“As with Torah, so with ecology.”
In the second session of Reconstructing for Tomorrow, guest facilitator Rabbi Fred Dobb brought his lifelong passions into our discussion: eco-Judaism, the integration of ecology and Jewish values as a guiding force. The threads of scientific thought and Reconstructionist Jewish thought, woven together through the 20th and 21st centuries, call us to examine the integration of the spiritual and ecological world in our Jewish traditions. We touched on symbols that make use of eco-Judaism, including the metaphor of Torah as a tree, growing in richness through generations and encompassing multitudes of life cycles. We also discussed more tangible applications of eco-Judaism, looking into Adat Shalom, a solar-powered Reconstructionist congregation in, and JRC-Evanston, the first platinum LEED-certified synagogue in North America.
Resources
Greening Your Simkha from Ritualwell
Lo-Watt Shabbat from Ritualwell
Ethical Consumption Kavannah from Ritualwell
Pillars of Jewish Environmental Awareness from Ritualwell