Authors: Arthur Waskow
ISBN-13: 9781580230865, ISBN-10: 1580230865
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing
Date Published: June 2000
Edition: (Non-applicable)
This two-volume work (v.2, ISBN 1-58023-087-3) proceeds from ancient to recent history, presenting essays, interviews, and even an excerpt from a musical, by scholars, rabbis, artists, performers, authors, the psychoanalyst, Erich Fromm, and editor of the liberal Jewish journal Tikkun, Michael Lerner. The general drift of the essays is that Judaism has a long-standing, mostly-positive link to the earth. Appendices includes a list of eco-Jewish organizations and suggestions for further reading. The editor is author of Down to Earth Judaism and is a major voice in the Jewish renewal movement. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The relationship between Judaism and concern for the environment is exhaustively examined in this comprehensive two-volume anthology. Editor Waskow brings together 39 articles written by 32 scholars and experts. The first volume deals with "Biblical Israel and Rabbinic Judaism" while the second is devoted to "Zionism and Eco-Judaism." The editor, a founder of the Jewish renewal movement, was an anti-Vietnam war activist in the 1960s who "came alive to Judaism" at the age of 34. Twenty-seven years later, in 1995, a committee of rabbis from the Hassidic, Reform and Conservative movements and a feminist theologian who is not a rabbi gave him rabbinical ordination. He has published several books, beginning with The Freedom Seder in 1969. However, his editorial skills leave much to be desired, as evidenced by the irritating repetitions that mar this collection. Its better-known contributors include Norman Lamm (president of Yeshiva University), Abraham Joshua Heschel and Erich Fromm. The names of the other writers are less familiar, but some also make useful contributions to elucidating "Eco-Judaism." Six essays focus on ecological issues in Israel, emphasizing the shared stake of Palestinians and Israelis in environmental protection. The essays examine contradictions in Judaism and Zionism regarding beliefs and behavior affecting nature and the environment. These two volumes probe the roots of the environmental crisis as a looming catastrophe, especially in Israel, and point to a sustainable future path that requires spiritual healing. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Introduction: Earth and Earthling, Adam and Adamah | vii |
PART 1: Biblical Israel: One Land, One People | 1 |
Biblical Texts | |
A. Aggadah: Joy in CreationTwo Psalms | 9 |
B | Halakhah: Rest for the EarthThe |
Sabbatical/Jubilee Tradition | 14 |
Evan Eisenberg "The Mountain and the Tower: Wilderness | |
and City in the Symbols of Babylon and Israel" | 18 |
Tikva Frymer-Kensky "Ecology in a Biblical Perspective" | 55 |
Arthur Waskow "Earth, Social Justice, and Social | |
Transformation: The Spirals of Sabbatical Release" | 70 |
PART 2: Rabbinic Judaism: One People, Many Lands | 85 |
Rabbinic Texts | |
A. Aggadah: Celebration and Avoidance | 93 |
B. Halakhah: The Law of Bal Tashchit (Do Not Destroy) | 96 |
Norman Lamm "Ecology in Jewish Law and Theology" | 103 |
Jonathan Helfand "The Earth Is the Lord's: Judaism and | |
Environmental Ethics" | 127 |
David Ehrenfeld and Philip J | Bentley "Judaism and the |
Practice of Stewardship" | 141 |
Fred Dobb "The Rabbis and Expanding Environmental | |
Consciousness" | 157 |
Jeremy Benstein "Nature vs. Torah" | 180 |
Spiraling into the Future: Sources for Learning and Doing | 209 |
Eco-Jewish Organizations | 212 |
Suggestions for Further Reading | 215 |
Notes | 218 |
About the Contributors | 241 |
About Jewish Lights | 243 |