With the worlds’ agricultural activities and land use changes accounting for up to 31% of greenhouse gas emissions, we need to reimagine farming. Industrial agriculture relies on non-viable practices such as deforestation, monocultures, and using damaging pesticides and fertilizers to sustain us. Although it has long been favored for its efficiency in averting global food shortages and low production costs, according to the UN Environment Program, “Decades of industrial farming have taken a heavy toll on the environment and raised some serious concerns about the future of food production.”
Sustainable agriculture takes into account the economic, social, and environmental impacts of farming. There is even an entire research field devoted to “managing farms as ecosystems” called agroecology. Sustainable agriculture is the wave of the future, but as it turns out, many of its concepts and practices are rooted in ancient Jewish tradition. Because “Jews were once an indigenous agrarian society” (Ynet News), we may derive the sustainable agricultural habits of the future by looking into the past.
Shmita is a Jewish farming practice dating back to biblical times in which the soil is left to rest one year after every 6 years of farming. It is derived from rules laid out in Exodus (23:10), and was most likely implemented to maintain soil health. In fact, according to new research on Carbon Sequestration, healthy soil can more easily absorb carbon, and soil can be regenerated by allowing it to rest. Therefore, letting the land rest increases soil fertility.
Although shmita is not widely practiced on commercial farms, it has gained traction on community farms in the US alongside the modern “earth-based Judaism” movement, which approaches climate change through an ancient lense. For example, secular farms such as Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, located north of New York City, in Tarrytown, employ Shmita-style practices such as rest and 7 year rotations. Additionally, Shani Mink, a co-founder of the Jewish Farmer Network, noted that “At the Isabella Freedman Center in Connecticut, they designate a plot of their land during shmita year as one without fences, meaning that anyone is welcome to come and harvest”.
Some farmers have even claimed that Shmita is a systematically distinct approach to regenerative agriculture. According to Yigal Deutscher, the author of Envisioning Sabbatical Culture: A Shmita Manifesto, “no matter if a farmer is Jewish or secular,… they apply shmita if they listen to and engage in a deep ecological relationship with the particular land and its needs.”
An important feature of the Ancient Israeli economy during the time period of the Mishna (20CE – 200CE) was the shepherding of goats and sheep. Both were voracious herbivores, posing threats to crops. In response, “the rabbis prohibited raising goats and sheep in agriculturally-productive parts of Israel (Mishna Bava Kama 7:7)”. This ancient Jewish approach to sustainability demonstrates the importance of living in a way that does not deplete the natural resources we depend on. Rabbis of the Mishnah recognized the importance of sustaining the land long-term over benefiting from herding large swaths of goat and sheep in the short-term.
In the fulfilment of 3 different commandments, a significant amount of wood was burned each day in the Temple in Jerusalem before it was destroyed. Consequently, the Mishna prohibited the use of olive wood, grape vines, fig trees, and date palms for this purpose, which the commentator Mefaresh interpreted to mean that the burning of these trees would diminish their availability for human consumption. This law preserved the economic and agricultural viability of Jewish settlement, making it a model for sustainability. Indeed, about 2.47 million trees – many of them with valuable human resources – are cut down every day, with agricultural expansion accounting for nearly 30% of them.
Jewish tradition also seeks to preserve farmland. There are laws decreeing that land be designated for specific purposes such as food production, animal grazing, and open space. Furthermore, the mishna contains a rule forbidding turning farmland into open space and vice versa, highlighting the importance of maintaining a balance between farmland and urban areas.
But why was the preservation of the land so important to ancient Jews? The reason can be tied back to the biblical mitzvah of settling the Land of Israel. The mitzvah, interpreted from the excerpt, “You shall possess the Land and dwell in it, for to you have I given the Land to possess it” (Bamidbar, 33:53), denotes the importance of every Jew inhabiting the land of Israel – a deed which is only possible if the land is viable. The ancient Jewish scholar Ramban defined the mitzvah as follows: “We were commanded to take possession of the Land that God.. gave to our forefathers.. and we must not.. let it remain desolate” (Addendum to Rambam’sSefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandment 4). The mitzvah underscores a communal responsibility to sustain the land of Israel so that it may remain viable for ourselves and future generations, which is in line with the central mitzvah of preserving the Jewish community “L’dor V’dor” (from generation to generation). Thus, the basis of sustainability – “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” – lies within settling the Land of Israel, an ideal that can be applied to people and regions other than the Jews and Israel.
Moreover, Israel is host to a unique ecosystem, containing mountains, desert, and beaches all in an area about the size of New Jersey. Ancient Jews had a keen knowledge of agriculture to compensate for this diverse ecosystem. Phenomena such as floods, droughts, and famine are instrumental in most traditional Jewish stories to reflect the importance of agriculture in Israel’s diverse farmlands.
Animal agriculture is one of the main contributors to climate change, and animal cruelty has posed major ethical issues. Perhaps uncoincidentally, there is a strong case to be made that the Torah advocates for vegetarianism or even veganism. Towards the beginning of the bible, G-d says: “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit — to you it shall be for food.” (Genesis 1:29) Here, G-d explicitly labels plants as human food and does not give animals a similar label. Furthermore, the bible extensively dictates the consumption of meat through measures such as forbidding tsa’ar ba’alei chayim (suffering of living creatures) and upholding rigid dietary laws. Judaism also mandates that people should preserve their health, preserve the world, be resourceful, and assist the poor, all of which commercial animal agriculture violates.
Jews around the world are still incorporating their ancestral knowledge of farming into their communities. For example, the Jewish Farm and Food Alliance (JF&FA) is a grassroots organization based in Atlanta focused on building a “bridge between Jewish Atlanta and the sustainable farming movement”. According to Seth Freedman, one of the builders of JF&FA, “As a Jew, you’re automatically predisposed to recognize the importance of food in your life.” He also mentioned the many Jewish holidays such as Passover that revolve around food custom. According to the Atlanta Jewish Times, “[JF&FA] includes professionals who volunteer at food banks, bring healthy food to underserved communities, create markets for small farmers and offer sustainable-agriculture education.” They also hold annual farm-to-table meals to celebrate holidays.
Similarly, Jewish farmers Sarah Seldin and Shani Mink founded the Jewish Farmer Network, an international nonprofit headquartered at Yesod Farm + Kitchen that seeks to cultivate a network of farmers who will, “envision a world of social and ecological justice, where life in all forms is honored.” Members are learning from ancient judaic wisdom to help them develop modern sustainable agriculture methods. According to Rabbi Justin Goldstein, a scholar-in-residence at Yesod, “A theological premise that goes throughout the Jewish tradition is that there’s no such thing as private ownership”. This premise is affirmed through traditional practices such as gleaning and tithing, both of which ensure that everyone has access to food. On February 13-16th, the Jewish Farmer Network held their inaugural conference, Cultivating Culture: A Gathering of Jewish Farmers, where 160+ Jewish farmers and farm allies discussed how to mobilize “ancestral wisdom to create a more just and regenerative food system”.
In her article “Jewish Values in Sustainable Farming”, Elisa Spungen Bildner, the co-author (along with her husband Rob) of the Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook, writes that, “Rob and I are convinced that buying local is a quintessentially Jewish act. We argue that the farmers we profiled operate their small family farms in ways that parallel Jewish precepts concerning agriculture and food — whether these individuals are Jewish or not”. She insists that buying locally helps incorporate Jewish values into your life such as tsa’ar ba’alei chayim, bal tashchit (not wasting or destroying resources), and oshek (not oppressing workers). Furthermore, according to Rabbi Yosei in the Jerusalem Talmud, “It is forbidden to live in a town that has no garden or greenery.” To ensure that you live in a place with a source of fresh produce, you must support your local farms.
I interviewed Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky from Park Avenue Synagogue to further discuss the implications of ancient Jewish tradition on sustainable agriculture.
Lucy Troy: How is “the land” and agriculture as a whole spoken about in the Torah and other ancient Jewish scriptures? Do these texts seem to promote sustainable agricultural practices?
Rabbi Witkovsky: The land is talked about as being almost directly in relation to human beings. Our sins affect the land, like in the story of Noah and the flood where G-d says the people are so evil that the Earth was full of their sins so it couldn’t exist anymore and it spits them out right away. There are other parts [of the Torah] that talk about the land of Israel spitting out people because the land of Israel is so holy that it only wants righteous people to live on it… So the land is sort of directly linked to humans and human behavior… and the Torah recognizes that the Earth was created just like we were and it can be affected just like we can and we both, the Earth and humans, all answer to the same higher power. When it comes to humans and sustainable practices… if you look at Genesis chapter 1, when God creates human beings he says you shall dominate and master the world. Then, in Genesis chapter 2, after God creates Adam and Eve, God puts Adam in the garden to le’shomra o le’ovdah – to guard and work the land… Which seems to be a different charge… dominating and guarding the Earth seem like they might be the same or they might be different. The Torah is a little unclear. What’s clear is humans are kind of the main thing, we’re in charge. But the question is do we get to do whatever we want or do we have to be protective. There are also some rules about when we can and can’t farm, like Shmita. To sum it up, there are some rules about humans and how we treat the Earth.
LT: There’s a part towards the beginning of Genesis where G-d says humans should take plants as their food but they also have dominion over all animals. Does G-d ever provide specific instruction to eat animals as he does with plants? If not, does that point to G-d promoting vegetarianism or veganism?
RW: 100 percent; it seems like G-d wants us all to be vegetarian. I don’t know about vegan, but definitely vegetarian. When we are in the garden of Eden we are all vegetarians. It’s a concession that is made after the flood [Noah’s ark] when G-d says fine, if you need to eat animals, go ahead, and then gives the proto kashrut rules.
LT: Were there any specific agricultural practices or ideologies [in Jewish tradition] that could be implemented in sustainable agriculture today?
RW: Totally. There’s this rule in Deuteronomy that says “when you are in a war against a city, and you lay siege to it, you must not destroy its trees… You may eat of them but you may not cut them down.” (Deuteronomy 20:19). So the rule in the Torah is if you are surrounding a city of enemies, you’re not allowed to cut down the trees outside of it, which you might use to build defensive tools or destroy the city. That becomes the basis for the rabbis later to make a whole set of rules called bal tashchit which means “do not destroy”. These rules decree that you’re not allowed to destroy things ‘for fun’. This rule largely governs Jewish environmentalism.
LT: So how does this rule work in the framework of sustainability? Where is the line drawn in terms of good reasons to destroy?
RW: The argument might be that you have to do it [destroy] sustainably. It’s not that the rabbis say you can never-ever cut down a tree, but you’re not allowed to ‘wipe it out’. There is also a rule in Deuteronomy (22:6 and 22:7) that says something like “if you are walking on the road and you want to eat eggs, and you’re going to grab eggs out of a nest, you have shoo the mother bird away, you’re not allowed to kill the mother bird and cook the eggs at the same time”. It’s kind of like don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk. One of the commentaries on that verse says that the reason why you’re not allowed to do that is because if everybody killed the bird and the eggs on the same day, there would be no more birds in the world… So there’s that idea of sustainability… and there are rules the rabbis put into place that say ‘yeah if you got to eat eggs, eat eggs, but don’t do it in such a way that you might deplete the entire resource’.
