Caretakers of God's Masterpieces

When President Theodore Roosevelt championed the designation of National Parks, he said, ”We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.” An avid outdoorsman, Roosevelt was often more at home in the wilderness than in the political back alleys of Washington yet, what is evident in his words is that the natural beauty in our world requires each of us to do our part in taking care of it. It is hard to imagine today our countrywithout the National Parks but, before Roosevelt lobbied to create them, rampant industrialization was literally raping the land of its resources without regard to conservation or the complete destruction of the land.As Dr. Seuss would later write, “Business is business, and business must grow, regardless of crummies in tummies, you know.…” (The Lorax)

In Jewish thought and law since the Earth was created by God, the entire Earth itself is owned by God. As tenants on God’s earth we must not wantonly destroy it (baal tashchit) and are in fact positively commanded to be caretakers of it. Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 7:28 teaches, “When God created the first man He took him and showed him all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him 'See My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world — for if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.” The midrash’s words of wisdom ring as true today as ever. As a world, we are inching closer to environmental catastrophe caused by our progress, growth and development. We are consuming our planet faster than our planet can rejuvenate and replenish itself. With melting ice caps, an island of garbage in the Pacific, and the continuing rise of animal extinctions we are destroying God’s masterpieces at an ever increasing rate.

But we can still change this course. The state of Israel is a great example of where there is a will there is a way. Combining ingenuity and resolve Israel is the only country that has more trees today than at the beginning of the twentieth century. Through the efforts of the Jewish National Fund(JNF), and its tree planting initiative millions of trees have been planted. Today the JNF is working to create sustainable water solutions for the Negev and manage water more efficiently around the country. Each time I visit Israel, I am continually amazed at how technology is being used and developed to conserve and preserve the land. Israel exports this technology around the world and has been instrumental in teaching green ways to farm in Africa and Asia.Yet, we are slower here in America to adopt eco-friendly policies and practices that other countries around the world have already adopted. We mistakenly believe that our freedom and rights come before anything else. We are sadly resistant to adopting new restrictions that will change or impinge on our “American” way of life.

On Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish new year of trees, we have the opportunity once again to raise environmental awareness in our communities. We should resolve to redouble our efforts to living more in tune with our environment. From coffee cups to paper towels we live in one of the worlds most disposable societies. We can start to change this in small ways by bringing our own coffee cups to work & synagogue, using reusable bags when grocery shopping, taking shorter showers, carpooling, and redoubling our efforts to recycle. Each behavior we change does make a difference. As rugged an individualist as President Roosevelt was, it was clear that he understood the need to balance between using our nations resources and preserving God’s masterpieces. As he wrote,“Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.” To this we should all say, Amen!