Exploring Judaism with a Fresh Set of Eyes

The best avenue to begin an exploration of Judaism may not be a holiday, a course, or a family celebration. It might be at the check-out counter of your local organic food store.

At the end of this month we celebrate Tu B’Shevat, a holiday that has been transformed throughout its history. Often referred to as the “birthday of trees,” Tu B’Shevat was initially the artificial date used by the Rabbis to count the age of trees. If a tree had passed the requisite number of years, its produce was available for food. Later Jewish mystics re-invented Tu B’Shevat as a holiday to connect them both to the Land of Israel and to the levels or “worlds” of creation that brought them closer to God. Zionism has added to Tu B’Shevat’s transformation by connecting the planting of trees to the establishment and development of the State of Israel. Today institutions like the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life and Hazon have helped to transform Tu B’Shevat into a day to recognize Judaism’s concern for the environment.

Although never called by the modern terms of green politics or ecology, Judaism has always had a serious concern for the environment. This concern is discussed throughout the Torah and the rabbinic literature. In the Bible, the most commonly cited ideas can be found in the Book of Genesis (Chapter 2, Verse 15), which discusses the role of humanity in cultivating and protecting the Earth, and in the Book of Deuteronomy (Chapter 20, Verses 19-20), which discusses the importance of protecting fruit trees during warfare. In the rabbinic literature, the Talmud discusses the distance that must be kept between our residential areas and environmentally unfriendly trades (Talmud, Baba Batra 25a). It is amazing how Ecclesiastes Rabbah (7:13), a midrashic text from over 1000 years ago, reminds us that if we damage our environment it can never be returned to its original state. These concerns are captured with the following teaching:

At the time when G-d created humanity, G-d took him around the trees of the Garden of Eden, and G-d said to him, “Look at My works! How beautiful and praiseworthy they are. Everything that I have created, I created for you. Take care not to damage and destroy My world, for if you damage it, there is no one to repair it after you.”

Concern for the environment is not an exclusively Jewish issue but how we voice, challenge, and act on this concern can be infused with a Jewish sensibility. By doing so, we grow both as environmentalists and as Jews; exploring our religious tradition side by side with our concern for issues of the broader world. This merger of interests has the potential to help to make Judaism a more meaningful experience.

If environmentalism is not one of your priorities, consider a path of Jewish exploration that begins not with an overtly Jewish experience but with a concern for something close to your own heart. Judaism is a civilization that has something to say about every human endeavor. When you find a personally meaningful topic seek opportunities to explore the Jewish avenues within it. Your journey might start at an unlikely place, but in that hides the opportunity to explore Judaism with a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective.