Home  •  Jewish Vegetarianism  •  Online Course  •  FAQ  •  Jewish Recipes
What You Can Do  •  Links  •  Feedback  •  Media

Book Reviews:

Quotes About the Book:

This masterful volume by Dr. Richard Schwartz provides a treasure of insights into the perspective of Judaism on many urgent social problems. People committed to the vital force of the Jewish heritage will discover in this work both richness of expression and creative application of old texts to new situations. This volume can make a significant contribution to the shaping of the social consciousness of our community.

Rabbi Saul J. Berman
Professor of Jewish Studies
Stern College of Yeshiva University
Founder and Executive Director, Edah (modern Orthodox community organization)

Everyone who believes in Tikkun Olam will be strengthened by this rich compendium of Jewish sources and ethical insights, which should stimulate many dialogues in the Jewish community about critical issues. Everyone who wants to apply Jewish values to the great concerns of our time will be nourished when they eat of this feast of Jewish values and treasures that is spread before us.

Rabbi Irving Greenberg
President, Jewish Life Network
Founder, CLAL, National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

A superb task of research, compilation, and writing.... [This] book brings to bear scholarly insight in a way that is accessible to the interested lay person. The insights and the values of the Jewish tradition regarding crucial social issues of our time come alive in ... [this] presentation. Whether used as a textbook or as a personal guide for Jews who care about making Jewish values live in our world, this book makes a significant contribution to the modern understanding of Jewish social justice.

Rabbi David Saperstein
Codirector and Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Dr. Schwartz has written a significant book that will raise the ecological conscience of the reader, and he has supplied it with religious and secular erudition and global relevance. It speaks with the unmistakable diction of the prophetic moral sensibility.

Harold M. Schulweis
Rabbi, Valley Beth Shalom
Encino, California

Dr. Schwartz's erudition and moral passion are admirable, as well as his ability to deal with so many subjects so readably and succinctly.

Dr. Andre Ungar
Rabbi, Temple Emanuel Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey
Former chairperson of the Hebraic Studies Department Rutgers University

Shows with eloquence and intelligence that Jewish tradition has much to teach us all about how to protect the earth and the human race from destruction -- and how to nurture a decent world.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Director of the Shalom Center
Author of "Godwrestling: Round 2" and many other books.

My undergraduate years at Brandeis University were just beginning when the first edition of this book came out -- and this one-stop collection of Judaic textual sources on issues of the day had a profound influence on me. It served well through years of learning and activism, and was one of the few to accompany me on a cross-country walk for the environment ten years ago. In seminary at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, hardly a month went by without occasion to consult this important work. As a pulpit rabbi and Jewish-environmental educator, I still keep it handy. Not only is it time for me to replace my own dog-eared copy, but it's time for the newly-updated edition of this work to find a position of prominence on every Jewish bookshelf.

Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Bethesda, MD
Board of Trustees, Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life

I urge every Rabbi, Jewish teacher and concerned Jew to read Judaism and Global Survival by Richard Schwartz. We face the future with a great need for ancient wisdom from our tradition dealing with justice and how to sustain our life on earth. Schwartz's visionary and wise book provides us with the spiritual tools to guide our way.

Rabbi Warren Stone
Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) Environmental Chair

An excellent sourcebook. Many of its ideas have found their way into my sermons.

Rabbi Gerald Serotta
Campus Rabbi, Hillel
Associate Rabbi, Temple Shalom of Chevy Chase, MD.

Among Judaism's most basic principles are God's affirmation of both the world and the moral potential of humankind. Therefore, to the Jewish mind, the proper concerns of religion are not only of a private, subjective nature, but necessarily extend to the spiritual and physical improvement of the world. Dr. Schwartz echoes the impassioned protest of the ancient prophets of Israel in his pointed consideration of contemporary social issues. In doing so, he also demonstrates that Judaism cannot be pigeonholed into the convenient ideological categories of "conservative," "liberal," etc., but must be encountered on its own terms.

Rabbi David Sears
Author of "Compassion For Humanity In the Jewish Tradition" and "The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism"

"Judaism and Global Survival" is like a shofar calling the Jewish community to wake up to current crises and at the same time return to our roots. Through clear and compelling exploration, Schwartz calls us to pay attention to the destruction and injustice taking place around the world, realize how we are complicit in environmental degradation and human suffering, and take action rooted in basic Jewish values. Read this book, hear the shofar, and listen for the still, small voice inside that calls our Jewish souls to the work of healing and repairing our world.

Mark X. Jacobs
Executive Director, COEJL (Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life)

A lovingly detailed synthesis of much of the best moral tradition of Judaism, relating it to modern problems of ecology, war, hunger, and other issues of world survival.

Naomi Goodman
Former President of the Jewish Peace Fellowship
Co-author of "The Challenge of Shalom"

Richard Schwartz has written a profound and inspiring call to Jews to involve themselves in saving our planet from disaster. His book makes us proud of our Jewish heritage and eager to engage in environmental activism.

Susannah Heschel
Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College

Richard Schwartz's book represents a generous, humane spirit. It is filled with examples of Judaism as a living guide to contemporary life. It says that Jews need only look into their own religious faith and history to discover that all people, not only Jews, are worthy of our concern -- and, as Schwartz writes, "Each of us must be a Jonah, with a mission to warn the world that it must turn from greed, injustice and idolatry to avoid global oblivion." Judaism and Global Survival is rich in the teachings of Judaism and reflective of the extraordinary ethical and moral way of life that has always made us distinctive. It is an important book.

Murray Polner
Former Editor, "Present Tense"
Chair of the Jewish Peace Fellowship, and editor of "Shalom: The Jewish Peace Letter"

Richard Schwartz is the world's foremost expert on Judaism's teachings on protecting animals and the environment, and this book eloquently describes and documents the religious obligation of every Jew to treat animals with kindness and preserve our planet for future generations. This extremely eloquent, important, and timely book treats a subject of the utmost importance, one of vital concern to everyone - how we can save the earth and prevent the destruction of its life support systems and of humanity itself.

Lewis G. Regenstein
President, the Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature
Author of "Replenish the Earth: the Teachings of the World's Religions on Protecting Animals and Nature"

This book is not just for Jews. People of all faiths who want to know how the Hebrew scriptures address the crucial issues of our times will find it invaluable. It can be a common ground for those of us who want the kind of dialogue that will create the world that ought to be.

Tony Campolo, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Eastern College

Richard Schwartz has crafted a magnificent contribution to Jewish ethical writing. He has insightfully raised important questions for concerned Jews and courageously taught a simple, yet profound Jewish message.

Rabbi Hillel Norry
Shaare Tzedeck Synagogue, Manhattan, NY
Member of the Law and Standards Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly