Devarim: Belonging to the Land
Original author - Matthew Mausner, edited by the GrowTorah Summer Inchworms 2021-2022, Shoshi Ehrenerich, and Sara Just-Michael
View Accompanying Source Sheet Here
“…You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and journey, and come to the mountain of the Amorites and to all its neighboring places, in the plain, on the mountain, and in the lowland, and in the south and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and the Lebanon, until the great river, the Euphrates River. See, I have set the land before you; come and possess the land which the Hashem swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them and their descendants after them.
(Devarim 1: 6-9)
The idea of belonging runs deeply throughout the Torah, and particularly in this week’s parsha, Devarim. For the Jewish people, belonging is not only rooted in community and peoplehood, but also a very deep sense of this people belonging to a land. We belong to Eretz Yisrael; it is only in the land itself that our deep aspiration for wholeness in our homeland be fulfilled and we can truly manifest as a nation. While Judaism also has a strong diasporic ethos—being a light unto the nations may sometimes require us to bring messages to the farthest corners of the earth—Devarim forefronts our connection to Israel, showing that the essence of our tikkun is strong Jewish life in the land.
Sefer Bereisheit lays the foundation for this message as Hashem tells Avraham of the important homeland “in the land which I will show you.”[1]
Caring for the land is a deeply ingrained expression of Hashem’s will. Connecting with Eretz Yisrael, living with the concrete expectation that their descendants will be living on the same land, necessitates Bnei Yisrael’s proper treatment of the land and sustainable living, ensuring that the resources and health of the land will be there for future generations. We care deeply about the survival and health of our children and our nation and, therefore, we feel just as strongly that our land, and its health must be protected. We know in our bones that they are one and the same. Seeing our land, and understanding our possession of that land, engenders that deeper commitment and our connection to the wholeness of our instincts.
In many ways, the Torah approach reflects an Indigenous American philosophy of land. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy (called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French), believes that decisions should be made for the “seventh generation.”[4] This sense of continuity, in culture, in the environment and in the land, ensures its protection. This is deep ecology from the family outward; if the only truly responsible way to make decisions is to have the seventh generation in mind, we must also have in mind the many, many generations of microorganisms, plants, insects, and animals who constitute the web of life on which all depend.
In Parshat Devarim, the Torah is trying to clue us in to this logic. We learn that not only our own health and prosperity, but the health of the land, depends on our conduct:
“And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love the Lord, your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I will give the rain of your land at its time, the early rain and the latter rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil. And I will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat and be sated. Beware, lest your heart be misled, and you turn away and worship strange gods and prostrate yourselves before them. And the wrath of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will close off the heavens, and there will be no rain, and the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from upon the good land that the Lord gives you.[5]”
This is really an environmental concept: our national moral conduct helps make it rain, helps the soil be healthy, helps bring the blessings of the Divine on all life in the land. This is a holistic prescription: if we fulfill our role, peace will envelop Israel, its land, its people, and the entire world. [6]
The fabric of life on earth is interwoven and interdependent. Our conduct, our self-control over the numerous collective human efforts that create and pollute—is essential to maintaining the health of this fundamental web of life on which we all depend.
When many generations after Devarim, Hashem promises Isaiah that the Jewish people will be made into a “light of nations,” He is indicating a restoration of the nation’s moral value, but even more specifically, their value in restoring the land itself, saying, “And on a day of salvation I help you—I created you and appointed you a covenant people—Restoring the land.” [7] Our purpose is realized by living in an exemplary way, by fully and proudly manifesting our mission in our homeland, by conducting ourselves in ways that respect both the eternal laws revealed in Torah, and the natural laws on which life on earth depends. To be ecologically responsible, to be spiritually responsible, and to be politically responsible—these are all really the same thing at root. The Torah teaches us again and again how we must treat trees, plants, animals and individual people. In Parshat Devarim, as we look forward to our possession of Eretz Yisrael, we learn just how important our land is.
Suggested Action:
Even if you are not in Israel, our responsibility to future generations and in connection to land remains. Plant a tree! Trees, as slow growing and self-sustaining as they are, provide a commitment to making the world just a little greener and cleaner for future generations. You can also click here to calculate your ecological footprint.
Click here to sponsor a parsha.
Notes:
[1] Bereishit 12:1
[2] See “The Genesis of Faith: The Depth Theology of Abraham Joshua Heschel” by John C. Merkle, pp. 3-18, or Spinoza, “Principles of Cartesian Philosophy”, pp. 28-41.
[3] See Robert Godwin, “One Cosmos Under God: The Unification of Matter, Life, Mind and Spirit”, pp. 12, 156 for example.
[4] See the Haudenosaunee Confederacy explanation of the Seventh Generation principle here.
[5] Devarim 11:13-17; this passage is the second paragraph of the Shema prayer. (translation from website of chabad.org).
[6] This is a general theme found in the writings of both Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook and Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag.
[7] Isaiah 49:6-8
