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Commencing in February, Shomera for a Better
Environment ran an essay contest on the topic of
Judaism and the environment. The competition
generated interest and a good level of response,
and dozens of excellent essays were submitted to
the judges. The writers wrote on a variety of
topics. In the Judaism and the Environment
evening, which took place last week (see above)
the prizes were awarded to the following winner.
In third place there were two winners:
Writer:
David Aronovsky
Title:
Water Quality and Preventing Its Pollution in
Jewish Sources
The essay deals with the issue of polluting
sources of water and included a review of
Halachic literature, from 1500 years ago until
the present that deal with this difficult
dilemma. In the article it emphasizes that harm
done to national water sources is much more
serious than harm to a private or regional
source, and thereby provides Halachic backing to
the Knesset laws that currently exist to prevent
pollution. In addition, there are rabbis who
believe that in addition to the existing legal
sanctions it is possible to require the polluter
to pay monetary compensation for the pollution
he has caused.
Writer:
Aharon Ariel Lavi
Title:
Man's Ownership of Hashem – The Question of Man
and Nature through the Perspective of Judaism
The essay examines the questions of ownership
and labor as the two main processes which have
distanced man from nature, and as a consequence
caused man to ruin nature. The writer's
conclusion is that these two processes need to
be remedied as part of the spiritual work that
is required in other areas of life, and
especially, in the area of improving one's
spiritual attributes and the relationships
between men; in reality, this is an expansion of
them. In fact, these three areas of internal
improvement, social improvement and
environmental improvement all come together to
create a single mass as part of the general
framework for worshipping Hashem.
2nd Place:
Writer:
Ora Grepstein
Title:
"A [shared] pot among neighbors is neither cold
nor hot": religious considerations in deciding
the goals of a green zone surrounding the city
The essay establishes two issues – harm to
neighbors and the city's plot – in a planning
model of corresponding circles surrounding the
city. In the inner circle (at least 25 meters
surrounding the city) the principles of harm to
neighbors must be applied, and introducing
buildings and activities that harm the city or
damage its beauty should be prevented. In the
external circle (500 meters surrounding the city
including the internal circle) the principle of
city plots is applied, and it serves the
residents of the city for "their domestic
beasts, their property and all their animals",
for air and beauty - basically, to provide
quality of life. These principles match and even
sharpen the planning thought process behind a
green zone, which emphasizes the importance of
openness in these areas within the zone, and
sets limits on the amount and type of
construction that can occur inside it.
1st place:
Writer:
Yehoshua Tsviel Lubitz
Title:
The Difference between a Utensil and an ObjectThis
essay utilizes Jewish sources to examine the
problem of using disposable dishes that create
long term environmental pollution. On the one
hand the Halachic status of disposable dishes is
explored while on the other hand, the cultural
background of disposable dishes is examined
regardless of a connection between man, his
environment and his objects. In the article
there was a captivating combination of focusing
on an urgent environmental problem while
developing a new viewpoint based on traditional
Jewish Sources.
We would like to thank the panel of judges who
evaluated the articles:
Rabbi Ya'akov Warhaftig
– Head of the Beit Ariel Beit Midrash, Rabbi for
the Neve Nof Congregation, and presiding judge
for financial disputes.
Rabbi David Zano
– Rabbi of the town of Shalva, coordinator of
the social leadership program for Mimizrah
Shemesh
Rabbi Ariel Azriel
– Rabbi of the town of Ateret, editor of the
Tzohar newsletter.
Dr. Jeremy Benstein
– Associate Director of the Heschel Center for
Environmental Thought and Leadership. |
