Action

"Seek peace and pursue it..." (Psalms)

"You are not required to complete the task, yet you are not free to withdraw from it..." (Pirkei Avot)

 

Our world is a world of action, where things get done only when we do them.  While Judaism places much value on the learning of the ancient texts, it also places great emphasis on our active participation in the world.  In fact, ideally even our learning is meant to inspire us to live lives that are sensitive, compassionate and aware.  As humans, we are co-creators with the one Creator in this world and, as a result, our actions determine how the story of creation will continue to unfold.  The world we live in was created incomplete, imperfect.  The task of completing it and perfecting it has been given to us.  When we bring this consciousness into our everyday lives, we begin to see how each of our actions actually matters; that how we decide to be (how we speak, how we eat, what we buy, etc.) affects both our personal future and the future of all the world.  We then become empowered to use each day of our lives to bring more goodness into the world, knowing that this is the very purpose for which we are here.

Though the Jewish path encourages us to focus on the positive things in our world, it is also necessary to be able to clearly see those things that are causing destruction and violence to the world so that we know what exactly needs to change.  Once we know what needs to change, we can focus on how we can change them to improve the lot of those individuals, both human and animal, who are negatively affect by certain practices of our modern-day world.   

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

 The following is a collection of web sites and writings that will help you to learn more about some of the pressing social issues of our day as well as how our everyday actions may be innocently and unknowingly helping to perpetuate certain injustices and suffering in the world.   The information here serves only as an educational tool.  After learning the facts, it's then up to each individual to decide what to do; to decide if and how we are going to change the way we are living in order to change the world. (More sites will be added over time. Feel free to suggest a site.)   

Environment

        1.           Greenpeace    

        2.   Sierra Club

        3.    Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)

COEJL strives to deepen the Jewish community’s commitment to the stewardship of creation and mobilize the resources of Jewish life and learning to protect the Earth and all its inhabitants.

        4.    The Teva Learning Center

The Teva Learning Center, based in the beautiful Berkshires as well as upstate New York, is a non-denominational environmental educational program for participants from throughout the Jewish community. Working with Jewish day schools, Hebrew schools, synagogues, camps and youth groups, Teva's programs teach the importance of environmental stewardship in today's world and show how this is an ancient Jewish value.

        5.    The Jewish Vegetarian and Ecological Society      

The purpose of The Jewish Vegetarian and Ecological Society (JVS) is to promote the practice of vegetarianism within the Jewish tradition, and explore the relationship between Judaism, dietary laws, and vegetarianism.

        6.     Learn how to compost! 

Learn how to take your kitchen food scraps and turn them into nutrient-rich soil!! (Which means you won't be throwing them in the garbage, decreasing the amount of waste you send to the landfill.)

        7.  L'Avdah U'lishamrah ( To work and to protect): A Guide to Jewish Environmental Ethics  

            A guide to Jewish environmental ethics, focusing on issues such as: treatment of animals, organic foods, diet and health, and treatment of the land, all from a Jewish perspective.

 

        Food/Diet

       1.      Food Revolution (a book by John Robbins)

                Learn how your diet can help save your life and the world.  A look at how what you eat can enhance your health, express your compassion and help create a thriving, just and sustainable world.

 

       2.       Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger   provides food, help and hope to hungry people of all faiths and backgrounds. It does so through donations from the Jewish community which, in turn, are allocated to the most effective hunger relief organizations in the United States, Israel and in poor countries worldwide.

        3.        Food Not Bombs

A world-wide grass roots organization that collects unwanted food from stores and businesses and turns them into free hot, nutritious meals for the hungry people of our world.

        3.          Oxfam

  An organization committed to creating lasting solution to global poverty, hunger and social injustice. 

 

Animal Rights

      1.    www.stopanimaltests.com

                    Learn about the use of inhumane, unnecessary animal testing in the cosmetic industry and what you can do to stop it.

        2.    List of companies that do and don't test on animals  

                    Find out which companies don't test their products on animals, and which companies do.

 

        3. Factory Farming.Com                                         

                        Factory farming is an attitude that regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit. In animal agriculture, this attitude has led to institutionalized animal cruelty, massive environmental destruction and resource depletion, and animal and human health risks. This web site is an incredible resource for learning more about this unfortunate modern-day practice and what other choices we can make regarding our consumption and treatment of animals.

 

 

Peace/Justice

 

        1.        American Jewish World Service

    American Jewish World Service [AJWS] is an independent not-for-profit organization founded in 1985 to help alleviate poverty, hunger and disease among the people of the world regardless of race, religion or nationality. It breathes life into Judaism's imperative to pursue justice and helps American Jews act upon a deeply felt obligation to improve the chances for survival, economic independence and human dignity for all people.

        2.       Honest Reporting on the Middle East

        HonestReporting is one of the world's largest media watch groups, working to insure fair and unbiased reporting on the events of the Middle East. 

 

    Suggested books to read

        1. Fast Food Nation  by Eric Schlosser

                In a meticulously researched and powerfully argued account, Eric Schlosser visits the labs where scientists re-create the smell and taste of everything - from cooked meat to fresh strawberries; talks to the workers at abattoirs with some of the worst safety records in the world; explains exactly where the meat comes from and just why the fries taste so good; and looks at the way the fast food industry is transforming not only our diet but our landscape, economy, workforce and culture.

        2. Diet for a New America     by John Robbins

                Diet For A New America - How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth, is widely considered to be one of the most influential books on health, compassion, and the environment ever written in the English language. It has sold more than 1,000,000 copies, and at the turn of the century, it was heralded as among the ten most important books of the 20th century by numerous organizations working for a joyous, fair, and sustainable world.

        3. How Wal-Mart is Destroying America (and the World)     by Bill Quinn

                Since Wal-Mart opened two superstores thirteen miles from Grand Saline, Texas, half of the retail businesses in Bill Quinn's once-thriving hometown have closed. In HOW WAL-MART IS DESTROYING AMERICA, Quinn exposed Wal-Mart's infestation and destruction of small American towns, where local shops were forced to close, workers were laid off, and downtowns turned into ghost towns. But dismantling the American dream wasn't enough for this retail Goliath, and now Wal-Mart is aiming for world domination. Its recent acquisition of Britain's third largest supermarket chain is only the beginning of Wal-Mart's frontal assault on Europe's small businesses. If you've ever wanted to fight for the little guy, now's the time—and this feisty Texas grandpa will show you how.

        4.  The Humanure Handbook  by Joseph Jenkins

                Ever think of composting your feces and urine?  Joseph Jenkins explains why we should consider this and how!!  

        5.  Compassion for Humanity  in the Jewish Tradition  by David Sears

                This book is a compilation of translations from classic texts of Jewish thought, from Scripture through the Talmud and up to contemporary rabbinic leaders, on Judaism's teachings on how Jews should relate to other people. Among the themes that the quotations superbly amplify are: the Jewish mandates to be a "light onto the nations" and to work for tikkun olam (the healing, repair, and perfecting of the world); the mitzvot to pursue justice and righteousness and to emulate God in His attribute of compassion; the implications of such mitzvot as "love thy neighbor as thyself", "be kind to the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt", and "seek peace and pursue it"; Jewish business ethics; treatment of converts; how the ultimate goal of Jewish particularism is to benefit all of humanity and all of creation; and the ramifications of the Jewish "Messianic Vision."

        6.   Judaism and Global Survival  by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph. D.

                This book seeks to explore the vital issue of protecting the earth from the many threats it faces. The solution, according to Professor Schwartz, is not necessarily to be found in current technology, but rather by applying Jewish mandates related to protecting our imperiled planet. He reminds us that as Jews, not only are we obligated to carry out the mandate of Tikkun Olam (to repair the world), but also that we should pursue peace and justice, feed the hungry, conserve resources, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

        7.  Eating as Tikkun by Sara Schneider

                Humanity's first sin, teaches Rav Tzadok HaKohen, was Adam and Eve's eating without proper intention.  The Tree of Knowledge, he says, was not a tree or food or a thing at all.  Rather, it was a way of eating.  Therefore, since humanity's first sin was unholy eating, only its opposite can fix it.  All of life and all of history are training us for one end: to learn to "eat" in holiness, to not let the world's pleasures wrench our attention from G-d (even for an instant).  The moment we get it the labor of this world will end...

        8. Vision of Eden  by David Sears

                The Vision of Eden presents a Jewish view of the universe, drawing upon both Talmudic and Kabbalistic sources, with a special focus on the issues of animal welfare and vegetarianism. While sympathetic to vegetarianism, the author has created a comprehensive anthology that presents a wide range of material representing multiple points of view. Much of this material has never before been translated, including copious selections from the writings of the Chassidic masters and Rav Abraham Isaac Kook.

 

Suggest a site or a book