The Jewish Roots of Sustainable Living

Course Description: Sustainable living is characterized by a concern for the environment, striving to have as small an impact as possible on nature, and using the minimal number of natural resources necessary. A sustainable approach to living is based upon certain beliefs about the importance of preserving the environment and minimizing the human impact on it. This course will examine the Jewish roots that support a sustainable living lifestyle. We will look at the theological and textual sources of Jewish sustainable living, beginning with Biblical literature and continuing through to modern sources, exploring how different types of Jewish literature can provide guidance for the construction of a sustainable lifestyle.

Further Reading: There is a very large amount of material written about Judaism and environmental issues. A convenient place to explore more reading is the following bibliography: http://fore.research.yale.edu/files/judaism.pdf

Schedule:

Lesson 1: Introduction: What is “sustainability”? Readings: What is your carbon footprint? See http://footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/; Further reading: “What is Sustainability” from The Post Carbon Reader Series: Foundation Concepts

Lesson 2: The Jewish Ethic of Responsibility; Readings: Garrett Hardin. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162 (1968): 1243–48; Elinor Ostrom et al. “Revisiting the Commons: Local Lessons, Global Challenges.” Science 284, (1999): 278-282.

Sources:

  1. Midrash Vayikra Rabbah, Parashah 4:6
  2. Deuteronomy 9:29 with Midrash Yalkut Shimoni, Parashat Nitzavim, Remez 940
  3. Mishnah Bava Kamma 3:6
  4. Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 32a
  5. Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 23a
  6. Midrash Tanhuma, Parashat Kedoshim

Lesson 3: Is Judaism Anti-Ecological?

Readings:

  1. Lynn White Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” Science 155, no. 3767 (1967): 1203-1207.
  2. Arnold Toynbee. “The Religious Background of the Present Environmental Crisis.” International Journal of Environmental Studies 3, 1 (1972): 141-146.
  3. Steven S. Schwarzschild. “The Unnatural Jew.” Environmental Ethics 6, 4 (1984): 347– 62.
  4. Tikva Frymer-Kensky. “Ecology in a Biblical Perspective,” In Torah of the Earth, edited by Arthur Waskow, 55–69. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000.
  5. Neal Joseph Loevinger. “(Mis)reading Genesis: A Response to Environementalist Critique of Judaism,” In Ecology and the Jewish Spirit, edited by Ellen Bernstein, 32–40. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1998.

Lesson 4: Towards a Jewish Approach to land and nature; Readings: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson. “Judaism,” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, edited by Roger S. Gottlieb, 25–64. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 idem. “Nature in the Sources of Judaism.” Daedalus 130, 4 (2001): 99–124.

Lesson 5: Bal Tashchit: Unnecessary Destruction and Waste; Readings: Eilon Schwartz. “Bal Taschit.” Environmental Ethics 19, no. 4 (1997): 355–74.

Optional Reading: David Nir. “A Critical Examination of the Jewish Environmental Law of Bal Tashchit ‘Do Not Destroy’.” Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 18 335–53.

Sources:

  1. Deuteronomy 20:19-20
  2. Rashi and Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 20:19
  3. Mishnah Bava Batra 2:12
  4. Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 26a
  5. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 129a
  6. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 140b
  7. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Mourning 14:24
  8. ibid., Laws of Kings 6:8-10
  9. Sefer ha-Hinnukh, Mitzvah 529

Lesson 6: Bal Tashchit: Limiting Consumption; Readings: Eliezer Diamond. “Jewish Perspectives on Limiting Consumption,” In Ecology and the Jewish Spirit, edited by Ellen Bernstein, 80–87. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1998.

Sources:

  1. Rabbi Hayyim David Halevi, Responsa Aseih Lekha Rav, 1:20.
  2. Examples of Jewish sumptuary laws

Lesson 7: Air pollution and Protecting water resources

Sources:

  1. Mishnah Bava Batra 2:8
  2. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Neighbors 11:1
  3. Tosefta Bava Batra 1:10
  4. Shulhan Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat 155:23
  5. Tosefta Bava Kama 6:15
  6. Tosefta Bava Metzia 11:31
  7. Geonic Responsa Sha’arei Tzedek, part 4, gate 1, section 15

Lesson 8: Garbage, Sewerage and Recycling; Readings: CCAR Responsa (5762.1) “Proper Disposal of Religious Texts” at http://ccarnet.org/responsa/rr21-no-5762-1/ Lynn Bry. “Recycling Sacred Books and the Genizah,” In The Environment in Jewish Law: Essays and Responsa, edited by Walter Jacob and Moshe Zemer, 90–96. New York: Berghahn Books, 2003.

Sources: Deuteronomy 23:13-14; Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Neighbors 6:14-15; Mishnah Yoma 5:6; Mishnah Sukkah 5:3; Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Beit Ha-Behirah 7:14

Lesson 9: Keep the Noise Down and Be a Good Neighbor; Reading: Philip J. Bentley. “Urban Planning in Jewish Environmental Law,” In The Environment in Jewish Law, edited by Walter Jacob and Moshe Zemer, 45–55. New York: Berghahn Books, 2003.

Sources:

  1. Mishneh Bava Batra 2:1, 3; 3:7
  2. Tosefta Bava Batra 1:4
  3. Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 22b-23a
  4. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Neighbors 6:12, 7:1, 9:3, 11:5
  5. Shulhan Arukh, Hoshen Mishpat 156:4

Lesson 10: Sustainable Farming and Tza’ar Ba’alei Hayyim; Readings: John D. Rayner. “Judaism and Animal Welfare,” In The Environment in Jewish Law: Essays and Responses, edited by Walter Jacob and Moshe Zemer, 56–72. New York: Berghan Books, 2003.

  1. “Jewish Involvement in Genetic Engineering,” In New American Reform Responsa, no. 154, at http://www.ccarnet.org/responsa/narr-247-252/
  2. Pamela Barmash, “Veal Calves” (Decision of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards at http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/ teshuvot/20052010/barmash_veal.pdf)

Optional Readings: Josh Cahan. “Tzaar Baalei Hayim in the Marketplace of Values.” Conservative Judaism 65, 4 (2014): 30–48.

Lesson 11: The Jewish Mystical Tradition and Nature; Readings: Arthur Green. “A Kabbalah for the Environmental Age,” In Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed World, edited by Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Sources: Selections from Jewish mystical literature.

Lesson 12: Shemitah-the year of sustainability; Readings and Sources: Selections from the Hazon Shmita Sourcebook.

Lesson 13: Where do we go from here? John Ehrenfeld. “Beyond Sustainability.” Change This. 25.03; Roger S. Gottlieb. “Introduction,” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, edited by Roger S. Gottlieb, 3–21. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006; David Orr. “Four Challenges of Sustainability.” Conservation Biology 16, 6 (2002): 1457–60.

This syllabus pertains to when the course was offered in 2015