GREENING SYNAGOGUES RESOURCES

Dvar Torah Resources

Every parasha -- weekly Torah portion, of which there are 54, plus special readings for holidays -- has a potential environmental connection. While we wouldn’t want to subject our co-congregants to an environmental drash (interpretation of the text) every single week of the year, isn’t it nice to know that we could? A few “top parshiyot” follow; but first, to show that it can be done, we take it from the top:

Bereshit -- contrary to Rav Soloveichik’s Lonely Man of Faith, Chapter 1 of the classic creation story does not prescribe domination of the Earth but rather enlightened stewardship (see 1:31), while Chapter 2 (especially at 2:15) yields a yet more radical environmental awareness.

Noah -- he was a righteous and blameless person in his generation -- and his major contribution was to protect examples of all life on Earth, so they could re-establish themselves after the natural catastrophe that human wickedness brought on -- shouldn’t we be the same in our day, working to protect endangered species?

Lech Lecha -- kum hitalekh ba’aretz, get up and walk yourself around the land, God tells Abraham after giving him spiritual title to it. We can only truly know what is ours, and appreciate (and protect) it, when we study the land carefully, and slowly, at pedestrian rather than automobile or airplane speed.

Vayera -- the frightening ‘close call’ of Hagar and Ishmael in Chapter 21 reminds us of the severity of natural systems such as the desert, and of the importance of clean, potable water.

Chayei Sarah -- it’s all about intergenerationality, ledor vador, as Abraham’s servant’s travels in Chapter 24 to find a wife for Isaac demonstrate; what are we doing to ensure the healthy appearance of a new generation, into a healthy world?

Toledot -- again, water, which in this parasha (as in our time) becomes the occasion for strife in the land of Israel; in Chapter 26, Isaac has to re-dig the wells of his father Abraham, and contest each with the other occupants of the land.

Vayetze -- Jacob’s classic dream is followed by the all-important awareness, which can be spoken of every spot on God’s good Earth, as well as the site of holy dreams: “Surely God is present in this place, and I did not know it!” (28:16).

And so on… the point is, there’s an ecological ‘hook’ most anywhere, should you want to link any given parasha to ecological concerns.

An aside: exegesis is when we read out of the text what seems to truly be there; eisegesis is when we read into the text what we wish to see in it. It’s a fine line, but Judaism demands that we limit ourselves to the former. The Torah, insofar as we can speak about “framer’s intent” or “historical context,” is not in any modern sense an environmental book. We must tread carefully when identifying contemporary concerns within timeless text. Still, precisely because these words are holy and eternal, they should speak to the heart of each generation and each situation. Proceed with caution in eco-drashing, but do proceed.

Over time, COEJL hopes to provide “sermon starters” for every parasha. These will not be full divrei Torah (sermons), but simply an annotated text or a linkage of two ideas which can get a rabbi -- or a bat or bar mitzvah student, or a lay-leader, or anyone else -- going with ways to offer an environmental observation about something in the Torah portion. That said, even though it can be done for most every parasha, a few stand out. Bereshit and Noah are certainly on the short list, but so are the following:

Vaera and Bo -- the plagues can be understood as nature gone awry, poisoned by human injustice and short-sightedness

Yitro -- most of the ten dibrot have an environmental angle, especially Shabbat; see also the intergenerational remission of hesed and avon (again in Ki Tisa, 34:6-7)

Shemini -- kashrut, applying to food here, can quickly become a way of looking at the world and at patterns of consumption of all manner of things

Kedoshim -- everything in it! Including peah, and the eco-justice connection of not standing idly by the blood of your neighbor (works for Re’eh, Deut. 15, as well)

Behar -- Leviticus 25 is perhaps Tanach’s most ecological chapter, commanding us to practice sustainable agriculture, and linking social and environmental justice

Beha’alot’kha -- the incident at Kivrot Ha-Ta’a’vah begs a discussion of Jewish views on animal consumption and vegetarianism, and consumption in general

Ekev -- the second paragraph of the Sh’ma, a.k.a. Deut. 11:13-21, is among the most powerful warnings of ecological doom in all of literature

Shoftim -- the law of bal tashchit, at 20:19, becomes the basis of much of Jewish-environmental thought; S.R. Hirsch calls it “the first and most general call of God”

Ki Tetze -- the precautionary principle is learned from the law of the parapet (22:8), just one of many dicta with ecological application or significance

Nitzavim -- free will, life-and-death stakes, and intergenerational impacts all are contained within Deut. 30:19: choose life, that you and your offspring may live.

Go and learn, and teach…