Eizehu Gibor: Living Jewish Values

Page 12

Shmirat ha-Teva Value: Shmirat ha-Teva Shmirat ha-Teva means “guarding the environment.” Even though you won’t find the words Shmirat ha-Teva in the Bible or in the Talmud, you will find these ideas. Shmitah (the Sabbatical year) is a biblical rule that the land must be allowed to rest every seven years. Nothing can be planted or harvested. Tu b’Shevat (the fifteenth of the month of Shevat) is the New Year for trees. It is a day that celebrates all things that grow in the ground.

Ba’al Tash’hit (Do not waste or destroy) is a biblical mitzvah that begins by teaching that when you are fighting a war you cannot cut down fruit trees to try to starve your enemy. It turns into a law that says “It is wrong to waste or destroy anything that is useful.” The words Shmirat ha-Teva come from an Israeli organization. In 1953 a group of Israelis started The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, one of the world’s oldest ecological organizations. It is dedicated to guarding Israel’s open spaces, protecting its coasts and beaches and promoting sustainable development in order to protect the country’s natural resources for future generations. Shmirat ha-Teva means that it is our responsibility to protect the environment not only in Israel but all over the world.

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Rebecca Gratz

4min
pages 98-99

Talmud Torah

2min
pages 96-97

Jonas Salk

4min
pages 88-89

Danny Siegel

4min
pages 92-93

Tzedakah

1min
pages 90-91

Pikuah Nefesh

2min
pages 84-85

Debbie Friedman

4min
pages 80-81

Henrietta Szold

4min
pages 86-87

Craig Taubman

2min
pages 82-83

Hank Greenberg

5min
pages 76-77

Hannah Szenes

2min
pages 74-75

Moses

3min
pages 70-71

Kiddush ha-Shem

2min
pages 72-73

Anavah

1min
pages 66-67

Albert Einstein

2min
pages 68-69

Rabbi Mark Borovitz

4min
pages 62-63

John Paul ll

3min
pages 64-65

Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof

2min
pages 54-55

T’shuvah

1min
pages 60-61

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

3min
pages 58-59

Justice Louis Brandeis

4min
pages 56-57

Rabbi Regina Jonas

3min
pages 50-51

Golda Meir

3min
pages 46-47

Rabbi Leo Baeck

3min
pages 52-53

Ometz Lev

1min
pages 48-49

Theodor Herzl

4min
pages 44-45

Robert and Myra Kraft

4min
pages 38-39

Tzionut

2min
pages 42-43

Gershom Sizomu

3min
pages 40-41

Zikaron

2min
pages 30-31

Dov Noy

3min
pages 34-35

Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh ba-Zeh

1min
pages 36-37

Elie Wiesel

4min
pages 32-33

The Four Chaplains

4min
pages 28-29

Yitzhak Rabin

4min
pages 26-27

Lenny Krayzelburg

4min
pages 22-23

Shmirat ha-Teva

1min
pages 12-13

Shmirat ha-Guf

1min
pages 18-19

Rodef Shalom

1min
pages 24-25

David Ben-Gurion

4min
pages 14-15

The Maccabiah Games

3min
pages 20-21

Tikkun Olam

1min
pages 6-7

Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis

2min
page 8
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