Eco Judaism : Does It Exist? 3

Does Judaism imbue us with concern for or a love of the nat­ural world? Does such a concern have a halakhic basis, and if so has it developed through the ages? This essay must also ask whether the natural world possesses a halakhic standing or specific rights. Is the natural world primarily to be used for the economic benefit of human beings? Should it be preserved for its own sake? Do species and habitats deserve to be preserved for their own sakes? We shall see that Judaism 's view of nature has changed through the millennia and may be on the verge of another change.

The Biblical Period: Wonder versus the Working World

Among the initial questions treated by Scripture is that of the place of nature in relation to human beings. Does the natural world consist of a series of deities, each with its own fiefdom or is it part of the divine creation by One God ? Scripture answers definitively through the first verse of Genesis. The entire natural world was created by divine fiat, so none of its elements is an independent realm. The premise of this story was later summa­rized by the psalmist:“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein...”(Ps. 24:1). As the tale of the Garden of Eden developed, it displayed a perfect natural world in which life was peaceful; the coexistence of all plants and creatures was taken for granted. There was a natural balance in this picture of the world.

The Biblical story placed a human being at the pinnacle of creation. Man was to(I'avdoh ulshamroh)“till and guard the gar­den”(Gen. 2:15), so it was given into his care. All seed-bearing plants and trees could be used as food for human beings and ani­mals(Gen. 1:29, 30; 2:9). Presumably the consumption was lim­ited and not destructive. The first human being also named all the animals and thus asserted dominance over them(Gen. 2:19).

As the biblical stories unfolded after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the food chain was extended to the animal world through the divine covenant made with Noah. The covenant stated that there would be no further destruction and God also promised that“every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all of these”(Gen. 9:3; Deut. 12:20). Restrictions were placed on the consumption of the