In the time that the Holy One created the first human, he took him to all the trees of Gan Eden and said to him, "See my works, how lovely and praiseworthy they are, and all that I created, for your sake I created it. Put your mind [to this], that you don’t ruin or destroy my world, for if you ruin there is no one who will repair after you.” — Kohelet Rabbah on Eccl. 7:13

All who wound God's works wound God's image. — Zohar

Liberation and the Land

The second third of a workshop on "An Earth Covenant Perspective on Human Rights" is coming soon. (Sign up for neohasid's list to find out the day it's up.)

The basic question: are human rights founded on human uniqueness and superiority compatible with ecology, which assumes equality between species? What Jewish sources can help us navigate between these two paradigms? You can also read the article in Tikkun which deals with many of the same themes as the workshop here.

The workshop is about liberation, redemption and ecology and was taught at the Rabbis for Human Rights Conference in Dec 2006. The first third can be downloaded below.

Download/Listen to "Earth Covenant Perspective on Human Rights"

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006