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Developing the Personal
Jewish Philosophy of Earth Stewardship
Each time I do a program I ask myself, "What will it take for these people to be motivated or inspired to develop a personal relationship with the
wisdom of our Creator and our Elders?"
What can I do to move children to let go of their fears of nature? What can I do to move parents to protect their children from toxins and poisons at home? What can I do to inspire Jewish leaders to discover the spiritual dimension of earth stewardship? What can I do to enable people to weigh their wants against the global cost of these wants?
There is a mistaken belief that such things as racism, anti-Semitism or environmental abuse can be overcome through education; i.e., the more educated people
are, the less likely they will be to abuse others or the environment. Unfortunately, this is has not proven to be true when it comes to forms of racism. Numerous studies, conducted between the 1960s and
the 1980s reveal the impotence of education to overcome prejudice or racial bias. I am not aware of any similar studies regarding people's attitudes towards earth care. My experience in working with tens
of thousands of people nationwide leads me to believe that there is little connection between one's understanding of environmental problems or awareness of Jewish ecological wisdom and their commitment to living as
earth stewards!
Here is what I have learned.
I have learned that parents or parents-to-be, as a group, are the most motivated to learn new ways of living ecologically sound lives. They suddenly perceive the relationship between how they live and the environmental future they leave to their children. They are also extremely concerned about the poisons and toxins to which they children will be exposed. Expectant parents are the most motivated to alter their lifestyles to provide a healthier environment for their unborn babies. Equally as important, and interesting, is the effect of one's mate on lifestyle choices. In cases where one partner comes to the relationship with a greater degree of environmental commitment than the other partner, the partner with a lesser commitment takes on the greater commitment nine out of every ten times.
What is most interesting is that these experiences mirror the findings of Jewish educators. They discovered that parents-to-be and parents of young
children are more likely to reenter Jewish life at this time. They also discovered that the choice of mates greatly influences one's Jewish lifestyle choices. It is equally as important for us to
understand the other factors influencing people, at all different ages, to choose to live as Jews and as earth stewards. Only then can we be certain that we are developing programs to take advantage of
"natural" opportunities.
Ultimately, change in the world begins with each of us as individuals.
We change and others around us begin to change. Before long, there is a chain reaction that leads to a communal change – perhaps in the home, or at work or in the entire community. And not much longer after that, the changes become accepted and a part of everyday life. This is happening around us in ways that are very healthy and in ways that quite harmful. One of the changes that has become accepted as "normal" is the number of people using water filters to remove everything from organic waste to heavy metals. This is a change that must never be accepted as normal. It is the birthright of every living thing to have pure water to drink and pure air to breathe.
On the other hand, it is becoming increasingly easy to find "green" alternatives in all walks of life.
More and more supermarkets are carrying organic fruits, vegetables and milk. Energy deregulation efforts are enabling an increasing number of people to choose environmentally sound energy sources. Non-leaded gas and paint are standard fare. The "3 Rs" (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) have become the mantra of early childhood educators.
I present the following questions for your consideration: "What motivated you to explore the connections between Judaism and nature/environment? What
motivates you to choose ecologically sound alternatives in the way you live? At what age level do you think we should be focusing our efforts to influence people to choose Jewish ecologically sound lifestyles?
Please send your thoughts to me.
This will be the start of a Jewish Nature Center study to learn what factors influence people's decisions in this area. You can email me at and list the Subject Area of message as Teachings.
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