Kabbalah and Ecology

David Mevorach Seidenberg

Cambridge University Press, Apr 6, 2015 - Philosophy - 397 pages

Kabbalah and Ecology is a groundbreaking book that resets the conversation about ecology and the Abrahamic traditions. David Mevorach Seidenberg challenges the anthropocentric reading of the Torah, showing that a radically different orientation to the more-than-human world of nature is not only possible, but that it also leads to a more accurate interpretation of scripture, rabbinic texts, Maimonides, and Kabbalah. Deeply grounded in traditional texts and fluent with the physical sciences, this book proposes not only a new understanding of God's image but also a new direction to restore religion - to its senses and to a more alive relationship with the more than human, with nature and with divinity.

Contents

• Jewish ecological thought and the challenge: 1
• Tselem Elohim Gods Image in Midrash and commentary: 43
• the body: 76
• Tselem dignity and the infinite value of the other: 110
• humans animals and other subjectivities: 129
• moral fellowship with animals and beyond: 143
• the Sefirot the soul: 175
• the morethanhuman: 208
• Gaia Adam Qadmon and Maimonides: 266
• the stature of all beings: 281
• from Kabbalah to ecotheology: 312
• Further theological reflections: 332
• A new ethos a new ethics: 341
• Nefesh and related terms: 354
• The Sefirot the Tree of Life and a brief history: 360
• Abbreviated titles: 370
• Index of scriptural verses: 388

About the author

David Mevorach Seidenberg received his doctoral degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary for his work on ecology and Kabbalah and was ordained by both the Jewish Theological Seminary and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. He also studied physics and mathematics at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, educational philosophy at Harvard University, Massachusetts, and social ecology at the Institute for Social Ecology, Vermont. He teaches Jewish thought in Europe, Israel and throughout North America, in communities and universities, and through his organization, neohasid.org, focusing on ecology and spirituality, Talmud, Maimonides, Kabbalah and Hasidic thought; on embodied Torah, dance and nigunim (Hasidic song); and on ecological and environmental ethics. In addition to scholarly articles, he was a contributing editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, and his writing has been featured in The Jewish Daily Forward, Huffington Post, The Times of Israel, and the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Kabbalah and Ecology
• Author: David Mevorach Seidenberg
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2015
• ISBN: 1107081335, 9781107081338
• Length: 397 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / General; Religion / Christian Theology / General; Religion / Comparative Religion; Religion / General; Religion / Judaism / General; Religion / Philosophy; Religion / Theology; Science / Environmental Science; Science / History; Science / Life Sciences / Ecology