Consumption, Wastefulness, and Simplicity in Ultra-Orthodox Communities
Abstract
Environmental degradation and climate change are some of the greatest challenges of our current era. Consumption patterns in much of the world are a direct driver of this dangerous situation. We consume more than we need and waste more than the planet can tolerate. Despite the best intentions and efforts of the modern environmental movement, consumption habits have proven to be stubbornly resistant to change. The largely secular environmental movement has been limited in its reach and has struggled to find a narrative that is broadly motivating. In contradistinction, religious values create a conceptual framework instructing people on how they should interact with the environment and have proven to be a strong behavioral motivator for many people in multiple arenas. The existence of a prohibition against wastefulness (bal tasḥit) in Judaism might lead one to assume that halakhically observant Jews lead lives that minimize consumerism and wastefulness to the greatest extent possible. It has even been argued that Ḥaredi (ultra-Orthodox) communities embrace voluntary simplicity or “willed poverty.” This research explores attitudes toward consumption, the environment, and wastefulness among Ḥaredi communities in Canada and Israel.
© 2018 by Academic Studies Press, Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Table of Contents
- ESSAYS
- Sociological and Anthropological Approaches to the Study of the Evidence of the Mishnah: A Call to Scholarly Action and a Programmatic Introduction
- Family Structure, Kinship, and Life Course Transitions: Social Science Explorations of the Mishnah
- Religious Holidays, Values, and Rituals: Mishnaic Perspectives
- The Poor and Their Relief in the Mishnah: An Economic Analysis
- Rabbinic Prayer in Dialogue with Priestly Ritual: Palestinian Talmudic Aggada
- Mihnag in The Haye Adam—The Case of Kitniyot on Passover
- The Evolution of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Cleveland, Ohio, 1940 to the Present
- An 1899 Postal Card Offers a Unique Insight Into American Jewish History
- Nine Men Waiting for One More: The Psychology of the Minyan
- Consumption, Wastefulness, and Simplicity in Ultra-Orthodox Communities
- תיתכלהה תונשרפה יללכב חיש ינמסו הקיטמגרפ :'םירמוא שי' 'יכאלמ די' רפס לש
- תינויצ תידומיל תושדחתה—הנבי דעו הנבימ רדסהה תובישיב תיתד
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Mordecai Paldiel, Saving One’s Own: Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. 636 p
- Derek Taylor, Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, The Forgotten Founder. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2018. xii + 260 p
- David Raab, The Democratic Evolution of Halakhah, A Political Science Perspective. Aspen, CO: Aspen Center for Social Values, 2018. 106 p
- Steven Weitzman, The Origins of the Jews. The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. ix + 394 p
- Sándor Bacskai, One Step Toward Jerusalem: Oral Histories of Orthodox Jews in Stalinist Hungary. Translated by Eva Maria Thury. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2018. xxiv. + 235 p
- Wodzinski, Marcin, with cartography by Waldemar Spallek, Historical Atlas of Hasidism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018. 280 p
- Jessica Roda, Se réinventer au présent: Les Judéo-espagnols de France; Famille, communauté et patrimoine musical. Preface by Edwin Seroussi. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2018. 268 p
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Table of Contents
- ESSAYS
- Sociological and Anthropological Approaches to the Study of the Evidence of the Mishnah: A Call to Scholarly Action and a Programmatic Introduction
- Family Structure, Kinship, and Life Course Transitions: Social Science Explorations of the Mishnah
- Religious Holidays, Values, and Rituals: Mishnaic Perspectives
- The Poor and Their Relief in the Mishnah: An Economic Analysis
- Rabbinic Prayer in Dialogue with Priestly Ritual: Palestinian Talmudic Aggada
- Mihnag in The Haye Adam—The Case of Kitniyot on Passover
- The Evolution of the Orthodox Jewish Community in Cleveland, Ohio, 1940 to the Present
- An 1899 Postal Card Offers a Unique Insight Into American Jewish History
- Nine Men Waiting for One More: The Psychology of the Minyan
- Consumption, Wastefulness, and Simplicity in Ultra-Orthodox Communities
- תיתכלהה תונשרפה יללכב חיש ינמסו הקיטמגרפ :'םירמוא שי' 'יכאלמ די' רפס לש
- תינויצ תידומיל תושדחתה—הנבי דעו הנבימ רדסהה תובישיב תיתד
- BOOK REVIEWS
- Mordecai Paldiel, Saving One’s Own: Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. 636 p
- Derek Taylor, Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, The Forgotten Founder. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2018. xii + 260 p
- David Raab, The Democratic Evolution of Halakhah, A Political Science Perspective. Aspen, CO: Aspen Center for Social Values, 2018. 106 p
- Steven Weitzman, The Origins of the Jews. The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017. ix + 394 p
- Sándor Bacskai, One Step Toward Jerusalem: Oral Histories of Orthodox Jews in Stalinist Hungary. Translated by Eva Maria Thury. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2018. xxiv. + 235 p
- Wodzinski, Marcin, with cartography by Waldemar Spallek, Historical Atlas of Hasidism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018. 280 p
- Jessica Roda, Se réinventer au présent: Les Judéo-espagnols de France; Famille, communauté et patrimoine musical. Preface by Edwin Seroussi. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2018. 268 p
