(Author: Benji Shulman, Vol. 66, #3, Chanukah 2011)
Zionism and the Environment
111 years ago, a proposal was put to the first Zionist Congress to set up a “national fund” to buy land so as to enable Jews to settle in their ancient home. To facilitate this task, it was proposed that blue boxes be sent to Jewish homes around the world in order to collect money. This action of the congress, which was eventually adopted at its third meeting, was the key foundation for the creation of one of the pillar institutions of Zionism, the Jewish National Fund. It also had the unintended consequence of providing a starting point for an environmental movement well ahead of its becoming an international trend.
This was unusual. Zionism was not a “green” movement, and it lacked many of the features of environmental thinking. Indeed it was a “blue” movement. Instead of espousing universalistic values within a borderless world, it was nationalistic and focused only on a small area. Instead of trying to save the planet, the whales and future generations, it was focused on trying to save a small current portion of the world population by building a modern nation state for the Jewish people on the land of their ancestors.
Despite this, the founders of Zionism did have one thing that focused them on environmental problems. This was the philosophical centrality of the land of Israel within the movement and a practical need for people to live off of it. The land itself was either extremely arid or extremely swampy, neither of which lent itself to agricultural settlement. Thus from the outset, thinking and action went into ways of redeeming the land. The environmental aspect of Zionism was rather anthropomorphic and dedicated to finding ways for humans to survive. It was in this way different from other forms of environmentalism such as “deep ecology” which stresses nature as being the ultimately important actor in the human environment/ relationship.
Still, the hostile conditions in which the early Zionist pioneers worked built a collective mind set that focused on the preservation of resources. This, combined with a love of the land, gave a strong foundation for the appreciation of environmental concerns within the society. Perhaps the strongest symbol of this relationship was the tree, the enduring identifying symbol of the JNF. It is not exactly clear why the JNF began planting trees. Certainly there were some initial, practical reasons, such as the need for shade and drainage. These, however, would not have been compelling enough to warrant the mass scale tree plantings which eventually occurred. Some have argued that tree planting was a function of Ottoman law through which it helped to secure land tenure. Others have suggested that tree planting was Israel’s own version of the American public works program; still others simply claim that it was a nifty way of getting the Diaspora involved with Israeli affairs. Whatever the reason, it became an obsession of the Zionist cause, with some 260 million trees being planted to date. Along the way, the JNF also made important contributions to water preservation, building hundreds of reservoirs around the country and finding ways of combating soil erosion.
Of course, the JNF was not immune from criticism from within the ecological community, who highlighted the effects of monoculture, pesticides and the use of non-indigenous pine trees in JNF forestry practice. Over time, however, many of these challenges have been overcome and there is even a focus group within the JNF, the so-called “Zionist Green Alliance”, whose role is the continued implementation of sustainable development in the organisation.
It is due to these kinds of efforts that the JNF is now able claim a “Green light unto the nations” status. It provides expertise in the fields of renewable energy, water technology, forestry and anti-desertification, and boasts world-class centres like the Arava Institute (which works on environmental cooperation between Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians). Further afield, it has worked with countries like Rwanda, assisting in agricultural development.
The branch of the JNF in South Africa has also made important contributions to the country. This started in the early 1990s, with the creation of the Nelson Mandela Peace Park in Mamelodi and which was opened by Mandela himself. From there, the local community requested an environmental education centre. The Jewish community raised the necessary funds and this was eventually built and named after the late great Walter Sisulu. Today, the centre educates 10000 children a year on the environment, assists in the training of teachers, creates jobs and livelihoods and has contributed 15000 trees to the township. It is such an outstanding centre that it was recently recognised in the Mail and Guardian’s “Greening the Future Awards” for 2011 as a “clear winner” in the education category.
The religious significance
Of course, environmental thinking is not just restricted to the nationalistic aspect of Jewish identity. The Torah itself is replete with references to nature and particularly the symbolic use of trees. For many in the ecological community, the Bible has been viewed with a great deal of suspicion as a book that places man above the environment. Particularly, they cite part of Genesis referring to man’s dominion over the Garden of Eden. It is therefore seen as an enabler for environmental degradation. This, however, is a rather simplistic view of the relationship with nature in the Bible. While it is true that the focus of the Bible is on the relationship between G-d and man, nowhere is there a licence for environmental destruction. Instead, the earth is seen as being not the property of man but the property of G-d and as such being deserving of our respect and attention. Hence, one finds Talmudic references to what modern environmental thinkers refer to as the idea of ‘stewardship’. The human role according to this notion is to look after the environment, making use of but not destroying it.
Being directed very much at what was at the time an agricultural society, much biblical law focuses on the production of food and its connection to animals and the soil. For instance, there are prohibitions against the abuse of livestock and the requirement that the land is to be left fallow in the shemitah year. There are also a number of laws that deal directly with the issue of environment. The most famous of these is the idea of “bal tashchit,” that is, the prohibition against unnecessary wastage and destruction (a theme regularly encountered in environmental thinking).
Other Jewish laws with environmental content include those dealing with the requirement of cities to have green belts, certain approaches to pollution control and the need to conserve certain types of trees. All of this has created an unlikely Kiruv outlet for those involved in getting Jews to engage with their heritage. With the environment being such a popular topic showing a Jewish approach to the subject has allowed for space to talk about other aspects of the religion. The festivals especially have become subject to environmental re-interpretation. When one considers the many agricultural symbols of a holiday like Sukkoth, it is easy to see how these ideas can be intertwined. A more controversial issue has been that of Chanukah. For environmentalists, the idea that we should conserve a small amount of oil so that the worlds light can continue to shine seems a perfect vehicle for a green message. This has angered some in the religious community, who see this as a dilution of the message of a holiday that has at its core a more national-spiritual message. Such critics were especially annoyed when more leftist environmental groups suggested that people limit their candle lighting in order to reduce carbon emissions!
On the whole, however, the environmental movement has been well received in the religious community and continues to grow. In Israel, it is easy to find religious perma-culture kibbutzim and the religion department of Jerusalem puts out a regular environmental journal. This text covers a range of concerns in both Hebrew and English, with everything from the “Kabbalah of Compost” to arguments as to whether carbon credits are a halachically valid response to climate change.
The Environment in the Diaspora
It is not only in Israel where this is a growing phenomenon; the Diaspora has its fair share of environmental movements as well.
BigGreenJewish.org is produced by a range of groups, amongst them the British Board of Deputies, and is a one-stop resource for all things green including tasty recipes and information on climate change. In the United States, the Coalition of the Environment and Jewish Life is an umbrella body of community groups that seeks to put the environment on the Jewish social action agenda. They produce programs to help congregations “green their shul”, a special institute for environmental studies and a program on campus outreach for students.
Part of the agenda of the latter has also been to target policy formation in the US Congress. Lobbying efforts have tended to focus around two distinct poles. The one are domestic policy initiatives aimed at promoting transparent governance on environmental issues and solid public health legislation. The other is a twinning of American foreign security interests with an environmental message. It is well understood that the United States is frequently driven in its foreign policy by undemocratic Arab oil regimes. Jewish groups have therefore pushed vigorously for legislation promoting energy independence. In addition, large amounts of civil action go towards promoting renewable energy alternatives for the country. This is made all that much easier by exciting Israeli start-ups like “Better Place”, which are starting to offer some of the first viable opportunities for battery-powered vehicles.
In South Africa, the environmental message has been much slower to reach a critical mass. This is partly due to its past associations with apartheid, where conservation was used as an excuse for forced removals. To the ANC government’s credit, it has been very active in decent policy formation for environmental problems. It has also lobbied successfully for international environmental conventions such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development and COP17 to be hosted in the country. These have helped people to focus on the issue of the environment, which might otherwise have been subdued under other agendas. However, some recent government decisions have been controversial, such as the building of the Madupi power station, the Karoo fracking fracas and moves toward nuclear energy. Poaching of all species is also on the rise and a lack of government capacity is evident in the green sector in general. These issues have spurred a rise in civil society action on the environment, with groups like Green Peace setting up in the country for the first time.
The Jewish community has followed this slow-up take of the environmental message as well. For many years, environmental education was restricted to the planting of trees on Tu Bishvat and JNF pulot for the youth movement’s end of year camps. Recently, however, the Jewish schools have set up “green committees” which promote recycling and raise awareness through events such as “eco-fashion shows”. Religious institutions have begun giving shiurim on the subject and the annual Limmud festival carry’s an environmental focus both in its programming and its organisation. What is clear is that this is only the beginning. Whether it involves climate change, water scarcity, food security, species protection or renewable energy, environmental concerns are going to be part of the socio-political landscape in the coming century. It is good to know that, whether at government, business, NGO or institutional level, the Jewish community worldwide is playing its part in finding solutions.
Benji Shulman is the education co-ordinator for the Jewish National Fund of South Africa and assisted in organising the JNF delegation for COP17 in Durban. He is a former National Chairperson of the South African Union of Jewish Students.
