Askmoses-A Jews Resource
What is the Jewish view on trees?
Browse our archives

The Scholar is ready to answer your question. Click the button below to chat now.

Scholar Online:

Type in your question here:

Jewish Ecology

by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg

  

Library » Philosophy » Free Choice | Subscribe | What is RSS?

PRINT EMAIL COMMENT

My family recently spent a few days in the picturesque town of Petoskey in Northern Michigan. While there, we were advised to visit a certain nature preserve just a short drive out of town, which had a path leading to a secluded beach on Lake Michigan. We weren't disappointed by the spectacular view which awaited us, but it was the large sand dunes which really caught my eye. 

We stood on a large wooden platform which overlooked the beach, and were surrounded by large windswept dunes. A posted sign asked visitors to refrain from leaving the platform to climb the dunes. The sign explained in detail how disturbing the dunes lead to their erosion and eventual collapse. The Creator, in His infinite wisdom, causes plant life to grow on the dunes which trap the sand, keeping them in place. Treading on these plants can uproot them, and will eventually doom the entire dune. 

I noted with interest that the "undisturbed" dunes were actually full of footprints. While it seems that the human tourists were environmentally sensitive and refrained from walking on the dunes, the deer and other assorted native wildlife apparently had trouble reading the informative sign. This phenomenon doesn't seem to bother the ecologists. After all, the deer tracks are as much part of nature as the sand dunes themselves. It would be illogical to preserve one aspect of nature by repressing another.

We are the guardians of our planet, because only we have the ability to curb our personal natures for the sake of a greater good
But what about human nature? Deer will naturally walk to a watering hole (no matter how many dune plants will be uprooted), cats naturally chase and kill mice, and humans naturally like to climb dunes -- or any other large body which exists. As George Leigh Mallory famously responded when he was asked why he wished to climb Mount Everest: "Because it's there!"

Why repress human nature to preserve sand dunes?

The answer lies in the intrinsic difference between humans and all other forms of life which inhabit our planet. We are not just another species of mammals; we are fundamentally different. All of G-d's creations were created with a specific nature and character above which they cannot rise. The human, on the other hand, has the ability and the obligation to transcend his nature. Indeed, this is the very purpose of Man; to use his intellect to control and eventually transform his egotistical and harmful tendencies, addictions and personality.

Thus, we are the guardians of our planet, because only we have the ability to curb our personal natures for the sake of a greater good.

This is true in the ecological sense, and it is certainly true in the spiritual sense as well. There is a haunting Chabad song with Yiddish lyrics: "Eating is natural, drinking is natural; what shall we do -- praying isn't! Eating is natural, sleeping is natural; what shall we do -- studying isn't!" The lament expressed in this song is one we can all relate to: why is it that our physical needs come so much more naturally than our not-any-less-vital spiritual essentials?

But this is the purpose of our creation. When we refrain from treading on sand dunes or when we recycle, we transcend our animal natures and we earn the title of human. When we do a Mitzvah, we transcend our human natures and reveal our divine core.


ADD A COMMENT

Please email me when new comments are posted (you must be  logged in).
Mitzvah
(pl. Mitzvot). A commandment from G-d. Mitzvah also means a connection, for a Jew connects with G–d through fulfilling His commandments.
Chabad
Chabad, an acronym for Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding, is the name of a Chassidic Group founded in the 1770s. Two of the most fundamental teachings of Chabad are the intellectual pursuit of understanding the divine and the willingness to help every Jew who has a spiritual or material need.
Yiddish
Language closely related to German commonly spoken by European Jews.
G-d
It is forbidden to erase or deface the name of G-d. It is therefore customary to insert a dash in middle of G-d's name, allowing us to erase or discard the paper it is written on if necessary.