Parashat Behar-B'hukkotai 5769--Gardening

I am growing a vegetable garden for the first time. Words cannot describe to you the deep delight I feel each morning as I walk out to my garden patch, coffee cup in hand, ready to see what happened over night. I feel the wonder of a small child. I examine each and every new bud, watch small peppers and strawberries beginning to form, help pea vines cling to their trellis, carefully water delicate leaves, and smell the fragrant herb leaves. It is like a mini Eden. And it is one of the most “Jewish” things I am doing these days.

A recent article in LA Times reported:

With Sabbath candles burning and 14 guests seated around her dinner table, Joanna Arch held up a cup of kosher red wine and chanted the kiddish prayer in Hebrew:

"God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all his creative work."

As is the custom, the guests observed the holy day of rest with a meal, but with a twist: They were sharing a "sustainable" Sabbath dinner on this Friday evening, with food that was locally grown, mostly organic and intended to elevate their practice of Judaism.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

There is a current flowing through our world right now, one which links the renewed (organic victory) gardening movement with spiritual traditions.

Since Torah times, our tradition has expressed a deep connection between Jewish life and the land we live on. In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Behar-Bechukotai, we read of this connection. “Adonai spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a Shabbat of Adonai. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield” (Leviticus 25:1-3)

Our Torah makes the assumption that the Israelites were a people who tilled the land. In fact, the Israelites work the land to such an extent that the land needed its own a Shabbat, a year-long rest. (I wrote of this relationship in my D’var Torah last year http://rabbihudson.blogspot.com/2008/05/parashat-behar-5768.html) And I wonder: Might we need to take a reverse approach? Is it time for our community to make a commitment to a year of planting?

In a recent edition of National Public Radio’s Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippett interviewed theologian Vigen Guroian in a segment called, “Restoring the Senses,” which explored the relationship between Greek Orthodox Easter and gardening. Some of Guroian’s writings, as well as a downloadable podcast, can be found here. And, while it is clear that Guroian is speaking from a faith tradition different from our own, his message is clear: one encounters creation when one grows new life.

In times of uncertainty and change, planting a few seeds or starters and watching them grow can be deeply centering and fulfilling. It can also be a reminder of our tradition’s deeper commitments to food, ethical eating, and creating a sustainable world (check out Hazon for more on this). On this Shabbat, let us re-explore our relationship with ourselves and our world by re-connecting with the land.

Inch by inch, row by row.