Environmental Awareness

Environmental Awareness

Environmental Justice

Deuteronomy 22:8

כִּי תִבְנֶה בַּיִת חָדָשׁ וְעָשִׂיתָ מַעֲקֶה לְגַגֶּךָ וְלֹא תָשִׂים דָּמִים בְּבֵיתֶךָ כִּי יִפֹּל הַנֹּפֵל מִמֶּנּוּ:

Deuteronomy.22.8

When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. Why does the text assume you would be responsible if someone fell off your roof?
2. According to this text, what are the limits of your responsibility towards another person's injury?

Exodus 21:33-34

וְכִי יִפְתַּח אִישׁ בּוֹר אוֹ כִּי יִכְרֶה אִישׁ בֹּר וְלֹא יְכַסֶּנּוּ וְנָפַל שָׁמָּה שּׁוֹר אוֹ חֲמוֹר: בַּעַל הַבּוֹר יְשַׁלֵּם כֶּסֶף יָשִׁיב לִבְעָלָיו וְהַמֵּת יִהְיֶה לּוֹ:

Exodus.21.33-34

When a person opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the one responsible for the pit must make restitution; he or she shall pay the price to the owner, but shall keep the dead animal.

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. According to this text, what are the limits of your responsibility towards another person's injury? Is this different than the first text?
2. What are the limits of your responsibility to your surroundings? Is this different than the first text?

Isaiah 1:17

לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב דִּרְשׁוּ מִשְׁפָּט אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ שִׁפְטוּ יָתוֹם רִיבוּ אַלְמָנָה:

Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow. [JPS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. What does it mean to "do good"?
2. How can we devote ourselves to justice?

Elie Wiesel [on Indifference], US News & World Report (27 October 1986).

Original
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And, the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. Because of indifference one dies before one actually dies.

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. Why does Wiesel equate indifference to death? Do you agree?
2. According to this text, what is the purpose of living?
3. Can you relate to Wiesel's philosophy? How might you apply this statement?

Hosea 6:6

כִּי חֶסֶד חָפַצְתִּי וְלֹא זָבַח וְדַעַת אֱלֹהִים מֵעֹלוֹת:

For I desire kindness and not sacrifice, attachment to God rather than burnt offerings. [Translation by Areyvut]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. Why do we perform sacrifices? Who are they for?
2. Why do we perform acts of kindness? Who are they for? Why are they ultimately preferable?
3. What type of a society prefers sacrifices over kindness and attachment to God? How can we combat this?

Deuteronomy 24:17-18

לֹא תַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט גֵּר יָתוֹם וְלֹא תַחֲבֹל בֶּגֶד אַלְמָנָה: וְזָכַרְתָּ כִּי עֶבֶד הָיִיתָ בְּמִצְרַיִם וַיִּפְדְּךָ ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ מִשָּׁם עַל כֵּן אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה:

Deuteronomy.24.17-18

You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger, the orphan; you shall not take a widow's garment in pawn. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that Adonai your God redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment. [JPS translation. Edited for gender neutrality]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. Why are we commanded specifically regarding the rights of the stranger, orphan, and widow? What do they have in common? Who do they represent in society?
2. In what ways does remembering a history of slavery enable us to care for the widow, orphan and stranger?
3. How do we care for the stranger, orphan, and widow today? How do we fail to care for them? How can we improve?

Amos 5:14

) דִּרְשׁוּ טוֹב וְאַל רָע לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ וִיהִי כֵן יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת אִתְּכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲמַרְתֶּם:

Seek good and not evil that you may live and that the Lord, the God of Hosts, may truly be with you. [JPS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions

1. According to this text, why should we seek good instead of evil? Does this reasoning surprise you?
2. How does this text connect to your own idea of good and evil? What about your sense of reality - do those who choose good live, and those who choose evil perish? How can we reconcile this apparent contradiction?