If you grew up in a religious or even a traditional Jewish home, this might sound familiar to you: It’s dinner time on Tuesday night and you served yourself way more food than you could eat. Seeing that you didn’t finish the food on your plate your mother reprimands you with those two words: “Bal Tashchit!” “Bal Tashchit” is one of the 613 commandments in the old testament and it literally translates to “you shall not destroy” or “you shall not waste”. These two words are at the center of the Jewish debate on environmentalism. Today we’re joined by Rabbi Yonatan Neril, co-author of Eco Bible, a publication on what the Bible says about ecology and creation care. We are happy to be joined by Rabbi Neril to talk about the environment, about climate change and about what nice Jewish Boys (and girls) should do to care for our planet.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related