Over the last eleven years, Canfei Nesharim's network of leaders and participants has grown to include thousands of Jews who read our materials, share them with their communities, and act together to protect Hashem's natural resources. We've created comprehensive learning materials expressing traditional Jewish views on the environment, and reached tens of thousands of Jews with Torah-based environmental education.

We've also put the environment on the agenda of the Orthodox community. Nationally, this has taken the form of the participation of major Orthodox institutions in specific environmental efforts and resolutions. Locally, it's visible with the many Orthodox communities organizing activities and learning about environmental action at every level.

This work has been accomplished under the extraordinary leadership of our founding director, Evonne Marzouk, with the participation and partnership of a diverse team of leaders, including Canfei Nesharim's Board of Directors, Advisory Boards, and numerous community leaders who have shared our work with their audiences. We've accomplished a tremendous amount together.

At this time, Evonne has decided that it is time for her to move on from her leadership role with Canfei Nesharim. Her term will end in June 2014. The organization will continue under my leadership, working with Canfei Nesharim's executive team and with the partnership of our extensive network of volunteers and partners.

There is still much more for us to do! In our next phase, we will build upon the solid foundation of resources and partners built over the last eleven years. With many Jewish organizations now becoming aware of environmental concerns, and seeking traditional materials to engage their communities, Canfei Nesharim will continue to carry the banner of Torah-based environmentalism and be a resource for the Jewish community. To see all of our recent materials, we encourage you to visit our website at www.canfeinesharim.org.

We are excited to partner with you as we continue to roll out new materials in the coming months and years.

Sincerely,

Ora Sheinson

President

Tu b'Shevat is a great time to learn and share with your community about Torah teachings on protecting the environment. Don't miss this great opportunity to learn and educate your family, friends, and community about our Jewish responsibility to protect the environment!

• Planning a program in your community?
• Interested in sharing Torah learning with your audience?
• Want to do some special family learning and maybe your own personal seder on Friday night?

Canfei Nesharim has a wealth of resources to help you. Many great resources available here: http://www.CanfeiNesharim.org/TuBShevat/

Back by popular demand: free ecoprinted haggadot! Get up to 25 free by joining our "Celebrating Tu b'Shevat with Canfei Nesharim" community on Jewcology and posting your request there. Deadline for free haggadot: Wednesday, January 16. Learn more about this opportunity here.

Wishing you a green month and a meaningful Tu b'Shevat!

P.S. It's a busy, busy time at Canfei Nesharim, as we're finishing up our Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment and getting ready for the Year of Action. Stay tuned for more info soon! If you're ready to get your community engaged in the Year of Action now, let us know!

There is a big event this Thursday, organized and hosted by White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships: “Greening America’s Congregations: The Faith Community and Energy Efficiency.” It’s a gathering of faith leaders to talk about how we as the faith community can make a different in saving energy, saving money, and reducing emissions. They expect approximately 100-150 people to attend.

We are proud to share that our very own Evonne Marzouk will be speaking at this White House event, on the panel about Stewardship in Our Faith Tradition, representing Judaism. Evonne will be teaching based on the Torah and environment materials created for our Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment!

During this event, senior administration officials will call on faith-based organizations across the country to save energy and strengthen stewardship of the environment by improving the energy efficiency of their houses of worship with help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program.

The event will also feature discussions among Administration officials and leaders of the faith community about how congregations across America are already achieving significant carbon emission reductions by incorporating energy efficiency into their broader mission. The first worship facilities that have achieved ENERGY STAR certification will be recognized and special attention will be paid to interfaith, state, and local initiatives, and the role of stewardship in faith traditions.

Sarah Levinson, Assistant Director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), will also speak at this event about COEJL’s Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign.

More details and pictures to follow after the event!

Purim is right around the corner…

Will yours be sustainable?

Purim falls this year on Thursday, March 8. Share your environmental commitment with your community by ordering Kosher Organic Lollipops for Purim!

Now for two days only (February 23 and February 24), get up to 25% off our usual low prices, in our pre-Purim sale!

(Just $6.00 for 30 lollipops, $9.00 for 50 lollipops or $15.00 for 100 lollipops. Only while supplies last! Order today.)

• These lollipops are kosher (chaf-K) and organic, individually wrapped, from Yummy Earth. See ingredients here.
• We include a Canfei Nesharim sticker on each lollipop so that you can share your eco-commitment with your friends and community members.
• Shipped to you in time for Purim! (Arrival by March 2.)

Deadline for orders: this Friday, February 24. Order today!

You can also:

• Get ideas for healthy, beautiful, waste-free mishloach manot.
• Explain to your friends why you've chosen to go green. Here are some printable cards to drop in to your mishloach manot.

Explore all our Purim resources here.

Wishing you a healthy and sustainable Purim,

Evonne Marzouk
Executive Director

Please share this video with others who should see it!

The packed weekend schedule included four talks during Shabbat at KMS, a Saturday evening meet and greet with local Jewish environmental partners, and an "Ask the Scientists" breakfast this morning.

To advance our educational and greening efforts (particularly in the Orthodox community), Canfei Nesharim is seeking additional Orthodox environmental professionals in the science and technology domains. For more information, please email Dr. Daniel Weber, chair of the advisory board.

Learn more about our scientists and their talks this weekend:

KMS was proud to host Orthodox environmental scientists from around the world gathering for Canfei Nesharim’s Science and Technology Advisory Board retreat, speaking on the topic: “What does it mean to live sustainably?”

SHABBAT PARASHAT SHEMINI

March 25-27

7 AM Minyan

Dr. Clifford Weisel:

Mayim Chaim and Water Sustainability

Clifford Weisel, Ph.D. is a professor in the Exposure Science Division of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School/University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He holds appointments in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University and at the UMDNJ School of Public Health.

8 AM Minyan

Dr. Steven Brenner:

Developments in Environmental Awareness and Action in Israel

Steve Brenner is a physical oceanographer and meteorologist who received his PhD in meteorology from MIT in 1982. From 1985 -2003 he was the head of the Department of Physical Oceanography at the National Institute of Oceanography in Haifa. Currently he is the scientific coordinator and deputy team leader of the Red Sea Study.

1 hour before Mincha

Dr. Mark Altabet: Doing Something about the Weather

Mark Altabet is currently Professor of Marine Science at the School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Adjunct Professor at Brown University. He received his BS at Stony Brook University and his PhD at Harvard U.

Between Mincha and Ma’ariv

Dr. Daniel Weber:

Birds and Parapets: Jewish Insights into Sustainability and Environmental Health

Dr. Daniel Weber received his B.S. with distinction in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Michigan, and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in behavioral toxicology of fishes. He is a Senior Scientist at the Children’s Environmental Health Sciences Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Sunday morning, 9:45 am

“Ask the Scientists” breakfast at KMS after Shacharit

Canfei Nesharim connects traditional Torah texts with contemporary scientific findings, to educate and empower the Jewish community to build a more sustainable world.

Pesach is coming! The first seder is Monday night, April 18. In the frenzy of cleaning, we sometimes forget the importance of protecting the environment. To keep you centered in this busy time, Canfei Nesharim offers resources to help you remember, and remind your community, to "clean green."

Great resources to help you clean green this year:

• Recipes for green cleaning products,
• Links to eco-friendly cleaning products for order,
• Tips for healthy Pesach cleaning,
• and some reminders about what Pesach is really all about.

Program Ideas

• Make a Clean Sweep this Pesach: resources to help your community dispose properly of non-trash waste such as batteries, CFLs, and electronics.
• Make Your Own Green Cleaners: a program for 6-10 year olds and their families

Counting the Omer begins on the second night of Pesach.

• Download Canfei Nesharim's 5771 Omer Counter!

Explore all our Pesach resources today.

Purim falls this year on March 20. Joyful and fun, the holiday also includes an opportunity to share your environmental commitments with your community.

To help you save resources this Purim, Canfei Nesharim offers great ideas for healthy, beautiful, waste-free mishloach manot. Includes price-coded links for inexpensive and eco-friendly products that you might like to include in your mishloach manot package! You can also take advantage of our printable mishloach manot cards.

Share your eco-commitment by dropping an eco-reminder into this year's mishloach manot. Your community members can learn tips to save resources from your Purim treats!

You can get up to 30 free lollipops to share in your mishloach manot with our Jewcology Special. Just "follow" Canfei Nesharim on Jewcology, then fill our our simple order form. Full details here Kosher organic lollipops from Yummy Earth, great for sharing an eco-message in your mishloach manot, and to help you celebrate an eco-friendly and healthy Purim! (Deadline March 6.) Check it out today!

You can also order:

• Canfei Nesharim Recycled Pen. "Is that paper recycled? This pen is!" A great eco-reminder to include in your gifts to your community.
• Eco-reminder wallet cards, stickers, and magnets for order, a great way to share your environmental commitments!

Product order deadline: Wednesday, March 9. All orders will be shipped to arrive by March 17. Please specify rush orders; an additional fee may apply.

Explore all our Purim resources

What does the Torah say about the environment and Tu b'Shevat? Explore our collection of articles, stories, and Torah study materials.


New Torah Study Materials for 5771

Trees, Torah, and Caring for the Earth
by Dr. Akiva Wolff and Rabbi Yonatan Neril
That the New Year of the Tree has come to be associated with sensitivity to and appreciation of the natural environment is not by chance. Many Jewish sources connect trees with our proper stewardship of the earth. Understanding these teachings on Tu b'Shevat can help us improve our relationship to G-d’s creation, our world.

Resources Include:

• For Communities: Study and Discussion Guide (PDF, 5 pages)
• For Schools: Lesson Plan
• For Speakers: Resources to help you organize a talk on Torah, Trees, and the Environment (PDF, 5 pages)
• For in-depth study: Comprehensive Torah Teaching on Trees and the Environment (PDF, 5 pages

Canfei Nesharim's Tu b'Shevat Programs

Planning a Tu b'Shevat Seder?

How to Run a Seder:
Tips and Instructions

Haggadot:
For download or order

Enhance your seder:
with Study Guides, Stories
and Speaker Notes

Audio Podcast:
Trees in Jewish Thought
(WAV file, 4:31)

Video Teaching:
Trees in Jewish Thought (4:37)

Experiencing Trees:
Suggested Activities (PDF, 3 pages)

For Children, Teens, and Synagogues

For 3-6 Year Olds: The Hakaras Hatov Tree

For 6-10 Year Olds: Making Tu b'Shevat Greeting Cards

For Teens:
Preparing Tu b'Shevat

Trees in Jewish Thought (Lesson Plan, PDF)

For Synagogues: Plan a Green Kiddush

By Rabbi Eliezer Shore, PhD

View a Printable Version | View a Source Sheet

Pekudey is the parsha (Torah portion) of details.[1] This short, seemingly redundant parsha does little more than sum up the information presented already twice in the preceding chapters. In Terumah and Tetzaveh, Moshe (Moses) receives from G-d the instructions for building the Mishkan, including its utensils and the priestly garments. Vayakhel describes the actual construction of these items. Whereas Pekudey begins with an accounting of all the material that went into the project, and concludes with a further recounting of the Mishkan’s parts as they are finally erected into a single structure by Moshe.[2] Considering how incredibly sparing the Torah is with words,[3] it seems strange that this parsha should spend so much time simply summing up what was said before. Why wasn’t it enough for the Torah to simply state: “And the people did all that Moshe commanded, and Moshe assembled the Mishkan.” Perhaps the answer lies in the nature and purpose of the Mishkan, and its relationship to the creation.

According to the Ramban,[4] the Mishkan was the continuation of the Sinaitic revelation into history. Just as G-d spoke to Moshe from the top of the mountain, so He continued to address him from out of the Mishkan.[5] The Mishkan – and the Temple after it – was a “portable” Mount Sinai. It was a place of continual revelation, where the presence of G-d could be vividly felt and experienced.

According to Midrash,[6] there was another aspect to the Mishkan. The Sages describe it as a microcosm of the universe, with each of its vessels corresponding to another part of the creation: the tent of the Mishkan paralleled the firmament, the menorah paralleled the sun and moon, the laver paralleled the oceans, and so on, through the days of creation.

By describing the Mishkan as such, the Midrash is suggesting that the structure was a model of aredeemed creation. It fulfilled G-d’s original intention of the world as a setting for revelation. This was the nature of the Garden of Eden, and it will be the nature of the future world, when “the knowledge of G-d will fill the earth as waters cover the sea.”[7] In the interim, the Mishkan and Temple served as loci of G-d’s revelation in the world.[8]

Thus, the meaning of the Torah’s precise recounting of the Mishkan’s construction may not lie in the specific verses themselves, but in their overall effect. The Torah is telling us that details – no matter how small – are actually of supreme importance. We tend to think of revelation as a grand event – the splitting of the sea, the thunder of Sinai – yet the verses detailing the Mishkan’s construction suggest that a revelation of G-d can also be born out of attention to the smallest details. This is the implication of the final verses of Parshat Pekudey:

And G-d spoke to Moshe, saying: On the first day of the first month shall you set up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. And you shall put in it the Ark of the Testimony, and hang the veil before the Ark. And you shall bring in the table, and set in order the things upon it; and you shall bring in the candlestick, and light its lamps. And you shall set the altar of gold for incense before the Ark of the Testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. And you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting…

Thus did Moshe, according to all that the L-rd commanded him, so he did… Then a cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of G-d filled the tabernacle. And Moshe was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud rested on it, and the Glory of G-d filled the Mishkan.[9] [10]

These passages tell us that through the precise alignment of details, something infinitely greater than the parts can be revealed.

This idea is reflected in the path of mitzvot (commandments) as a whole. Many spiritual seekers are often frustrated and baffled by the Torah’s unending concern with the minutia of religious observance. Yet here, too, the Torah is telling us that through the careful arrangement of the details of life, something much greater – a revelation of Divinity on a personal level – can take place. R. Adin Steinsaltz sums this up as follows:

The system of the mitzvot constitutes the design for a coherent harmony, its separate components being like the instruments of an orchestra. So vast is the harmony to be created by this orchestra that it includes the whole world and promises the perfecting of the world. Seeing the mitzvot in this light, one may understand on the one hand, the need for so great a number of details and, on the other, the denial of any exclusive emphasis on any one detail or aspect of life. The mitzvot as a system include all of life, from the time one opens one’s eyes in the morning until one goes to sleep, from the day of birth to the last breath.[11]

The Midrash above compares the Mishkan to the work of creation. I believe that this parallelism can be applied in both directions. Just as the Mishkan became a dwelling for G-d’s Presence through proper attention to its myriad details, so the creation itself can be redeemed and transformed into a setting for revelation through the proper care and orchestration of all its elements.

Furthermore, there is a deep ecological way of thinking inherent in these passages. Today, even individuals with little environmental awareness realize the life-threatening changes that are occurring on a global level; yet few of us, as individuals, feel we are in a position to affect the wide scale changes needed to avoid such catastrophes.[12] We are left to making donations to “green” organizations and supporting the appropriate politicians. What else can we do?

About twenty years ago, a small book was published that quickly became a national bestseller. “50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth.”[13] Subsequently, numerous similar books were written.[14] All of them bear the same message – that our smallest actions can have universal repercussions, and that by becoming sensitive to even the smallest details of our lives, we can, as a whole, help rectify the world.

For example, the United States goes through approximately 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.[15] These end up in garbage dumps and will never biodegrade.[16] If just 25% of American homes used 10 less plastic bags a year, the country would save over 2.5 billion bags a year.[17]

There are seven million copy machines in the United States today, producing approximately 400 billion photocopies a year. If each of these machines would print five fewer copies a day, it would save the equivalent of 1.4 million trees and keep more than 26 million cubic feet of paper out of landfills.[18]

In the average home, the toilet accounts for 30-40% of water use. By placing even a small bottle place in the water tank, thousands of gallons can be saved annually.[19] There are countless similar examples.

If we are looking to perfect the world, the place to begin is the Mishkan of our own lives – our homes and workplaces. Early in its inception, the environmental movement coined the term: “Think globally, act locally.” Meaning to say, while our eyes and hearts must always be on the larger picture, the repair of the world begins in locales closest to us, with the smallest details of our lives. This is the preeminent Jewish way of thinking, which recognizes the importance of details in the redemption of the world. And it is a natural consequence of a Torah lifestyle that one learns to think on both of these levels simultaneously.[20]

May Hashem help us see His presence in the details of our lives, as well as in the majesty of the cosmos.

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items:

• Do a Google search on the phrase: “Simple things to save the earth” (or follow this link) . It will direct you to numerous sites that will provide easy ideas that can improve the world. Choose some and start implementing them.

• Share your discoveries with others and encourage them to practice them.

• Try one of the simple actions suggested above, to cut down on water use, paper use and disposable bag consumption.

Rabbi Eliezer Shore received his doctorate from Bar-Ilan University on the subject of Language and Mystical Experience in the Thought of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. He currently teaches at various universities and colleges in Israel, and writes on the topic of Jewish spirituality. When he was younger, Rabbi Shore spent a great deal of time in nature, where he developed an environmental consciousness. He and his family live in Jerusalem.

_________________________________

[1] See Rashi on Exodus 38:21: “In parshat Pikudei, the weight of all the silver, gold and copper gifts to the Mishkan is weighed, and all the utensils for every ritual are counted.”

[2] In-between is a short section detailing the manufacturing of the priestly garments.

[3] As the Mishnah in Hagigah 1:8 states, many laws are like “mountains hanging on a single thread of verses.”

[4] “Nachmanidies” on Exodus 25:1.

[5] Exodus 19:20: “And G-d called Moshe to the top of the mount…”; Leviticus 1:. “And G-d called to Moshe, and spoke to him from out of the tent of meeting…”

[6] Bamidbar Rabbah 12:13.

[7] Isaiah 11:9.

[8] Even in the future, the Third Temple will still serve as a focus of revelation; however, its light will spread throughout the world.

[9] Exodus 40:1-7, 16, 33-38.

[10] Compare this to remarkably similar passages in I Kings 7:48-51, 8:6, 10-11.

[11] Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petaled Rose (Northvale, NJ, Aronson 1992).

[12] I have heard from people who work in environmental organizations that many activists, after leaving college and actually entering the field, become so overwhelmed by the extent of the destruction and the job of repair they now face that they fall into deep depression for a while.

[13] Earthworks Press, 1989.

[14] Such as Marjorie Lamb's 2 Minutes a Day for a Greener Planet: Quick and Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth (Toronto, Harper & Collins, 1990), The Green Group's 101 Ways To Save Money And Save Our Planet, (Paper Chase Press, 1992), Michael Viner's 365 Ways for You and Your Children to Save the Earth One Day at a Time (New York: Warner Books, 1991); Diane MacEachern's Save Our Planet: 750 Ways You Can Help Clean Up the Earth (New York: Dell, 1990); Bernadette Vallely's 1,001 Ways to Save the Planet (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990); Jeremy Rifkin, et. al.'s., The Green Lifestyle Handbook: 1001 Ways You Can Heal the Earth (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1990), plus Earthworks own sequels: The Recycler's Handbook: Simple Things You Can Do (1990), 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do to Save the Earth (1990), 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth(1990), 15 Simple Things Californians Can Do to Recycle (1991), 50 Simple Things Your Business Can Do To Save The Earth (1991), The Next Step: 50 More Things You Can Do To Save the Earth (1991),25 Simple Energy Things You Can Do to Save the Earth (1991), 50 Simple Things You Can do to Save Your Life (1991), The Student Environmental Action Guide: 25 Simple Things We Can Do (1991), 25 Simple Energy Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth (1992), 50 Cosas Que Usted Puede Hacer Para Salvar la Tierra(1992), and 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Recycle (1994).

[15] Reported by ‘reusable bags’, citing the Wall Street Journal.

[16] Paper bags don't really decompose either in landfills, so people can choose to either make the effort to recycle their plastic or paper bags, or to purchase canvas bags to use for shopping, etc.

[17] See 50 Simple Things, p. 24. Other countries, such as Ireland, have recently managed to reduce their plastic bag use by 90% by charging a tax for every bag distributed.

[18] From 50 Simple Things Your Business Can Do to Save the Earth (Earthworks Group) p. 16-17

[19] See 50 Simple Things, p. 48-49: “If the average toilet is flushed about 8 times a day, that means a saving of 8-16 gallons every day… 56-112 gallons a week… 2,900-5800 gallons a years. If only 10,000 people were to install the simplest displacement device, that would equal a savings of 29-58 millions gallons a year!”

[20] Jewish ecologists often like to point to the words of Maimonides as suggesting this approach (Mishnah Torah, Laws of Repentance 3:4): “Every individual must think of himself and of the world as a whole as if their merits and demerits were balanced. By committing one sin, he pushes himself and the entire world to the side of demerit, thereby destroying himself; whereas by doing one mitzvah, he pushes himself and the entire world to the side of merit, and brings upon him deliverance.”

This content originated at http://canfeinesharim.org/community/parshas.php?page=14962.

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Rabbi Sears requests that adaptations of his article are sent to him at meoreiohr@gmail.com.

If you chance upon a bird’s nest along the way in any tree or on the ground, whether it contains young birds or eggs, and the mother is sitting upon the young birds or upon the eggs; you shall not take the mother bird together with her children. You shall surely send away (shalei'ach tishlach) the mother, and only then may you take the young for yourself; that it may go well for you, and you may prolong your days [1]

Our Sages discern within this Torah law several surprising and far-reaching implications. Concerning the phrase “shalei’ach tishlach” (“you shall surely send away”), the Midrash [2] states:

Why does the verse use a double expression? Because one who fulfills the “sending forth” of this precept will be granted the privilege of “sending forth” a slave to freedom. As it is written, “And when you send him forth free . . .” [3]Fulfilling the precept of sending forth the mother bird also hastens the advent of the Mashiach (Messiah). . . Rabbi Tanchuma said: Fulfilling this precept hastens the arrival of Elijah the Prophet, whose coming is associated with the expression “to send forth.” As it states, “Behold, I shall send forth to you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of G-d. . .” [4] [5] and he shall console you as it says, “He will return the hearts of the parents towards the children." [6]

At first glance, these connections may seem arbitrary. What does the act of sending away a mother bird before taking the nestlings have to do with freeing slaves, or the coming of Elijah the Prophet and the Mashiach? The Midrash uses the verb “tishlach” (“to send away”) as the element that connects the issues it mentions. But this semantic link between the three verses only begs the question: what do these issues actually have in common?

JUDAISM AND ANIMALS

A possible answer may be found by considering Jewish teachings on compassion to animals. While the Torah clearly places humanity above the animal kingdom, it mandates respect for all creatures, forbids causing animals unnecessary suffering (referred to in the Torah as tzaar baalei chayim), and idealizes the state of peace and harmony among all living things that will prevail during the Messianic era. The term nefesh chayah (living soul) is applied to animals as well as humans. [7] The Kabbalists, too, stress the importance of compassion and respect for animals, since all things emanate from the Divine Wisdom and serve G-d’s Will. [8] Perhaps the cornerstone of the Jewish attitude toward animals is the Psalmist's declaration: “His compassion is upon all of His works."[9] Because the Creator shows compassion to all creatures, so should we. [10]

THE TORAH IDEAL

The Jewish paradigm of a perfect world is the Garden of Eden, in which harmony and peace existed between all creatures. The curse of death had not been visited upon the world, and both humans and animals were vegetarian, both by instinct and Divine mandate. (In fact, even after the banishment from Eden humans were not permitted to eat meat until after the great flood during the generation of Noah.) This Eden-like state of harmony and peace will be restored in the Messianic era. As the prophet Isaiah states, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb . . . the lion shall eat straw like the ox …" [11]

According to Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, first Chief Rabbi of pre-state Israel, all creatures will then return to their original vegetarian diet, for the tikkun (spiritual rectification) accomplished by meat-eating will have been fully accomplished. [12]

Of course, the central feature of the Messianic era is freedom from political subjugation. The entire Jewish people will return to the land of Israel, where at last they will dwell in peace. All conflict between nations will cease. [13] Beyond this, human nature itself will be transformed, as it is written, “A new heart I shall give you, and a new spirit I shall put within you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I shall give you a heart of flesh. " [14] The prophets envisioned a future world in which compassion, not selfishness and strife, will proliferate. “They shall neither hurt nor destroy upon all My holy mountain, for the knowledge of G-d shall fill the earth as the water covers the seas." [15]

A MIDRASH THAT LEADS TO MA'ASEH

Given this, we can see a profound connection between the mitzvah of sending forth the mother bird (shilu'ach ha-ken), the freeing of a slave, and the advent of the Mashiach. According to another Midrash [16] , this precept is an act of compassion.

Rabbi Yudan ben Pazi stated: Why is an infant circumcised after eight days? The Holy One, blessed be He, extended mercy to him by waiting until he became strong enough. And just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has mercy on human beings, so does He have mercy on animals; as it is written, “A bullock, a lamb, or a kid goat, when it is born, it shall be seven days under its mother, but from the eighth day and thenceforth it may be accepted as an offering to G-d." [17] Not only this – but the Holy One, blessed be He, declared, “[A mother cow] and her young you shall not slaughter on the same day." [18] And just as the Holy One, blessed be He, has mercy upon beasts, so does He have mercy upon birds, as it is written, “When you encounter a bird’s nest…" [19]

Certainly the Torah wishes to ennoble us through its teachings. “The midrash (study) is not the main thing, but the ma'aseh (deed).” (Avot 1:17) The practical implication of the precept of sending away the mother bird is clear: acts of compassion for other human beings (such as freeing a slave) and ultimately world peace and enlightenment are brought about by an act of compassion for animals.[20]

Why should this be so? Perhaps because acts that bespeak an enlightened spirit are inherently Messianic. The example here is of sending away the mother bird; but this is implicitly true of all acts of compassion. A person can be compassionate only by putting aside self-concern and considering the total situation of which he or she is a part. This holistic awareness will be fully attained during the Messianic era. The spirit that moves us to behave in a sensitive and caring manner is an extension of that revolution in human consciousness. Thus, the Midrash enjoins us to bring the Mashiach by becoming attuned to this spirit and allowing it to inspire our actions. Then, to paraphrase the words of our Sages, the Merciful One will surely have mercy on those who are merciful. [21]

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Avoid products that entail avoidable tza'ar ba'alei chaim (cruelty to animals), such as foie gras (liver produced by force feeding birds) and white veal.

• Do not buy from shechitahs (kosher animal slaughterers) that use shackling and hoisting, or other restraint systems that increase the suffering of animals. (Many shechitahs in the US and Canada use the ASPCA endorsed system by which the animal is slaughtered while standing upright. This system was approved by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and other authorities of Jewish law. Nevertheless, certain shechitahs still use shacking and hoisting equipment or restraint systems inferior to the upright systems from a humane point of view.)

• Try to use products from animals that are raised more humanely, such as free-range eggs and free range kosher poultry.

• Support efforts to establish higher animal welfare standards in society at large, both in animal agriculture and animal slaughter.

• Feed the birds!

Rabbi Dovid Sears is the author of The Vision of Eden: Animal Welfare and Vegetarianism in Jewish Law and Mysticism (Orot 2003) among other Judaica works. A longstanding advocate of Orthodox Jewish environmentalism, he has contributed several essays to this newsletter, as well as "Cosmic Consciousness, Man and the Worm" in Canfei Nesharim's Compendium of Sources in Halacha and the Environment (2005).

1

Deut. 22:6-7. (All translations are the authors.)

2

Devarim Rabbah 6:7.

3

Deut. 15:12.

4

“The great and awesome day of G-d” mentioned here is a reference to the coming of Mashiach, teaching us that his arrival is closely associated with and will be preceded by the coming of Elijah the Prophet.

5

Malachi 3:23.

6

Ibid.

7

Gen. 1:21, 1:24.

8

Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah (Palm Tree of Deborah), chap. 2; Baal Shem Tov, Tzava'at HaRiVaSH, sec. 12.

9

Psalms 145:9.

10

Talmud Bavli, Sota 14a.

11

Isaiah 11:6-7.

12

Olat Re’iyah 2: 292; cf. Rabbi Chaim Vital, Sha’ar ha-Mitzvot, Eikev, et al.

13

Mishneh Torah, Hil. Malakhim, chap. 11-12.

14

Ezekiel 36:26.

15

Isaiah 11:9.

16

Devarim Rabbah 6:1.

17

Lev. 22:27.

18

Lev. 22:28.

19

Deut. 22:6.

20

The Mishnah states that a prayer leader who invokes this law as an expression of Divine mercy should be silenced (TB Berakhot 5:3). (The prayer leader is called the shali’ach tzibbur –note the recurrence of the term “shaliach,” from the same root as 'to send' used in 'send away the mother') One of the reasons the Talmud offers for this censure is that such a prayer creates kinah (jealousy) among God’s creatures. (The other viewpoint is that the Torah’s laws are decrees which transcend human understanding, and thus cannot be reduced to compassion alone.) The Jerusalem Talmud cites Rabbi Yosi ben Zevida as the source of the first opinion given by the Babylonian Talmud, and explains the term kinah in this context to mean “limitation” (kitzvah). That is, by mentioning only the constituents of creation down to the bird’s nest, but no lower on the natural hierarchy, the prayer leader limits God’s compassion (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 40a). Rabbi Yudan ben Pazi’s words in the Midrash above are consistent with Rabbi Yosi ben Zeviba’s view.

21

Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 151b.

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The Torah reaches the end of its yearly study cycle with V’zot Habracha, literally “and this is the blessing.” In V’zot Habracha, Moses (Moshe), acting in a manner much like his ancestor Jacob who blessed his sons moments before his passing, stands before the nation of Israel, a confederacy of tribes bound by the Torah, to bestow his final blessing upon the people moments before his death.

A close look at one component of Moshe’s blessing provides us with an overall picture of the nature of his blessing, as well as a deep insight into the essence of environmental Torah. “And of Zebulan he said: Rejoice Zebulun in your departure and Isaachar in your tents."[1] Rashi (France, 1040-1105), the preeminent commentator on the Torah, tells us that the members of the tribe of Zebulan were merchants earning their livelihood on the Mediterranean Sea. With the money they earned they supported themselves and in addition, the tribe of Isaachar, whose task was to engage in constant Torah study. As a result of Isaachar’s devotion to Torah learning, the tribe produced many members of the supreme legal body in ancient Israel, the Sanhedrin. [2] Among the many responsibilities the Sanhedrin held was the calculation of the calendar cycle that determined the dates of the major Jewish festivals, which in turn had awesome implications for all of the tribes of Israel, as well as for the world.

Each of the festivals, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, brought a gathering of all the tribes at the Temple in Jerusalem. These triannual meetings nurtured the formation of a spiritual center and strengthened our national consciousness. The gatherings at the Temple served as a focal point for the mission of the Jewish people, namely the bringing of a time where we will see, as the prophet Isaiah promises, the nations “beat their swords into plowshares."[3] This metaphor describes the ultimate vision of the Jewish people, which is no less than a perfecting of the world, a perfection known in Judaism asShabbat (Sabbath)„Ÿ“…the day that will entirely be Shabbat and rest for a life of eternity."[4] We experience a microcosm of this with the celebration of each festival, as well as each week when we celebrate Shabbat.

Looking once again at the relationship between Zebulan and Isaachar, it can be understood in environmental terms as an example of a bio-region. A bio-region is an association of residents of a definable natural or socially constructed region, be it a road, water body, landform, language, or common interest. [5] Within the bio-region are several different social spheres: the self, the home, the community, the village/town/city. Moving beyond the bio-region it can be argued that a state is an aggregate of bio-regions, as is the world. As we have seen throughout this weekly Torah portion project, the Torah forbids wanton destruction, limits the extent and the way in which we use the earth’s resources, encourages social justice and caring for the world that G-d has given us, and demands of us a constant awareness of our actions in this world and the sanctity that a life based on G-d-consciousness can provide. The beauty of the example of the tribes of Zebulun and Isaachar is that by each tribe fulfilling its specific role, caring for its own “bio-region” as it were, they affected powerful transformation for the nation, and laid the groundwork for the perfecting of the entire world.

Certainly, the ecological crisis facing the world today is incredibly serious and of the utmost importance, but perhaps the most startling realization is that the ecological crisis is in actuality the manifestation of a deeper, more profound crisis: the deterioration of social relationships in the context of taking responsibility for, caring for, and giving to one another. This deterioration affects every fiber of the universe.

The “social message” offered by the relationship of Zebulun and Isaachar is the essence of environmental Torah. If we each fulfill our specific role in the world, each of us caring for ourselves and for the other, care for the earth will follow as a natural consequence. [6] This was the task of our forbearers, and this task still remains before us. The utopian vision of the future, a world of perfection that is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and is embodied by the Jewish Shabbat, is a gift to the entire world – which can be made real by our own actions, taking care of each other, in the present.

Just as in the natural world the integrity of an ecosystem relies upon the health and vitality of each of its components, the same is true for the Jewish people, and for humanity as a whole. We must each do our part to ensure that our social relationships are strong, healthy, and well maintained. In so doing, we will become a more whole people and a more whole world. As we learn in Pirkei Avot(Ethics of the Fathers), “…It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task. Yet, you are not free to desist from it…"[7]

In this light, we add another facet of understanding to the words of Isaiah, “…nations shall walk by your light, Kings by your shining radiance."[8] Our responsibility as humans and as Jews demands that we assume the mantle of leadership of caring for one another. Only in this manner can we ensure the viability of our care for the earth. Moshe’s blessing teaches us that only by fulfilling our mission as a Jewish people – taking on the responsibility of fully caring for one another as exemplified by Zebulan and Isaachar – only then can we be caretakers of the earth, and a light unto the nations. And that is the greatest blessing we can work and hope for.

________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Share the teachings of this series with your family, friends, teachers and students „Ÿ taking the suggested actions to heart.

• Deepen your understanding of yourself and your understanding of the Torah’s teachings on relationships.

• Increase acts of kindness: Listen to others attentively. Volunteer in a soup kitchen. Assist the elderly.

• Connect to your local community center and/or synagogue.

Baruch Rock holds a BA in History from New York University and a MA in Desert Studies from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He is active in teaching subjects such as sustainable development and permaculture. Baruch is currently studying for Rabbinical ordination at Yeshivat Torat Yosef in Gush Etzion, Israel where he lives with his wife and two sons. Baruch is in the process of organizing his own not-for-profit, M’Tzur Dvash: Honey from the Rock Projects. For more information, to lend a hand, or to comment on the piece, please email hft.rock@gmail.com

1

Deut. 33:18

2

See Nehama Leibowitz Studies in Devarim: Ve-zot Ha-Berakhah; Essay # 5; The Blessings of Issachar and Zebulun; for a nice array of views on this point.

3

Isaiah 2:4

4

Mishna Tamid 7:4

5

See Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture: Teacher’s Note by Rosemary Morrow

6

For a beautiful, simply written treatment of this topic, see David Watkins’ Urban Permaculture.

7

Pirkei Avot 2:21

8

Isaiah 60:3

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One of the best-recognized descriptions of the land of Israel is “a land flowing with milk and honey."[1] This description immediately conjures up a picture of a rich, fertile and desirable land, but what do the words actually mean, and what, if any environmental implications are alluded to in this expression?

We start with the interpretation of the Talmud, which interprets the words “zavat chalav u’dvash,” (flowing with milk and honey) as “milk flows from the goats' [udders], and honey flows from the dates and the figs."[2] For a pastoral people, this indeed must have been an inviting description of the land. The goats were a source of milk as well as meat, and were very prolific. In Biblical times, goats were a reflection of wealth.

How surprising then that in the land of milk and honey the Jewish Sages later instituted a ban on the raising of small livestock (goats and sheep) in the land of Israel – at least in the settled areas (Mishna Baba Kama 7:7).[3]

Rashi, in his commentary on the Mishna (Baba Kama 7:7), explains that the reason for the ban against raising sheep and goats in the land of Israel was due to the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz, literally settling the Land, and by extension living there in such a way that will sustain Jewish existence on the Land for an unlimited time. Although very profitable for the owner, sheep and goats are especially destructive to fields and gardens as well as other green areas. [4]

Clearly, in their considerations for making the ban on raising sheep and goats in the land of Israel, the Sages were faced with a dilemma. On one hand they needed to consider the economic benefits to those that raised sheep and goats; on the other hand they needed to consider the environmental costs, and the injury to the farmers whose crops were being damaged by them. The Sages, in prohibiting the raising of these small livestock, chose what today might be called the ‘sustainable’ path. They ruled against inappropriate development that yields a quick profit for some but damages others, and causes extensive long-term ecological damage. They determined that this was clearly not the kind of responsible development demanded by the concept of yishuv ha’aretz.

Unfortunately, one does not need to look very far today to find examples of irresponsible development in the land of Israel. One glaring example is the choice to develop an extensive automobile-based transportation system rather than a safer and more sustainable public transportation system. As a result, many of Israel's most populated areas suffer from terrible air pollution. Automobiles also require a lot of valuable land for roads as well as for parking, gas stations, repair shops, etc. For Israel, a small and heavily populated country, this means tangibly less land for housing, schools, parks or other purposes that large numbers of people benefit from.

Weighing the harm caused by automobiles, including long-term ecological damage, against the short-term benefits to those who benefit, it would appear that an automobile-based transportation system does not fit well with yishuvha'aretz. [5] Interestingly, RabbiYaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, one of the Torah leaders of the previous generation, was quoted as saying that had there been a Sanhedrin (Religious High Court) in his day, they may well have forbidden the use of private automobiles in Israel. [6]

There are still other interpretations of the expression “flowing with milk and honey” that merit our consideration. In our parsha, the mention of chalav u’dvash is in a negative context: For when I shall have brought them into the land of which I swore to their fathers, one flowing with chalav u’dvash; and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat; then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and provoke me and break my covenant. [7] From this verse we clearly see how the same material abundance which is such a blessing can also lead to forgetting the Creator who provided it.

This leads to the examination of one additional interpretation by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch [8] in his commentary on the expression a “land flowing with milk and honey."[9] Instead of focusing on the meaning of milk and honey, Rabbi Hirsch focuses on the meaning of the word for flowing(zavat), and writes:

It is very characteristic that the abundance of produce by “zov” only occurs in reference to Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel)… In Tanach, the word zov never means overflowing. It occurs mainly to describe a human pathological condition, and otherwise as a flowing forth caused by miraculous power…“Eretz zavas…” does not seem to describe a land that develops the abundance in accordance with its natural fertility, but a land that only does this under special conditions. Palestine is a hard land… which can only blossom and flourish “under the continuous special care of G-d for it, from one end of the year to the other.” When it gets water, it blossoms luxuriously. But it only gets the water from above. It is a land that makes it necessary for its inhabitants to be good.

Rabbi Hirsch's interpretation gives us a very different picture. The land of Israel flows unnaturally with milk and honey, dependent on the rainfall, which comes according to our actions. When our actions are not proper, for example, if we allow ourselves to be corrupted by the wealth and excess we accumulate (as brought above in Deut. 31:20), then the land will no longer tolerate us.

Clearly, there are many ways to interpret “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Each of the interpretations presented here teaches something about how the Creator wants us to live sustainably in His land and on His earth. May we continue to seek out these messages in the Torah and find ways to apply them in our daily lives and in our relationship to the world around us.

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Examine our actions, and try to act more sustainably. For example, try to minimize our use of unsustainable modes of transportation, such as automobiles, and switch to walking, bicycling, and using public transportation as much as possible.

• Try to be more conscious of the connection between our moral-ethical behavior and the quality of our environment. This is particularly true for those of us living in Eretz Yisrael, where the Torah teaches that the much-needed rainfall is influenced by the behavior of the inhabitants of the land.

Dr Akiva Wolff has a PhD from Leiden University, with a thesis examining the prohibition of bal tashchit as an approach to natural resource management. He also has a Masters degree in energy and environmental studies from Boston University and work experience in the environmental field – with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (as it was
then called) and later with the New York City Recycling Office. He lives with his wife and children in Jerusalem, and since 1999 has worked at the Center for Judaism and the environment at the Jerusalem College of Technology – Machon Lev; which he initiated and continued to run in its more recent manifestation, under the Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility.

1

This expression appears 16 times in the Torah and an additional 15 times in the other Scriptures. In our Torah portion it appears in Deuteronomy 31:20.

2

Ketubot 111b, s.v. zavat chalav u’dvash (third line from the bottom).

3

It is interesting to note that there is a disagreement over whether the ban on the raising of sheep and goats in the settled parts of the land of Israel still stands. Amongst those who take the position that the ban is still in effect are the late Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook – first Chief Rabbi of Israel (1906); Rabbi S. Wosner (Shut Shevet Levi chapter 4, siman 227); “Kaftur v’Perach” chapter 10; and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Those ruling that the ban is no longer in affect include the Shulchan Aruch and the late Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, the former rabbi of Jerusalem (from Nachum Rakover, Ichut HaSviva, Jerusalem, 1993).

4

See, for example, Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Bava Batra p. 36a and Rashi there about goats devouring other people's barley.

5

Under the reasonable assumption that a proper public transportation system, as an alternative to the automobile-based transportation system being used, will benefit more people, at a lower total cost, with less pollution and less fatalities and injuries.

6

See Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899-1985), Pininei Rabbeinu HaKahillat Yaakov, p. 106.

7

Deut. 31:20. (Translation by the author.)

8

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) was the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism.

9

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, The Pentateuch – Translation and Commentary, (Judaica Press, Gateshead, 1982). In this quote, Rabbi Hirsch is commenting specifically on the verse Exodus 3:8.

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Our Torah portion begins with the following words:

Behold I set before you today a blessing and a curse; a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your G-d, which I command you this day, and a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your G-d, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord your G-d has brought you to the land to possess it, that you shall put the blessing upon Mount Gerisim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.[1]

While there seems to be no obvious connection in these verses to the quality of the environment, nineteenth century biblical commentator Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch[2] saw a message with deep ecological consequences.

Gerisim and Ebal are two peaks of the Ephraim range of mountains which still show a striking contrast in their appearance. Gerisim to the south of the valley of Shechem presents a smiling green slope rising in fruit-covered terraces to its summit, Ebal on the north side, steep, bare and bleak, some2,900 ft. high, slightly higher than Gerisim. The two mounts lying next to each other form accordingly a most speaking [sic] instructive picture of blessing and curse. They both rise on one and the same soil, both are watered by one and the same fall of rain and dew, the same air breathes over both of them, the same pollen wafts over both of them and yet Ebal remains in barren bleakness while Gerisim is clad to its summit in embellishment of vegetation. In the same way, blessing and curse are not conditional on external circumstances but on our own inner receptivity for the one or the other, on our behavior towards that which is to bring blessing.

Rabbi Hirsch describes how, particularly in the land of Israel, the difference between blessing and curse can be plainly evident in the physical appearance of an environment. In other words, there is a tangible relationship between the spiritual state of the land and its inhabitants and in the physical appearance and quality of the environment. This relationship, apparently, works both ways. The appearance of the land reflects its spiritual state, and we are required to ensure that areas of the land with higher levels of holiness be kept in appropriately high environmental states. Along these lines, Rabbi Yehuda Shaviv of Israel’s Yeshivat Har Etzion writes:

In the land of Israel, the more holy the place, the greater the noi (adornment). And it appears that despite the noi of other mitzvoth (commandments) , which is an addition to the mitzvah, when it comes to the mitzvah of building the Beit HaMikdash (Temple in Jerusalem), noi is an intrinsic part of the mitzvah…we can conclude that the greater the dwelling of the Shechinah [Divine Presence] in a place, the greater the noi and yofi (beauty) that is required. Therefore, there is a requirement for noi ha'ihr and tiferet (splendor) of Eretz Yisrael; more so the requirement for noi of the Levitical cities; much more the requirement for noi of Jerusalem; and greater than all, the noi and yofi of the Beit HaMikdash and its tiferet. [3]

As Shaviv writes, the land of Israel, due to its holiness, must be kept in a state of beauty and adornment. The holy city of Jerusalem (which is alluded to no less than 16 times in this week's Torah portion as "the place that G-d will choose") has a higher status vis à vis beauty and adornment than other parts of the land of Israel. This is reflected in the Talmud in the following passage:

[In Jerusalem] don’t make a garbage dump, and don’t make lime furnaces… because of the smoke (Rashi explains that the smoke would blacken the walls, which would disgrace the city), and don’t make gardens and orchards because of the foul odors (Rashi explains noxious weeds would grow there and be thrown out, and further, gardens are usually manured, and this would cause a bad smell.)[4]

As the Talmud indicates, maintaining the physical appearance and environmental quality of Jerusalem, at the bare minimum, requires the prevention of accumulated garbage, smoke and foul odors. It would appear that any environmental nuisance, such as air pollution or garbage on the sidewalks, would be a violation of Jerusalem's sanctity. The Jewish Sages, even in more recent times, were sensitive to this. For example, the Alter of Slobodka, one of the spiritual giants of a previous generation, would pick up garbage from the streets of Jerusalem, even though this would normally seem to be far below his dignity. [5] With this in mind, it is hard to imagine how we can tolerate the level of pollution so common today in Jerusalem.

Indeed, the holy land of Israel, and all the more so, the holy city of Jerusalem are designated as a special dwelling place for the Shechinah, the Divine Presence, and the Shechinah dwells in places of beauty and harmony. This is reflected in the amazing blessing that one says upon seeing something of exceptional beauty:

One who sees beautiful creations and good trees says the blessing: "That's how it is for Him in His world.” [6]

Obviously this is an important teaching for anyone living in Israel, and especially those living in Jerusalem. But G-d’s presence is everywhere, in greater and lesser levels of concealment. Wherever we are we can work to limit pollution and litter, and to do so with a consciousness that it is G-d’s world that we are caring for. And if we are far from Jerusalem, when we work to clean up the place where we do live, we can pray that Jerusalem will return to her splendor and show externally the incredible beauty and holiness inherent in our Holy City.

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Become more aware of the connection between our spiritual state and the quality of our environment. Try to utilize the environmental problems around us as a spur for working on and trying to improve our spiritual condition through more Torah learning, tzeddakah and acts of lovingkindness.

• When visiting Eretz Yisrael and Jerusalem, try to increase your sensitivity to the quality of the environment and do what you can to improve it. You can also sponsor a “clean-up a neighborhood of Jerusalem” day through Nikayon Zion .

• Organize or participate in a “pick-up-the-garbage” day in your own neighborhood.

Dr Akiva Wolff has a PhD from Leiden University, with a thesis examining the prohibition of bal tashchit as an approach to natural resource management. He also has a Masters degree in energy and environmental studies from Boston University and work experience in the environmental field – with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (as it was
then called) and later with the New York City Recycling Office. He lives with his wife and children in Jerusalem, and since 1999 has worked at the Center for Judaism and the environment at the Jerusalem College of Technology – Machon Lev; which he initiated and continued to run in its more recent manifestation, under the Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility.

1

Deut. 11:26-29. (Translation by the author.)

2

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, The Pentateuch – Translation and Commentary, (Judaica Press, Gateshead, 1982). Rabbi Hirsch (1808-1888) was the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Rabbi Hirsch, who lived in Germany in the 19^thcentury and never traveled to the land of Israel, apparently based his words on descriptions of the Holy land that were available in his time.

3

Hanoi v’haNetzach by Rabbi Yehuda Shaviv in Tehumim 12, 1991, pp 472-479 (translation by the Author).

4

Baba Kama 82b.

5

Heard from Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz.

6

Brachot 58b, Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 225:10.

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In the portion of Balak, the prophet Bilaam, hired by King Balak of Moab, sets out to curse the children of Israel, only to find himself proclaiming four blessings instead. Each blessing builds on the one before it, becoming more sophisticated and exalted. Bilaam begins with introducing his theme and mission in the first, replies to Balak’s anger at not cursing the people as he promised in the second, and by the third launches into a praise song of Israel that is considered “neither vindication nor denunciation but pure prophecy."[1]Here the language itself becomes declamatory and filled with more symbolism; specifically more imagery taken from the natural world. In the first prophecy, only hills and rocks are mentioned, in the second, an ox and a lion, but in the third, both plants and animals are used to great effect. Let us examine one of the verses here.

The third blessing begins with Bilaam’s most famous statement: “How goodly are your tents O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel".[2] The verse following this is less well known: “Like the winding brooks, like gardens by the river’s side, like aloes which the L-rd has planted, and cedar trees beside the waters.” At first glance, this is a further description of the physical camp of Israel, and we can see it in our mind’s eye, stretching into the distance in long rows like streams or tents standing on the flat ground like tall cedars jutting into the sky.

However, if we look closer at the imagery in the verse, it does not seem to follow any of the patterns used in Biblical poetry – for example A-B-A-C (staircase parallelism) or A-B-B-A (chiastic structure) – or even the style of the previous verse, where the first part of the verse is parallel in theme or figurative language to the second. Here we have one body of water followed by a list of three types of flora, one a desert plant and two of which ‘happen’ to be next to water. None of the usual structure patterns as mentioned above seem to fit.

Various commentators offer different explanations. Ibn Ezra sees trees implied in the first image of the river, as trees usually do grow next to winding rivers or brooks [3]. The Da’at Mikra commentary [4] takes this one stage further: the word ‘nahal’ most often refers to a riverbed – as opposed to an actual flowing river – usually within an arid or desert ecosystem. Such riverbeds are sandy and dry, there is no surface water for most of the year, but they can be seen from afar, since greenery and even large trees grow next to them, marking them clearly within the vast expanse of arid land. In southern Africa it is these slivers of green that elephants head for in the dry season, and here they dig down into the desiccated sand with their front legs until brackish water oozes out from the depths and they can drink. [5]

If we look then at the general ecosystems in which these plants or rivers are found, rather than the plants themselves, we find the verse in fact has an A-B-A-B structure:

A – ‘nahal’ – riverbed in a desert environment

B – ‘nahar’ – greenery next to a broad river

A – ‘ahalim’ – aloes (plants that usually live in semi-arid or arid areas)

B – ‘arazim alei mayim’ – cedars that stand next to water (tall trees that require great amounts of water to grow)

So this verse contains a repeated image of two kinds of biome or ecozone: desert with aloes and a river that flows only rarely, and a more temperate zone with a perennial river and cedar trees. This arrangement follows a typical stylistic device in Biblical poetry which, in Bilaam’s time, the people of Israel would have picked up almost instinctively. They knew the desert environment intimately, as well as the power of the Nile River to create ‘gardens’ on its banks. Later generations lived in Israel where both biomes were well-represented. But for us today, it’s not so easy.

In Bilaam’s prophecies, as with most others throughout the Bible, nature is used constantly in metaphor and symbolism. Its audience would understand it, needing no help to pick up the ideas the prophet was proclaiming. The people lived a life which was so bound up in nature, with such a strong connection to their natural environment, that the necessary connections might even have been made subconsciously. Nature’s beauty and teachings would have permeated their beings.

Today, we need to look beyond the specific meaning of the verse to learn from the use of nature imagery in the Bible in general: to find out the extent to which nature is part of our consciousness, of our beings. The answer for many of us is: not much.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the majority of humans lived an agrarian lifestyle, dependent upon, or close to the land. Even in 16th century urban London, Shakespeare’s nature imagery would have been understood by his audience. But, in the 21st century, with half the world's population living in cities, it seems that we need botanists or ecologists to help us understand our Bible! [6] We need to consider our exposure to nature: When last did I actually see a river or hear the rustle of trees on its banks? Walk on grass and smell a wild growing flower? Our language and metaphors reflect the reality we experience, consisting of the whirr of machinery and hum of computers, not the animals and plants that live with us on Earth. “Little we see in nature that is ours” – Wordsworth saw this separation already in the 19th century; how much more so today.

But the Torah is relevant for all time and every place, and thus the nature imagery in it becomes a cry to us to reconnect with the world in which G-d placed us. On both a poetic and philosophical level, the Torah teaches us to appreciate nature – and to react with praise of its Creator. G-d did not create such a spectacular world merely to provide food and industry – but also to bring us beauty. If one truly sees all Nature in its complexity, beauty and harmony, one’s reaction should be the same spontaneous outburst of the Psalmist: “How diverse are Your works, Oh L-rd! You make them all with wisdom, the world is full of Your possessions."[7]

_________________________________

Suggested Action Items

• Take a walk in a park, or instead of taking time out of your routine, take the scenic route home once a week – past a pretty garden or tall, venerable tree.

• Visit a National Park or Reserve – even today most towns have a nature reserve within 2 or 3 hours’ drive.

• If you have a small patch of land, plant vegetables or herbs; to eat something that you have watched grow from a seed reconnects you to the land (this is especially amazing to do with children).

• Enjoy the rain, remembering that while you may not grow from it, the flowers and grasses will.

• Learn the blessings to say after thunder and lightning, and those to say on all natural phenomena (p. 228 in Artscroll Siddur); by remembering to thank God, you are forced to stop and appreciate nature and the One Who created it.

Ilana Stein has a BA in English, a degree in Nature Conservation and is a registered Field Guide and passionate birdwatcher. She works as a writer for the ecotourism company and conservation organisation Wilderness Safaris and lectures in Tanach at the Emunah Women's Beit Midrash in
Johannesburg, South Africa. She explores the wild places of southern Africa whenever she can.

1

Nechama Leibowitz,(Israel, 20th cent.) Studies in Bamidbar, p.292

2

Numbers/Bamidbar 24:5 Trans. The Jerusalem Bible. Koren Publishers Jerusalem LTD, Israel 1992. I have replaced ‘thy’ and ‘thou’ with ‘you’ and ‘your’ for clarity.

3

Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra (1092 or 1093–1167), was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages.

4

Ad loc. Da’at Mikra, Y.Z. Moslowitz, Mossad Harav Kook

5

Wild Ways, Field Guide to the Behaviour of Southern African mammals by Apps, Peter, Southern Book Publishers, 1992, South Africa

6

According to the United Nations, DESA, Population Division World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision, “In 2005, there were 3.2 billion urban residents in the world, nearly four times as many as in 1950. They represented 49 per cent of the global population…. With an annual urban growth rate of 1.8 per cent, nearly double that projected for the total population (1 per cent), the world’s urban population is expected to increase from 3.2 billion in 2005 to 4.9 billion in 2030, when 60 per cent of the global population is expected to live in urban areas.”

7

Psalms 104:24 (Trans. The Jerusalem Bible. Koren Publishers Jerusalem LTD, Israel 1992.)

On my first Outward Bound program, I had an experience which I have used as a Mashal to explain many different circumstances. One such circumstance includes the three weeks of mourning and the month of Av.

In the White Mountains, for close to four days, we had been hiking deep into the trail, when we came to a particular campsite that exhibited remarkable foliage growth. Despite no recent signs of deforestation or conflagration, the area was populated by an overabundance of tall spruce, birch and lodge pole pine with very few saplings or smaller growth. As a newcomer to the wild, who struggled through thick underbrush and dense growth to find the previous camp sites, II thought this was somewhat out of the ordinary.

I questioned an instructor about this area's unusual growth, and why there were so few smaller trees here as opposed to other locations. He explained that an unusually tight grouping of upper-level foliage had consistently blocked sufficient sunlight through to the earth preventing the young saplings from gaining adequate nourishment. His comments deeply struck me because of the truthful metaphor I found for much of what we tend to do as parents and educators.

While humans are more inclined to look at ourselves as belonging to the family of Animals, the Torah sees us more akin to the Plant Kingdom. "Tzadik KaTamar Yifrach" – "The Rightous blossom like the stately palm tree;" "Ki HaAdam Eitz HaSadeh" – "For is Man like a tree of the field?" are two often quoted verses that reflect this parallel relationship. There is more implied by the term "Family Tree" than just convention.

As we grow into tall cedars and spread out our many branches to capture the sunlight, we often are guilty of neglecting to allow sufficient light to penetrate to the young one beneath us. This is not a malicious act, it is within our "nature" to take care of ourselves and want to protect our children from harm. But, only if we are willing to remove our protective armor and allow our children to face the potential perils of exposure, will we also grant them the opportunity to live, thrive, and grow.

It may seem odd that the most calamitous month of the Jewish calendar should be called "Av" which means Father. For those who choose to see the "G-d of the Old Testament" as the G-d of wrath and vengeance, they can sadly point to many examples of this sort of fathering. But, as children of Avraham Avinu, of G-d's messenger of Chesed and kindness, we know Him as the A-lmighty who is Compassionate in His ways.

What could be worse from the child's point of view than the removal of the protective wings of a parent? When seen from the perspective of an immature child, it would seem to verge on abandonment. Yet the sophisticated will perceive that this is not an act of abdication of parenthood but a tender acknowledgement that there are lessons which we have demonstrated that we are unable to learn while under the comfort of the parents' home. So too for us, we could not see the gift that we possessed and the A-lmighty deemed that we leave His Palace and face the harsh realities and in doing so, come to a greater awareness of His love and our need for His protection.

G-d is the Master Gardener and from Him we must learn what it means to be a parent. To choke our children of creativity, independence, and growth by overzealously watching their every move, although it may be considered generous to guard them from all pain and harm; this is not what He wants us to do or be.

May it be His will that as we grow during these times of National reflection, that we ponder alternative plans for the "Forestation" of the Jewish people, and that we may witness the sprouting of the times of our redemption as we witness the glory and beauty of the growth of the next generation.

Rabbi Lowenstein learned at Yeshivat Neveh Zion in Telshe Stone, Ner Israel in Baltimore, and under Rabbi Yochanan Zweig at the Talmudic University in Miami Beach. He is currently the Director of Development for the Atlantic Seaboard Region of NCSY and a member of the Canfei Nesharim Rabbinical Advisory Board.

Originally posted in "On Eagles' Wings" August 3rd 2005

The summer sun is upon us and although we may enjoy this season, Av 9 marks the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. The fast on the 9th of Av is a culmination of a period known as the three weeks, beginning with the Fast of Tammuz on the 17th. During these weeks we deprive ourselves of certain pleasures in order to reflect on what caused the destruction of the Temple and the accompanying suffering. As we reflect on these past destructions, this can also be a time to think about current and future destruction of the environment.

Psalms 104:24 elaborates on G-d's creation, "How many are the things You have made, O'Lord; You have made them all with wisdom; the earth is full of your creations. There is the sea, vast and wide, with its creatures beyond number, living things, small and great." Yet, conservation biologists estimate that up to half of existing plant and animal life may be extinct by the twenty-second century.2 Sadly, we only know about threats to approximately 34,000 plant species and 5,200 animal species (there are thousands of species that go extinct before they are even identified). Since the 1600's, the rate of extinction has rapidly increased with human population growth leading to destruction of habitat, commercial exploitation, and damage by nonnative species.3

In Deuteronomy, parshat Ki Tetze, we learn about the commandment of Shiluach Haken. It says "Send away the mother and the children (i.e. the eggs) take for yourself." The Shulchan Aruch4 teaches us that this pasuk (sentence) explains man's responsibility to preserve all living creatures. Since Hashem created all living things, it is forbidden for us to completely destroy them from this world. Furthermore, the Shulchan Aruch states that it is man's responsibility to protect these creatures and that anyone who understands this concept, truly understands Hashem.

Similarly, our fast on the 9th of Av can help teach us this lesson of responsibility, destruction, and conservation. On the Shabbas preceding the 9th of Av we read parsha Devarim in the book of Deuteronomy, "But how can I bear your troubles and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?" (Deuteronomy 1:12). In many congregations, this Pasuk is read to the mournful tune of the Book of Lamentations (Eicha) instead of in the usual trope (melody). Rabbi Yosef Horowitz5 comments on the connection, "Traditionally, this verse is read to the melody of the book of Eicha, to teach us that if a person refuses to assume the responsibility for communal needs and thinks that by doing so he makes things easier for himself, he will in the end find out that matters will be worse for him and he will remain alone and isolated." He further states that a person who chooses not to "get themselves dirty" by involving themselves in the social needs around him, is himself a true cause for mourning, as such a person is missing out on what makes them human.

In Rambam's (Maimonides) commentary on the Mishna in Rosh Hashana 1,3, he states that the Jews in the Second Temple period observed the fast of the 9th of Av. Why would the Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple AFTER it had been rebuilt? Dr. David Hanschke of Bar Ilan University suggests an interesting idea: The destruction of the First Temple ended the notion that the House of Hashem is indestructible; it showed the Jews, and the world, that the Temple could be destroyed. The Jews learned that the responsibility for what happens in this world and the responsibility for their continued existence rests on their shoulders alone. The awareness of the past destruction needs to act as the catalyst for preventing future destruction of all types. It is this awareness that we need to nurture.6

In his commentary on Parshat Noach, Professor Dov Landau (Jewish Literature Department at Bar Ilan University) states that "The importance of human questioning and wondering is so important in Judaism that these are considered characteristics that set human beings apart from other creatures and are the basis for the morality and cultural restraint that human beings impose on their lusts and impulses." Just as we stand in wonder and awe of Hashem every second of every day, we must also stand in awe of the world around us which He has created; and just as we strive every day to glorify and preserve Hashem's name, so too must we strive to glorify and preserve the world around us because the two are interconnected. If "the world loses its power to astonish and amaze us, if the human soul accepts the world without wonderment then the cause for moral development disappears."7 Rav Hirsch explains that morality is what our sages deemed the groundwork for intellectual development and diligent religious observance.8 As our sages state:"it is not the philosophic reasoning that is central, but doing the good deed."

While we reflect on the actions that brought about the Temples' destructions, this is an apropos time to reflect on the actions that are bringing about the destruction of all the land, and the planet earth.

Aviva has done a year of sheirut leumi before getting a combined BS/MS in occupational therapy. She currently resides in Israel and does a tremendous amount of volunteer work for Canfei Nesharim.

References
1. Wilson, E.O. (1992) The Diversity of Life. Massachusets: Harvard University Press, p 424
2. From the New Georgia Encyclopedia online
3. From MSN Encarta Encyclopedia online
4. Taken from the Shulchan Aruch on Parshat Ki Tetzeh in Deuteronomy
5. Quoted in Itturei Torah V 6 pg 19 from Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horowitz (Mechachamei Hamussar)
6. Hanschke, David. (1998). Tisha B'av during the second temple period. A Divinely Given Torah in Our Day and Age. Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press
7. Landau, Dov. (2002). The significance of the flood story; on restoring awe. A Divinely Given Torah in Our Day and Age Volume II. Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press.

Originally posted in "On Eagles' Wings" July 18th 2004

This content originated at Canfei Nesharim.org.

With help from teachings from Rabbi Shlomo Levin and Aviva Shinnar.

The 9th of Av marks the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. Next week we will begin our journey toward Tisha b’Av with a more minor fast – the 17th of Tammuz. This day begins the period known as the Three Weeks. During these weeks we deprive ourselves of certain pleasures in order to reflect on what caused the destruction of the Temple and the accompanying suffering.

I’d like to think a bit with you about the Three Weeks and what they can teach us. By beginning with a minor fast and moving toward deeper levels of mourning, culminating in the fast of Tisha b’Av, I have been wondering if the tradition is trying to teach us about our response to alarms.

The fast of the 17^th of Tammuz commemorates five calamities:

• the first tablets that were broken in the desert,
• the offering of the daily sacrifice suspended in the first Beit HaMikdash,
• the wall of the city breached in the time of the second Beit HaMikdash,
• Apustamus the wicked burned the Torah (during the time of the second Beit HaMikdash), and
• an idol was placed in the sanctuary.

The Book of Our Heritage teaches: “The purpose of such fast days is to turn our hearts toward repentance by recalling our own misdeeds as well as those of our ancestors. By remembering these misdeeds, which we continue to repeat and which bring on similar calamities, we are motivated to return to the proper path of life.” The purpose of these days, even the minor fasts, is to engage in self-examination and repentance.

On the Shabbas preceding the 9th of Av we read parshat Devarim, "But how can I bear your troubles and your burdens and your disputes all by myself?" (Deuteronomy 1:12). Rabbi Yosef Horowitz5 comments on the connection, "Traditionally, this verse is read to the melody of the book of Eicha, to teach us that if a person refuses to assume the responsibility for communal needs and thinks that by doing so he makes things easier for himself, he will in the end find out that matters will be worse for him and he will remain alone and isolated." He further states that a person who chooses not to "get themselves dirty" by involving themselves in the social needs around him, is himself a true cause for mourning, as such a person is missing out on what makes them human.

In Rambam's (Maimonides) commentary on the Mishna in Rosh Hashana 1,3, he states that the Jews in the Second Temple period observed the fast of the 9th of Av. Why would the Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple AFTER it had been rebuilt? Dr. David Hanschke of Bar Ilan University suggests an interesting idea: The destruction of the First Temple ended the notion that the House of Hashem is indestructible; it showed the Jews, and the world, that the Temple could be destroyed. The Jews learned that the responsibility for what happens in this world and the responsibility for their continued existence rests on their shoulders alone. The awareness of the past destruction needs to act as the catalyst for preventing future destruction of all types.

During the Three Weeks, by beginning with a minor fast and minor restrictions and then moving to more intense restrictions and a major day of mourning, I have been wondering if our tradition is intending to shake us from our self-confidence and our entrenched patterns. The message is: “Wake up! Stop doing what you have been doing!”

And I also think that the message is one of hope. There is still time. All is not lost yet. Stop before it is too late. Within that message is a call for us to heed today, which is quite relevant to protecting our precious world.

We are hearing warning calls about the environment today. They are coming with increasing intensity. Our water is polluted. People are dying from air pollution. We are running out of fish in our oceans. The coral is bleaching. You must have heard these warning calls, even if you heard them on the periphery.

Other problems that you certainly have heard about – increased skin cancer, the genocide in Darfur, the security situation in the middle east – have environmental links, even if they were not acknowledged in the stories you heard.

A recent report called the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment looked at ecosystems from the perspective of the services they provide to human beings – clean air, clean water, food. It found that we are depleting our ecosystems at the same time that we are overusing them – leading to a situation that, unless addressed, will cause a significantly less secure and depleted world for our children.

As these warning calls become increasingly intense, what is our response? I suggest that perhaps it is the same message as that of the Three weeks. Wake up. Stop what you are doing. There is still hope. There is still time.

Sometimes people try to brush these concerns aside. Problems, after all, can be solved. Perhaps scientists will find solutions. Political difficulties can be worked out via diplomacy. Scientific predictions may not come true.

All this is certainly possible. But where is our sense of caution? The Jewish tradition tells us that we need to heed the alarms we are hearing – while there is still time.

Someone without religious faith might simply respond to the destruction of nature and inequitable appropriation of resources by saying, "Why not? Why shouldn't I be selfish. Why should I care about other people or about the future? Let the people in poorer countries fend for themselves. There are enough resources to last through my lifetime. Maybe I won't even have kids. Why should I care about the future?"

Our Torah teaches that this perspective is abhorrent. We have a mitzvah "To love our fellow as we love ourselves." So how can we take more of a resource for ourselves than we allow for others or our children? How can we use resources to elevate our quality of life if doing so causes disease or injury to others or future generations?

Our Torah begins with G-d's creation of the world. Our belief that the world is G-d's creation, entrusted to us for our use to sustain ourselves during our lifetimes is the basis for our commitment to preserving it.

Perhaps we can use these Three Weeks to notice the alarms we have been hearing. To examine our deeds and take responsibility for the needs of our community – and our world.

This speech was given by Evonne Marzouk at a “Torah in Nature Walk” in Silver Spring,MD on Sunday, July 13. The walk was the inauguratory program of Daled Amot & Beyond, Canfei Nesharim’s new pilot program series for Orthodox synagogues. The talk includes sources and concepts mentioned by Aviva Shinnar and Rabbi Shlomo Levin in previous Canfei Nesharim articles. We welcome further thoughts on the connection between caution, the environment, and the Three Weeks. Please send your thoughts to us at evonne@canfeinesharim.org.

If you would like to share these thoughts with your family or community, you are welcome to do so. Please provide credit to Canfei Nesharim as the source. (We’d also be very pleased if you would let us know who it reached and what the reaction was by emailing info@canfeinesharim.org )

References
1. Wilson, E.O. (1992) The Diversity of Life. Massachusets: Harvard University Press, p 424
2. From the New Georgia Encyclopedia online
3. From MSN Encarta Encyclopedia online
4. Taken from the Shulchan Aruch on Parshat Ki Tetzeh in Deuteronomy
5. Quoted in Itturei Torah V 6 pg 19 from Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horowitz (Mechachamei Hamussar)
6. Hanschke, David. (1998). Tisha B'av during the second temple period. A Divinely Given Torah in Our Day and Age. Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press
7. Landau, Dov. (2002). The significance of the flood story; on restoring awe. A Divinely Given Torah in Our Day and Age Volume II. Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press.

This content originated at Canfei Nesharim.org.

Warning Signs: The Environment and the Three Weeks

The "Three Weeks" leading up to and including Tisha B'Av commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. It is a time for mourning and contemplation, and for examining the spiritual roots of destruction and redemption. These lessons have profound relevance for our relationship with our planet and the natural resources Hashem provides us. We hope you will take this special opportunity to learn and grow with us. May all our efforts lead to the sustainable use of Hashem's resources, and the rebuilding of the Temple, speedily, in our days.

If you benefit from these materials, please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Our year-end campaign ends June 30.

Torah Thoughts

Diminishing Returns: by Rabbi Yehoshua Kahan

The Oil Spill and the Loss of Childhood Joy (Op-Ed) by Evonne Marzouk (published by the Washington Post website, On Faith)

Great Community Learning Resource:
Source Sheet and Discussion Guide for Three Weeks Learning (printable PDF)

Other featured learning:

• The Spiritual Roots of Redemption

• Warning Signs: The Three Weeks and the Environment

• Trees, Protection, and the Three Weeks

Lesson One: Everything Comes from the Land (upper elementary school and middle school students)
Teacher Guide
Student's Course Book

Lesson One Alternate: Everything Comes from the Land (older middle school and high school students)
Teacher Guide
Student's Course Book

Lesson Two: We Have to Maintain the Land (upper elementary and middle school students)
Teacher Guide
Student's Course Book

Lesson Three: Lessons of Sefirat HaOmer in Working Towards Balance (Izzun) (upper elementary and middle school students)
Teacher Guide
Student's Course Book

Additonal Resource: Meaning of the Omer in Three Lessons (for text-savvy middle school students)
Teacher Guide
Student's Course Book

All materials originated from Canfei Nesharim.org

View printable version of this article

Our actions are deeply connected to the environment that we see around us. Our current period of “counting the Omer” offers an opportunity for strengthening and refining our character. As we will explore, this process also contains within it meaningful ways to address, from a spiritual place, some of the pressing issues of our time.

Rabbi Sampson Rafael Hirsch teaches, “Nature does not stand between you and Me, but you stand between Nature and Me. It is according to your behavior towards Me that everything that flourishes and breathes for you in your sphere, lives or dies, flourishes or withers, dies off or endures.” [1]
Rabbi Hirsch explains that if we act according to the Divine will, God blesses nature with bounty. If not, nature itself suffers because of our actions.

One manifestation of our relationship with nature can be seen from G-d’s judgment of the world's grain harvest. The Mishna teaches that on Pesach the world is judged for the grain.[2] Rabbi Yehudah, in the name of Rabbi Akiva, links the judgment of grain to the barley Omer offering brought on Pesach:

“Why did the Torah enjoin on us to offer an ‘Omer on Passover? Because Passover is the season of produce. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said, Bring before Me an ‘Omer' on Passover so that your produce in the fields may be blessed.”[3]

Jewish festivals, in addition to their spiritual meanings, are described in the Torah and Mishna as agricultural festivals.[4] When we were primarily an agricultural people, we were able to appreciate the natural cycles God put in the world and connect to G-d by offering some of the produce of our harvests on Pesach, during the counting of the Omer, and on Shavuot. The Mishna describes how the barley Omer offering, made on Pesach, and the two wheat loaves, offered on Shavuot, had to be brought from the choicest grain of the new harvests of the land of Israel.[5]

For the Omer, the Beit Din (Court) in Jerusalem would send emissaries to reap barley from moist, standing grain from farmland outside of Jerusalem, enough to yield about five liters of flour. On the evening after the first day of Pesach the local townspeople would gather around at night and excitedly watch. The emissaries would proceed to harvest, parch, refine, grind, and sift the barley into fine flour.[6] Temple “to gain favor for you”[7] [the Jewish people]. Then the Cohen (priest) would wave it in the

For each of the remaining 49 days the Cohen in Jerusalem would bring the Omer offering and Jews throughout the land would count the day of the Omer. Why did they count? The 14th century Spanish sage Rabbi David Abudraham provides one explanation: “The reason God commanded to count the Omer was because each Jew was busy with their harvest and spread out in their threshing floor, so God commanded them to count, so that they would not forget the time to go up [to Jerusalem] for the festival.”[8] Thus the counting of the Omer was originally a method of unifying the Jewish farmers to know when to leave their individual harvesting to unite in the Shavuot harvest festival.

The Torah calls Shavuot ''Chag Habikkurim,' the festival of the first fruits, because it centered on the Israelites bringing to the Temple offerings of the first fruits of their harvest. The Rambam teaches that Shavuot initiated the time period—which stretched until Chanuka– in which first-fruit offerings could be brought.[9] In fulfillment of a separate mitzva, the Cohanim would prepare two loaves of wheat bread from the new wheat harvest. In a public acknowledgment of God's goodness for providing the wheat harvest, the Cohen waved the two loaves of wheat bread, which according to Rabbi Yochanan is “[in acknowledgment of] Him to Whom are Heaven and Earth.”[10]

As we’ve seen, the cycle of offering barley on Pesach, counting the Omer, and offering wheat loaves on Shavuot was a spiritual cycle which directly related to our agricultural needs. We have not been able to observe these commands in almost 2,000 years. This separation has had deep consequences for our relationship to the land. Most of us reading this are post-industrial, technology-savvy Jews living outside of Israel. We know the difference between a Pdf and a Jpeg but may not know how to distinguish between a sheave of barley and a sheave of wheat. But these traditions, and the practices that do exist today can help us remember the connections between dew and Divinity, grain and G-d.

Every year during Pesach, we pray for the health of the grain crop during the prayer for dew: “Dew—give it to favor Your land;…with abundant grain and wine may you strengthen us…Dew and plenty, may they fill our granaries.”[11] In saying and hearing this, we can focus on Hashem accepting our prayers for beneficial dew and healthy harvests, especially when we realize that major droughts in northern China and Australia have significantly impacted wheat harvests in recent years.[12]

The counting of the Omer also offers an opportunity for character refinement to improve our relation to other people, our land, and our food. The Omer period in Temple times transitioned from offering barley flour (the unbaked product of a grain often fed to animals) to bringing loaves of wheat bread (a refined product of the choicest grain). The refinement of ourselves during the Omer precisely parallels this process.

Rabbi David Abudraham (cited earlier) links this to the Omer and the global grain harvest: “Because the world is in danger from Pesach until Shavuot in regard to the grains and in regard to the trees… therefore G-d commanded us to count these days in order that we remember the trauma of the world, so that we return to G-d with a full heart and offer supplications before G-d, that G-d will be merciful toward us and on the Creation and on the Land — that the grain will be properly apportioned.”[13] The teaching of Rabbi Hirsch can now be more clearly understood. We stand between God and nature. How we act toward people and creatures is part and parcel of our behavior toward God, which impacts what happens on this planet.

Rabbi Simon Jacobson, in his book A Spiritual Guide to the Counting of the Omer: Forty-Nine Steps to Personal Refinement According to the Jewish Tradition, examines the relation between the Omer period and the seven emotions and qualities known as the sefirot. He translates them as benevolence, restraint, compassion, endurance, humility, bonding, and nobility. Each of the seven sefirot subdivides into seven, making forty-nine different character traits. Many of the activities he describes concern improving one's relationships with other people. In our day this relates deeply to the environment.

The 49 days of self-refinement address the spiritual roots of environmental damages that affect others: indifference, narcissism, desire for self-gratification, and others. During the Omer one works on cultivating greater sensitivity, awareness, humility, self-control, and spiritual discipline—the building blocks of a Jewish environmental ethic. Indeed, the Torah's command to “love your neighbor as yourself,” teaches Rav Meir HaLevi Abulafia, forms a basis for the Talmud's myriad laws concerning environmental damages between neighbors, such as pollution of air and water.[14]

In our times the period of counting the Omer abounds with potential for transformation. To connect to some of the rich spiritual meaning of the ripening barley, wheat, and the first fruits during this period, we can grow backyard gardens and purchase seasonal produce through Farmer's Markets and Community Supported Agriculture coops.[15] We also possess a precious opportunity to refine ourselves by considering how our actions affect others and the planet. Try setting aside time every day during the counting of the Omer to work on the character trait of that day. Visualize your life after having perfected that trait, and how this will positively affect others. Continue throughout the Omer period, and by Shavuot you will have changed yourself and the world.

[1] Commentary to Shemot 34:19 The Pentateuch, translated and explained by Samson Raphael Hirsch, vol. II, rendered into English by Isaac Levy, Judaica Press: Gateshead, 1982.

[2] Mishna Rosh Hashana 1b, Artscroll translation

[3] Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana 16a

[4] See, for example, Vayikra 23:9-14, Mishna Menachot chapter ten, and Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sukkot 37b.

[5] The Mishna in Menachot 8:1 even lists the regions where the choicest wheat was grown, including the Judaen Plain.

[6] Mishna Menachot, 6:6-7, 10:1-3, 9 and commentary of Rabbi Pinechas Kehati, based on the Talmud.

[7] Vayikra 23:11, Artscroll translation.

[8] Sefer Abudraham Hashalem, p. 267, section on Sefirat HaOmer, translation by Ellen Cohn

[9] Mishna Torah, Seder Zrayim, Hilchot Bikurim, 2:6

[10] Talmud Sukkot 37b, Artscroll translation

[11] Translation from Artscroll siddur

[12] “Worst Drought in Half Century Shrivels Wheat Belt of China,” Michael Wines, The New York Times, 2-25-09; “Australia's food bowl lies empty,” Nick Bryant, BBC, 3-11-08.

[13] Sefer Abudraham, op. Cit, p. 267

[14] Sefer Yad Rama to tractate Bava Batra. Rabbi Abulafia was born in Spain in 1180 CE. Cited by R' Chaim Soloveitchik in The Environment in Jewish Law and Thought, Sviva Israel: Jerusalem, 2008, p. 11. The second chapter of Bava Batra concerns halakha on air, water, soil, noise, and other forms of pollution between neighbors and involving industry.

[15] Read more on these topics.

This content originated at Canfei Nesharim.org.

There are nine Torah portions during the seven weeks of the Omer, many of which contain important lessons to help us understand our Jewish responsibility to protect the environment. (Why nine? Tazria-Metzora, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, and Behar-Bechukotai are read together this year.)

Learn Torah each week of the Omer with the Eitz Chayim Hee Parsha Series:

1. Shemini: An Abundance of Fish

3. Metzora: Natural Healing

4. Acherei Mot: Raising Up The Physical

5. Kedoshim: Stumbling Blocks

6. Emor: Our Relationship to Other Creatures

7. Behar: Mitzvah of Shemitah

8. Bechukotai: The Blessing of Rain

9. Bamidbar: Spiritual Lesson of the Desert

See all resources at Canfei Nesharim.org

Get a printable version of this article

Introduction:

The time between Pesach and Shavuot, when we count the Omer, is a time not only for spiritual reflection and refinement of our middot, but an opportunity to connect to the land of Israel and our responsibility for the earth.

Most of us are familiar with the spiritual implications of the holidays of Pesach as the time of our freedom and leaving Egypt, and Shavuot, the time of receiving the Torah. The time of “Counting the Omer” between these two holidays is a time for spiritual refinement, elevating our freedom to a level at which we are prepared to receive the Torah. Less well-known are the agricultural aspects to the Pesach and Shavuot holidays, which mirror and inform the spiritual aspects.

These agricultural aspects make the time of “Counting the Omer” a time to look toward our Jewish sources for greater understanding of our connection to the Land of Israel and the earth, as well as our responsibility to protect that land and the environment as a whole.

In ancient Israel, Jewish society was primarily agrarian (farm-based) and most Jews were farmers. The Shalosh Regalim (Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavuot) had deep agricultural connections along with the spiritual significance. On Pesach, in the Beit HaMikdash (Temple in Jerusalem), the kohanim (priests) would begin bringing the Omer of barley flour mixed with oil in the Temple. This Omer offering was brought every day in the Temple until Shavuot, when two loaves of wheat bread were offered.

Thus, during the time of Sefirat HaOmer, we refine ourselves (as wheat bread is more refined than barley). As we refine ourselves, we pray for the land of Israel and ask Hashem for a good wheat harvest. In ancient times, this would be followed by making the finest bread out of the choicest wheat crop to present to Hashem as an offering.

On Pesach, we change our prayers for rain in our tefilah, in hopes that the harsh rain will cease to provide us with a healthy and plentiful wheat crop. We pray instead for moisture in the form of more gentle “dew.” In effect, we are praying for the welfare of our land. Also during the “Counting of the Omer,” our spiritual refinement is understood as strengthening our relationship with Hashem and thereby increasing the fertility of the land (see 2^nd paragraph of Shema). In our time, part of our spiritual refinement might include improving our relationship to the land of Israel – and the land upon which we live.

The aim of the following program is to help children better understand this connection to the land during Sefirat HaOmer and our responsibility to take care of our Earth, especially the Land of Israel.

(See “Counting the Omer: A Tool for Nature Consciousness” by Ellen Cohn for sources on the connection between Sefirat HaOmer and the land.)

Activity:

1. Tell the children that after the first day of Pesach (beginning on April 8) and before Shauvot (beginning on May 28) we will be counting the Omer for 49 days (seven weeks). (See Torah Tots for more information on Sefirat HaOmer.) Explain how on Pesach we bring the barley offering and on Shavuot we bring the two loaves of bread to the Temple. In between, during the “Omer period,” we should pray for a good wheat harvest, increase our good deeds and adherence to the mitzvot, and protect the environment, all of which will in turn affect the quality of the wheat crop in the Land of Israel.

2. Ask the children where we get bread from. Some may say from the supermarket. Others may have experience making challah or watching their parents make bread. Ask them to think about how bread is actually produced.

3. In pairs or small groups, have children brainstorm all of the steps that the bread goes through before it gets to us (including planting the wheat, harvesting the crop, baking the bread, transporting it to the store, etc.) One option is to have the children make a diagram or a poster reflecting all of the parts of the bread-making process. This Discovery Channel video goes through the process of producing bread and may help the children think of more steps.

The following resources may also help you add ideas to the children’s suggestions:

• Beyond Bread
• Bread Info

4. Have the children bake bread and/or visit a kosher (if possible) bakery to watch the process of baking bread. A good bread-making lesson plan with recipe is available on Michigan's website.

Note: that you should replace milk with soy or rice milk so that the bread will be pareve.

Discussion:

1. Ask the children what surprised them most about the process of making bread. Was it more complicated than they expected? What do they think it was like for the kohanim (priests) making bread after offering the unleavened Omer offering for 49 days?

2. Ask the children what they learned about the connection of the land to Sefirat HaOmer. Why it is our responsibility to protect the Land of Israel? Elicit answers such as “we have the power to help the grain crop be better,” “we can make a difference to the land in Israel,” etc.

3. Ask, “What can we do to protect the Land of Israel?” Encourage answers such as pray for the land and the rain, plant trees in Israel through JNF, give tzedaka to other environmental organizations that help Israel, etc.

4. Ask, “What can we do to protect the land we live in?” Encourage answers such as buying more local food, turn off the water when we’re brushing our teeth, save energy by turning off the lights when we leave a room, recycle, reuse items, throw trash away, never throw things in the gutters, etc.

This content originated at Canfei Nesharim.org.

This text study and discussion guide accompanies Goats, Grapes and Greenbelts: Sustainability and Settling the Land. Great for Tikkun Leyl Shavuot!

This content originated at Canfei Nesharim.org.