Core principle #6: Caring for the planet p.137-152
The environmental challenge to our planet is a major issue of our time. Unfortunately, the defining traditional source about the environment is woefully inadequate for responding to this crisis. It is called bal tashchit—do not destroy. It is based on Dt. 20: 19-20 which limits what trees can be cut down when an army is besieging a town. The rabbis expanded this prohibition from this specific case of war to prohibit wanton destruction in any circumstance. By definition, this meant that destruction for a purpose is permitted. What is a legitimate purpose? Anything that benefits human beings. This would mean that destroying all of the Amazon rainforest in order to build housing for people would be permitted. It is an anthropocentric view of the world which environmentalist argue is part of the source of our current problems. Deep ecologists maintain that all living beings and even inanimate things have a value in the world and should be considered when setting environmental policies.
“How can Judaism frame a response to the environmental crisis? I want to suggest that we re-interpret a biblical category that has basically fallen into disuse—tum’ah/impurity. In the Torah, especially in the Book of Leviticus, the category of tum’ah is very prevalent. It is not the same thing as sinning. It defines that something is impure. It can happen because you did something wrong or through no fault of your own. Death is the most powerful form of impurity and touching a dead body makes you impure. In the Torah, people could become impure. Certain creepy crawly creatures were always impure. Menstrual blood was impure…There were rituals supervised by the priests that involved immersions of the impure person and/or sacrifices that could be offered in order to be returned to a state of taharah/purity. With the destruction of the Temple, this category became irrelevant since the purification rituals couldn’t be performed without the Temple. Only remnants of this idea have survived among traditional Jews.
Pollution seems to me not just a modern term for destroying the environment, but echoes the biblical sense that tum’ah can affect the world in ways that might not be visible but still have a negative impact. In Leviticus, there is an understanding that impurity is an inevitable byproduct of existence…The fear was that over time too much impurity would build up and that God would be driven away from the sanctuary. The Holy One “couldn’t stand” being in the presence of so much impurity.
We can reconstruct the notion of impurity, not by understanding it as an invisible force infecting society, but as a consequence of human activity that is detrimental to the environment. To put it in contemporary terms, tum’ah would make the world uninhabitable to human beings. Tum’ah is toxic to life. Such a state harks back to the story of Noah and the flood.”
(יא) וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃ (יב) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְהִנֵּ֣ה נִשְׁחָ֑תָה כִּֽי־הִשְׁחִ֧ית כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר אֶת־דַּרְכּ֖וֹ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {ס} (יג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְנֹ֗חַ קֵ֤ץ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם וְהִנְנִ֥י מַשְׁחִיתָ֖ם אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(11) The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. (12) When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth, (13) God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth.
(ח) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־נֹ֔חַ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֥יו אִתּ֖וֹ לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ט) וַאֲנִ֕י הִנְנִ֥י מֵקִ֛ים אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י אִתְּכֶ֑ם וְאֶֽת־זַרְעֲכֶ֖ם אַֽחֲרֵיכֶֽם׃ (י) וְאֵ֨ת כׇּל־נֶ֤פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֔ם בָּע֧וֹף בַּבְּהֵמָ֛ה וּֽבְכׇל־חַיַּ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ אִתְּכֶ֑ם מִכֹּל֙ יֹצְאֵ֣י הַתֵּבָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל חַיַּ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (יא) וַהֲקִמֹתִ֤י אֶת־בְּרִיתִי֙ אִתְּכֶ֔ם וְלֹֽא־יִכָּרֵ֧ת כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר ע֖וֹד מִמֵּ֣י הַמַּבּ֑וּל וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֥ה ע֛וֹד מַבּ֖וּל לְשַׁחֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(8) And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, (9) “I now establish My covenant with you and your offspring to come, (10) and with every living thing that is with you—birds, cattle, and every wild beast as well—all that have come out of the ark, every living thing on earth. (11) I will maintain My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
“Finding that the deeds of humans have corrupted the earth itself, God decides to destroy everything, to cleanse the earth in the waters of the flood, the birth waters for a new world. What happens after the flood? Noah and his family and the animals of the ark re-establish the world. However, some things have changed. God has established a covenant that insures there will never be another flood to destroy the whole world.
The covenant not to destroy the world is made with all living things, not just humans. This covenant argues against an anthropocentric notion of the world. It is now up to us, whom God has given power over the world, to make sure that we do not pollute the world and thereby bring a flood or any other form of nature run wild that could bring an end to all living things…For me, reclaiming the category of tum’ah as pollution is a useful way to frame the challenge of living a life with an awareness of the need to protect the environment. Just as the Torah believed that you could not live without causing impurity however unintentional, so too we cannot live without leaving a carbon footprint on this planet. How can we offset or minimize our negative impact on the earth’s environment?
Some suggestive texts:
It is not ours—it belongs to God
אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: כׇּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִן הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה בְּלֹא בְּרָכָה כְּאִילּוּ נֶהֱנָה מִקׇּדְשֵׁי שָׁמַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לַה׳ הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ״. רַבִּי לֵוִי רָמֵי: כְּתִיב ״לַה׳ הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ״, וּכְתִיב ״הַשָּׁמַיִם שָׁמַיִם לַיהוה וְהָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִבְנֵי אָדָם״! לָא קַשְׁיָא כָּאן קוֹדֶם בְּרָכָה,
Similarly, Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: One who derives benefit from this world without a blessing, it is as if he enjoyed objects consecrated to the heavens, as it is stated: “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s, the world and all those who live in it” (Psalms 24:1). Rabbi Levi expressed this concept differently. Rabbi Levi raised a contradiction: It is written: “The earth and all it contains is the Lord’s,” and it is written elsewhere: “The heavens are the Lord’s and the earth God has given over to humankind” (Psalms 115:16). There is clearly a contradiction with regard to whom the earth belongs. He himself resolves the contradiction: This is not difficult. Here, the verse that says that the earth is the Lord’s refers to the situation before a blessing is recited,
We must protect the earth
(א) רְאֵה אֶת מַעֲשֵׂה הָאֱלֹהִים כִּי מִי יוּכַל לְתַקֵּן אֵת אֲשֶׁר עִוְּתוֹ, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, נְטָלוֹ וְהֶחֱזִירוֹ עַל כָּל אִילָנֵי גַּן עֵדֶן, וְאָמַר לוֹ, רְאֵה מַעֲשַׂי כַּמָּה נָאִים וּמְשֻׁבָּחִין הֵן, וְכָל מַה שֶּׁבָּרָאתִי בִּשְׁבִילְךָ בָּרָאתִי, תֵּן דַּעְתְּךָ שֶׁלֹא תְקַלְקֵל וְתַחֲרִיב אֶת עוֹלָמִי, שֶׁאִם קִלְקַלְתָּ אֵין מִי שֶׁיְתַקֵּן אַחֲרֶיךָ.
(1) “See the work of God, for who can mend what He has warped?” (Ecclesiastes 7:13) “See the work of God, for who can mend what He has warped?” When the Holy One blessed be He created Adam the first man, He took him and showed him all the trees in the Garden of Eden, and God said to him: ‘See My creations, how beautiful and exemplary they are. Everything I created, I created for you. Make certain that you do not ruin and destroy My world, as if you destroy it, there will be no one to mend it after you.
The opposite of anthropocentrism
(ז) רַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי אֲפִלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאַתָּה רוֹאֶה אוֹתָן שֶׁהֵן יְתֵירָה בָּעוֹלָם, כְּגוֹן זְבוּבִין וּפַרְעוֹשִׁין וְיַתּוּשִׁין, אַף הֵן בִּכְלַל בְּרִיָּתוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם הֵן, וּבַכֹּל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה שְׁלִיחוּתוֹ, אֲפִלּוּ עַל יְדֵי נָחָשׁ, אֲפִלּוּ עַל יְדֵי יַתּוּשׁ, אֲפִלּוּ עַל יְדֵי צְפַרְדֵּעַ...
Our rabbis said: “Even those things that you may regard as completely superfluous to creation, such as fleas, gnats, and flies, even they too were included in creation; and God’s purpose is carried out through everything—even through a snake, a scorpion, a gnat, or a frog” ...
Why did God create loathsome reptiles and creeping things?
(ג) ...ברא אדם והביאו לעולם ולא בראו אלא על מנת שיעבדנו בלב שלם ולמצוא קורת רוח ממנו ומתולדותיו אחריו עד סוף כל הדורות כיון שפרה ורבה זה עובד לחמה ולבנה וזה עובד לעץ ואבן ובכל יום ויום מתחייבין באלוה. לפיכך כשהוא חוזר ומסתכל בכל מעשי ידיו שברא בעולם אמר לאלו ואלו חיים לאלו ואלו נשמות לאלו ואלו אכילה ושתיה הרי הן חשובין כבהמה וכחיה וכשאר שקצים ורמשים שברא הקב"ה בעולמו. מיד נתקררה דעתו ואין מכלה אותם. הא למדת שלא נברא בהמה חיה שקצים ורמשים בעולם אלא לרפואה לבני אדם על הארץ...
God created Adam and brought him into the world. And God created Adam for no other purpose than to serve God with a whole heart and God would thus find contentment in him and in his descendants after him until the end of all generations. But then after Adam complied with the command to be fruitful and multiply, one [descendant] worshiped the sun and the moon, another worshiped wood and stone, and thus every day Adam’s descendants came to be deemed by God as deserving annihilation. Nevertheless, upon considering all the work of God’s hands in the world of creation, God said: “These [human beings] have life, and those [other creatures] have life. These have breath and those have breath; these have desire for food and drink, and those have desire for food and drink. Human beings ought to be deemed as important as cattle, as beasts, at least as important as the variety of loathsome reptiles and creeping things which I created upon the earth.” At once God felt some measure of contentment and resolved not to annihilate humankind. And so, you see that reptiles and creeping things were created in the world as a means of humankind’s preservation. (Eliyahu Rabbah, Ch. 1).
A final thought:
Sinning against God
“What happens to the idea of mitzvot/commandments when we attempt to re-imagine how to apply traditional categories to contemporary issues such as climate change? While commandments between people fit very well in Minhag America, those between us and God are more challenging. Does the concept of sinning against God still have meaning?
Sinning against God could mean failing to live up to the values represented by God. If we fail to live up to being an image of God, haven’t we besmirched God’s name or God’s honor? There is a traditional notion of hillul hashem, desecrating God’s name. It is not only other human beings we can hurt with our actions, but also God’s name or at least the values of Judaism. Is that a too general way to understand this category?
A place to begin our rethinking is the traditional name for this category-- mitzvot bein adam la-makom—commandments between a person and God. The name used for God in describing this category is makom/place. It is a rabbinic name for God, not a biblical one. Midrash Rabbah (68:9) states: God is the place (makom) of the world, and the world is not God’s place. The Midrashic comment is usually understood to mean that God is everywhere in the universe which is also the creation of God. Yet, God is also not limited by the universe.
It is not an accident that mitzvot bein adam la-makom---commandments between people and God--use the name of God that means place. As the midrash says, God is the place of the world. Being careless about how we treat this planet is being disrespectful to God. In fact, I would suggest that today it is a primary way that humans are desecrating the name of God. Instead of being co-creators of the world, we are destroying makom-God as manifest in the diverse world of creation. Each time a species disappears from this world, haven’t we in effect diminished God’s name? As we reconstruct halakha, we need to think of how this category of mitzvot/commandments related to the world/makom needs to be expanded in order to preserve God’s name, which is the same as our planet. One way to focus our attention on the environment is through the celebration of Sukkot.” p. 144.
Teacher: Sum up the ideas in the Sukkot subchapter. Ask the students to reflect how they might celebrate Sukkot to make it a week of environmental practice.
Teacher: The next chapter is about God and consists of four subchapters. It is a chapter for discussion, not text study. Read the note at the beginning of the chapter and decide what sections to focus on. You may want them to read only those sections. It is the longest chapter in the book.