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--- It is such an important task for us to guard the planet, especially when the world is in such a critical climate situation. I am reminded of some of the laws that appear in The Bible to keep the ecosystem - and the social system of an agricultural society - balanced. 

The most important, or rather “extensive”, law, is שְׁמִטָּה (to release), which prohibits all agricultural work on a specific piece of land every seven years, as we can read in Exodus 23:10-11:

“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.”

The religious reasoning for that law is to commemorate the seventh day of the week of creation, but also to remind that the land belongs to God, so people cannot use it in any way they wish.

The practical reason is to let the land “resting”, which helps it to be more fertile and kills the pests that cannot survive without new crops.

The social reasoning is to minimize the gap between rich and poor people, so the poor can enjoy the fruit of the land even if they don’t own land of their own, which leads to another set of laws: לֶקֶט (Gleaning), שִׁכְחָה (Forgotten sheaves), פֵּאָה (Unharvested corners), פֶּרֶט (Fallen grapes), עֹלְלוֹת (Clusters of grapes that are poorly formed), and מַעֲשֵׂר עָנִי )Poor man’s tithe).

The main laws are described in Leviticus 19:9-10:

“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners. I am the Lord your God”,

and are expanded in Deuteronomy 24:19-22.

As we know, the importance of sharing food with neighbors and the less fortunate ones is so important, that even during the last arrangements to flee Egypt, the people were told (Exodus 12:4):

“If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat."

If you’d like to read some more, this is a very good starting point. 

Let this week remind us again that as long as space colonies are not a common practice (yet), we have only one planet to live on, so it’s better if we protect it – together.

                                                                                                    Professor  T.  Oded 

                                                                                                 Dean: Humanities Department

                                                                                             Hebrew Language Professor

                                                                                          Grace Theological College 

sacred activism, social justice, welcoming and affirming