Parashat Re'eh
Time to Clean Up
As we work to clean up the places we live, we pray for Jerusalem to return
to her splendor.
By Rabbi Akiva Wolff
This
commentary is provided by special arrangement with Canfei Nesharim. To learn
more, visit www.canfeinesharim.org.
Our
Torah portion begins with the following words:
"Behold I set
before you today a blessing and a curse; a blessing if you obey the
commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse if
you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of
the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have
not known. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord your God has brought you to
the land to possess it, that you shall put the blessing upon Mount Gerisim, and
the curse upon Mount Ebal (Deut 11:26-29)."
Blessings & Curses in the Environment
While there seems to be no obvious connection in these
verses to the quality of the environment, nineteenth century biblical
commentator Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch saw a message with deep ecological
consequences. He wrote:
"Gerisim and Ebal are two peaks of the Ephraim range of
mountains which still show a striking contrast in their appearance. Gerisim to
the south of the valley of Shechem presents a smiling green slope rising in
fruit-covered terraces to its summit, Ebal on the north side, steep, bare and
bleak, some 2,900 ft. high, slightly higher than Gerisim. The two mounts lying
next to each other form accordingly a most speaking, instructive picture of
blessing and curse. They both rise on one and the same soil, both are watered
by one and the same fall of rain and dew, the same air breathes over both of
them, the same pollen wafts over both of them and yet Ebal remains in barren
bleakness while Gerisim is clad to its summit in embellishment of vegetation.
In the same way, blessing and curse are not conditional on external
circumstances but on our own inner receptivity for the one or the other, on our
behavior towards that which is to bring blessing."
Rabbi Hirsch describes how, particularly in the land of
Israel, the difference between blessing and curse can be plainly evident in the
physical appearance of an environment. In other words, there is a tangible
relationship between the spiritual state of the land and its inhabitants and
the physical appearance and quality of the environment.
Beauty & Adornment
This relationship, apparently, works both ways. The
appearance of the land reflects its spiritual state, and we are required to
ensure that areas of the land with higher levels of holiness be kept in
appropriately high environmental states. Along these lines, Rabbi Yehuda Shaviv
of Israel's Yeshivat Har Etzion writes:
"In the land of Israel, the more holy the place, the
greater the noi (adornment). And it appears that despite the noi of
other mitzvot (commandments),
which is an addition to the mitzvah, when it comes to the mitzvah of building
the Temple in Jerusalem, noi is an intrinsic part of the mitzvah…we can
conclude that the greater the dwelling of the Shechinah (Divine Presence)
in a place, the greater the noi and yofi (beauty) that is required.
Therefore, there is a requirement for noi and tiferet (splendor) of
Eretz Yisrael; more so the requirement for noi of the Levitical cities; much
more the requirement for noi of Jerusalem; and greater than all, the noi and
yofi of the Beit Hamikdash and its tiferet."
As Shaviv writes, the land of Israel, due to its holiness,
must be kept in a state of beauty and adornment. The holy city of Jerusalem
(which is alluded to no less than 16 times in this week's Torah portion as
"the place that God will choose") has a higher status vis-ŕ-vis
beauty and adornment than other parts of the land of Israel. This is reflected
in the Talmud in the following passage (Bava Kama 82b):
"(In Jerusalem) don't make a garbage dump, and don't make
lime furnaces… because of the smoke (Rashi explains that the smoke would
blacken the walls, which would disgrace the city), and don't make gardens and
orchards because of the foul odors (Rashi explains noxious weeds would grow
there and be thrown out, and further, gardens are usually manured, and this
would cause a bad smell)."
As the Talmud indicates,
maintaining the physical appearance and environmental quality of Jerusalem, at
the bare minimum, requires the prevention of accumulated garbage, smoke, and
foul odors. It would appear that any environmental nuisance, such as air
pollution or garbage on the sidewalks, would be a violation of Jerusalem's
sanctity.
The Jewish Sages, even in more
recent times, were sensitive to this. For example, the Alter of Slobodka, one
of the spiritual giants of a previous generation, would pick up garbage from
the streets of Jerusalem, even though this would normally seem to be far below
his dignity. With this in mind, it is hard to imagine how we can tolerate the
level of pollution so common today in Jerusalem.
What We Can Do
Indeed, the holy Land of Israel,
and all the more so, the holy city of Jerusalem are designated as a special
dwelling place for the Shechinah,
the Divine Presence, and the Shechinah dwells in places of beauty and harmony.
This is reflected in the amazing blessing that one says upon seeing something
of exceptional beauty (Talmud Bavli Berakhot 58b):
"One who sees beautiful creations
and good trees says the blessing: 'That's how it is for Him in His world.'"
Obviously this is an important teaching for anyone living in
Israel, and especially those living in Jerusalem. But God's presence is
everywhere, in greater and lesser levels of concealment. Wherever we are we can
work to limit pollution and litter, and to do so with a consciousness that it
is God's world that we are caring for.
If we are far from Jerusalem, when we work to clean up the place where we do
live, we can pray that Jerusalem will return to her splendor and show
externally the incredible beauty and holiness inherent in our Holy City.
Suggested Action Items:
1) When visiting Eretz Yisrael and
Jerusalem, try to increase your sensitivity to the quality of the environment
and do what you can to improve it. You can sponsor a "clean-up a
neighborhood of Jerusalem" day through Nikayon Zion.
2) Organize or participate in a
"pick-up-the-garbage" day in your own neighborhood.
Akiva Wolff is a
teacher and writer living in Jerusalem.
