For decades Judaic environmental ethics has stood in the shadow of unfruitful debates about Christian responsibility for the environmental crisis. This collection puts those debates into perspective and begins the discussion of Jewish environmental philosophy in its own right, by bringing together materials that would otherwise be difficult to obtain, if not unavailable, to most readers of the book. It provides the best starting point for anyone, researchers and laypersons alike, interested in learning more about this important subfield within environmental philosophy.

Eugene Hargrove, University of North Texas

This important book invites the reader to delve more deeply into the ethical and philosophical questions that underlie our environmental dilemma. It provides a lucid analysis of Jewish texts that speak to environmental concerns, and inspires the reader-regardless of religious orientation-to think critically about environmental issues.

Ellen Bernstein, Founder, Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, and Editor, Ecology & the Jewish Spirit

Unlike most collections about Judaism and the environment, this one takes the former at least as seriously as the latter. Martin Yaffe's extended and deeply thoughtful introduction provides a perfect setting for the stimulating readings that follow; he steadfastly refuses to be content with merely donning the latest green lenses to view five thousand years of tradition. Instead, he identifies the deep questions that turn his carefully chosen selections into a lively debate about God, nature, and human responsibility.

Charles Rubin, Duquesne University

Yaffe skillfully and intelligently guides readers through the complex thicket of issues raised by the articles on Judaism and environmentalism. . . . He makes subtle suggestions about how to think more clearly and less ideologically about some of the most contentious problems that animate the various authors and stir the contemporary discussion.

Kenneth Hart Green, University of Toronto

This book brings together works of the highest intellectual quality and philosophical merit addressing the problematic relationship of Judaism and the contemporary environmental crisis. The alleged alienation of Jews from nature is honestly confronted and just as honestly contested. The potential of biblical and other Judaic resources for developing a powerful environmental ethic is fully and satisfyingly explored. The wide-ranging collection of essays is brilliantly integrated by Martin Yaffe's graceful, but critical, introduction.

J Baird Callicott, University of North Texas, University Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and formerly Regents Professor of Philosophy, University of North Texas

Realistic about the variety of perceived eco-friendly and non-friendly strains in Judaism, the essays in this reader enter a conversation that contemplates the present environmental situation. It is a conversation well worth entering and, in fact, a conversation central to the role of the Jewish person in an age of environmental crisis.

Judaism