Definition:

The Torah (the Five Books of Moses) opens with a clear statement about God’s relationship to the Earth – “in the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth…(Gen. 1:1).

” The formation of the Earth is a matter of Divine concern and therefore the preservation of that Earth must also be a matter of Divine concern. From the very beginning of the creation of humanity, the connection with the land, and with God, is profound. Thus, the Rabbis ask “Why was the first human being called Adam? Rabbi Yehudah says: By virtue of the earth (adamah) from which Adam was taken (Midrash Hagadol Bereishit).”

Of course, along with homo sapiens we find millions of other species, all of which hold an important place in the cosmic scheme. Thus, we read, “Even those creatures you deem redundant in this world, like flies, bugs, and gnats, nevertheless have their allotted task in the scheme of creation” (Babylonian Talmud: Shabbat 77b).

If all creatures are essential in God’s world, then the preservation of that world must also be essential. Human beings must, however, interact with the world – without wood and stone we would not have homes. So, Judaism establishes a limit on how we can exploit the Earth by insisting the nothing is wasted. This is based on Deut. 20:19-20 which forbids those besieging a town to chop down fruit trees for siegeworks – “Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? Only trees that you know do not yield food may be destroyed; you may cut them down for constructing siegeworks against the city that is waging war on you, until it has been reduced.” Chopping down a tree may be necessary, chopping down a fruit-bearing tree is wasteful. The Talmud tells us that those who chop beneficial trees will never be blessed in their work (Pesachim 50b) and that the lights of the world suffer because of the destroyers of beneficial trees (Succah 29a). Especially today, limitation of waste is an essential Jewish ethic. Thus, Rabbi Aryeh Levine recalled how Rav Kook took care to never pluck a blade of grass or a flower needlessly since “there is not a single blade of grass below, here on earth, which does not have a heavenly force telling it Grow! Every sprout and leaf of grass says something, conveys some meaning. Every stone whispers some inner, hidden message in the silence. Every creation utters its song (in praise of the Creator).” Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch goes so far as to say that those who needlessly destroy the environment are committing treachery against God’s world and are sinning against God (Horeb, #56).

An appropriate Jewish response to the environment is stated by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who writes (God in Search of Man, Meridian, 1959, p.31ff.) that “there are three starting points of contemplation about God…[and] the first is the way of sensing the presence of God in the world, in things….intimated in the Biblical passage…’Lift up your eyes on high and see, Who created these? (Isaiah 40:26).” Jewish spirituality has an intricate connection with the world around us, particularly through blessings. Jews traditionally recite blessings before many actions, and certainly before and/or after partaking of something in this world, whether or not it’s eating food, seeing trees in bloom, hearing thunder or seeing a meteor. The traditional Jewish blessing structure involves three key players – God, humanity, and the world. By saying a blessing which ties these three together, we make a powerful statement about our spirituality.

Heschel also suggests (ibid. p.33-34) that “there are three aspects of nature that command our attention: its power, its beauty, and its grandeur. Accordingly, there are three ways in which we may relate ourselves to the world – we may exploit it, we may enjoy it, we may accept it in awe.” The first way, becoming ever more prevalent in our society, is clearly unsustainable, and the least preferable. He suggests (ibid. p.43) that we need to reframe our learning from learning “in order to use” to learning “in order to revere,” and that “indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin.” So one prominent Jewish responsibility is to reframe our mindset so that we never take this miraculous world for granted, which relates to the importance of blessings as mentioned above.

In terms of active responsibilities, though, the Torah describes how God tells the first human to “fill the world and have dominion over it (Gen. 1:28).” Unfortunately, this verse is often used to suggest that we should subdue the earth according to our whims, and exploit it according to our every need. Nothing could be further from the truth – Judaism throughout the ages has insisted that we are co-partners with God in creation – God has given us the Earth “to till it and to tend it (Gen. 2:15).” This Stewardship model, as it is often known, is not without problems, though, partly because of the arrogance in assuming that we could even start to care for all the creatures on the earth and partly because of the abuses of that stewardship which the human race has continued to show. The other model – Deep Ecology – suggests that we are part of a web of life, one species interconnected with many others. Rabbi Charles Middleburgh suggests (MANNA magazine, Number 94, Winter 2007, p.20) a median position – “ What is needed is a balance, a combination of both: a sense that we are a mere speck in the cosmos, certainly, but also a profound awareness of both our destructive potential and the requirement of environmental responsibility and restraint.”

Judaism looks at the environment through the eyes of the generations who have gone before and also the eyes of those who will come after. Thus, we read that “in the hour when the Holy Blessed One created the first human being, God took the person before all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to the person: “See my works, how fine and excellent they are!” Now all that I have created, for you have I created it. Think upon this, and do not corrupt and desolate My world; for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right after you (Midrash: Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7: 28).”

Unfortunately, gone are the days when we can proclaim that “the continual existence of the species in the world – of which not one has become extinct and lost, from lice eggs to buffalo horns, since the day they were created – it is all by God’s word and desire concerning this (Sefer HaChinuch, 13th century Germany, 545).” Animal species are wiped out all the time, at over a thousand times the normal rate - a rate not seen on our planet for millions of years. In Judaism, we may be just one part of a web of life, but we clearly have the ability to affect more species than any other. With this awareness of our own power comes an awesome, Divine responsibility given to us at the very beginning of our scriptures.

Our responsibility to act is based on a responsibility to change our mindset – to learn that we belong to the land and that we are simply guests on it, to learn that our power should not lead us to arrogance nor the size of the task to apathy. Our responsibility is to celebrate this world as an expression of God’s glory, and not as a tool for our pleasure and exploitation.

In Judaism, we use rituals to help us celebrate the Earth, such as the festival of Tu BiSh’vat – the New Year for Trees – and blessings for when we enjoy nature, and it is in ritual that we find the truest expression of our inner thoughts. The Assembly of Reform Rabbis has in recent years elevated the status of the festival of Tu BiSh’vat and has produced a booklet of readings and activities for individuals and communities to enjoy before the festival. Ultimately, we appreciate everything to do with God’s earth because it is a gift from God which we cherish and dare not ruin.

Sources:

• God in Search of Man, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Meridian, 1959
• Why Our Grandchildren May Curse Us, Charles Middleburgh, MANNA magazine, Number 94, Winter 2007
• Journeys to Tu BiShevat - A Calendar of Readings and Mitzvot in Preparation for the New Year for Trees, Neil Amswych, 2008
• Trees, Earth and Torah – A Tu B’Shvat Anthology, ed. Elon, Hyman & Waskow, JPS, Philadelphia, 2000

Related Items: