From Green Prophet — book review on <big>Eco Bible Vol. I: An Ecological Commentary on Genesis and Exodus </big>by Rabbi Yonaton Neril and Rabbi Leo Dee, The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, $14.99 trade paper (274p) ISBN 978-1-7353388-0-4
...A pair of eco-rabbis in Jerusalem have taken the Bible, also known as the Torah in Hebrew, and found hundreds of passages in it relating to ecology, animal rights, regenerative agriculture, the 3Rs and more, and have found a way to make old ideas relevant to us all in modern times...
and Publishers’ Weekly — 9 Sep 2020
In this insightful analysis, Rabbis Neril and Dee explore what the first two books of the Hebrew Bible say about “living in balance with God’s creation, through a lifestyle that is not only aware of but protects the natural world.” They combine their own insights with those of more than 100 rabbis and Jewish thinkers from a variety of time periods, such as Maimonides, Arthur Waskow, Jonathan Sacks, and Shlomo Riskin, to provide glosses on
obvious passages, such as how Genesis 2:15 (“The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it”) illustrates humanity’s role as both the master and servant of nature. But they also find relevance in less-intuitive verses, such as Exodus 9:31–32, which they use to make the case for crop diversification.
While some of the commentaries are superficial, such as a section on overpopulation in Exodus 1:7–9, for the most part the authors cite and analyze passages that will inspire contemplation on how to live in harmony with nature and the power of conservation. Ecologically minded readers interested in the Hebrew Bible will love this. (Nov.)
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