
Jewish Environmentalism in the Post-Secular Age
Earthly Spirituality
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 12. June 2026
Book
Hardback
298 pages
978-0-8153-5773-5 (ISBN)
Description
Presenting Jewish environmentalism as a case study of contemporary post-secularism, this book exemplifies the responses of world religions to the global ecological crisis and situates Jewish environmental spirituality historically, socially, theologically, and politically.
Discussing key figures, texts, and organizations that have given Jewish environmentalism its distinctive character as "earthly spirituality", the book explains how science and technology functioned in the secularization of Judaism, on the one hand, as well as in the counter process of sacralization of nature. It explores the various dimensions of Jewish environmentalism: official statements of Jewish denominations, eco-theologies, eco-hermeneutics, eco-feminism, and public theology; and also links Jewish environmentalism to main forces in modern Jewish history - Zionism, and Americanization. Finally, the study explores the contribution of "non-Jewish Jews" to American environmentalism and explains how "radical Jews" of Leftist orientation became Spiritual Progressives who promoted the ecological wisdom of Judaism to address the social ills of American society as well as the global ecological crisis.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Jewish studies, religious studies, secularism/post-secularism studies, religion and ecology, and religion and science.
Discussing key figures, texts, and organizations that have given Jewish environmentalism its distinctive character as "earthly spirituality", the book explains how science and technology functioned in the secularization of Judaism, on the one hand, as well as in the counter process of sacralization of nature. It explores the various dimensions of Jewish environmentalism: official statements of Jewish denominations, eco-theologies, eco-hermeneutics, eco-feminism, and public theology; and also links Jewish environmentalism to main forces in modern Jewish history - Zionism, and Americanization. Finally, the study explores the contribution of "non-Jewish Jews" to American environmentalism and explains how "radical Jews" of Leftist orientation became Spiritual Progressives who promoted the ecological wisdom of Judaism to address the social ills of American society as well as the global ecological crisis.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Jewish studies, religious studies, secularism/post-secularism studies, religion and ecology, and religion and science.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Postgraduate
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
730 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8153-5773-5 (9780815357735)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
approx. 06/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download

E-Book
approx. 06/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Person
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson (Ph.D. Hebrew University of Jersualem, 1978) is Regents Professor of History and Irving and Miriam Lowe Professor of Modern Judaism at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. A Jewish intellectual historian, Tirosh-Samuelson writes on Jewish philosophy and mysticism, religion, science, and technology, and religion and ecology. In addition to seventy-five essays and book chapters, she is the author of three monographs - the award-winning, Between Worlds: The Life and Thought of Rabbi David ben Judah Messer Leon (1991); Happiness in Premodern Judaism: Virtue, Knowledge and Well-Being (2003), and Religion and Environment: The Case of Judaism (2020). She is also the editor of eight volumes including Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed World (2002) and The Legacy of Hans Jonas: Judaism and the Phenomenon of Life (2008). Tirosh-Samuelson is the Editor-in-Chief of the Library of Contemporary Jewish Philosophy (2012-2018), a set of 21 volumes.
Content
Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter 1: Post-Secularism: Science, Religion and Spirituality. Chapter 2: Jewish Environmentalism: An Overview. Chapter 3: God and the World in Jewish Eco-Theologies. Chapter 4: Earth-Based Judaism: Feminist Variants. Chapter 5: The Holy Land: Zionism and the Dialectic of Post-Secularism. Chapter 6: Science, Environment, and Secularism in the "New Promised Land". Chapter 7: Tikkun Olam: Resacralizing Nature and Politics. Conclusion. Index.