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April 13, 1999
ECO-MYSTICISM:
KABBALISTIC PERSPECTIVES ON EARTH DAY
Why pollution, non-biodegradable
materials and nuclear waste are not just bad for the environment; they're bad for your
soul.
With Earth Day just around the corner, Rabbi Yaacov Haber, Director of Jewish Education at
the Orthodox Union, compiled some compelling thoughts on environmentalism from the sacred
Jewish writings.
Rabbi Aryeh Levine recounted: "After Mincha (the afternoon service) my teacher (Rav
Kook), as was his custom, set out on a walk in order to focus his thoughts. I accompanied
him. On the way I plucked a flower. He trembled and said to me softly: `Believe me, I have
always been careful not to purposelessly pluck a blade of grass or a flower which could
grow and develop; for there is no grass from below that does not have a Mazel (force from
above) imploring it `Grow!.' Each blade of grass says something, each stone whispers a
secret, each creature utters a song." Malachim Kivnei Adam, Simcha Raz.
G-d took Adam "...and placed him in the Garden of
Eden, to cultivate it and to protect it." Genesis 2:15
When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, He took him and had him pass
before all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to him: "Do you see My
handiwork, how fine and excellent they are! All that I created was created for you. Be
careful not to ruin and destroy My world, for if you do, there will be no one to repair it
after you." Kohelet Rabbah
Not yours is the earth, but you belong to the earth, to respect it as Divine soil and to
deem every one of its creatures, a creature of G-d, as your fellow being. Consider the
things around you. I lent them to you for wise use only; never forget that I lent them to
you. As soon as you use them unwisely, be it the greatest or the smallest, you commit
treachery against My world, you commit murder and robbery against My property, you sin
against Me!" This is what G-d calls unto you.... Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch,
Nineteen Letters
Everything is full of riches and greatness, everything
aspires to ascend, to be purified and to be elevated. Everything recites a song, offers
praise, magnifies, exalts; everything builds, serves, perfects, elevates, and aspires to
unite and to be integrated... The realization dawns on us that were it not for the lower
beings, the uncouth and the unseemly, the higher beings could not have emerged in
their splendor, their esteem and their luminous quality. Thus, we continually become more
conscious of the integration and unity of existence. Rav Abraham Isaac Kook, 20th
Century Palestine; Orot Hakodesh II: 386, 431
Editors: If you would like to receive a complimentary
copy of a source book on ecology and Judaism written by Rabbi Haber, please call (212)
613-8321.
The Orthodox Union, celebrating 100 years of service to the Jewish community of the United
States and other countries, is a foremost leader in youth work, advocacy for the disabled,
synagogue services, adult education and political action. Its kosher supervision label,
the OU, is the world's most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 200,000
products in 59 countries around the globe.
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