Judaism Requires Us to Protect the Planet and its Creatures

By Lewis Regenstein


With our planet facing an ecological crisis of unprecedented proportions, the teachings of Judaism may hold the solution to solving the environmental problems that threaten our future.

Indeed, it is a little-known but indisputable fact that the Bible and Jewish law are full of admonitions and commandments to protect animals, nature, and the environment. Indeed, such teachings are fundamental to Judaism and its traditions.

For example, G-d's very first commandment (Genesis 1:22) was to the birds, whales, fish, and other creatures to “be fruitful and multiply”, and fill the seas and the skies. His first Commandment to humans (Genesis 1:28), was to “replenish the earth…and have dominion” over other creatures.

These commandments concern the welfare and survival of animals, and human stewardship responsibilities towards them. So the Almighty must have considered this a very important thing !

Clearly, G-d was well pleased with the works of His Creation. After He made each of the creatures, He blessed them, “saw” that each “was good”, and commanded them to ‘be fruitful and multiply.” And He pronounced the entire Creation, when it was completed, ‘very good.”

Later, when G-d made his promise to Noah and generations to come, never again to destroy the earth with a flood, He included in the Covenant “every living creature….the fowl, the cattle, and every beast of the earth…” (Genesis 9: 12-17).

Psalm 104 extols the creatures of “this great and wide sea”: “O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! In wisdom thou hast made them all: the earth is full of thy riches…The glory of the Lord shall endure forever.” And a well known Jewish blessing states, “Blessed art thou, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who created everything for His glory."

Kindness to animals is stressed throughout the Bible, and is even required in The Ten Commandments, wherein G-d forbids us to make our farm animals work on the Sabbath; we must give them, too, a day of rest (Exodus 20:10; 23:12).

Psalm 36 states, “…man and beast thou savest, O Lord. How precious is thy steadfast love…” And Proverbs 12:10 suggests there are two types of people: “A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”

Indeed, the Jews invented the concept of kindness to animals some 4,000 years ago. Judaism has strict laws and teachings forbidding cruelty to animals. There is an entire code of laws (“tsa’ar ba’alei hayim,” the requirement "to prevent the suffering of living creatures") mandating that animals be treated with compassion. Jews are not allowed to “pass by” an animal in distress or animals being mistreated, even on the Sabbath.

As the Jewish Encyclopedia observes, “In rabbinic literature…great prominence is given to demonstrating G-d’s mercy to animals, and to the importance of not causing them pain”:

“Moral and legal rules concerning the treatment of animals are based on The principle that animals are part of G-d's creation toward which man bears responsibility…The Bible…makes it clear not only that cruelty to animals is forbidden but also that compassion and mercy to them are demanded of man by G-d.”

The obligation of humans to respect and protect the natural environment is another theme that appears throughout the Bible, often referring to just the kinds of problems we face today: destruction of wildlife and habitat, and pollution of our food, air, and water .

In the books of Jeremiah (9:9-11) and Habakkuk (2:17), the Lord warns against destroying nature and wildlife. Habakkuk specifically condemns “….the destruction of the beasts.” In both cases, the punishment is that the land is “laid waste,” just what we are doing today to much of our farmland, wilderness, and oceans.

Trees and forests are accorded a special reverence in the Bible, and one of the first things the Israelites were commanded to do when they “came into” the Promised Land was to plant trees and allow them to mature before eating the fruits thereof (Leviticus 19:23).

One of the world's first and strongest nature-protection regulations is found in the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 20:19), which forbids the destruction of fruit-bearing trees even when waging war against a city.

Throughout the Bible, in stressing the reverence humans should have toward the land, the Scriptures impart a strong conservation message, warning against over-utilizing and wearing out natural resources. In Leviticus (25:2-7), the Lord commands that every seventh year “the land shall keep a sabbath unto the Lord.” The fields and vineyards shall be allowed to rest, and what grows naturally will be shared with the wildlife, “the beasts that are in thy land.”

Also in Leviticus (26:3-6), the Lord's appreciation for the land is made clear when He promises that, if humans obey His commandments, the land will reward them: If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then I will give you rains in their season, and the land shall yield her produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.... And I will give peace in the land.

Yet, every year, we subject billions of farm and other animals to enormous abuse and suffering, and our activities threaten the existence of various entire species of wildlife, and of the earth’s critical biological and life support systems essential our own survival.

Every Jew should consider if this is how G-d intended for us to treat His Creation, which he declared “very good” and over which he gave us dominion and stewardship responsibilities. As the Lord said of “every beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, … all that moveth upon the earth, and all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered” (Genesis 9:2).

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Lewis Regenstein is president of The Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature, and author of “Replenish the Earth.”

A copy of a new booklet on this subject is available upon request.

Source: Lewis Regenstein - contact

Link: Additional information on Judaism and animals
Link: Book: The Way Into Judaism and the Environment
Link: Book: 'Replenish the Earth: A History of Organized Religion's Treatment of Animals & Nature'