Eco Bible

an "insightful analysis," which "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." -publishers weekly

"what faith communities need from the bible in such a time as this are

dialogue and direction. eco bible offers a rich repository of insights,

drawing from both ancient rabbinic commentary and current ecological

insights, for people of faith to move forward with wisdom, inspiration,

and hope, all for the sake of god's good creation."

- professor bill brown, professor of old testament, columbia theological seminary

"every generation reads the hebrew bible with its own eyes and its own

concerns. rabbi neril and rabbi dee's special lens allows us to discover

in the hebrew bible continuing inspiration in our battle to expand our

consciousness and to include all of creation in the vision and message of

the hebrew bible. this is a wonderful tool for garnering new insights into

the hebrew bible and to increasingly sensitize us to a broader message

that the hebrew bible can deliver, concerning human responsibility,

stewardship, and unity with all of creation. well done!"

- rabbi dr. alon goshen-gottstein, director,

the elijah interfaith institute

"imagine a gathering of some of judaism's sages reading the bible through

their love for the earth. imagine listening in during a period of great

urgency, a time when the very sustainability of life was on the line.

imagine finding the timeless/timely wisdom to address that crisis,

allowing the teachings of the hebrew bible to mobilize us as allies of

our embattled planet and all living things. well, imagine no longer. this

book is that gathering, that call to action!"

- rabbi dr. bradley artson, dean,

ziegler school of rabbinic studies of aju

"rabbi judah lowe of prague taught that to truly love the creator as

we are commanded means to love his works as well. taking care of the

creation is a manifestation of our love of the creator. moreover, only

when we take care of creation does it take care of us. the importance of

this truth is more evident today than ever before when we face existential

environmental crises. we accordingly owe a deep debt of gratitude to

rabbis neril and dee who, in publishing this ecological commentary

on the hebrew bible, have provided us with an invaluable resource

and inspiration drawn from a vast cross-section of jewish sources and

commentaries, to enable us to live up to the biblical mandate to love

the creator and his creation."

- rabbi david rosen ksg cbe,

international director of interreligious affairs, ajc

"grounded equally in religious thought and environmental science, ...

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs the international Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), including its Jewish Eco Seminars branch. Yonatan is coauthor of the groundbreaking book Eco Bible, published by ICSD, which shines new light on how the Hebrew Bible and great religious thinkers have urged human care and stewardship of nature for thousands of years as a central message of spiritual wisdom.
He has spoken internationally on religion and the environment, including at the UN Environment Assembly, the Fez Climate Conscience Summit, the Parliament of World Religions, and the Pontifical Urban University. He co-organized twelve interfaith environmental conferences in Jerusalem, New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
ICSD reveals the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. Yonatan is a member of the United Nations Environment Program's Faith-based Advisory Council, and of the Pontifical Universities' Alliance for Laudato Si' Advisory Council. As part of ICSD's Faith Inspired Renewable Energy Project in Africa, he has been involved in facilitating the development of commercial scale solar fields on church lands in Africa.
Raised in California, Yonatan completed an M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University with a focus on global environmental issues, and received rabbinical ordination in Israel. He was a Dorot Fellow, PresenTense Fellow, and Haas Koshland Award recipient.
He lives with his wife, Shana, and their two children in Jerusalem. He enjoys hiking and being in nature. Leo Dee received a Master's in Engineering from Cambridge University in Engineering, a Master's in Public Health from Hebrew University, and rabbinical ordination in Israel. However, it was a trip around the least affluent countries in Asia and South America that woke him up to the tremendous poverty that exists in the world. Encountering people who owned not much more than the clothes on their back, he began to understand the huge impact of lack of food, water and power suffered by half of humanity. So, following six years as a community Rabbi in the United Kingdom, he moved to Israel where he has developed a passion for changing hearts and minds in order to encourage sustainable development - initially among the Israeli financial community, and then within the field of Responsible Investment. He served as director of programs at The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development. He lives near Jerusalem with his wife, Lucy, and their five children.

Book of Genesis

chapter 1, verse 1: caring for creation 3

1:3: sustainability and spiritual awareness 4

1:5: previous and current extinction events 4

1:9: water and dry land 4

1:11-12: edible trees 5

1:22: god blesses fish and birds 5

1:26: on eating animals 6

1:28: will humans rule, or animals? 7

1:29: a plant-based diet for people 8

1:30: vegan crocodiles 9

1:31: creation was "very good" 9

2:5: praying for creation 10

2:8: re-creating paradise 10

2:15: the stewardship paradigm 11

2:17: forbidden fruit and self control 13

2:19: learning from animals 13

3:6: holy eating 14

3:11: all creations are connected 15

3:17: eating the forbidden fruit 16

3:18: edible weeds 16

3:19: connected to the earth 17

4:9: taking responsibility for others 17

4:13: from farmer to refugee 18

6:16: the ark and green building 19

vi eco bible

6:18: population and restraint 20

6:19: noah as earth steward 21

6:21: caring for creatures 23

7:23: plastic, fish, and people 23

8:6: saving the raven 24

9:13: rainbows and responsibility 24

9:20: floods and fairtrade 26

11:1-3: lording over nature 26

11:4: the limits of technology 27

11:6: diversity sustains life 28

12:1: palace on fire 30

12:10: famine in genesis 30

13:6: sustainable coexistence 31

13:10: the dead sea is dying 32

13:17: hiking the land 33

14:10: stuck in crude oil 33

14:22-23: abraham and self-satisfaction 35

15:5: finding god outdoors 35

15:13-14: the cure before the sickness 36

18:4: resilience of trees 37

18:7: veal then and now 37

19:24: sodom and acid rain 38

19:24: morality and ecology 39

19:25: abraham and the burning kiln 40

21:33: sustainable peace 41

23:4: sarah and sustainable burial 42

23:13: relationship with earth 43

23:17-18: sarah and trees 44

24:14: rebecca's kindness to camels 45

24:63: praying in the fields 46

25:23: sustainable luxuries 47

25:27: the conflict of jacob and esau 48

25:28: love of meat 49

25:30: holy eating 50

25:34: fast and slow food 52

eco bible vii

26:12, 15: isaac and water mapping 53

26:20: water wars 54

27:6-9: hunters and farmers 55

27:28: doing all we can 56

28:11: sleeping alone in nature 57

28:13: connecting with the earth 58

28:20: jacob's simplicity 59

28:21: jacob as spiritual activist 59

31:10-13: jacob's spiritual and material dreams 60

31:18: large herds of livestock 61

32:24: small vessels 62

33:9-11: being content with what we have 64

33:12-14: how fast we move 65

33:18: building infrastructure 66

37:2: shepherd consciousness 68

37:12: nature and violence 70

37:14: nature and our...