The Way into Judaism and the Environment

At a time of growing concern about environmental issues, Dr. Jeremy Benstein, founder and associate director of the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, explores the relationship Jews have with the natural world, the ways in which Judaism contributes to contemporary social-environmental issues, the extent to which Judaism is part of the problem and how it can be part of the solution. Drawing from the Bible, rabbinic literature, midrash, the Jewish prayer book, and Jewish theology and philosophy, Benstein examines the dilemma of having dominion over the earth while serving and preserving it; what the Jewish calendar, including Shabbat and holidays, teaches us about our relationship with nature and the environment; and how contemporary environmental challenges present new and mind-opening opportunities for growth in Jewish thought and spiritual life.