Sur mei'rah v'aseh tov

by: Mae Singerman

Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 16:31:46 PM EDT

Great piece on Jewish law and the oil spill, by Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, Presdient of Uri L 'Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization. My favorite part: 

"Religion, at its worst, can be used to eliminate human agency and responsibility. Texas Governor Rick Perry invoked a morally deficient appeal to religious language last month when he called the Gulf oil spill “an act of G-d.” While we can debate G-d’s presence in the world, we need not debate the issue of human responsibility and culpability.

"A primary charge of the Jewish social justice tradition is the demand that we learn both how to limit our damage and how to hold ourselves and others who cause damage accountable."