Toward a Holy Ecology - Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis

"The Song of Songs is among the most accessible of all biblical books. It is also the most deeply ecological text of the canon, yet few people are aware of the Song's ecological message. The intention of Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis is to illuminate that message. Today there is such urgency around our many earth crises-so much brokenness-that we need a vision of wholeness and an ecological language that can help inspire, soothe and reinvigorate us, and bring us together regardless of our various affiliations and ideologies. The Song offers both ecological language and a vision. It sets the natural world before us with intensity and beauty, bidding us to savor it with all of our senses so that we may return to the world with the renewed clarity, love and energy necessary to work toward a healthy future for the earth and all her inhabitants. The Song is a particularly powerful book since it never utters the name of the divine, yet is a deeply spiritual work that may reach people who are interested in matters of the sacred, but prefer to steer clear of God language and conventional religious ideas. In both the Jewish and Christian worlds, where many people are disengaging from religion altogether, the Song-with its universal themes of love, justice and the integrity of nature-may help open the door to the possibilities which religion has to offer. Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in an Age of Climate Crisis seeks to engage a wide readership including all people who love the earth and its inhabitants, outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, poets, feminists, and students of the humanities, religion and ecology"--

List of contents

FOREWORD: Bill McKibben xi

Introduction: My Journey with the Song of Songs xiii

PART ONE: The Importance of the Song for an Ecological Age 1

PART TWO: Reading the Song Ecologically 9

Ecological Identity 11

Cycles of Time 16

Beauty 20

Justice 25

Wholiness 31

PART THREE: The Song of Songs: An Ecological Commentary 39

ENDNOTES 135

BIBLIOGRAPHY 143

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 147

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 149

About the author

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein began pursuing studies in both environment and religion in high school and graduated from one of the first programs in environmental studies in the US at U.C. Berkeley in 1975. A pioneer in the field of religion and ecology, she founded the first national Jewish environmental organization, Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, in 1988. She has written numerous books and articles on Judaism, Bible and ecology including most recently, The Promise of the Land: A Passover Haggadah (Behrman House, 2020). Ellen’s work on the Bible and ecology has appeared in The Green Bible (Harper One, 2008) and is featured in The Oxford University Press Handbook on the Bible and Ecology (2022). She continues to teach widely on Bible and ecology, and is an advisor to the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, a steering committee member for the Third Act/faith, and an advisor to the Green Sabbath project.

Summary

“Reading Ellen Bernstein's Toward a Holy Ecology is to partake in a garden of delights. She refreshes our reading of the Song by enlivening all of our senses." —Rabbi Nancy Flam, Co-founder National Center for Jewish Healing, and The Institute for Jewish Spirituality

Song of Songs is known as the erotic part of the Bible, but Ellen Bernstein shows how it is also an ancient source of deep ecological wisdom.
Toward a Holy Ecology is a new translation of this Hebrew text, illuminating the place of humans in the natural world and inviting you to develop a holy, ecological language for life.
This book sets the natural world before you with intensity and beauty, inviting you to savor it with all your senses. Then you are able to return to the world with a renewed clarity, love, and energy necessary for creating a healthier future for the earth and all her inhabitants.
Toward a Holy Ecology is for all who love the earth and its inhabitants—including outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, fellow poets, feminists, and students of the humanities, religion, and ecology. It will change how you see, how you speak, and how you live.

Foreword

• Digital copy review campaign to the trades and to the following audiences:
• Spirituality organizations/publications/influencers/bloggers
• Jewish environmental/nature organizations/publications/influencers/bloggers
• Christian environmental/nature organizations/publications/influencers/bloggers
• Interfaith environmental organizations/publications/influencers/bloggers
• Religion-ecology scholars/organizations/publications/influencers/bloggers
• Zoom presentation campaign: 30 different virtual venues in addition to 25 in-person venues during the year of the release of Toward a Holy Ecology.  In addition to giving  presentations, she will engage in a host of programs with other authors, religious /spiritual leaders, environmental leaders, artists and influencers on the many dimensions of the Song of Songs, and the importance of religious/biblical approaches to our climate crisis.  Venues will include book stores, synagogues, churches, environmental organizations/conferences, Hillel’s, colleges, Jewish book Council, JCC’s, arts centers and public libraries. Some of the networks and organizations to be approached are:

Third Act
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
International Society on Religion, Nature and Culture
Bioneers
Mesa Refuge
Greenfaith
Interfaith Power & Light
Green Sabbath program
Aleph 
Hazon
Rabbinical Schools and Christian seminaries, Jewish education programs
Jewish Sacred Earth program
Wilderness Torah
Eden Village
Adamah (Jewish farming) networks
Dayenu
Jewish Earth Alliance
The Jewish Studio Project
Limmud
Jewish Climate Action Network
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Synagogue and church denominational networks

• Social media campaign to include a FB Live event near the launch of the book

Product details

• Authors: Ellen Bernstein
• Assisted by: Bill McKibben (Foreword)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.02.2024
• EAN: 9781958972199
• ISBN: 978-1-958972-19-9
• No. of pages: 160
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Judaism; NATURE / Ecology, RELIGION / Spirituality