As I was reading, one passage that particularly stuck out to me was the one about Rabbinic Judaism and prayer. Rabbinic Judaism has a unique practice in which Jewish worshippers recite prayers over natural phenomena including the morning, the evening, a tree blossoming or even a storm. This is incredibly intriguing because despite the recitation of a prayer over an environmental entity, prayer does not place holiness on that entity. This seems ironic to me because the inherent nature of a prayer is to indicate holiness. Instead, prayer recognizes the power of God who brings about these changes and places an emphasis on Gods’ command over nature. I think this raises some severe problems for environment in that as Jews praise God for natural phenomena, they are able to over overlook nature and become disenfranchised with it. In my opinion, it would seem difficult for a true appreciation of nature as well as a commitment to preserve it to develop when there is a lack of admiration and understanding for it other than God’s command over it.
Another passage that caught my eye was the one regarding social justice and ecological well-being. The book suggests a reason for ecological degradation that “the corruption of society is closely linked to the corruption of nature. In both cases, the injustice arises from human greed and failure of human beings to protect the original order of creation.” This statement seems absolutely accurate and is visibly reflected in the world today, none more so than in big business. Large corporations are so motivated by profits that they are willing to exploit nature and degrade and destroy it. I absolutely concur that greed is a primary cause behind the destruction of the environment.
Chasen
This article does a good job explaining that because Judaism has been around for so long, it has been indelibly altered by the cultures surrounding it. I had known that this fact to an extent, but I did not realize how profound this influence was. It was so strong in fact, that it fundamentally altered early Jewish ecology. Rome’s conquering of Judea significantly effected how Jews interpreted their roles in society and in nature. Jewish professions began to move from such a strong focus on agriculture, to professions more centered around urbanism and trade. In doing so Jews became removed, to a degree, from the nature surrounding them. But the text notes that with the Jewish revolt ending in 70 CE yet another change took place. Sukkot began to take on a different meaning. The sukkah that the Jews prayed in was built from the Earth and was sanctified by God. Jews had to sanctify nature around them as it was not inherently sacred. I am confused because as a Jew I have recited many prayers dedicated to the glory of nature that God created.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the authors explanation to the readers that Jews have a tendency to not focus on what came before or what will come after. We are suspended in the physical world and can analyze this world most accurately. This focus on the world of the living puts pressure on Jews to live with a sense of stewardship. What we do to the earth today will be inherited by our many generations later down the road.
-Alex Leeds
I found this reading really interesting because it clearly showed how Jewish views on environmentalism have changed and interacted with different cultures and time periods throughout history. Fundamentally, Jewish ethics encourage responsibility and therefore responsibility towards nature but do not believe that it has intrinsic value like the deep ecology movement we have studied. Festivals such as Sukkot encouraged environmentalism for the good of the harvests and therefore the good of the people. When the Jews became less focused on agriculture and more focused on trade and commerce, there seemed to be less of an environmental movement. After the Holocaust, Zionism became an important movement that focused on the "reestablishment of Jewish political sovereignty in the land of Israel". The Jews tried to put an emphasis on agriculture again but unfortunately it did not improve conditions environmentally. Instead of being environmentally beneficial, the agriculture just depleted the land of nutrients and caused water shortages.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, there is a strong environmentalist movement because the Jews recognize the need for change. As in many environmentalist movements, however, there appears to be a gap between theory and practice since Israel is facing substantial problems with air and water pollution.
It is interesting that the Jewish environmental movement comes from two distinct sources. Secular Israelis have been influenced by the environmental movements of Europe and North America whereas Israeli Jews have been influenced by Jewish tradition and believe in the Greater Israeli vision.
As with many religions but perhaps especially Judaism, a religion's environmental views cannot be succinctly summed up in a sentence or two. There are often different sects of the religion that disagree on environmental policy. Also, a religion often alters or changes its environmental views over time making this a very complex and interesting topic.
This article kind of pulled at me in a couple different directions. In one way, Judaism seemed to provide what I thought some of the previous religions lacked. Namely, the other religions' evidence for environmental beliefs seemed varied and isolated to independent individuals; ideas removed from fundamental values of the religion. This chapter, however, showed some legitimate evidence of innate Jewish values having a bias towards nature. This could be seen in the ways Jewish people pray, the words in the Torah and the actions Jewish people made. I thought this was what would truly identify a religion as having an environmental conscience.
ReplyDeleteHowever, like Chassen, at the same time, it made me wonder how much care Judaism, as a whole, had for nature in itself or whether all it was concerned with was God's role in nature. It seems we're kind of stuck between two extremes. Here is Judaism, a religion that has made it clear it is conscience and concerned with nature, but for an exterior reason; and alternative motive. In fact, it is not raw nature at all for which Judaism works to make holy or bless, but the signs, characteristics and symbols of God and Jews within nature that takes the attention. Therefore, this chapter left me wondering if motivation really matters. If nature is being taken care of, do the caregivers' motivations really matter?
I was very intrigued when the article discussed the shift from the Jewish focus on agriculture to a focus on commerce, yet their festivals and rituals are still mostly based on agricultural traditions. After this shift the Jews began to experience a lot of hatred and were looked down on in many societies. This "exile" from community pushed agriculture away from the forefront of the Jewish mind because there were more pressing matters to address.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when addressing environmentalism the Jewish people seem focused on the idea of the human impact in nature and that nature is not whole until humans have been stewards to the environment. Like Ellyse said, the Jewish approach to the environment cannot be summed up in a few sentences and even this long article struggles with clearly defining their approach because it has changed so much in Jewish history. Yet most Jews agree that nature and the Torah must be understood as one element and that humanity is a participant in the process of creation and we complete God's work. I think that in comparison to Christianity which is the other religion we have looked at, Judaism does a better job at highlighting and defining a clear approach the environment. Although they still maintain an anthropocentric view, and environmentalism is still a rising issue in Judaism, Jewish philosophers, scholars, and lay people have been trying to understand the relationship and importance of nature for many years now which puts them, I think a step ahead of Christianity.
I agree with Chasen and his views on the connection between the degradation of the environment and greed.The idea that “the corruption of society is closely linked to the corruption of nature" is a very interesting thing to think about. The way I read this, there is a ongoing cycle between the two. I think there needs to be some dramatic changes in the way people treat the environment, or in the end humanity will have to pay the price. I personally found the most interesting part of the reading to be about how the agriculture that the Jews partook in negatively affected the environment. It is ironic how something that was done for religious reasons could have such adverse affects on the environment. I also find the idea of Zionism to be very interesting. I find it very intriguing that the Jewish people have this almost innate responsibility to settle back in Israel. Although I completely understand why this idea became so popular after the Holocaust. I believed it served almost as a wake up call to the Jews.
ReplyDeleteAfter I read those chapters, I find out that Judaism has a lot of connections with ecology. I learn that there are some restrictive rules for Judaism that they cannot eat some food, especially seafood. Frog and pork are also in the list. I think these rules can help people to have a healthy body and help people to keep the balance of ecologic system. Judaism does not allow eating pork. Lots of people know that pork does not have lots of nutrition because pork has four legs. Chinese think that the fewer the legs that animals have, the more nutritive that animal will be. Therefore, fish has more nutrition than pork. I think that the reason why Judaism does not allow eating frogs is not because that is unhealthy. But that is because that decrease in quantity of frog will result in the quantity of mosquito will increase. At that time, people will be bit by mosquitoes and the agriculture also will be affected. I also find out that Judaism think that they can manage the environment because they think that is the one of the purposes that God made people. In these pages, we can find different types of Judaism such as traditional Judaism and humanistic Judaism. Humanistic Judaism which reflected on ecological concerns in light of Jewish religious sources gives rise to a distinctive, albeit still small body of literature. I think there is more knowledge about Judaism and ecology system by reading more articles.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the chapter on Judaism, I found it really interesting how Gottlieb drew the parallels between the religion of Judaism and its relationship with the environment of the natural world. These parallels made it easy to follow what he was trying to say about Judaism and the ups and downs with the Jewish people’s relationship regarding nature. One part that I found particularly interesting was the turning point when there was the first “down” with the religion and earth. Gottlieb described how for such a long time, the elements of the natural world and the importance to care for earth had been woven into the foundation of Judaism, and even went further by giving the examples of certain holidays such as Sukkot, Pessach, and Shavuot at the beginning of the chapter. Then, from what I understood, because the significance of earth and other natural functions (including eating) was so emphasized in the religion, it created some sort of obligation thus leading to the “unnatural Jew.” I had never thought that something like that would happen when the significance of nature is so woven into a religion. In the end, I really appreciated that the history of Judaism also mapped the effects made of the view of nature within the religion. When there was the mass migration to Europe and more and more Jews began to integrate themselves within the universities, popular jobs, etc. to fit in better with modern European society, that involvement caused them to be more invested in education and later led to the Jewish philosophers’ interest in nature of parts of the Bible, like the creation story for example. The connections are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested in Celia's comment about motives. Do motives matter if the result is the same? I guess I think that they absolutely do matter in the long run. If, as the article suggests, Jewish motives toward respecting nature are not for the sake of nature but for the sake of the symbols within nature that represent something between God and Jews, then in the long run, the religions actions will not remain aimed to benefit nature but to benefit their religious aspirations, and should these two paths split ways, nature will suffer the consequences. In the short run, however, perhaps any eco-friendly practices are a good thing, whatever the reasons for them. When reading about Sukkot, I immediately thought of a close Jewish friend whose family celebrates this holiday each year and invites all of our friends to join in their outdoor celebration. This family lives very simply, walks a lot, supports local markets, etc - lots of nature friendly practices. But then I thought of another Jewish friend whose family is much more conservative, and I realized that they do not at all practice environmentally friendly lifestyles. I realized that, as the article demonstrates and as many people commented in their blog posts, there is a major difference between theory and practice, and perhaps the difference is the motive behind the theory? Maybe that explains the "ups and downs" Megan mentioned in the relationship between Jews and the natural world. It is inconsistent because the intentions are religious, not environmental.
ReplyDeleteZoya Mufti
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was really interesting. I thought it showed the progression of Judaism and its relationship to the environment well and clearly. I never thought of how intertwined religious holidays were to nature until I read the article and it explained how ancient Israelites were mostly farmers and their annual pilgrim festivals celebrated the completion of agricultural activities. As I read it was clear that Judaism had a evident role with nature but, as others have noticed, I was confused to if these signs, characteristics and symbols of God within nature made a strong connection between the faith and the environment or if the role of nature was only something guided by a particular persons motives.
In many ways, it appears that because Jews consider themselves the chosen people, they value what God has given them immensely. The section regarding the sabbatical year and letting nature rest spoke particularly to this idea. The idea of lettings humans rest for a day rings true in all of the Abrahamic religions but as far as I know only Judaism incorporates two years of rest for the earth. This immediately pulls Judaism closer to the realm of being biocentric. In much of the reading, I felt that there were references to how the Jewish people never took for granted what was given to them. Additionally, in the section about dietary laws, although keeping kosher is for the betterment and health of humans, it seems to me to be somewhat biocentric. Just the fact that Jews consider which animals to eat and how to properly prepare and slaughter them touches upon a sense of acknowledgment and awareness of the environment that some other religions lack.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with Chasen's thoughts that Judaism is a proponent of the disenfranchisement of people from nature because prayer is meant to indicate holiness and Jews pray to God, indicating that God has command over nature. In my understanding of Judaism, Jews perform sacrifices as peace or guilt offerings. Prayer became a replacement to sacrificial rituals in an attempt to allow for Jewish people to initiate a relationship with God outside of the temple where sacrifices were made. The purpose of prayer is to find direction, ask for help or guidance, give thanks, and praise God. In following strict Jewish ethical codes and taking a step in the correct direction, Jews also evaluate the environment and treat it with great respect because that is where most of their food comes from and also, great stress is emphasized over living life by the golden mean, harmoniously, and not in excess. This central ethical ideal extends to the emphasis of appreciating and appropriately treating the environment.
ReplyDeleteThe article was very enlightening. It did a good job of showing Judaism’s relationship to the environment and how it has progressed. When the article talked about symbols in Judaism I was also a bit confused. The signs of God within nature was unclear to me. What I did find interesting was how Jews do not focus on past or future, rather they focus on the present which in my opinion forces you to be a better person and focus on what you can do as an individual. As Celia mentioned, I also noticed how Jews seem to have a bias toward nature. I liked this as it was evidence of respect for the environment. But how much care do Jews really have for nature itself or rather are they more concerned with God within nature? Overall, I liked the article because I learned new things about the religion.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this chapter about Judaism, I came to realize how similar the three major monotheistic religions are intertwined (those religions being Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). This chapter consistently refers back to the bible. I found it interesting that since nature is created, that Judaism does not deem is sacred or venerative. Furthermore, “nature is viewed as imperfect, requiring human management and care...” (Tirosh-Samuelson 26). Like all religions, Judaism has multiple and sometimes conflicting views about a certain subject – particularly with regards to nature in this chapter. Rabbis were interested in the relationship between morality (prescriptive law) and the laws of nature (descriptive laws), however coming to a general and solo understanding of such relationship is hard to reach. The views between this relationship span from believing that “nature is independent of the revealed Torah, [the holy book in Judaism], and the laws of nature are different from the laws of the Torah” to believing that “the natural world is contingent upon acceptance of the Torah by the Jewish people” (Tirosh-Samuelson 37). The evolution of Judaism also leans to a more environmentally conscious view which I am interested to see where it goes. In conclusion this chapter helped me build a solid foundation of ties between environmentalism and religion.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of Judaism has always been limited and this reading helped me understand a lot of the things which I already knew as well as the many things that I learned. While reading I found several things interesting, the first of which is the Zionist movement. I never thought of Zionism as a secular movement, although its focus was on establishing a national homeland I always believed it to be more religiously based. Secondly, I found the environmental ethic in Jewish legal sources so be surprisingly eco-friendly. As Judaism is an Abrahamic religion I believed that Jews would have a similar view of nature based upon the Old testament statements of "dominion". However, there were many examples of Jewish law that promoted and protected the environment because many Jews see the causal connection between moral quality of human life and the vitality of Gods creation. Even the securalized ZIonist movement protects the nature because it is the "resource for revival" of the Jewish people. This reading certainly surprised me in how ecocentric Judaism is despite my previous beliefs.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Chasens argument that "[Jews] are able to over overlook nature and become disenfranchised with it" is not entirely true. Although he is right in that Rabbnic prayers worship God who has command over nature rather than nature itself, this does not "disenfranchise" Jews to nature because they have an appreciation for the creation of God. By prayer for nature I think they are giving thanks, and through this, gaining a greater appreciation for nature.
The point that Chasen made was very interesting to me. The text says, "Judaism does not take nature to be inherently sacred or worthy of veneration." Tirosh Samuelson makes it out to be almost like a fact. This confuses me because even though Jusaism connects nature to God, there is still a connection there and it is difficult for me to understand that it really isn't an innate relationship. In general, this connection between religion and nature is one that I never gave too much thought, so it's interesting how we can compare each religion and how they relate to nature and how each one is so obviously different. A;though Judaism does connect nature to God, they still respect it and feel a certain responsibility to uphold its' value. That is what I think is more important of all.
ReplyDeleteLike Zach said, a central feature of Judaism's relationship with the environment is the belief that the Jewish people are the chosen people. Because Jewish people believe that they have a pact with God much of their practices aim to fulfill this pact. Like Zoya said, the ancient followers of Judaism were mostly farmers and they received their sustenance from the land. A culture that was created in this environment would most likely value the earth in its pristine form. These roots combined with the pact that the Jewish people have with God predispose them to becoming good stewards of the earth.
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