Members of the Jewish religion have the responsibility of being Gods "chosen people".
They have a covenant (or agreement) with God, which means that they should serve Him and for this He shall watch over them. Jews do not believe this to be a right, but a responsibility. There are six hundred and thirteen Mitzvot (rules) to abide by, this means that Jews have plenty of opportunity to put what they have been taught into practise. Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath, This is celebrated by Jews on a weekly basis. They are forbidden to do various things, these forbidden things are listed as the Melachot of which there are thirty nine.Do not create fire etc).
They should keep the Sabbath holy, resting on the 7th day after 6 days of work. Sukkot is a festival also known as "the Feast of the Tabernacles". Jews celebrate the natural goods that god has given to them. They make things called "Tabernacles", which are shelters in which the children eat, study and occasionally sleep in. This is to remind them of how the Jews had to cope when they were travelling to the Promised Land. Each year, the Jews celebrate Tu B'shevat.
This particular celebration is also known as the "New Year for Trees".They believe that God judges the fruitfulness of the trees. This should represent man being judged by God. During this festival, Jews may go out and plant trees, others may just go out and recognise the fruitfulness of the plant and the trees. During this time Jews thank God, through prayer, for all of these things.
Kashrut is the term used for the Jewish food laws. These rules tell the Jews: how they should eat, what they should eat and why they should and should not eat certain. Kosher is another name for these food laws. Some animals must not be eaten at all according to kosher laws, such as pigs.
All blood must b drained from the animals before they are eaten, this represents that all the life has been drained out of the animal. They must kill the animals in one particular way. This is the quickest, most painless way of killing - this is called the Shechitah, one slice across the curotid artery. Certain parts of permitted animals must not be eaten. For example, the hoofs of a pig are considered unclean. Meat must not be eaten with dairy produce so Jews may not eat a cream-based sauce with their meat for example.
Another rule does not allow Jews to eat fish that scavenge for example shellfish such as prawns.The Noah Project creates various opportunities to increase environmental awareness through the Jewish Shabbat and other festival cycles. It is a very large conservation project, which is used to protect the world. The Assisi declaration is a special document that declares that Jews are prepared to help other religions, this is so that they can protect the environment. It says: "When the whole world is in peril, when the environment is in danger of being poisoned and various species oth plants and animals are becoming extinct.
It is our Jewish responsibility to put the defence of the whole of nature at the very centre of our concern. " Jewish people are very prepared to defend the environment. The members of the Jewish society put teachings into practise every single day of their lives. Jews organise projects (eg Noah project) to help keep their covenant with God. The Assisi declaration proves that Jews put themselves in order to protect the environment, although it was not the Jews who ruined the earth in the first place.
