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A message from: The Noah Project "…and after the flood, G-d said to Noah…" by Vivie Cato Is it a mitzvah to be 'green'? Does Judaism have anything to tell us about how we should treat the world around us? The answer is a resounding yes, although sometimes it's
easy to think that Judaism's environmental ethics are a closely-guarded secret. How many of us know that, as Jews, we are forbidden to live in a town that has no greenery? Or that we are obliged to feed our animals -
dogs and cats as well as chickens - before ourselves? No doubt your children learn in cheder that Judaism has a new year just for trees, but its unlikely that they are being taught that, as Jews, they inherit an
environmental manifesto of which Friends of the Earth could be proud. It all started in the Garden of Eden. The first job description in recorded history is that of gardener. Adam's job was to work and guard the
garden; to till and tend it. It was not to raze to the ground, strip mine and burn. You don't find G-d saying: 'Behold, I have given to you every herb-yielding seed and every tree; them you shall cut down, genetically
mutate, and turn into luxury toilet seats.' Instead, G-d asks Adam to name the animals: symbolically, to take responsibility for them. But Genesis is just the beginning. As we read our way through the Five Books, the
commands come thick and fast. Don't cut down fruit trees in times of war. All cities must have an open space around them. Don't plough with an ox and donkey together (it's not fair on the donkey). Don't muzzle an ox
when it is threshing corn (it's not fair on the ox). Don't kill an animal in front of its offspring, or vice versa (it's not fair on either of them). Using these pointers, and others, as a springboard, Talmud and
Midrash record many rabbinical discussions that between them create a code of environmental ethics. Now, you may not spend your days supervising a corn-threshing ox, but the food you eat may come from a factory farm.
You may not be currently waging war on your neighbours, but you may have decisions to make about those trees in your back garden. As with other areas of our lives, Jewish tradition has some guidance to offer us in the
ecological choices posed by modern life. The Noah Project officially came into existence in January 1998 to raise the profile of Jewish environmentalism within the Anglo-Jewish community. Our by-line is 'Jewish
Education, Celebration and Action for the Earth', and we are the only such group on the scene in this country. We have produced materials for teachers, run panel debates on genetically-modified foods and kashrut, led
Jewish nature walks and Tu B'Shevat Seders. Our quarterly newsletter reaches over 200 households. We are proud that we have cross-community backing as well as active support from individual members across the range of
Anglo-Jewry. On Shabbat Noah, we read the story of Noah, after whom the Noah Project chose to take its name. By taking into the ark the animals and birds, Noah's G-d-given mission was to save the earth's biodiversity
from destruction - and on November 20th this year a very special event is taking place across all synagogues in the UK. Rabbis across the country will be focusing their sermons and divrei torah on what Noah means for
all of us today. What should we as Jews be doing and understanding in order to play our, maybe tiny, part in preserving our unique home for our children and their children's children? Whatever we choose to contribute,
the bottom line is that there is no contradiction to being both Jewish and 'green'. In fact, you might call it a mitzvah. We are very excited by this step to be taken by synagogues from all the main traditions within
Anglo-Jewry together, and hope that you are too. Please do mark the date in your diaries and come to your synagogue on Shabbat Noah to support it. For further details please feel free to contact the Noah Project
on 0208 747 9518, or write to The Noah Project, PO Box 1828, London W10 5RT, or email us at info@noahproject.org.uk |
