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In this film we explore Jewish perspectives on climate change through the lens of religious teachings and ethics. Judaism emphasises the concept of Tikkun Olam—the responsibility to repair and care for the world. The Jewish faith teaches that humans are stewards of God’s creation, tasked with preserving the environment for future generations.  Jewish commitment to sustainability is an important value and the avoidance of waste (Bal Tashchit), and the moral obligation to act in ways that reduce harm to the planet is integral to the religion. Through these core values, the Jewish tradition calls for proactive efforts to combat climate change, emphasising both individual responsibility and collective action to protect the Earth for all living beings.

By linking spiritual values with environmental activism Climate Change: Judaism shows how faith can inspire a greener, more sustainable future.

Climate Change: Judaism

Rabbi Mark Goldsmith: Jewish teachings start with the idea that humanity has a responsibility to nature and to the environment around us. Our foundation story has the idea of a human being being created and then being given responsibility for the animals, for the birds, for the trees, for all the nature around them. The idea being that they're not simply a user of nature, they're a steward of nature. What we mean is that I am responsible for something. It's a little bit like you're looking after somebody at school who's new doesn't know what to do. You steward them through the day, help them to know what to do. And it's a little bit like that with nature. We steward it, we look after it, we consider it to be our responsibility.

 

So our Jewish teachings then continue from there. One of them that I feel is incredibly strong is the idea of bal taschit. This is the concept that as a person, you shouldn't destroy things. And that could be destroying fruit trees. And in fact, when it comes up in the Torah, that's exactly what the idea of bal taschit is about. It's set at the time of war, when you would have thought that destroying the enemy's fruit trees would be a really good idea, because then what are they going to eat? But you're not meant to do that because those fruit trees are a legacy for all humanity. Another big Jewish concept is tikkun olam, which asks the question, what are we here for? Literally, what are we here for as human beings? And we have a concept in Judaism that we are partners with God in the repair of the world, that the world was not left absolutely perfect. Instead, there were parts of the world that don't function too well, and we know that we experience it in our lives, whether it be through illness, whether it be through degradation of the environment around us. So what's our job? Le tikkun from which comes the word tikkun, which means to repair olam, the world, the universe. So what can we do to do that? And we all know that some of the choices that we make, the choice perhaps to walk to school or walk to work or take the bus rather than put another car on the road with all its emissions, will help to repair the world. The choice to be an environmental scientist and come up with great discoveries as to how we can make a difference to the future, that is, tikkun olam. But honestly, it can be as little as this package. Now, I'm not going to throw it away into a regular bin. I'll take it home and put it in the recycling. That's a little bit of tikkun olum.

 

In the Torah. In the book of Leviticus, there is a wonderful idea. The idea is, number one, that every seven days you need to have a day of rest. But it's not just for you as a person. That's the Shabbat we call it, or the Sabbath. You also don't do new creative work. You don't use much of the Earth's resources. You reduce the impact you have on the world, and you do that by choice. But then came the idea that every seven years we should let the lands do the same. In the ancient land of Israel. Every seven years the land wouldn't be farmed for a year. Just whatever grew naturally would be picked. But we wouldn't exploit the land. And what that enabled the land to do was for the earth to begin to recover, for the soil to recover, to be more productive for the future, because it had had the chance to rest in the current state of Israel. There were quite a few farms which still do this practice called the Shmita year. You don't plow, you don't use all the intensive techniques you would normally use to get the most out of the land, and you just pick what naturally grows there, and that's that. And then the following year you go back to your regular techniques of agriculture or whatever you need. In Judaism, there is a key prayer that every Jew is meant to say twice a day. It's called the Shema, and for us it's a declaration of one God, but especially that that one God therefore means there's a unity in all of creation, that everything is one. Everything impacts on each other. And in the Shema, in its second paragraph, it says that if you don't behave well, then the rains may not come. And we used to think, well, it doesn't really work like that, does it? But now we know there's really some truth in that, the way that humanity. And I'm not just talking about Jews. I'm talking about all of us. Behave and treat. Our planet does make a difference to the weather that we experience, and we can make a change for the positive. So eco synagogue is part of eco Judaism, and that's the idea that Judaism in our day, has got to be really responsive to the crisis of climate change, to making a difference. We do it because we want to encourage all Jews to be better environmental citizens looking after our planet better.

 

We're about to reach the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and on Rosh Hashanah there is a tradition called tashlich, which is where you go to a local water source and you throw bread on the water, and the bread is meant to represent your sins, the things you've done during the year that you really regret, that you want to change for the next year and behave better. So a brilliant organization called Repair the Sea came up with an idea to unite Jewish communities all around the world, and they call it Reverse Tashlich. Why not, instead of putting something into the water, we clean up the water. They call it repair the sea, because it doesn't matter if it's a tiny brook or it's a big river, or if it's the seaside itself. Everything flows into the sea and we know our seas are becoming more and more polluted. So what we're going to do as a synagogue is we're going to a local water source in a park, which we know eventually flows into a river, and that river flows into the sea. And we're going to clean it up. And through cleaning it up as we come to celebrate the Jewish New Year. We are trying to make the world that little bit better. Our Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah tradition, has the idea that it is ha-yom harat olam the day on which the earth was conceived as if it's the earth birthday. So what better birthday present to give to the world than to clean up a local river.

 

Volunteer 1:  We're here today in Watling Park, cleaning up the Silk Stream, which feeds into the River Thames ultimately and part of Thames 21 initiative to, you know, just to clean up the waterways. But here today, representing eco Judaism as part of our core ethos, really, of being responsible communities and caring for our environment. We want to repair the world not just through good deeds, but through environmental action, to really get our community to think more about it.

 

Volunteer 2:  So I feel this is a lot more meaningful than throwing breadcrumbs into the stream. It's so satisfying being able to clean up a park where I live is so important because it makes me feel home, and it also makes me appreciate the nature around me.

 

Volunteer 3:  It feels so special to be involved in something like Reverse Tashlich today with the members of the community on such a beautiful day. It makes me feel that I'm doing something good not just for myself, not just for the members of my community, but for the wider community as well. Also, it focuses me on how much rubbish we as humans throw away, how much we pollute this beautiful, wonderful planet, and particularly this beautiful park.

 

Volunteer 1:  It's really wonderful to be here today. It's just a lovely community activity, something to do with like minded people really feel like you're making a positive impact on the local environment and just it's very healing as an individual as well as actually for the place that we're cleaning up. So it was so great to be here today, and there were some young people in the park and they saw what we were doing, and they immediately wanted to help and took some of the litter tools and helped us clean the park.

 

Volunteer 3:  It is really important for the Jewish tradition, for Jewish faith to care about the environment. There are lots of laws and commandments starting from the Torah by taking care of the world around us. My favourite one is the Midrash from the book of Ecclesiastes Rabbah, and that Midrash talks about God taking Adam by hand and taking him through the Garden of Eden. Beautiful place. And he shows him different beautiful trees, beautiful plants, and says, look how beautiful this place is. Look after it. Do not destroy it, because if you do, there will be no one else to repay it.

 

Climate Change: Judaism

Video length - 10.02
Published date - Sep 2024
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

One Life, Live it Well, featuring Alice Roberts, explores the humanist approach to living a fulfilling life. Comparing our lives to a piece of string, with a beginning and an end, this short animation emphasises the ways non-religious people might shape what lies in between and find happiness and meaning in their lives. Highlighting the arts, science, health, relationships, and human rights as the ingredients of a good life, it explores the importance humanists place on freedom, responsibility, and connections, and how they believe we might live life to the fullest and leave something behind after we are gone.

https://understandinghumanism.org.uk/

One Life, Live it Well

Video length - 02.36
Published date - Jul 2024
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

7/7 – On Thursday the 7th of July 2005, four bombs were detonated in central London – three on tube trains and one on a double-decker bus. 52 innocent people were killed and over 700 more were injured in the first ever suicide bombings in the UK. We speak to people whose lives were directly affected by the attacks and hear their testimonies, as well as perspectives from an Imam and an expert in the study of terrorism.

CREDITS

7/7

Video length - 10.27
Published date - Jun 2015
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

In the Beginning – Adam lives in luxury with his best friend Monkey, but there’s something missing in his life. Then Eve moves in to Eden and the trouble begins. This is what happens when you cross the first few chapters of Genesis with an American sitcom. WARNING: the theme song will stick in your head for days. Altogether now, “At first it was just watery, but how conditions oughter be for creating life and all that stuff…”

Animation by Ceiren Bell

https://www.truetube.co.uk/wp-admin/post.php?post=4788&action=edit

In the Beginning

Video length - 07.49
Published date - Sep 2014
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

What is Humanism? Life is like a maze: we all have to make decisions about which direction to take, and it can be difficult to know which way to go. Religious people have their leaders and holy books to guide them, but what if you don’t believe in God? How do atheists decide what is right and wrong? Humanism might have the answer.

What is Humanism?

Video length - 06.33
Published date - Jun 2014
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

Designer Babies: The Jain – When Nishad and his wife were expecting their first child, they were told that the baby had Down’s Syndrome, and given the option to terminate the pregnancy. Nishad is a Jain, and believes that he should not have the power to choose whether or not a soul continues its life.

Courtesy of 4thought.tv

Designer Babies: The Jain

Video length - 01.46
Published date - Mar 2014
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

The Problem of Evil – If God is all-powerful, all-knowing and he loves us, why do bad things happen to good people? Here’s a very general introduction to the various complicated ways in which different religions have attempted to solve the Problem of Evil.

TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:

 

AQA

Component 2 -Religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world: Theme E - Religion, crime and punishment- The problem of evil/suffering and a loving and righteous God: the problems it raises for Christians about the nature of God, including reference to omnipotence and benevolence, including Psalm 103; how the problem may cause believers to question their faith or the existence of God; the nature and examples of natural suffering, moral suffering. Good and evil intentions and actions. Good and evil intentions and actions, including whether it can ever be good to cause suffering.

Religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world: Theme C - Evil and Suffering as an argument against the existence of God.

 

Edexcel

Section 1: Christian Beliefs Section: The problem of evil/suffering and a loving and righteous God: the problems it raises for Christians about the nature of God, including reference to omnipotence and benevolence, including Psalm 103; how the problem may cause believers to question their faith or the existence of God; the nature and examples of natural suffering, moral suffering. 2: Crime and Punishment - teachings about good, evil and suffering: Teachings about the nature of good actions, how they are rewarded, and the nature of evil actions; non-religious attitudes (including atheist and Humanist) about why people suffer, including believing in religion.

 

OCR

Component Group 1 - Beliefs and teachings - Islam - Jihad - Judaism -Nature of G-d - The Question of G-d - Key philosophical and ethical concepts: • The nature of G-d in Judaism • The problem of the existence of evil •Human suffering - Buddhism - The Question of Ultimate Reality (dhamma) Key philosophical and ethical concepts: • The nature of Ultimate Reality in Buddhism • The existence of evil in the world •Human suffering - Hinduism - The question of deity Key philosophical and ethical concepts: • The nature of deity and Ultimate Reality in Hinduism • The existence of evil in the world •Human suffering - Christianity - The problem of evil and suffering and a loving and righteous God.

 

WJEC

PART B - Theme 2: Issues of Good and Evil - Crime and Punishment PART B - Theme 2: Issues of Good and Evil – Forgiveness PART B - Theme 2: Issues of Good and Evil- Good, Evil and Suffering

 

Eduqas

Component 1 (Route A) Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Studies in the Modern World -Christianity - Theme 3: Issues of Good and Evil - Good, Evil and Suffering ➢ Philosophical perspectives on the origin of evil: Original Sin (free will) and 'soul-making' (Irenaeus and John Hick) ➢ Philosophical challenges posed by belief in God, free will and the existence of evil and suffering.

Component 1 (Route B) Foundational Catholic Theology- Theme 1: Origins and Meaning - Theme 2: Good and Evil - Good, Evil and Suffering ➢ Catholic perspectives on the origin of evil: Original Sin and evil as a “privation”, with reference to St Augustine, The Enchiridion (3.11) ➢ Alternative Christian and non-Christian views on the nature and origin of evil and the difference between moral and natural evil. ➢ Catholic beliefs about the relationship between God’s goodness and the goodness of the created world ➢ Philosophical and non-religious challenges posed by belief in God’s goodness, free will and the existence of evil and suffering ➢ The meaning of suffering and Catholic ambivalence towards it, with reference to the significance of Christ’s suffering and death and Isaiah 53

The Problem of Evil

Religions say that God loves us completely. They also say that he's omniscient, which means he knows everything and he's omnipotent, which means he can control everything. This is a problem. Every day bad things happen to good people. So if God loves us and he knows about these bad things that happen, and he could stop them from happening, why doesn't he do something about it? This is known as the problem of evil.

Let's take a look at what the word evil actually means. There are two types of evil. First, there's moral evil, and these are things that people choose to do, such as murder, stealing, kidnapping. And second, there's natural evil, these are things that nature does, like tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes. Different religions have come up with various explanations to help their followers understand why a loving God would let evil things happen to them. The attempt to solve this problem is known as theodicy, and here are a few examples of them.

If God controlled everything we did, we'd be just like puppets on a string. Most religions believe that rather than keeping us as puppets, God set us free by allowing us to choose our own path and make our own decisions. And this is called free will. So you can use your free will to do whatever you want, and some people use it to do good things like helping other people. You dropped this. Oh, thanks very much. Unfortunately, other people use it to do bad things. Oi! Some religions, like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, see life as a test. When we come to the end of our life, we'll be judged. God will look at all the good things we did and all the bad things we did, and decide if we deserve to go to heaven or to hell. By giving us free will, God will be able to see whether we chose to do good or chose to do bad.

Okay, so this might explain moral evil, but it doesn't explain why natural evil happens, like earthquakes and tsunamis, which kill thousands of people. Some people believe, however, that this is part of the test and gives people a chance to prove that they are morally good by helping and responding to those people in need.

Earthquake appeal!

Other religions such as Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism believe that rather than going to heaven or hell when you die, your soul will be reborn into a new body, and this is called reincarnation. These religions believe that people who do evil things could be punished in the next life, and that's known as karma.

Shh!

So if something bad happens to us, it's because we did something bad in the past or even in a past life. Might even be something as small as killing a fly. These people believe that all life is valuable, which is why a lot of people who believe in karma are vegetarians. These people also believe that natural evil is caused by human actions. So if we don't learn to take care of the planet, we'll be punished through things like earthquakes and tsunamis. With the law of karma, good is rewarded and bad is punished.

Some Christians believe in the idea of original sin. This comes from the Bible, when Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden, and Eve disobeyed God by eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Because Eve did this evil act, and she's the mother of all mankind, it means that each of us has a little bit of evil in us and sometimes do bad things. It also explains why sometimes people need to be punished through things like natural disasters. The final group we're going to look at is atheists. For atheists who don't believe in a god, there is no problem of evil. Atheists are scientific and rational in their view of the world, and because they don't believe in a God, they look for other reasons as to why people do bad things. These reasons might include problems in society, a person's background, or even their biology.

Now, people who don't believe in God often use the problem of evil to support their argument. If God is all loving, omnipotent, and omnipresent, then why do injustices happen in the world such as war and famine, tsunamis and earthquakes which kill thousands upon thousands of innocent people? Atheists often say that the easiest way to explain this is that there is no god. No god, no problem.

The problem of evil, bad things happening to good people is something that people have thought about for hundreds and hundreds of years. But what's going on here? Is it free will? Punishment? Original sin? Karma? Or perhaps you believe there is no God, maybe you've got another explanation of your own. It may be difficult to come to an exact answer, but it does make for a very interesting discussion. So why do you think there's evil and suffering in the world?

Oh, I think it's...

The Problem of Evil

Video length - 6.15
Published date - Sep 2013
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

Proving God Exists – For most people who believe in God, their faith is enough to know that he is real. But is there a way for them to prove to non-believers that God exists? This film takes a look at the various arguments for the existence of God, and wonders how convincing they are… Animation by Ceiren Bell

TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:

 

AQA

Component 2 - Religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world: Theme C - The existence of God and Revelation: The Design Argument:The Design Argument, including its strengths and weaknesses.

The First Cause Argument: The First Cause Argument, including its strengths and weaknesses.

 

Edexcel

Area of Study 3 - Section 2: Philosophy of Religion: religious experience: Cosmological argument: the cosmological argument for the existence of God and its use by religions as a philosophical argument for the existence of God, including reference to Thomas Aquinas' First Three Ways of showing God's existence; divergent understandings of the nature and importance of what the cosmological argument shows about the nature of God ; religious responses to nonreligious (including atheist and Humanist) arguments against the cosmological argument as evidence for the existence of God.

Design argument: the classical design argument for the existence of God and its use byreligions as a philosophical argument for the existence of God; divergent understandings about what the design argument may show about the nature of God for people of faith, religious responses to non-religious (including atheist and Humanist) arguments against the design argument as evidence for the existence of God.

 

OCR

Component Group 2–Religion, philosophy and ethics in the modern world from a religious perspective - the existence of God, gods and ultimate reality, and ways in which God, gods or ultimate reality might be understood; through revelation, visions, miracles or enlightenment.

 

WJEC

Component Group 2 - Religion, philosophy and ethics in the modern world from a Christian perspective- The existence of God - The nature of reality - Key philosophical concepts: • Arguments about the existence of God • Ideas about the purpose of the world • Ethical living •Christian philosophical views on the nature of reality and the reasons for belief in God, including: •• The world as designed and the argument from the evidence of design and purpose •• The world as requiring a cause and the argument from the concept of first cause •• The world as formed for humanity, as expressed in Genesis by the Anthropic principle •• The world and moral consequence, soul-making and judgement • The value and importance of arguments for the existence of God

Proving God Exists

Is it possible to prove that God exists? Well, probably not, but it hasn't stopped people trying over the years. You see, it's not enough for some people to believe there's a God just because it says so in a holy book. How do I know the Holy book is true, they say. And the answer, because God wrote it, doesn't seem to satisfy them. Ah, but what about religious experiences? Say the believers Surely, they prove that God exists? Well, not necessarily. People who say they've had religious experiences could be mistaken, or making it up, or mad. Sorry. Science and coincidence can often explain the rest. So where does our sense of right and wrong come from, say the believers? It must come from God. Well, again, not necessarily. Humans could have worked it out for themselves. For example, if a man is living in a small community. it's not going to work if he steals someone's food, sleeps with someone's wife, or shoots someone's brother. And if he did, the rest of the community would have something to say about it. Probably along the lines of don't do that, it's wrong.

While the search for solid evidence goes on, there are three main arguments that try to prove, from what we already know, that there is without any doubt, a God. So let's start with the cosmological argument or first cause argument, which goes like this. God must exist because who else could have made the universe? Everything has a cause. Nothing just happens. A vase doesn't smash by itself. A ball doesn't bounce by itself. A child doesn't just suddenly appear. They all have causes. And so, the argument goes, the universe must have a cause as well. A first cause. Therefore God exists. And what caused us? We don't have to be here, but we are. So something, or someone, must have had a reason for creating us. Or to put it another way, the universe is big. In fact, the universe is a bigger place than it's comfortable to imagine. Each person is a tiny dot on the planet, which is an even tinier dot in the solar system, which is an even tinier dot in the galaxy, which is an even tinier dot in the universe. If we didn't exist, the cosmos wouldn't even notice, and yet here we are. So there must be a cause, therefore God exists.

But there are problems with this argument. It's all built on the idea that everything has a cause. So who or what caused God? And if the universe is so big, then it's highly likely that in all that space with countless billions of planets to choose from, other life forms exist on some of them. And like our alien friends, we could be here just because we got lucky.

The teleological argument, fortunately also known as the argument from design, states that because the world is the perfect environment for humans to live in, it must have been designed specifically with humans in mind, therefore God exists. In 1802, a man called William Paley had a best seller on his hands when he wrote an explanation of the argument. It goes like this. Say you're walking in the country and you find a stone. You pick it up and look at it. It doesn't do anything, however much you shake it. The stone obviously has no purpose. So you throw it away and you walk on a bit and find a watch. You pick it up and look at it. It ticks. It has numbers. It has hands that go round. Unlike the stone, it's obvious that the watch has a purpose. And so it must have been designed by someone. Now, take a look at the world. It's the perfect environment for human beings. There's air, food and water. It's the right temperature. It has the right amount of gravity, and everything seems to work together to provide humans with a good home. It's obvious that it has a purpose. In fact, it's just the sort of place someone might design for humans to live in.

Well, said, Mr. Paley, it's staring you in the face, isn't it? It was designed. Therefore God exists. For a little while this argument seemed to clinch it. Nice one, Mr. Paley. But then, along came Charles Darwin and turned the whole argument on its head. The world, he said, wasn't made to suit people, people changed to suit the world. The Earth appeared by chance, and as plants and animals grew, they adapted over millions of years to deal with what was already here. And that wasn't the only problem with the argument from design. People pointed out that the design isn't perfect. There are lots of dangerous and nasty things out there diseases, for example, that spread without check, causing suffering and death. So if the world was designed, they said this must be the prototype, and as a parting shot, they added, if God designed us, then who designed God? So that just about wraps it up for the teleological argument.

But there's one more to look at, the ontological argument, and it's a bit of a mind mangler. It goes like this. If God is the greatest being in the universe, then he must exist, because if he doesn't exist, he wouldn't be the greatest being in the universe, therefore, God exists. Or to put it another way, something that exists is greater than something that doesn't exist. So in order for God to be the greatest possible being in the universe, he must exist. The general opinion of this argument is that it's trying to confuse people into believing in God. Eminent philosophers are divided on whether it's brilliant or a bucket full of gibbon dribble, but it's not as mad as it might sound. Describing something in a certain way can sometimes mean that it must exist. For example, the tallest man alive. Even if you had never met the tallest man alive, you would know that he exists. Because somewhere in the world there is a man who's taller than the second tallest man alive, therefore the tallest man alive must exist. Or think of how you'd describe a triangle, a three sided shape. As soon as you start mucking about with the number of sides it has, it stops being a triangle. A three sided shape is always, by definition, a triangle.

So what about the description of God as the greatest possible being? Philosophers have argued that something doesn't have to exist for it to be great. Greatness is so hard to define. Someone could describe the greatest possible chocolate bar, the size of a tower block and full of marshmallow pieces, but that doesn't mean it must exist. But if it doesn't exist, then can it really be called the greatest? And so on, but you can argue about the meaning of words as much as you like. The ontological argument doesn't prove the existence of God.

These arguments have made a lot of theologians, philosophers, and scientists very famous over the years, but they have failed to prove that God exists. But then no one has managed to prove that God doesn't exist either. Some would say that it's pointless to try and prove or disprove the existence of a God who is, if he exists, completely beyond our understanding anyway. In the end, what it comes down to is this. Do you believe in God or not?

Proving God Exists

Video length - 8.32
Published date - Apr 2013
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

One Hour to Save the Nation

What is sacred? Human rights and the safety of the nation are things that most people would agree are sacred, but what happens when the two come into conflict? How should we deal with people who threaten our nation? And does the Prime Minister really have a teddy bear? This film is one of four in a series that explores what sacred means in the modern world.

One Hour to Save the Nation

Video length - 06.46
Published date - Feb 2012
Keystage(s) - 4
Downloadable resources

Is Nature Sacred?

What is sacred? The natural world has long been sacred to people, but for many different reasons. Nick (a shaman), Martin (a vicar), Hilary (from an eco-friendly cosmetics firm) and Professor Gordon Lynch all share their views. This film is one of four in a series that explores what sacred means in the modern world.

Is Nature Sacred?

Video length - 04.10
Published date - Feb 2012
Keystage(s) - 4