Judaism and the Environment

Book on Judaism and the Environment

Dr. Jeremy Benstein, deputy director of the Heschel Center,  has just published a new book:
The Way into Judaism And the Environment
(link to Amazon from American Friends of Heschel - www.amheschel.org - and a percentage of your purchase price is donated to the Heschel Center at no cost to you)

Benstein offers both an environmental interpretation of Judaism and a Jewish approach to environmentalism, examining the dilemmas and questions we face when evaluating Judaism's role in the care of creation.
Whether you're an experienced environmental activist, or newly-arrived to the awareness of ecological responsibility, you'll find this book to be rewarding reading.

"Clear and thorough ... brilliantly articulates a mandate of Jewish activism that is rooted in Jewish tradition and speaks to the broad range of issues we face in our twenty-first-century global village. Moves seamlessly between Jewish texts, theology and modern scientific thinking, at a level that a lay reader can easily follow.... A much needed resource to the field of Jewish environmentalism." - Rabbi Marla J. Feldman, director, Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism

For more reviews or to purchase the book go to Jewish Lights Publishing or Amazon.com (via amheschel.org)

Essays on Judaism and the Environment

Dr. Jeremy Benstein's short essays, explicating environmental wisdom from classical sources and relating this to current sustainability and environment issues. The articles appear as they were published in the Jerusalem Report's People of the Book section.

	Yom Kippur - Looks at the unique urban environment  created in Israel on Yom Kippur, and what this day teaches us about personal responsibility for our collective impacts on the environment.
	Shavuot - Explores the social environmental message of the holiday of Shavuot, reinforcing an egalitarian ethic of  care, and the value of social and environmental justice. (Summer 2006/Shavuot 5766)
	Pesach - Explores the environmental messages of the Passover festival. (Spring 2006/Pesach 5766)
	The Four Faces of Tu Bishvat - Discusses the many-layered meanings of Tu Bishvat, and the need to integrate and deepen the four interlocking realms that define our relationship to life and land: economic, spiritual, national-political and ecological. (Winter 2005/2006)
	Hannukah: A Dialogue - Exploring the environmental messages of Hannukah (Winter 2005)
	The Forgotten Language of Rain - Discusses our physical and spiritual connection to rainfall, and contemporary water-use issues (Fall 2005)
	Guests At God's Banquet - Discusses the role of human beings in the story of creation in Genesis, as it defines our place in the natural world. (Winter 2004)