Judaism and the Environment
“It is a sobering thought that the early writings of the Jewish people encompass all the basic recommendations of World Conservation Strategy. So affirms leading modern ecologist Professor David Bellamy.
“The Jew was born civilised”, observed Bernard Shaw. “With the Jews a new kind of man came into the world”, commented H.G. Wells.
I am constantly amazed at this tiny people into which I was born, today fewer in number worldwide than the population of one major city, Cairo or Sao Paulo. I remain ever fascinated how this miniscule group has, over 4000 years, somehow held on, albeit tenuously, to the reins of survival, despite every kind of vicious assault on its existence from Babylon to Rome, Inquisition to Holocaust.
Yet, throughout history, it has produced the basis of three world faiths, great figures in every sphere of constructive culture, from Spinoza to Einstein, scientists, doctors, writers galore, scores of Nobel prize winners, even 400 Olympic medallists.
To understand Jewish teachings on the environment you have to go ‘back to basics’. These teachings emanate from a few simple articles of faith, which I summarise briefly.
Time and space are not the measure of all things. Materialism, of all varieties, is a superficial, facile outlook. There is a great and eternal Intelligence behind all creation, called by many names, indefinable, yet the motive Force behind all that lives, the source not only of physical and spiritual evolution, but also of moral growth. That moral imperative, sublimely reflected in Isaiah, the Psalms, the Ten Commandments, impels us to be engaged on a perpetual process of repair of the world (Tikkun Olam).
I look with admiration, almost disbelief, that over 2000 years ago, Jewish teachings on the environment included efficient disposal of waste, separation of residential from industrial areas, establishment of green belts around cities, concern as to air pollution, later strikingly described by 11th century rabbi Maimonides.
I look at the Decalogue from the age of Moses and see there the first animal right in human history. Such concern for animal life is reflected in the teaching that we have a duty never needlessly to harm any animals (tsa’ar ba’ale chayim). Hence using animals for any kind of sport, such as bull fighting or fox hunting, is obnoxious to Judaism.
The tradition I have inherited emphasises duties as well as rights, a balance the world desperately needs. “Do not destroy fruit trees, even in times of war”, says the Bible. Trees are a form of life. It is no wonder that over a hundred years ago the Jewish National Fund was formed to bring back life to its arid original homeland, drained swamps, made deserts bloom, and planted hundreds of millions of trees.
The land has its rights we have to respect. Let it rest therefore every seven years, an ancient injunction confirmed by modern husbandry.
Mankind has a supreme challenge today. Its very existence is in doubt as our planet, our inheritance, is pillaged for every kind of natural resource by a population explosion and an economic and commercial thrust that ignores every warning, indeed maligns every warning.
If we all followed the age-old Jewish teaching, do not waste anything, (bal tashchit), we would cease to want, want, want, and end our insatiable demands on nature and conserve and not destroy our resources.
Climate change is real and rapid. The evidence is there. As Jews today, few as we are, we have to be involved in reversing the rush to extinction that would end the bold experiment that first brought us into being.
