A Jews Responsibility to the Environment: Nature Vs. HumanEssay Preview: A Jews Responsibility to the Environment: Nature Vs. HumanReport this essayA Jews Responsibility to the Environment: Nature vs. HumanDoes Judaism address the relationship between persons and nature? Yes, the question is not whether Judaism addresses this issue, but what precisely it is that the Jewish tradition teaches. From common concepts, we know that in the Jewish religion Nature and Humans have respect for each other by following the bible. The challenge ahead of us is the common challenge of science and religion together, such as to discover and implement the means of assuring the physical survival of humanity on Earth and assuring the spiritual survival of a more humble and more modest humanity on this, G-ds earth.
[…]
Is there any question it is a fact of life that when a group of people live in harmony and enjoy mutually beneficial social relationships in one environment, each of the groups are able to flourish as a species?
Humanity is on the verge of a fundamental change in the way we treat, consume, transport and deal with the environment. As we develop our technologies, practices, techniques or services these technologies and their applications will increase and the human race will be more or less in harmony with other, more primitive populations. Our current understanding of our environment is based not just on the ability of mankind to make these tools, tools and services available to the public, but also on the nature of the environment we live, how it has developed and how we think about these tools and services. What we are dealing with in this regard is the changing nature of our culture and our approach to life.
More and more, modern man is beginning to see the world from a different perspective, and thus has different views of life. And we, like our father and uncle, do not seek our “best” friends or our best experiences for ourselves. We are looking for “better” friends in the other world. The idea that if the world is being destroyed tomorrow, the time for understanding each other is long gone. We do not seek to avoid the destruction of Earth; we seek to heal the wounds, we seek to use and restore peace, we seek to restore trust in life and a wider future. Instead, we seek to live through suffering. And with all our efforts we believe we will heal this world and restore its glory, to restore our family values and to allow this world to be the place it was before.
And when people think “the human race,” in fact, is in much better shape than we had foreseen in those great historical and cultural strides, they assume that they are not in any dire situation because the future is in their hands. But in fact if the whole world is now on the brink of a worldwide disaster – the collapse of the world economy, global military strength and our country’s future security – who is going to give a fuck about what a perfect world our future is?
I think sometimes we are just tired of it, and that being said, we need people to come and help shape our future. We need to help build houses and run the school and bring jobs back to our communities and let the rest of us do the same. And then, if everything goes as planned, it might prove to be a happy and fruitful life. One that is “free and happy for all.”
________________________________________________
H.R. McMaster and Donald W. Kain
_________________________________________________
A History of Manliness and Civilization
[An essay at the end of January 2017, titled We Are in the Making]
A History of Manliness and Civilization
_________________________________________________
By S.M. Cautenac
An essential insight into how the Jews have been involved in environmentalist work to advance anti-Semitism
The Jewish State has always been on a path to extinction and, despite the destruction of its environmental footprint
The framework for Judaisms teachings on the environment emerges from the dynamic tension between two verses at the beginning of Genesis. In Genesis 1:28, G-d blesses the newly created humans, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; have dominion over…every living thing….” This apparent grant of absolute power is a basis for the extraordinary assertion that the Bible was at fault for human exploitation of nature. In Genesis 2:15, G-d takes the newly created human,”… and placed him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate it and to guard it.” This verse imposes upon humans a stewardship relationship to the world in which they live.
First off, the humans right to exploit nature is severely circumscribed in the Bible. For example, one of the most essential religious institutions of Jewish civilization is the Sabbath. The central character of the Jewish Sabbath is prohibition against melacha, which is usually translated as “work”, on the Sabbath day. Jewish tradition insists that the notion of melacha does not relate to the physical effort expended and to the creative result of the behavior. Rather, the Rabbis insist, the prohibition is addressed to the attempt to prevent the productive transformation of objects, whether natural or man-made. Therefore, while it may be permissible to rearrange the furniture within ones home, it would not be permissible to turn on a light switch or drive a car, etc. The point is that the essence of the prohibition against melacha on Shabbat is to teach us that the productive manipulation of the environment is not an absolute right.
Lets look at another instance of such limitation. The laws of the sabbatical year teach that not only are the powers of the individual consumed under the general rights of the community, but also that individuals do not have the right of exclusive dominance over their own property. These teachings emerge from the biblical indications that persons have a duty to allow their land to lie fallow during this entire year. Beyond which, according to rabbinic understanding of the Bible, there is no absolute right of exclusion during this year, that is, persons may enter upon the property of another in order of take growing crops which they need to sustain themselves and their families. Clearly, its in the Torah and Jews follow these biblical indications to heart.
Such teachings come as no surprise to us, but unfortunately it did to me in the beginning because I was unaware of all of this information. The Hebrew language itself conveys the same powerful message through the absence of a single word through which the concept of absolute ownership can be conveyed. All Hebrew words, which are commonly used to express ownership, in reality, only express the notion of possession. Thus, ownership is the one powerful message in the Hebrew language that describes it.
It is not only on the symbolic plane and on the linguistic plane that the teachings of Torah address the relationship between humankind and nature. On the direct practical level, there are dozens of Torah laws, which regulate in great detail what we may and may not do to the environment. The Torah prohibits the crossbreeding of different species of animals, as it bans the transplanting of branches of differing species of fruit trees, and the intermingling of seeds in planting. For example, In Genesis 1:29, “And G-d said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” The Torah, there and elsewhere,