Spotlight on CLAL
To access the Spotlight on CLAL Archives, click here.
A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World
A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World
was produced by the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and
distributed by CLAL, though a gift from JVNA, this April.
Directed by the highly
acclaimed, multi-award-winning film maker, Lionel Friedberg, A Sacred
Duty addresses the range of unprecedented environmental threats to our
planet from a positive Jewish perspective.
The documentary features interviews with leading Israeli and American
environmental, health, vegetarian and animal rights activists as well as
Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and secular leaders.
Interviewees include: Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of
Haifa; Rabbi David Rosen, Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and International
Director of Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee; Dr.
Yeshayahu Bar-Or, Chief Scientist: Israel Environmental Ministry and many
other rabbis and Jewish leaders and activists. Biblical passages are read by
the acclaimed Jewish star of Broadway and screen Theodore Bikel.
We at CLAL believe that if
Judaism is going to be taken seriously by American Jews and for that matter
by all Americans, Jewish wisdom needs to contribute to and to add value to
the debates at the center of our culture and politics. This documentary -
whether or not one agrees with every detail - is an important contribution
to one of the critical public policy conversations facing this country and a
serious example of taking Jewish wisdom public. Produced at a high quality,
this documentary reminds us that it is our sacred duty to become aware of
current threats and our responsibility to apply Jewish teachings to how we
obtain our food, use natural resources, and live among other creatures whom
God created. Not only does it offer simple, practical measures for reducing
our impact on the planet, it shows how authentic religious responses melded
with science can make a major difference in our efforts to reduce global
climate change and other environmental threats. It also challenges people to
consider the many moral issues related to our diets, including Torah
teachings on how animals are treated on factory farms and the effects on
human health and the environment.
Although it is primarily intended for a Jewish audience, A Sacred Duty
speaks to people everywhere about the ethics of our relationship to the
natural world in which we live. We are honored that JVNA has made this gift possible.
To access the CLAL Blog Archives, click here.
To return to the home page, click here.
To receive the Spotlight on CLAL column by email on a regular basis, complete the box
below:
