Lynn Claire Feinberg

Cand.Philol. History of Religion, University of Oslo, ordained Rabbi from Aleph - Jewish Renewal.

Lynn Claire Feinberg. Photo

Lynn Claire Feinberg

I grew up Jewish in Post- war Oslo. In the early 1990s I participated in dialogue groups on Ecology and Religion representing DMT Oslo, the Jewish community of Oslo.

Presently I am a PhD Candidate at the Theological Faculty, University of Oslo working on a monograph titled Ancestral Shadows - Memories of the Shoah transcended and integrated in descendants of survivors in Norway.

Abstract: Nature, Ecology and Jewish life in Norway

Being closely connected to nature is dominant when living in Norway and also true for Norwegian Jews. The few Jews that settled in Norway from the 1890’s and onwards, adapted to a Jewish life under Norwegian conditions. Living according to the Jewish calendar this far north, where the sun doesn’t set in the summer and days are short or missing in the winter has its own challenges. In addition Norway is a country founded on state church Lutheranism.

Partaking in outdoor activities all year round – skiing in the winter and hiking and spending time in summer houses by the coast during the summer months, soon became a central part of life of the newly settled Jews.

Prior to WW2, a majority of Jews kept kosher. In the 1930’s the Norwegian government prohibited kosher slaughter – a prohibition still in place. From then on all kosher meat has to be imported frozen.

After the war, following the deep impact of Shoah on all the Jews who had lived in Norway, deporting and killing close to half its population (1940 around 2000 Jews, 1945 around 1200 resettled), most Jews discontinued keeping kosher.

With the world wide attention on nature and ecology from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, inter-religious dialogue groups on Nature, ecology and religion were established in Norway. A few participants attended from the Jewish community, this focus however was never large within the two Jewish communities of Norway.

From my own learning and practice as a rabbi, I was introduced to the term eco-kosher. That kosher means more than just how to slaughter meat and avoiding mixing meat and milk products. All issues related to ethical consumption are involved, from how the animals are kept, to how workers are paid, amount of transport the food needs, to eating from ecofriendly utensils. From this perspective I would rather choose a free-range chicken, slaughtered locally, than a chicken with a kosher certificate and a more dubious life before slaughter. A few Jewish individuals aware that this is in line with Jewish dietary practice, have in recent years turned to eating vegetarian or vegan to avoid the more cumbersome issues connected to acquiring and preparing kosher meat.

Published Aug. 4, 2020 9:57 AM - Last modified Aug. 4, 2020 9:57 AM