Course linking Judaism, ecology open to the public

“Is it not enough for you to feed on the green pastures? Must you also trample them with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink the pure water? Must you also muddy it with your feet?”

And so Jehovah chastised the Children of Israel – the Jews – through the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:18) in the Old Testament of the Bible. Much later, the American naturalist Aldo Leopold observed that Ezekiel was “a woodsman and an artist.” Leopold also characterized the prophet Joel as “the preacher of conservation of watersheds” and Job as “the John Muir of Judah.”

Clearly, the Bible (New Testament as well as Old), the Talmud and the Torah are all rife with observations about humans’ relationship with and care for the earth. In addition to Leopold, other secular philosophers, essayists and historians have written about Judaism and ecology: Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Mark Jaffe, A.D. Gordon, Jeane Carr, Arthur Waskow and Zalman Schacter Shalomi, among others.

Consequently, the relationship between religion – Judaism in particular – and ecology struck Jeremy Manela, a senior at UW–Madison, as a topic in need of a course.

“The focus is on renewing the age-old intimacy between Judaism and nature, while striving to learn new ways of thinking about our challenges and responsibilities in this environmental age,” says Manela, who is focusing on managing the global commons in his Jewish studies, Hebrew studies and environmental studies majors. He also directs the Wisconsin Environmental Jewish Initiative, which aims to bring an environmental consciousness to Madison’s Jewish community and to instill spiritual inspiration in the environmental community here.

Teaching the course, Judaism and Ecology, in its inaugural semester is Calvin B. De Witt, professor in the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. For him, the class is personal, he says.

“My interest in the course is the extensive work I have done with the Torah and its ecological teaching, more broadly the Hebrew Bible and still more broadly, with Old and New Testament environmental teachings,” he says. “This interest comes as part of my passion to inspire religious communities in environmental issues from their faith-based and value-based perspectives.”

The course itself, now listed as an independent study, is open not only to the enrolled students, but also to anyone on campus or in the larger community. De Witt says the subject matter is especially compelling, given the rapid degradation of our environment worldwide.

“The biblical prophets’ ecological understanding and their ethical understanding were complementary, one mutually fulfilling and completing the other,” he says. “Ecological knowledge – science – is incomplete unless it is joined with a knowledge of what ought to be.”

“What ought to be” is by no means the sole province of Judeo-Christianity. Many religions and philosophies share a commitment to stewardship of the earth, as participants in Judaism and Ecology are discovering this semester, De Witt says. Islam, for example, holds humans to be “trustees of God, on earth.” Sikhs are taught that humanity is to serve the world and to protect all of creation. In the Bhagavad Gita – sacred discourse of the Supreme Lord Krishna – Hindus are admonished “to preserve the earth or perish.” And Buddhists view all life as being inter-related, requiring believers to show compassion for every living thing.

Each student in the class will select a topic to first research, then draw conclusions. At the end of the semester, papers – or films or poems or three-dimensional installations – will be presented to the public. For his part, De Witt says he can’t wait to see what they projects will be, especially given the urgency of the situation.

“Purely scientific understandings of nature and nature’s degradation have not been sufficient to correct our course, but neither has the moral compass of religion,” he says. “Perhaps it’s time for science and religion to work together in a complementary fashion to address our environmental needs.”

The new course is open to anyone on a drop-in basis. It meets Tuesdays at 1:15 p.m. in 110 Science Hall. In addition, De Witt invites all interested parties to join him before the class for an informal coffee hour in the Catacombs Coffee House, 731 State St. To confirm the meeting place or time, reach him at cbdewitt@facstaff.wisc.edu.