In this week’s episode we look at text from the Mishna and Gemara of Bava Batra, an ancient text regulating air pollution. We discuss how, to uphold our deepest values, we have to set up structures that enforce them. We further discuss how a growing and more spread out population creates sacrifice zones, which even as we reduce pollution from electricity generation, many polluting industries will continue as we mine materials for and produce more things for sustainable electrification and transportation. Follow along with the source sheet here: http://www.sefaria.org/sheets/576006

In this week’s episode we look at Ramban’s comment on Genesis 8:11 asking where the olive branch that the dove was carrying came from and how vegetation regenerated after the flood. While we feel that, living in the era of climate change, we are living in unprecedented times, Judaism has stories of drastic and sudden changes to the world, and traditions around how humans responded with ingenuity. We look at how the gates of the Garden of Eden and the ark as a seed vault parallel technologies we are currently creating to adapt to climate change. We also talk about how, to move forward, we need a culture of understanding and forgiveness. Follow along with the source sheet here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/603534

In this week’s episode we look at the Sefer Hachinuch’s comment on the commandment not to destroy fruit trees during a siege. The text presents one of the mitzvot foundational to the Jewish environmental movement, Bal Tashchit, the prohibition against wasting, which has been used to talk about sustainability and resource extraction. We also look at the concept of someone being a “Hasid Mitzvah” or paying special attention to a specific mitzvah. In the text that mitzvah is Bal Tashchit, and in the environmental movement that might be either being careful about everyday things like turning off the lights or reusing bags or finding the niche within the movement that you can become passionate about. Follow along with the source sheet here: http://www.sefaria.org/sheets/575995