Our origin is nature. The very name of the first being, adam, shares a root with adamah, the earth, from which our ancestor was shaped and brought to life through divine breath. Through exploring our mythology and ancestral relationships with nature, we develop a firm grounding on where we came from and who we are as souls.
Each year brings us rituals of celebration and remembrance directly tied to the cycles of the days and the seasons, and yet we forget this connection when we live our Jewish lives indoors. These practices originate from the revelation our ancestors received journeying through the wilderness the working farmland in their homeland. You only need to look at the psalms and mystic writings to see how the natural world has continued to play a vital part in our relationship with the divine and spiritual inspiration. Our ancestors are constantly whispering to us: journey through the forests and the desserts and you will discover holiness.
My passion for nature Torah was stoked by Wilderness Torah, an organization Berkeley, CA, dedicated to celebrating the earth based traditions of Judaism. Wilderness Torah is leading the charge in integrating our responsibility towards and love of nature with the holiest moments in the Jewish calendar. This community and the following resources have guided me into a meaningful and spiritually rich relationship with the earth and all its beings:
Comins, Mike. A Wild Faith: Jewish Ways into Wilderness, Wilderness Ways into Judaism.
(Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2007).Bernstein, Ellen (Editor, Introduction) Ecology and the Jewish Spirit: Where Nature and the Sacred Meet.
(Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1998).Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. In the Wake of the Goddess: Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth
(New York: The Free Press, 1992).
A Blessing for Nature
The next time you go for a walk and see a wonder of nature, such as mountains, hills, deserts, seas, long rivers, lightning, or beautiful sky, or anything that makes you stop and drink in the beauty of creation, pause and say:
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, oseh maasei v’reishit.
We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who makes the works of creation.
Through voicing our appreciating for our world, and using the power of bracha, of blessing, in our daily lives, we connect with the life around us and with the wisdom of our ancestors.
Looking for more? Check out this nature meditation post.