Torah of the Earth: Exploring 4,000 Years of Ecology in Jewish Thought

Edited by Arthur Waskow

Two Volumes. Jewish Lights. 242 pp. and 311 pp. $19.95 each. ISBN: 1580230865; ISBN: 1580230873

Reviewed by JONATHAN GRONER

From Canaanite civilization to Israelis' current passion for the automobile, from talmudic prohibitions on excessive waste to the early Zionists' deep connections to the soil of the Holy Land, from philosophical discussion to poetry to public interest law: This two-volume anthology contains a little bit of just about everything related to Judaism and the environment. Arthur Waskow, its editor, is of course a well-known advocate of Jewish renewal, and in the few essays of his own included here he makes the familiar case for Judaism as the bearer of an ecological ethic as well.

Waskow and other contemporary Jewish environmental thinkers make strong arguments. The Torah's commandments, after all, include the Sabbath, in which humankind desists from interfering with nature one day in seven—as well as the sabbatical year, in which fields lie fallow one year in seven. In making war, Jews are commanded not to cut down any fruit trees, and the rabbis extended this prohibition to include the wanton destruction of anything in nature. And of course, Adam was told by God both to work the land and to preserve it—the first recorded instance of responsible stewardship.

Although Waskow is best known for his emphasis on the mystical and aggadic aspects of Jewish thought, in this anthology he draws significantly from the rational and legalistic sides as well. These essays are among the most successful in the book. In "Nature vs. Torah," Jewish environmentalist Jeremy Benstein grapples head-on with an old Jewish text that is jarring to modern ears. The text, from Pirke Avot—Ethics of the Fathers—reads: "One, who while walking along the way, reviewing his studies, breaks off from his study and says, How beautiful is that tree! How beautiful is that plowed field!' Scripture regards him as if he has forfeited his soul." Benstein's marshaling of sources, ancient and modern, that interpret this passage; his own incisive thinking; and his ultimate reconciliation of nature and law, of human wonder and divine command, make this essay a true tour de force.

Other authors tackle the implications of the passage in Genesis in which God commands humans to exercise dominion over the earth. Despite the views of non-Jewish ecological thinkers, it is a serious misreading to view this verse as granting license for the degradation of the environment. "The Bible simply doesn't support the 'conquest of nature' theology that was imposed upon it a few hundred years ago," writes Tikva Frymer-Kensky in this anthology.

Finally, in a brilliant essay that touches upon the Nazis' attraction to the "morality of nature" and upon the fundamental contrast between Judaism and paganism, Eilon Schwartz of the Melton Center at the Hebrew University poses crucial questions about environmentalism and Judaism and proposes a deep philosophical synthesis. Somewhat simplified, Schwartz's argument runs as follows: Paganism, almost by definition, glorifies nature and finds God immanent in the natural world. Judaism, almost by definition, rejects paganism and insists upon the radical separation of God from nature. If environmentalism is itself a world view that glorifies nature, is it at its root a modern paganism that is thus foreign to the essence of Judaism? That is a serious question indeed.

Schwartz surveys a wide variety of views, including contemporary Orthodox thinker Aharon Lichtenstein's contention that "much of the environmental movement, viewing nature as Holy," is indeed idolatrous. Schwartz concludes, however, that there need not be "a denial of the place of the natural within Jewish worldviews." Like Benstein, he seeks a reconciliation of seeming opposites.

Not everything in this book works as well, however. As is true of most anthologies, the contents of this book vary widely in quality and interest level. Several essays on the contemporary environmental movement in Israel tend to repeat each other and often degenerate into a sterile recitation of official reports and statistics. This second-rate political science forms the least inspiring section of the book by far.

This is not the only part of the anthology that could have used a good deal more editing. Incredibly, three essays about the Talmudic rabbis' attitudes toward nature all cite the same passage from page 53b of the tractate Shabbat, all within 60 pages of each other, and in three different English translations! This is disconcerting to the reader, who would prefer to learn something new in each essay rather than have the sense that old ground is being plowed yet again. There are other instances of needless repetition. As the editor, Waskow should have picked one of these similar essays to make the points he wanted, or he should have excerpted them to solve the problem. Especially in a book that is capable of rising to such heights, this type of editorial laxness is a serious flaw.