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!

Words of Creation, Words of Life

Often when we think about the power of words we think of the negative wounds hurtful words can leave. For instance, when our political leaders stoop to new lows of rhetoric, fringe religious leaders purporting to speak God’s Word, spew words of hatred, or more personally the arguments that tear families apart. History, both personal, and communal are littered with examples of hurtful speech and the abuse of words. Our Rabbis devoted many teaching’s, and whole books to the “abuse/evil use of the tongue” - lashon harah, as they knew full well that words written and spoken can be “mightier than the sword.” With such a focus on hurtful words, it is easy to forget the power positive words can have on us, and our world. Our Torah however from its very first words reminds us of the creative power of words, and that within these words there is no less than life itself. In the Jewish understanding of Creation, God has an idea, speaks, and through words literally creates the universe. God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Gen. 1:3) Our Rabbis note that this light is not the light from the sun, moon or stars which comes at Creation day four but instead represents a holy light of the words of Torah, a light which is stored for the righteous. 

In the end God speaks ten times in the Creation story until the world is complete. In the early kabbalistic work, Sefer Yetzirah (3rd or 4th century CE), the idea of the power of words, particularly the role the letters themselves had in Creation is further developed. God “crowns” each letter and empowers it to “govern” a special aspect of the universe, with each letter influencing the universal, temporal, and anthropological flow of life. For example, the three primary letters aleph, mem, and shin, which govern the three elements of air, water and fire (respectively), the three ancient seasons of the year, and three aspects of the human form. 

Today much of this mystical cosmological use of letters and words has gone by the wayside. Yet some of these ideas still remain entrenched, such as the wearing of the Hebrew word, Chai (Chet, Yud) or the use of the letter Shin on the outside of mezuzah cases and the tefillin. More enduring however, is the idea that words carry the tremendous capacity to heal, proclaim love, and creative new art and ideas. Words can take an idea in the mind and bring it into the world of reality. Think about how we express to someone that we love them. It may be through saying simply the words, “I love you” or through a poem or a touching card. Words can capture the spirit of past deeds of loving-kindness or fill us with hope toward the future. 

Words have power to bring people together, inspire us, and remind us of the best of ourselves. Finally words can live long after we are gone. They can be a lasting testament to our values and our dreams.  To that end, I am asking each of you to fill in the letters of our brand new Torah.  Not only helping our community to create this beautiful scroll which will be used on Shabbat and holidays but, also to ensure a vibrant life for our Jewish community. Too many words are used to destroy life, let us instead create something that leads to life. Let’s inscribe this new Torah with our hands and seal it with our love; that we may be blessed by it, as it says, “Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.” (Proverbs 3:18)