awaken the Jewish value of being responsible, we must broaden our perspective to include people we do not know, and the children of the next generation. You can try to address this root in your own life by expanding your sense of responsibility for others and your small, invisible impacts on them. Then, try to think of one specific action you can do to take on greater responsibility for how you live and consume.

We will use our resources more responsibly if we can be attentive to the broader effects of our actions. Let us live up to the challenge.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

[1] The author acknowledges Evonne Marzouk for her assistance with this article.

[2]Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma 9b.

[3]Chidushei HaRashba to Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nida, p. 11a. See also Beit Yosef to Tur, Yoreh Deah 184:6.

[4] “China Charges Up: The Electric Vehicle Opportunity,” Paul Gao et. Al, October 2008, p. 9, online at http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/greaterchina/mckonchina/pdfs/China_Charges_Up.pdf

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 Spiritual Roots of the Environmental Crisis Materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

This week's Torah portion, Pinchas, contains instructions about how the Israelites are to divide up of the land once they arrive: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Divide the land among the tribes, as an inheritance according to the number of the names: with larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups decrease the share. Each is to receive its share according to its enrollment.'" (Num. 26:52-54). The land is to be divided up among the tribes, and it must be done fairly. It matters not only what is done, but how it is done.

The Chasidic Rabbi Zadok HaKohen Rabinowitz, known as Pri Tzadik, commented on a passage from the Talmud that was discussing that Jacob remained alone by the river without his family to remain with certain possessions, and he says, "That which is not created for this specific person is like stolen property when they are in possession of it, and thus [the righteous are careful] not to take possession of it." When we take that which is not due to us, we are stealing! But, that which is ours, which comes to us from G!d, the Pri Tzadik (quoting earlier rebbes), says that we have an obligation to appreciate it: "a righteous person is obligated to enjoy an object which is fitting for them even if it means risking their life."*

This passage makes me think about eating (though I could also think about how much gas or electricity I use or how many clothes I own, or…). Jewish tradition teaches us to recite a blessing before we eat and again after we eat, acknowledging the holiness of the food, acknowledging G!d's role in putting food onto our plates. We acknowledge that G!d brings forth bread from the Earth, that G!d is the creator of the fruit of the earth and of the tree and of all kinds of sustenance, or that all is according to G!d's word. But what if we eat too much, not just satisfying our appetite, but continuing to eat, filling our bellies to overflowing? What if we eat too fast and gobble it down, rather than savoring it and appreciating each bite? What if we enjoy our food so much that we eat more than our share?

First, we haven't divided – not the land, but the fruit of the land, fairly, larger groups having a larger share and smaller groups a smaller share. Instead, as a small group of the wealthiest on the planet, we have taken a large share. And, according to Pri Tzadik, we are stealing! I can think of many times when I have gotten up from a meal at a restaurant or a dinner of something I really like (strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream being the most recent example) and have said to myself, I ate too much. I have eaten more than my share, and so, following the Pri Tzadit, I have stolen. I have stolen by taxing the Earth too much, using resources of water and soil and fossil fuels that were not my allotted portion. I have stolen by not properly appreciating the portion that is due to me, instead feeling that it is too little and that G!d should give me more. I have stolen by not leaving some of that food in the store or at the farm stand for someone else to have.

Culturally, we have a tendency to always have more food at a simcha (joyous event) than we need, perhaps carried over from a time when eating was one of the few enjoyments open to us. But Margaret Atwood, in her poem, "The Moment," reminds us that, as the Psalmist says, "The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." (Ps. 24:1) "The moment when, after many years / of hard work and a long voyage / you stand in the centre of your room, / house, half-acre, square mile, island, country / knowing at last how you got there / and say, I own this, // is the same moment when the trees unloose / their soft arms from around you, / the birds take back their language, / the cliffs fissure and collapse, / the air moves back from you like a wave / and you can't breathe. / No, they whisper. You own nothing. / You were a visitor, time after time / climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming. / We never belonged to you. / You never found us. / It was always the other way round."

When I eat too much, I am in essence saying, "I own this," about something I do not really need. I am taking more than my share. I am stealing.

And so, I think of words I wrote at another time when eating too much was on my mind, and I try to remember as I eat that both how I eat and how much I eat are acts with the potential for greediness and distance from G!d, or for holiness and connection to the Divine:

יהי רצון ה' אלהינו, מלך העולם, שעם כל נגיסה מהאוכל שלפנינו נחשוב עליך ועל כל ברייותיך שאין להם די לאכול. תעזרנו בבקשה לאכול רק מה שאנחנו צריכים כדי להיות שבעים ולא יותר, לאכול לאט ולא למהר, ולהרגיש אותך בתוכנו ומסביבנו בכל עת ובכל שעה. ברוך אתה ה', מקור הכל

May it be your will Adonai our G!d, Sovereign of the Universe, that with every bite of the food before us we think of you and of all of your creatures that do not have enough to eat. Help us, please, to eat only what we need in order to be satisfied and not more, to eat slowly and not quickly, and to feel you within us and around us at every season and at every moment. Blessed are you Adonai, the Source of all.

Amen.

*This material is posted as part of Jewcology’s “Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment,” in partnership with Canfei Nesharim. Learn more at http://www.jewcology.com/content/view/Year-of-Jewish-Learning-on-the-Environment.

Enjoy this Hebrew/English source sheet and study guide on the topic of Holy Use: Relating to Resources Sustainably. 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 Holy Use: Relating to Resources Sustainably Materials!

Learn more about the Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

Holy Use: Relating to Resources Sustainably

By Rabbi Yonatan Neril [1]

We live within a society transformed by the consumer revolution. In the mid- and late 20^th century, consumer products became widely available in the United States and Europe. When something breaks, the question may arise, repair it, or get rid of it and buy a new one? If it is cheaper to buy a new one, many people are reluctant to go through the hassle of trying to repair it. With material goods so abundant and cheap today, it is easy to throw things away. We discard clothing and appliances and buy new ones instead of repairing them, or throw away useable items because they are a few years old and maybe outdated by new products.

People living in consumer society relate to material objects in a vastly different way than people did in previous times.[2] The decision whether to reuse or discard an object in part emerges from how a person relates to material possessions: as essential or expendable, indispensable or disposable. This is where Jewish tradition is so relevant today. Age-old Jewish teachings reveal a Jewish vision for 'holy use' of the material world which can reorient a person toward environmentally sustainable resource use. These teachings can deepen our understanding and inform our actions about a subject in which the Western world has recently taken an interest. We will explore how reuse of material objects contains physical benefits for people and the planet and spiritual fruits as well.

Jacob and Small Vessels

A teaching from the Midrash (rabbinic commentary on the Torah) sheds light on a Jewish ethic of sustainable resource use. Before the epic encounter between Jacob and Esau, Jacob brought his family and possessions across a stream. He returned at night to the other side of the stream, and the Torah narrates that: “Jacob remained alone.” The rabbis see the word “alone” (levado) as superfluous, and understand it as related to the similar looking word lecado, “for his vessel,” yielding, “Jacob remained for his vessel.” That is, say the rabbis, he re-crossed the stream at night to recover a few small vessels he forgot to bring across.[3] Why did Jacob, facing an imminent confrontation with Esau and his 400-man militia, leave his family alone and vulnerable at night to recover a few forgotten flasks? Why were they so important to him?

The seeming absurdity of Jacob’s action becomes understandable when one examines Jacob's worldview: he believed that everything in his possession comes from G-d, has a specific purpose and must be used to its full potential. As one medieval commentary explains, each material item that a righteous person uses is a means toward a spiritual repair in the world.[4] Jacob went back for the vessels to ensure they were used in the optimal way. Had he not, their full potential would not have been realized. The truly righteous recognize the value of their G-d-given possessions, and are very careful with them, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they are. While not overly attached to material things, they do not dispose of objects prematurely or use them inappropriately. Reuse is their message, not recycle.

Reuse as an Elevation of 'Sparks'

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov offers a teaching, based on Kabbalistic sources, that can also help us understand the likely reason for Jacob's actions. He writes:

…Everything in the world has in it sparks of holiness that fell at the time of the Shattering of the Vessels. “Shattering'' is the aspect of letters that shattered and fell into each and every thing of this world.[5] For every thing has its time: it must come at that time, to that person who shares the same root with those sparks in that thing. Thus, when that thing comes to this person, and he receives vitality from it–i.e., from the shattered letters that are there–through this the shattered letters are encompassed in this person, in his vitality. They become a complete entity, and infuse the vitality of the entire body. Through this the letters are restored and become complete. Then that thing must stay with this person, for him to use, until the letters and sparks that are associated with his root terminate. After this it leaves his possession for someone else; the time has come for the remaining letters to have an ascent. They share the same root with that other person and so depart for his possession.[6]

According to this understanding, an object comes to a person for the purpose of spiritual elevation. Reuse of a physical object enables a further spiritual elevation of the sparks of holiness within the object. The Talmudic sage Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, on his deathbed, told his students to remove the vessels from his room lest they become contaminated by his corpse, and thereby unusable.[7] He acted so that others would be able to reuse the vessels after he died. In the 20^th century, Rabbi Yaakov Kanievsky, the Steipler Gaon, instructed his children to straighten a bent nail and use it in building their sukkah so that it would not go to waste. Byraising the sparks to Heaven, we also refrain from littering the earth. These examples show the relationship our Sages had with material objects, and the effort they invested in elevating the holy sparks in the objects.

Elevating Waste

The commandment of building a Sukkah (covered dwelling) is also relevant regarding reuse. The Torah instructs, “You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.”[8] Note that the verse links the festival of Sukkoth, whose primary mitzva involves living in the Sukkah, with the gathering in of produce from each Jewish farmer's wheat threshing floor and wine vat. The Rabbis of the Talmud pick up on this linkage to make a further connection—that the agricultural refuse from the threshing floor and wine vat should be used as the covering (schach), the most essential part of the Sukkah.[9]

Rabbi Natan of Breslov explains a deeper meaning of the Talmud's teaching.[10] The Sages teach that before the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam did not produce waste because he fully assimilated everything he consumed. Rabbi Natan of Breslov notes that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were to eat fruit, but after their sin, people moved toward the level of animals by eating foods that grow from the ground, and having to work very hard to process grains into bread. The sin also led to a more animalistic way of life in which more waste is produced, unlike before the sin. We can repair the sin by showing we recognize that the agricultural waste from processing the wheat and grape harvest is not garbage. Rather, it can be used to create the Sukkah and enable celebrating within a holy space on the festival of Sukkot.

Material Goods in Modern Society

Reduce, reuse, recycle. What does this saying signify, and how does the Jewish tradition relate to it? The phrase contains within it a descending order of preference: first reduce, then reuse, and then recycle only as a last resort.[11] While recycling is often synonymous with 'green,' acts with far greater environmental impact are reducing what one uses in the first place, and reusing that which one does use.

In 1955, the retailing analyst Victor Lebow highlighted a trend in consumer society, away from greater mindfulness regarding possessions and toward a more short-term view. He wrote:

Our enormously productive economy…demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption…We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate.[12]

Western society ritualizes consumption, whereas Jewish practice ritualizes reuse. Jewish sources abound with examples of reusing ritual objects. The Torah notes that the copper firepans of Korach and his assembly were melted and reused to form the outer layer of the altar.[13] The Talmud records how two Sages, Rav Ami and Rav Asi, would reuse bread used in the ritual of making a courtyard eruv (ritual enclosure) for Shabbat by blessing over it and eating it.Concerning this reuse of ritual bread, Rav Ami and Rav Asi said, “Since one mitzvah was done with it, we should use it for another mitzvah.”[14] The principle these Talmudic sages state–of using a ritual object for multiple rituals–manifests in a number of other Jewish practices.

One example is a custom to use the myrtle from the lulav bundle (four species) of Sukkot as the pleasing fragrance for Havdala, based on the mystical tradition of the Zohar.[15] Many other examples exist.[16] What might be the reason for reusing ritual objects? Since one mitzva has been done with it, the object has been infused with holiness. In doing a separate mitzva, it is preferable to use such an object, because its elevated holiness will enable the second mitzva to be done at a higher level of sanctity.[17] The Jewish tradition therefore clearly contains instructions for reuse of certain objects, in this case for spiritual reasons.

The reuse of ritual objects contrasts with the trend Victor Lebow described above. Disposing of consumer items has only become more pronounced in the last half century, as material goods have become cheaper and more available. The cheapness of new products serves as a disincentive for incurring the cost of repairing an item that breaks. In America, one can purchase disposable barbeques.[18] In Jerusalem, entire stores are devoted to selling disposable products.

These are the consequences of a human society that does not fully assimilate that which it consumes – a disposable society. When one is accustomed to throwing out disposable dishes and to disposing of cheap electronic goods whenever they break, the value of material goods becomes diminished in one’s perception. Cell-phones, refrigerators, and cars can become disposable when the cost of buying a new one is less than the cost of repairing it. Such a lifestyle habituates a person to devalue things that do have value. Even relationships—of friends, parents, spouses—can be viewed as disposable within such a mindset.

Waste and the Planet

This perspective and way of living also has tangible, environmental consequences. While we usually think of mountains of rock and oceans of water, today we can speak of mountains of trash and oceans of plastic. The US Environmental Protection Agency reports that “In 2009, Americans generated about 243 million tons of trash and recycled and composted 82 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 33.8 percent recycling rate. On average, we recycled and composted 1.46 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.34 pounds per person per day.”[19]

Let us examine what happens to some plastic waste– from bags, forks, plates, and bottles—which is not reused or recycled. After we throw it “away”, some of the plastic we use likely makes its way to the oceans. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) cites a 1997 estimate from the US Academy of Sciences that each year, humans put 6.4 million tons of marine litter into the oceans. The UNEP continues that “according to other calculations, some eight million items of marine litter have been estimated to enter oceans and seas every day, about five million of which are thrown overboard or lost from ships. Furthermore, it has been estimated that over 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square kilometer of ocean surface.”[20] Huge patches of garbage and plastic have been reported in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.[21]

What impact does this marine debris have on ocean ecosystems? According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationMarine Debris Program, this debris entangles sea life, and harms marine animals such as sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals who come to eat the debris. Furthermore, marine debris can “damage important marine habitats, such as coral reefs. Many of these habitats serve as the basis of marine ecosystems and thus they are critical to the survival of many other species.”[22] Plastic waste in the oceans is thus not merely an eyesore for people, but a threat to a wide array of marine life. Humans depend on healthy marine life for food consumption. Indeed, some countries harvest from the oceans a significant percentage of their dietary intake.

Another example of waste from modern society is spent fuel rods from nuclear reactors that generate electricity. The nuclear crisis in Japan in 2011, following the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986, highlighted the risks involved in nuclear energy which produces nuclear waste. The New York Times reported that according to figures provided by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the six reactors at the Fukushimi nuclear plant, “11,125 spent fuel rod assemblies were stored at the site. That is about four times as much radioactive material as in the reactor cores combined.”[23] Since nuclear waste lasts for so long, it can never really be 'disposed' of, and must be stored. In Japan's case, the waste was stored in a place vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. In the United States, storage of nuclear waste also presents a challenge, and no long-term solution has been found.

In conclusion, how could it be that we generate so much waste? That brings us back to the small vessels–one plastic bag at the checkout stand, one plastic yogurt container– multiplied by decades of such consumption and now billions of people. Things add up. Jacob’s going back for two or three vessels teaches us that little things matter. In our consumer age the message has only become more relevant. Today's abundance and affluence presents both an environmental and a religious challenge—of using the physical world in a mindful, holy way. May we live up to the task and leave our children a planet that testifies to the glory of its Creator.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs Jewish Eco Seminars, which engages and educates the Jewish community with Jewish environmental wisdom. He has worked with Canfei Nesharim for the past six years in developing educational resources relating to Judaism and the environment.

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.

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[1] The author would like to acknowledge Evonne Marzouk for her helpful editorial comments in developing this article.

[2] For more on this, see Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash, by Susan Strasser, Henry Holt and Co., 2000

[3] Rashi to Genesis 32:25 based on Babylonian Talmud, Chulin, 91a. The Gur Aryeh (Maharal of Prague) on 32:24 says these were two or three very small vessels. Baalei Tosafot on 32:25 understand levado as hinting at lecado, “for his vessels.” The words are identical except for the letters bet and caf, which look very similar.

[4] Orchot Tzaddikim on Genesis 32:24. Medieval, anonymous rabbinic Torah commentator.

[5] According to Kabbala, when G-d created the world, the vessel was not able to contain the Light, and shattered into 'sparks' which are dispersed throughout the world.

[6] Likutei Moharan, section 54c, translation reprinted with permission from The Breslov Research Institute, Jerusalem.

[7] Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 28b

[8] Deuteronomy 16:13, Judaica Press translation

[9] Babylonian Talmud, Tractates Rosh Hashana 13a and Sukkah 12a

[10] The following is based on Rebbe Natan of Breslov, Likutei Halachot, Choshen Mishpat, Hilchot Mekach u'Memkar, halakha 4, section 8, as taught by Rabbi Natan Greenberg and Rabbi Daniel Kohn of Yeshivat Bat Ayin.

[11] See the following websites, which provide important information about relating to waste:

http://zerowaste.org/case.htmand http://www.lnt.org/

[12] “The Journal of Retailing,” Spring 1955, p. 7, quoted in Durning, How Much is Enough? (1992)

[13] Numbers 17:3. The Talmud in Tractate Menachot 99a records how Rabbi Acha bar Yaakov cites this verse as the example of the principle of only using holy objects again for a more holy use.

[14] Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 39b and Tractate Sahbbat 117b, and Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 86:7. Such a practice of eating this bread after it has been used for the eruv chatzeirot (courtyard ritual enclosure) is codified in the Rama to Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chaim 394:2. See also Taz there. This practice is codified in Jewish law as a practice for Jews of European-descent.

[15] Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chaim, 297:4, based on Zohar, Parshat Vayhakhel, p. 94, as cited by Darchei Moshe to the Tur.

[16] Rabbi Shmuel Simenowitz provides other examples, based on the Zohar: “After Sukkos, an esrog is typically encrusted with cloves and used as 'B'samin”—fragrant spices for Havdala. Similarly, the lulav is customarily used to fuel the fires in which the leavened bread is burnt before Pesach.” (“Water Conservation and Halakha—an Unorthodox Approach,” Compendium of Sources in Halacha and the Environment, Canfei Nesharim, NY, 2005, p. 52.) Rabbi Binyomin Adilman notes the following additional cases: “The old worntzitzit fringes, when replaced, are used as bookmarks in Bibles. Olive oil from the Land of Israel is hung in the Sukkah as a representative of one of the seven species of the land. It is then saved to use for lighting the Chanukahlights. In addition, a small amount is squeezed out of the wicks, and is eaten six weeks later on Tu B'Shevat.” In the Mishnah there is a description of the Simchas Beis Hashoeva (Rejoicing of the Water Drawing), a celebration in which tall menorot (candelabras) were lit that illuminated every courtyard in Jerusalem (Tractate Sukkah 5:3). The wicks for these flames were made from the worn out garments of the cohanim, the priests who served in the Temple in Jerusalem.”See Rabbi Binyomin Adilman's “Recycling in Jewish Tradition” about these examples and others. Available online at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/recycling.html

[17] This explanation of the Talmudic teaching of Rav Ami and Rav Asi is based on the explanation given by Rabbi Adilman in his article cited above.

[18] For example, the EZ-Grill Portable Disposable Barbeque is available for purchase on Amazon. See http://www.amazon.com/EZ-Grill-Portable-Disposable-Barbeque/dp/B002RV5C94/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298807023&sr=8-1

[19] US Environmental Protection Agency, “Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2009,” online at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw2009-fs.pdf

[20] Based on the report, Marine Litter: A Global Challenge(2009),prepared under a collaborative partnership between the Ocean Conservancy and UN Environment Program Regional Seas Programme. See online at http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/about/distribution/default.asp

[21] Charles Moore, founder and research coordinator of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, first reported on the Pacific Ocean patch in 1997.

[22] http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/plastic.html

[23] "Greater Danger Lies in Spent Fuel Than in Reactors," by Keith Bradsher and Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times, 3.17.2011, online at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/asia/18spent.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=nuclear%20assemblies&st=cse