We all know the passage starting in verse 5 of today’s parsha, although the occasion for our familiarity is six months away at Pesach. But today I would like to roll the tape back, and pay some special attention to the verses that surround that historical summary of our experience in Egypt.
The recitation of our history was just the middle act of a broader ritual, which started and ended on a different topic. The ritual’s main purpose was to emphasize our relationship with the land. In the agrarian society of biblical times, proper care of the land, plant, and animal life were major elements of the covenant. Leaving the land fallow each seventh year, not destroying fruit trees even in times of war, and taking care of animals even on Shabbat were key parts of our tradition.
The ritual in our parshah demanded that we take the first fruits of our farming efforts and offer them in thanks for the productivity of the earth, and in recognition that continued prosperity depends on our good stewardship. This is hard for us urban, intellectual, technological Jews to grasp. Our experience is that if we type the right messages into our PCs and Blackberries, we’ll prosper in our work, earning us enough shekels to buy our first fruits at Von’s, or maybe Whole Foods if we are really good. The whole idea of seasons and natural cycles is largely hidden by globalization, with our fruits as likely to come from Chile as Chula Vista. Once in a while a heat wave wilts the lettuce, or a drought shrinks the orange crop, and we have to pay a little more, but the supermarket aisles remain well stocked year round.
But even we masters of technology are beginning to see connections. When we tap greater volumes of water to irrigate our crops and sprinkle our lawns, the fish can’t spawn. When we dam and divert rivers, our beaches and wetlands disappear and subject us to the unabated fury of storms. And when we air condition our increasing residence in hot climates, drive solo in carbon belching behemoths, and cut down the rain forest to grow soy beans to feed methane farting cattle, even the boosters of progress have noticed, that it seems to be getting warmer. You better visit Glacier Park before they change it’s name!
If you think we can remain complacent, let us review the curse in our parshah: “The skies above your head shall be like copper, and the earth under you like iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land dust, and sand shall drop on you from the sky until you are wiped out.” Sounds like a pretty accurate description of slash and burn farming and desertification to me!
From our earliest myths of creation, we know there was a tension. Humans were envisaged as tending to the Garden of Eden, eating the plants of the field. But they were also directed to master nature., and to procreate and multiply until numerous as the stars in the sky. These same challenges bedevil us today. How can we achieve prosperity with sustainability, progress with preservation, a good deal for all that does not depend on a bad deal for some?
I am pleased to report that this challenge is becoming a little easier to tackle at Temple Beth Am. Over the past year we have formed a Green Team that is sponsoring a number of activities and providing information and encouragement to make changes in our family and community practices. Here within Library Minyan, we are considering a project to improve the lighting while reducing energy use. You can find out more about these possibilities at the tables upstairs after services, and from our guest speaker in the main sanctuary in just a few minutes.
As our sages have said, you may not be obliged to complete the task, but neither are you allowed to ignore it. Energy efficiency is one of my personal favorites, since it both reduces the environmental problem, and cuts the money flowing to nations and groups that have not had our best interests at heart. But each of you can choose a direction that resonates for you. And I hope that when Ki Tavo comes around again next year, you will hear the blessings and the curses, and know that you have made a little progress towards the blessing side of the ledger.
Shabbat shalom.