Question of the Week #20
David Marks, co-director of Teva Learning Center, asks "What environmental Torah portion has the biggest impact on addressing global climate change, and why?"
1 Reply to "Question of the Week #20"
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Reba Linker
May 11, 2011 (7:21 pm)
Thanks for asking such a great question! I am not a Torah scholar, so I am unable to quote parshiot, nonetheless, I wanted to offer the thought that, to me, a Torah portion that has a lot of potential impact would be that which deals with the periodic “sabbaticals” of working the land. Not only does that concept illustrate the need to nurture the land by allowing it to rest as well as produce, it also draws a parallel between the human need for Shabbat, our day of rest, and the land’s need for its Sabbatical, or year of rest. In other words, we humans and our precious earth are both living, feeling creations of HaShem, each with similar needs for productivity and rest. May that compassionate awareness of the earth as being ‘just like us’ bring us to more successfully address all the environmental issues, including global climate change.