Shopping, Conspicuous Consumption and Jews – Rabbi Barry Gelman

Dear Friends,

I found this article about shopping to be very insightful and reflective of some very important values.
I have often commented on the plague of conspicuous consumption that exists in the Jewish community. This article should make us think about how we shop.

Perhaps the references to Christian theology will be unsettling to people so knave included another link to Jewish sources on the ethics of consumerism.

While this is the season during which people focus on shopping, the questions of how we shop, why we shop and how shopping affects our soul is worthy of ongoing consideration.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/3867/a_meditation_on_shopping_and_desire

http://www.utzedek.org/files/Ethics%20of%20Consumerism%20%28Yom%20Iyun%20Shiur%29.pdf