Discussion Questions and Glossary

"Judaism and the Practice of Stewardship" - David Ehrenfeld & Philip J. Bentley

 

1)       In the introductory section of this essay, the authors note that the practice of stewardship can often be distorted by power, technology and science producing negative environmental consequences. What kind of steps do you think the authors would recommend to counteract this trend?

 

2)       It may seem strange at first looking at texts and philosophies from previous millennia in an attempt to address current issues such environmental degradation. Is there value in looking into the past in search of answers to current questions?

  

3)       The authors give four ecological ideas which appear in traditional Judaism. Do these provide any meaningful framework within which to begin building an environmental ethic?

 

4)       How is humanity’s relationship to nature presented in this account compared to some of the previous papers we have read? Does it provide any new data which could be valuable in the context of environmental ethics?

 

5)       What is your understanding of the concept of stewardship presented by the authors here? A Do you see strengths or weaken in this approach?

 

6)       In this account, humanity is directly accountable to God for how he/she treats the environment compared to being accountable to the environment itself? How might this difference influence our ethics?

 

7)       Does an understanding and practice of Sabbath provide a means of maintaining stewardship in an undistorted way? How do the authors view this relationship between Sabbath and stewardship? Do you see value in this practice?

  A small GLOSSARY that might be helpful on this and Hava Tirosh-Samuelson:

bal tashchit -  do not destroy principle;  see  http://www.coejl.org/~coejlor/learn/je_tashchit.php

Kabbalah -a complex mystical tradition; for more see http://www.jewfaq.org/kabbalah.htm

kaddish - literally make holy or sanctify, there are several types of kaddish prayers; for the mourning kaddish see http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/kaddish.htm; to listen to three types of kaddish see http://www.uscj.org/ctvalley/fairfield/prayer/Kaddish.htm

kashrut - the food laws; for more see http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm

midrashim - rabbinic commentaries on Hebrew Bible texts; often go beyond the plain meaning

mitzvot - commandments; singular is mitzvah

Shabbat or Shabbes - the sabbath; for more see http://www.jewfaq.org/shabbat.htm

Talmud = the Mishnah (or Mishna - a collection of oral legal traditions written down circa 200 CE with a number of tractates or sections), plus Gemara (commentary on Mishnah)  together formalized circa 600 CE   Differing views are often set side by side. For more see http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/talmud_&_mishna.html

tikkun olam - repair of the world; social justice

tza'ar ba'alei chayim - don't cause living creatures to suffer; see http://www.jewfaq.org/animals.htm  and http://www.coejl.org/~coejlor/learn/je_tenje.php

yahrzeit - the anniversary of the death of a family member; for more see http://judaism.about.com/cs/deathandmourning/f/yahrzeit.htm

Tu B’Shvat - The New Year of the Trees. For more information and to see an environmental action Jewish website go to COEJL (Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life) section on learning about Tu B’Shvat at http://www.coejl.org/tubshvat/learn/   This year the holiday was Jan 29, 2010 (Shvat 15, 5770.)