with Debra Newbrun
How does Judaism show respect for nature and the environment?
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When I think about Jewish tradition and our environment, three teachings come immediately to mind that point out Judaism’s guiding principles of respecting other living things.
• Our dietary laws, which define what we can and cannot eat, tell us not to eat meat and dairy together, or more precisely not to “boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”
• In a law against species destruction, we are commanded that a mother bird may not be present if one is to take an egg from her... [continued]
Marching with MLK
By Suzan Berns
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| Heschel (second from r.) marching with King (center), Selma, AL 1965 |
At the end of the first day of his march for civil rights in Selma, Alabama in 1965, Rabbi David Teitelbaum wandered to the outskirts of the crowd that had gathered in a big tent to collect his thoughts and enjoy a solitary moment. He wasn’t the only one. Off in the corner he saw Dr. Martin Luther King, sitting quietly alone, meditating. It’s one of the many images of that experience that stays with Teitelbaum nearly 45 years later.
Teitelbaum, now rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City, was one of five Bay Area rabbis who answered King’s call for clergy to join the march for Negro voter registration. “It seemed like it would be a true turning point in history,” he said... [continued] |
