Jewish Pollution Research Paper

Pollution, according to the Oxford Dictionary is to destroy the purity of, or outrage the sanctity of.
There are several types of pollution, such as noise, air, water, and land.
Pollution comes under environmental ethics, as contaminated items effect the environment surrounding us. Pollution is within the Jewish environmental beliefs.

Rulings under Jewish law also expand to psychological disturbances, such as possible publicity to a neighbour's observation and noises. Anyone suffering such disturbances may appeal to the courts to force his neighbour to remove the disturbances. This may include the removal of the cause of the noise, even if its removal will cause the owner financial hardship.
Four particular disturbances are especially
likely to lead to legal action according to Jewish law: smoke, sewage odours, dust and similar aerosols, and vibrations. Even if permission had initially been given, the offended neighbour can withdraw it. All of these are forms of pollution which are a source of great concern to this day. In particular, halakhah limits the closeness to the city to prevent air pollution within the city.
Halakhah is the Jewish law, including biblical, Talmudic and rabbinic law. The genius of halakhah has been its ability to apply the knowledge of ancient principles to ever-new situations.
Damage such as littering in public places is also included in the prohibition against causing damage -if not according to the letter of halakhah, then according to its spirit. At least one example of such legislation is: furnaces were forbidden in Jerusalem because the smoke blackened the walls of the houses, "and this is a disgrace."
If your neighbour lets you commit various minor types of damage for three years without saying anything, you may assume that he isn’t bothered by what you’re doing. But, the Talmud defines a list that you must always assume are intolerable to your neighbour. For however long your neighbour puts up with your disturbances, his silence must never be interpreted as assent to your continuing damage.
In the religious aspects of Judaism, Jews believe that they must give total respect and willingness to sustain the earth and its environment because God created it for us. Jews try to correct these issues, as they clash with the Jewish beliefs of preservation of the environment.

Once you know that your actions have been causing harm to the world, it becomes your responsibility to change your actions so that you can stop being a cause of the whole problem.
Controlling pollution is a very important and ancient priority in Jewish law.
It’s found that detailed regulations to regulate nuisances were put into place close to two thousand years ago. According to the Jewish, they believe that air, water, soil and noise all come under pollution.

The Talmud says that the destruction of water such as pollution, can be a violation and allows for "claiming damages or obtaining an appropriate injunction to remove the nuisance where the purity of one's water supply is endangered”.

Physical pollution of the environment such as breathing in polluted, toxic air is dangerous to everyone’s health and well-being and the Torah states “not to place ourselves unnecessarily into potentially dangerous situations”.

The Talmud teaches followers that wasting or destroying anything on earth is wrong. Pollution is an insult to the world God created.

Maimonides states that damage causing air pollution through smoke, dust, and noxious smells is not permitted even if no one protests. Water must not cause damage or pollution.

According to Genesis, (1:26) the newly created humans were given authority to “rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the
ground.”

Jews like to be located in a clean, tidy place.
It is forbidden in Jewish law to live in a city that does not have greenery.

The biblical prophets particularly warn of the catastrophe that will result from contamination of the land.
In comparison with Christianity, the Jewish believe that pollution within the environment is a top priority to control. As for Christians, the environment and the problems surrounding it have only recently been placed on the agenda for Christian churches. It has not always been viewed as a top priority amongst Christians, as they believed they were superior to the land and could therefore do what they like to the earth.

Christians realised the environment was more important then what they initially thought, and felt the need to care for the earth. A classic Christian text (Genesis 1-2) reflects that God created the universe out of nothing and continues to sustain all creation. It also suggests that the task of human beings is to reflect God’s creative love, and their covenant relationship with God, by caring for the earth as good stewards.

The environment is a place that is needed to be kept in order, so that our generations for the future can enjoy the environment like we have.
Websites:

• Rabbi Berel Wein, 1995, Air Pollution, 13/03/11, http://www.torah.org/features/secondlook/airpollution.html#

• WorldLingo Translations, 2011, Jewish Ethics, 13/03/11, http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Jewish_ethics

• Josey Lacie, 2006, Environmental Ethics in Judaism, 14/03/11, http://www.ijs.org.au/Judaism-and-the-Environement/default.aspx

• Marianne Beasley, 1993, Jewish Environmental Ethics, 14/03/11, http://www.adherents.com/largecom/jew_env_biblio.html

• J-Town Productions Ltd, 2007, Jewish Climate Initiative, http://www.jewishclimateinitiative.org/ethics/pollution.php

Books:

• Morrissey,Y. 1993, Living Religion – Third Edition, Pearson Education Australia, Melbourne Australia