{"id":3106,"date":"2015-05-16T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2015-05-16T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=3106"},"modified":"2022-04-22T10:25:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T02:25:29","slug":"128-let-the-earth-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=3106","title":{"rendered":"128. Let the Earth Breathe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Lord\u00a0spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying:\u00a0Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the\u00a0Lord.\u00a0Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield;\u00a0but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the\u00a0Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard<\/span>.<\/strong> [Leviticus 25:1-4<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[L] A reminder that God created the universe, that the earth is a gift from God. [R]\u00a0Planet earth on fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once in every seven years, Jews are called to celebrate a very unusual Shabbat. It is a Sahbatical Year, a Year of Shmita or Release.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 15-16 this year, using the traditional calendar of Torah reading, Jews will read the Torah portion (Lev. 25-27) that in full detail and spiritual explanation calls them to a seven-year cycle of letting the earth breathe freely for a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

This Judeo-Christian Scripture calls on all to let the land rest and be released from all organized agriculture, and to share freely with each other and even with all animals what the land freely grows.<\/span><\/p>\n

The underpinning logic rests on a fundamental faith in the doctrine of creation, that this earth is created by the Creator God based on a model of construction which culminates in Sabbath rest [Genesis 1].<\/span><\/p>\n

The Torah is at once teaching us a spiritual orientation in two essential directions.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, we must stop behaving as if we are the owners of this earth and exploit it like there is no tomorrow. Nobody \u201cowns\u201d any \u201cproperty\u201d at all: the only Owner is YHWH, the Breath and Spirit of all life \u2013 and we humans are but temporary leaseholders, stewards, caretakers. So the Torah sees to it that we take a mandatory seventh-year break, to let the earth take a rest, to recover from our inconsiderate exploitation, to breathe freely so as to heal again.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the face of the severe climate change we are facing, and the growing ecological crisis in our generation, we ignore the inherent logic of Holy Scriptures at our great peril.<\/span><\/p>\n