Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
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A comprehensive overview on the Jewish view of Nature and the human being’s responsibility to the environment.
The 15th of Shevat, Tu B’Shvat, is the New Year of Trees in the Jewish calendar.1 It’s a time when we think about trees, eat their fruit2 and often contemplate and appreciate nature. However, I am here to tell you that Nature does not exist. Let me clarify.
The idea that there is an entity called Nature that somehow has plans, purpose and wisdom is not true. If you are a secular atheist (is there any other type of atheist?) you must agree with this – since the world and everything in it is, in your opinion, a result of random, undirected forces. As Stephen Jay Gould emphasizes many times in his works, nature has no intentions; species survive by sheer luck; humanity is not the purpose of creation; and it is ridiculous to speak of Nature as an entity with purpose.3
From the perspective of Judaism, “nature” is a manifestation of God’s will which happens regularly, just as a miracle is a manifestation of God’s will, albeit one which happens infrequently.4
In 1702 Rabbi David Nieto5 became the Rabbi of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in London. In one of his first sermons, he generated enormous controversy by pointing out that the numerical value of God’s name, Elohim, was equal to the numerical value of Nature.6 This was soon after the controversy over the Dutch-Jewish philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, who declared belief in pantheism, denying the monotheistic concept of a personal God, denying God’s free will and denying God’s love.7 Nieto’s congregants thought that their Rabbi was a Spinozan pantheist.
The attribution of wisdom and personality to Nature goes back to the early pagan religions and is echoed by modern philosophers and environmentalists.
The great Rabbi Zvi Ashkenazi of Amsterdam came to Nieto’s defense and explained that Nieto meant the precise opposite of Spinoza – namely, that there is no such thing as Nature, but rather there is only the will of God.8
Many contemporary environmentalists are worshippers of Nature or of Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth, and have a concern for the environment that is for the sake of the environment itself and the earth itself. Some see humanity as a virus or a parasite on the earth’s organism. In the words of James Lovelock, “Unfortunately, Gaia is in trouble today. It is infected by a virus called Homo sapiens. Humans are destroying ecosystems, killing off species in their thousands and destabilising climates.”9
The attribution of wisdom and personality to Nature goes back to the early pagan religions and is echoed by modern philosophers and environmentalists. Statements such as “Let us permit nature to have her way. She understands her business better than we do” by the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, proliferate today.
Judaism sees human beings as deliberately created and placed on this earth to perfect and improve themselves and all of creation. We are anthropocentric and see the human being as the purpose of creation and as central to its continuity.10
The first statement of imperative to the human is that were placed “in the garden to work it and to guard it.”11 Furthermore the human being was created as the guardian and ruler of the rest of creation, “And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”12
Of course, with power comes responsibility, and a wonderful Rabbinic commentary in the Midrash relates that God showed Adam and Eve around the world and told them, “Look at my works! See how beautiful they are — how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.”13
Use of the world, especially when it involves destruction, must be thoughtful, justified and deliberate.
So, the human being has been giving stewardship over the world, to utilize it appropriately and not to destroy it. We may agree with environmentalists in actions and methods, but for very different reasons. We are mandated by the Creator to preserve nature, not as an end in and of itself, but as the means to achieve human perfection.
Judaism agrees with Henry David Thoreau that “Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.” However, Judaism adds that human need is justification and reason enough to take the life of an animal or to cut down a tree. Of course, “need” is not something that can be defined simply and conclusively. Use of the world, especially when it involves destruction, must be thoughtful, justified and deliberate.
Rabbi Aryeh Levin was walking with his mentor, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, in a field in Israel. Rabbi Levin nonchalantly pulled a leaf off a tree. Rabbi Kook was visibly shaken by this act and turning to his companion he gently said, “Believe me when I tell you, I never simply pluck a leaf or a blade of grass or any living thing, unless I have to.” He explained further, “Every part of the vegetable world is singing a song and breathing forth a secret of the divine mystery of the Creation.” For the first time Rabbi Levin understood what it means to show compassion to all creatures.14
Many laws and practices of Judaism are designed to teach us compassion for life, an appreciation of the ecosystem and a sensitivity to the environment. For example, the first in a series of morning blessings in the standard prayerbook is “Blessed are You, Our God, King of the universe, Who has given the rooster wisdom to distinguish between day and night.”15 This strange blessing is understood by Rabbi Kook to be a blessing over the interconnectivity of everything in the world to everything else. The first manifestation of the connection between the human and the environment is being woken by the crowing of a rooster.
But that is just the tip of the iceberg, and the blessing is supposed to help us remain aware of our connection to all of nature.16
Warfare often involves the deliberate destruction of an enemies’ environment. The Torah actually states in a command to the ancient Jewish army, “When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees with an ax; for you may eat of them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man that it should besieged by you? Only the trees which you know are not fruit-bearing trees, you shall destroy and cut them down….”17 The Sages of the Talmud derived a general prohibition from these verses against purposeless, wanton destruction of any resource or anything natural or manufactured.
“Rebbi said: A person should not pour out the water of his pit, when there are others who need it.”18 This prohibition is explained in a 14th century work, The Book of Education; “This is the way of the pious and righteous – they love peace, rejoice in the good of humanity and bring them close to Torah. They do not destroy even a tiny mustard seed19 and they are pained by any waste or destruction.”20
We also find that Judaism is concerned with conservation and preservation of species. There is a Biblical commandment to shoo away the mother bird when taking its eggs to eat, and a prohibition against taking both the mother and her offspring.21 This is understood as a means to preserve that line of descent by not taking both the produce (the eggs) and the producer (the mother) simultaneously. As the aforementioned Book of Education writes, “It is of the roots of this commandment to put into our hearts that the providence of God, may He be blessed, is upon all of His creatures – with the human species individually, as it is written (Job 34:21), "For His eyes are upon a man’s ways, etc."; and upon all species of animals generally, meaning to say that His desire, may He be blessed, is towards the existence of the particular species.”22
Jewish law not only prohibits causing suffering to an animal but obligates us to prevent an animal from suffering.23 The Talmud relates that one of the greatest Rabbis of his time, the editor of the Mishnah, Rabbi Judah the Prince, was punished for being insensitive to an animal.
“The suffering of Rabbi Judah the Prince came about as a result of an incident in which a calf on its way to shechita broke away and came to Rabbi Judah while he was studying Torah. The calf put its head under the edge of his garment and cried. Rabbi said, “Go! You were created for this!” His suffering ended as a result of an incident in which his maid was cleaning the house and pushed out some baby weasels. Rabbi Judah said, “Leave them – it is written, ‘His mercy is upon all His creatures.’” They said [in heaven], “Since he is merciful, we will have mercy upon him.”
There is a blessing that we bestow upon someone who has purchased new clothing, in Hebrew, Titchadesh! (Renew it!). Here is the source in the Code of Jewish Law,
“It is customary to say to someone who has bought new clothing, “May you wear it out and renew it.” And there are those who wrote that one should not say this for shoes or clothing made of leather, for if he does wear it out, another animal will have to be killed to make a new garment, and it states, “His mercy is upon all His creations.” Now, although this reasoning is not conclusive, many people do not to say this blessing over leather clothing.”
While we celebrate someone’s new clothing and wish him to live long, ‘wear it out and get a new one,’ we feel it is inappropriate to celebrate by hoping for the death of another animal. So, although Jewish law certainly permits the use of leather, it tempers that permission with a reluctance to celebrate the leather.
In a famous 18th century responsum, Rabbi Yechezkel Landau of Prague was asked by a wealthy businessman if he could entertain clients by taking them hunting. Rabbi Landau responded, “I am amazed by this activity of hunting; we have not found hunters in the Torah except for Nimrod and Esau.24 This is not the way of the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... one should not say “wear it out and renew out” to someone who has bought clothing made of animal skin, since it is written “His mercy is upon all his creatures.”25 If so how can an Israelite kill living beings without any other need than in order to pass his time by hunting?!... Therefore, this matter contributes to a negative trait – cruelty, and is forbidden and dangerous, and also causes God to judge the person for his sins... However, if someone requires it and his livelihood depends on hunting, the prohibition of cruelty is not applicable here.”26
Rabbi Landau forbids hunting for entertainment, but allows it, albeit a little reluctantly, for the sake of making a livelihood. This responsum is another example of the Torah’s balanced approach that allows us to use the world but forbids us from abusing the world.
Our attitude to nature, the earth and animals is one of human responsibility, not of nature’s rights. Nature has no personality; the earth is not a goddess and animals have no moral free will. Humans, on the other hand, have personality, free will and obligations and as such are expected to act appropriately.
We are enjoined to contemplate the beauty and majesty of the world. “Lift your eyes upon high and see Who created these.”27 But we are also obligated to understand our place in the world, our duties towards and our rights over the world. We are prohibited to idolize the world, to invent a personality for nature and the earth, but we are also obligated to protect the world and to respect nature and the world. Tu B’Shvat is a good time to give some thought to these issues – and to eat some delicious Israeli fruit.
