Jewish+Environmental+Ethics

=**Jewish Environmental Ethics**=

.media type="custom" key="4188537" Although YouTube is blocked at school - you must watch this documentary when you get home - you may not want to watch the last 10 minutes about animal cruelty. It is quite disturbing! media type="youtube" key="Y9RxmTGHZgE" height="344" width="425"

Perhaps the most fundamental Jewish teaching on the environment is, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." (Psalm 24:1) The Talmudic sages assert that it follows that the role of mankind is to enhance the world as "co-partners of G-d in the work of creation." (Talmud tractate Shabbat 10a). There is a Midrash (a story that teaches a Torah lesson based on biblical events and values) that beautifully expresses the idea that God needs people to help tend the world:

"In the hour when the Holy one, blessed be He, created the first man, He took him and let him pass before all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him: "See my works, how fine and excellent they are! Now all that I have created, for you have I created. Think upon this and do not corrupt and desolate My World, For if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you." The Jewish view is that everything belongs to God. We are to be stewards of the earth, to see that its produce is available for all God's children. Property is a sacred trust given by G-d; people have custodial care of the earth, as opposed to ownership. Even the produce of the field does not belong solely to the person who farms the land. The poor are entitled to a portion:

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corner of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger; I am the Lord, thy God. (Lev. 19:9-10) These portions set aside for the poor are not voluntary contributions based on kindness. They are, in essence, a regular divine assessment. Because God is the real owner of the land, he claims a share of His own gifts for the poor.

As a reminder that "the earth is the Lord's," the land must be permitted to rest and lie fallow every seven years (the sabbatical year):

And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the increase thereof, but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lay fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave, the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with the vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. (Exod. 23:10-11) The Talmudic sages also indicated great concern about preserving the built environment and preventing pollution. They stated: "It is forbidden to live in a town which has no garden or greenery" (//Kiddushin// 4:12; 66d).

Threshing floors had to be placed far enough from a town so that it would not be dirtied by chaff carried by winds (//Baba Batra// 2:8).

Tanneries had to be kept at least 50 cubits from a town and could be placed only on the east side of a town, so that odors would not be carried by the prevailing winds from the west (//Baba Batra// 2:8,9).

In all, Judaism asserts that there is one God who created the entire earth as a unity, in ecological balance, and that everything is connected to everything else. This idea is perhaps best expressed by Psalm 104:

...Thou [God] art the One Who sends forth springs into brooks, that they may run between mountains, To give drink to every beast of the fields; the creatures of the forest quench their thirst. Thou art He Who waters the mountains from His upper chambers... Thou art He Who causes the grass to spring up for the cattle and herb, for the service of man, to bring forth bread from the earth.... How manifold art Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy glory.