Judaism
and Global Survival
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
New York: Lantern Books, (New Revised Edition), 2002
Review by Deborah Jones, editor of "The Ark"
Journal of the Catholic
Study Circle for Animal Welfare. No 192, Winter 2002
IF THERE IS one book you will want for your collection
which is marvelously informative on both Judaism and
the environment, this is it. It is the best with this
combination since WWF and Cassell brought out their
Judaism and Ecology volume in the 'World Religions
and Ecology' series ten years ago. It stands on a
par with Sean McDonagh's To Care for the Earth, and
subsequent works - and that says a lot! Professor
Schwartz's Judaism and Vegetarianism (reviewed in
The Ark No. 189) gave a full account of Jewish attitudes
to animal welfare, and there is much in this new book
which covers the subject, woven throughout, as it
should be. In the section considering 'Vegetarianism
- a Global Imperative?' for example, Schwartz uses
the teaching of rabbis to explain that: 'By the time
of Noah, humanity had morally degenerated "And
God saw the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for
all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth"
(Genesis 6:12). People had morally degenerated to
such an extent that they would eat a limb torn from
a living animal. So, as a concession to people's weakness,
God granted permission for people to eat meat (Genesis
9:3) ... if people had been denied the right to eat
meat some might have eaten the flesh of human beings
instead, due to their inability to control their lust
for flesh.'
There is a happy balance in this book between the
ethical and religious, and the hard facts of environmental
problems, without going over well-worn ground or just
reiterating bland proof-texts. Apart from the chapter
on environmental problems in Israel, which is less
relevant for Christian readers, everything else speaks
to people of either the Christian or Jewish faiths.
The author's intentions are not just to show how Jewish
values can help to solve many of the world's most
pressing and critical problems, but also to suggest
positive ways of applying the values. 'It is not the
study that is the chief thing, but the doing.' (Kiddushin
40b).
The Appendix A: 'Action Ideas' is full of basic,
do-able ideas which all of us could and should embrace.
The one area which seems not to be covered in this
otherwise comprehensive study is that of GMOs, which
may reflect the lower profile this issue has received
on the American side of the Atlantic. There is reference
to the disappointing outcome of the promises of 'miracle
crops', but these are not the same thing. Perhaps
in the future work by this prolific author, the subject
of genetic engineering of both plants and animals
may be approached. I should look forward to his turning
the spotlight of Jewish ethics on to this subject,
and hope that Christian ethicists may be shamed into
doing something similar!
I find 'Appendix B: Miscellaneous Background Matter'
so interesting, that I reproduce it here in full:
A: Jewish Values vs. Conventional Values Held by
Many People. One of the primary factors behind many
of the world's problems today is the sharp discrepancy
between Jewish values and those believed and practiced
by much of the world, including many Jews. Consider:
Jewish
Values |
Conventional
Values |
1. Prophets
|
1. Profits
|
2. Love your neighbor as yourself
|
2. Suspect your neighbor as
yourself
|
3. Just weights; just measures
|
3. Let the buyer beware
|
4. People created in God's image
|
4. People treated as consumers
|
5. God
|
5. Me
|
6. The Earth is the Lord's
|
6. The earth exploited for convenience
and profit
|
7. People are co-workers with
God. Seek in efforts to improve the world.
|
7. Do your own thing. Personal
advantage.
|
8. Sanctity of every life.
|
8. Lives endangered to increase
gain.
|
9. Tzedek, tzedek tirdof (Justice,
justice shall you pursue
|
9. Societies filled with injustice.
|
10. Tza'ar ba'alei chayim (kindness
to animals)
|
10. Animals treated cruelly
to meet human desires
|
11. God provides food for all;
Share
your bread with the hungry.
|
11. Millions die annually, due
to lack of food; "enough for the world's
need, but not its greed."
|
12. Leave corners of the field
and gleanings of the harvest for the poor.
|
12. Centralized help; let government
handle social problems.
|
13. I am my brother's keeper.
|
13. 'What's in it for me?"
|
14. Sumptuary laws that limited
expenditures on simchas.
|
14. Lavish affairs; wastefulness.
|
15. Sabbatical year; let the
ground lie fallow.
|
15. Fertility of soil destroyed
by planting single-crops year after year.
|
16. Jubilee; redistribution
of wealth.
|
16. Growing rich-poor gaps.
|
17. To be.
|
17. To have; to consume; to
appear.
|
18. Dignity of labor.
|
18. Little pride in work.
|
19. Seek peace and pursue it.
|
19. 'My country right or wrong';
Excessive arms expenditures.
|
20. Be kind to the stranger.
|
20. Discrimination and animosity
between groups.
|
In order to solve the many critical problems that
the world now faces, it is essential that the values
of the world be replaced with Jewish values!
Other book reviews