Teaching Team
I'm Dreaming of a...Green Lag B'Omer?
Lag B'Omer (33 days of the Omer) begins tonight. In Jewish communities around the world, this mid-way point of the Omer count will be celebrated with music, dancing, a few hair cuts and roaring bonfires.
Yet, the Chief Rabbis of Israel have issued a statement this year to the communities in Israel to keep environmental concerns in mind when building bonfires. In Israel, where both lumber and water are scarce commodities, an outbreak of wildfires would be devastating. Thus, the Rabbinate has requested that the utmost care and attention be paid to the blazing bonfires in order to prevent wildfire.
Citing a midrash, the two Chief Rabbis of Israel cautioned Israel with these words,
"When God created Adam He took him and showed him all the trees in the Garden of Eden. God said to him, 'Look at all My creations, how magnificent they are. All that I have created is for you. Be sure not to destroy my world, because if you do, there is no one who can repair it."
I find it interesting that these sages refer to the very same passage of Genesis that others sometimes use to support a view of endless expansion and domination over earth's natural resources.
"Going green" has been increasing in popularity in America. Everything from organic food, to renewable energy, to recycling, to even hybrid SUV's has become more acceptable to the mainstream public. Caring for the environment is more than just a concern for counter-culture granola heads (no offense to counter-culture granola heads). Even here at First Fruits, we try to do our part, recycling our boxes and trying to throw away as little as possible. We even switched from those horribly messy styrofoam peanuts to nice, biodegradable packing paper.
Humanity has been given dominion over the earth. We are obviously entitled to use it to our advantage. Yet this does not entitle us to unchecked exploitation and destruction. As the midrash said, we are the only species that can repair it. The task of caring for the world has been given to us as well.
It is my hope that "going green" is more than just a trend. "Staying green" would be a much better goal. This Lag B'Omer, do your small part in protecting the Creation God has entrusted to us.
Happy Lag B'Omer!
Seth Dralle
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Visitor Feedback:
Lag baomer is about Shimon Bar Yochai reveling the inner parts of the the Torah. We can apply this to the Master who while being brought into the world was rejected and thus hidden from the world (Judaism). His light and life bring forth the most brilliant Torah truth, and the fact that he is hidden proves his light...just like the Zohar of Shimon Bar Yochai gives light to the inner meaning of the Torah. Yeshua gives light to the Torah by his teaching and by his Spirit which he sent us. Thus while we celebrate the hidden light of the Torah as reveled to us by Shimon Bar Yochi, we would do well to remember the most hidden yet bright light which is Yeshua.
Peace, Jeremiah.
PS the Book of John would be good to study.
Jeremiah | May 22, 2008 10:15 PM
And don't think we don't appreciate the no more packing peanuts! Those things get everywhere! They cling to everything and then the cat loves to make a bigger mess with them. :)
**Seth's response** Amen! I cringe every time I open a box that has them.
Jonathan | May 23, 2008 8:45 AM
Funny story. A relative once wanted to ship a clock to us and someone told her to make sure she packed it with peanuts so it wouldn't get broken. What do you think we got when we opened the box?
She had used real peanuts that were still in the shell!
Needless to say, the neighborhood squirrels were very happy.
At least it was eco-friendly!
MJ Belko | May 23, 2008 10:02 AM
Great post! We have to remember that although HaShem gave us dominion over the earth, we still need to exercise good stewardship. My parents who live in another city went to a community Lag B'Omer bonfire, which was broken up by the fire department!
Jenny | May 23, 2008 12:28 PM
How many mass extinctions has mother earth thrown at the planet in the last several million years. She doesn't fret over us too much.
I don't worry about her either.
**Seth's response:** I'm not sure I follow you Steve. Is "mass extinction" the only environmental problem we should be worried about?
Steve Petersen | May 23, 2008 1:20 PM
Last year on the day after Lag B'Omer, Boaz, Toby and Joel I were in Israel trying to film, but the air was so hazy with smoke we couldn't get good shots!
So yesterday was my son Simon's Bar Mitzvah, and we have a tradition of bringing the new boy into a big group Bible study with the men of the community on the Sabbath of his bar Mitzvah, and we were learning from Pirkei Avot 5. Our first mishnah was:
With ten utterances the world was created. What does this come to teach us? Indeed, could it not have been created with one utterance? This was to exact punishment from the wicked who destroy the world that was created with ten utterances ...
The Sages probably did not have enviromental concerns in mind in this passage, but all the same, it seems relevant. I have always felt like believers should be the leaders of the enviromental agenda. We should not have abdicated that responsibility to the godless.
D. Thomas Lancaster | May 25, 2008 10:30 AM