Till and tend the earth, God instructs Adam in the Garden of Eden. And ever since human beings were first charged with that responsibility, it has been a sacred duty under Jewish law. But today our planet is threatened. Global warming, overpopulation and depletion of natural resources are just a few of the conditions that now jeopardize the world's survival.
Technology is recognized as both the wonder and the curse of the modern age.
Contemporary society's twin gods of consumerism and materialism have resulted in nothing less than an environmental crisis. Next month, Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor, Rabbi Ismar Schorsch will head a roster of distinguished scholars from JTS, as well as from Yeshiva University, Hebrew Union College and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and other universities throughout North America and Israel, in addressing this essential question at a ground-breaking conference sponsored by Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions. The three-day conference will encompass ten broad areas of study to include the mystical tradition, theoretical perspectives on natural and moral obligation, biblical and theological reflections on nature and human obligation, the natural view of creation, modern Jewish thought, Jewish law and its application to the environment and strategies for engaging the community. This gathering at Harvard, a culmination of the near decade-long process to articulate a Jewish vision of environmentalism, is expected to draw more than fifty professionals from universities, think tanks and institutions for social action from around the country and Israel. It is also sixth in a series of a dozen conferences on religion and the environment taking place over a span of three years under the auspices of the Center for the Study of World Religions.