Judaism, History, and the Environment: Climate Change and Natural Disasters
Engaging creatively with Jewish texts and history, this book explores the interplay between history, Judaism, and the environment through the prism of natural disasters. Historical case studies include earthquakes in Georgian England, floods and fires in 18th-century Germany, plague in 17th-century Italy, and natural disasters experienced by Jews living in the Ottoman Empire.

Rather than seeing religion as a stumbling block or as a cause of environmental degradation, these historical cases are instead brought into conversation with related classical Jewish texts and contemporary Jewish thought. Unlike studies that interpret religious texts through traditional hermeneutical lenses, this book is distinctly interdisciplinary, contributing significantly to the fields of Jewish studies, religious studies, ecology, and environmental humanities.

Chapters explore new ways to think about contemporary environmental concerns, discussing the Anthropocene, causality and temporality, global and local contexts, and proscription. Dean Phillip Bell's timely and important argument demonstrates how a new engagement with Jewish history and thought may help us to grapple with the environmental challenges of today and the future.

1147214621
Judaism, History, and the Environment: Climate Change and Natural Disasters
Engaging creatively with Jewish texts and history, this book explores the interplay between history, Judaism, and the environment through the prism of natural disasters. Historical case studies include earthquakes in Georgian England, floods and fires in 18th-century Germany, plague in 17th-century Italy, and natural disasters experienced by Jews living in the Ottoman Empire.

Rather than seeing religion as a stumbling block or as a cause of environmental degradation, these historical cases are instead brought into conversation with related classical Jewish texts and contemporary Jewish thought. Unlike studies that interpret religious texts through traditional hermeneutical lenses, this book is distinctly interdisciplinary, contributing significantly to the fields of Jewish studies, religious studies, ecology, and environmental humanities.

Chapters explore new ways to think about contemporary environmental concerns, discussing the Anthropocene, causality and temporality, global and local contexts, and proscription. Dean Phillip Bell's timely and important argument demonstrates how a new engagement with Jewish history and thought may help us to grapple with the environmental challenges of today and the future.

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Judaism, History, and the Environment: Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Judaism, History, and the Environment: Climate Change and Natural Disasters

by Dean Phillip Bell
Judaism, History, and the Environment: Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Judaism, History, and the Environment: Climate Change and Natural Disasters

by Dean Phillip Bell

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Overview

Engaging creatively with Jewish texts and history, this book explores the interplay between history, Judaism, and the environment through the prism of natural disasters. Historical case studies include earthquakes in Georgian England, floods and fires in 18th-century Germany, plague in 17th-century Italy, and natural disasters experienced by Jews living in the Ottoman Empire.

Rather than seeing religion as a stumbling block or as a cause of environmental degradation, these historical cases are instead brought into conversation with related classical Jewish texts and contemporary Jewish thought. Unlike studies that interpret religious texts through traditional hermeneutical lenses, this book is distinctly interdisciplinary, contributing significantly to the fields of Jewish studies, religious studies, ecology, and environmental humanities.

Chapters explore new ways to think about contemporary environmental concerns, discussing the Anthropocene, causality and temporality, global and local contexts, and proscription. Dean Phillip Bell's timely and important argument demonstrates how a new engagement with Jewish history and thought may help us to grapple with the environmental challenges of today and the future.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781350463202
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 11/13/2025
Pages: 264
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dean Phillip Bell is President/CEO and Professor of Jewish History at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, USA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction

Part 1: Historical Cases: Toward a Jewish Environmental History
1. Earthquakes: Understanding Nature and Natural Disasters
2. Plague as Natural Disaster
3. Floods: From Theology to Technology-Understanding, Mitigation, and Prevention
4. Learning with Fire
5. Comparative Perspectives: Natural Disasters, Jews, and Islam
Part 2: Disaster, History, and Religion: Tradition and Innovation
6. Beyond History: Disasters and Crises in the Anthropocene
7. History, Narratives, and Temporality
8. Religion and the Environment: Some Traditional Assessments and Applications
9. Religion: New Conceptions and Opportunities
Part 3: New Approaches in the Anthropocene
10. Complexity, Polarization, and Resilience
11. From Conceptual Challenges to Practical Applications
Bibliography
Index

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