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The Sacred Earth

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The Sacred Earth

Name: The Sacred Earth
Author: Rabbi Andrue J. Kahn
ISBN: 9780881233858

Jewish Perspectives on Our Planet

Edited by Rabbi Andrue J. Kahn

Foreword by Karenna Gore

376 Pages6.00 × 9.00 × 1.00 in

Paperback

ISBN: 9780881233858
Published: 12th Jun 2023

$23.95

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Foreword, Karenna Gore
Acknowledgments
Introduction, Rabbi Andrue J. Kahn

Part One · Theology
1. Jewish Ecological Wisdom for the Anthropocene Age
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, PhD
2. Healing Adam and Adamah: Ancient Torah, Action Today
Rabbi Arthur O. Waskow, PhD
3. B’midbar: A Contemporary Midrash
Rabbi Iah Pillsbury
4. Humanity and the Earth: Dominion versus Stewardship
Jeremy Benstein, PhD
5. A Natural Jewish Theology: God’s Covenant with the Earth
Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg
6. God as the Connective Tissue of the Universe
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
7. Earth, Water, Air, and Fire: The Four Elements as a Language for Sanctifying the Earth
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD
8. What If the Earth Is Alive? A Post-halachic Theology
Shaul Magid, PhD7
9. Yishuv HaOlam: The Jewish Imperative of Sustainability
Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin and Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner

Part Two · Jewish Texts
10. Adam v’Teva: A Renewed Relationship with Humanity and Earth
Rabbi Nate DeGroot
11. Reclaiming V’hayah Im Shamoa: Our Actions Have Consequences
Rabbi Devorah Diana Lynn
12. What Can Jeremiah Teach Us about Climate Change?
Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar
13. How to Change Minds: Lessons from Jonah
Mirele B. Goldsmith, PhD
14. The Songs of Songs: A Ritual Journey of Connection with Creation
Rabbi Shefa Gold
15. The Rivers Will Clap Their Hands: Shabbat Rituals for Connecting to the Earth
Rabbi Laura Rumpf
Yotzeir Or
Rabbi Evan Schultz
Nature and Humility: A Reflection on Job
Adriane Leveen, PhD

Part Three · Encountering the Divine
16. Awesome Heights: Mountains in the Bible
Rabbi Eric L. Abbott
17. The Sacred Whole of Creation: Sefer Y’tzirah and Jewish Eco-theology
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD
18. Hitbod’dut: Finding the Divine through Solitude in Nature
Rabbi Eli Herb
19. Desert Torah: Listening for God in the Wilderness
Rabbi Mike Comins
20. Composting and Sacred Time: Lessons from a Pumpkin
Rabbi Michael Birnholz
21. The Weight of the World: Spiritual Grounding through Making Art
Rabbi Adina Allen
Infinite Love
Rabbi Efrat Rotem
The Story of the Pizza
Rabbi Joel M. Mosbacher, DMin
The Sacred Power of the Shabbat Stroll
Rabbi Daniel A. Weiner and Rabbi Avi B. Fine
Radical Confidence
Rob Watson
Ferns/Passage
Chaplain De Fischler Herman

Part Four · Sacred Time 197
22. The Climate and the Calendar: A Talmudic Perspective
Rabbi Dvora E. Weisberg, PhD
23. Yizal Mayim: Water Rituals and Meditations
Kohenet Shamirah Bechirah (Sarah Chandler)
24. Resetting the Planet through Sh’mitah
Nigel S. Savage
25. Creating a Local Lulav
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
26. Birkat HaMazon: A Call to Environmental Awareness
Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, DMin
27. Yom Kippur: A Jewish Earth Day
Rabbah Gila Caine
A Tu BiSh’vat Prayer for Creation
Rabbi Warren G. Stone
Voices of the Future: Stories from the Jewish Youth Climate Movement
Michael Pincus, Anna Dubey, Raphaela Gold, Penelope Kopp, and Tali Deaner

Part Five · Contemporary Responses
28. Beyond Bal Tashchit: Developing an Environmental Halachah
Rabbi Mark Washofsky, PhD
29. The Land’s Still Small Voice Beckons Us All: Preserving a Collective, Zionist Environmental Ethic
Alon Tal, PhD
30. “You Are but Tenants and Settlers”: Ecology, Anti-colonialism, and the Theology of Galut
Daniel Delgado
31. Healing the Environment through Global Interfaith Activism
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
32. Beit Atid: Synagogues as Laboratories for the Future
Rabbi Dean Shapiro
33. Achieving Zero Waste: A Synagogue Case Study
Rabbi Jonathan E. Blake, Ron Schulhof, and Michelle Sterling
34. Sustainable Eating and Eco-justice: Lessons from Jewish Tradition
Rosa Fink, Tanya Fink, MS, RD, and Rabbi Daniel B. Fink
35. Indigenous Land Acknowledgments: A Jewish Perspective
Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg 319
36. Learning from Rocks: Sacred Stones in the Torah
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, DMin 329
Dayenu! A Jewish Response to the Climate Crisis
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn 333

Contributors

It was for such a time as this that The Sacred Earth was published. As we face the very real possibility of an impending climate catastrophe and certainly the reality of widespread suffering because of ecological devastation, this volume gives us the spiritual resilience we will need to rise up and collectively confront the challenge. This book is a deep and urgent call to action as Jews in the broader social movement to save the planet.
–Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director, Religious Action Center

In this invaluable collection, Jewish thought leaders from a diversity of backgrounds and positions delve deep into text, theology, and history to bring new perspectives to the fight to save our planet. For anyone interested in what millennia of Jewish wisdom can teach us about today’s climate challenges, this book is required reading.
–Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

The Sacred Earth—a wide-ranging collection of Jewish teachings on ecology—offers profound insights and inspiring challenges to all of us, who must immediately rise up and protect our planet and all life upon it from utter devastation.
–Susannah Heschel, PhD, Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor, Dartmouth College

This impressive collection is a reminder that, in the words of contributor Karenna Gore (executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and daughter of former Vice President Al Gore), "it is not the earth that needs fixing; it is us." A well-researched and diverse collection of Jewish writings on our collective responsibilities to the planet.
-- Kirkus Reviews

Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Rabbi Andrue J. Kahn ... The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on Our Planet is comprised of 37 eloquent, informative, insightful, thoughtful, and thought-provoking articles.
--James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review

Climate change has clearly emerged in the current century as one of the existential threats to our planet. While several books have explored the topic through a Jewish lens, The Sacred Earth is notable for its excellent thematic approach and its holistic coverage of major issues. ... [A]n outstanding collection of essays.
-- Josh Hanft, Jewish Book Council

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