I almost did not come back to Judaism over this language. Just when I was exploring a return to my Jewish-ness in the late 1990's, I was also waking up to what we've done to this planet.
The language I'm talking about is at Genesis 1:28: "... and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and tame it; hold sway over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, and over every animal that creeps on the earth.'"
The Hebrew word that becomes "hold sway" in the latest URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) translation is usually translated as "dominion." "Dominion" is defined (Miriam-Webster) as "supreme authority" or "absolute ownership."
This language, one could argue, is the root cause of our wonderful (read: terrible and horrific) trampling of this earth.
I was angry at the Torah for many years over this language. Then I decided that, if the Torah was written by men, this language was put in by those men for the same reason that American courts have ruled that corporations are people -- as a basis for pillaging, plundering and otherwise doing whatever it takes to make the maximum profit. So I decided to be angry at stupid ancient people, not at the Torah.
For the same reason, I am also angry at stupid modern people. They seem to have forgotten or never grasped the basic concept that we are part of this earth. "Nature" is not something apart from us. We are part and parcel of "nature."
I have not seen Spiderman, the movie, but I've heard that it tells us that "with great power comes great responsibility." It's very appropriate that a "spider"-man reminds us that dominion should not be a license for destruction.
I think it's important to not read any one passage in isolation. Here is a website that cites many parts of the Torah that promote taking care of the earth:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.coejl.org/~coejlor/learn/je_tenje.php
neat blog, chuck!
becky
Very true, Becky. Good point.
ReplyDeleteYet... if the Torah authors truly meant what you're arguing, why didn't they put it clearly in the first section of the Torah? Why not say, "God says you shall have great power over the earth, but also great responsibility to care for it."
How hard would that have been? :)
I think the issue is in how you view the Torah. If you believe that it is a single book written by (or inspired by) God, you shouldn't look at a one passage in isolation b/c one passage might reference our power while another--several chapters or books later--might refer to our responsibility. However, if your belief is that the Torah is a compilation of books written by several authors at various times, looking at one passage in isolation is totally acceptable. After all, it was written largely in isolation, right? Only the surrounding passages or chapters provide context, while what is written in Deuteronomy has no bearing on what you read in Genesis.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I fall into the latter group and take no issue with dissecting a single passage on its own. That said, if you believe as I do, you also probably believe that what you are reading is written with the opinions and biases of the author. So, do we hold the entirety of our people responsible for a single verse, taken in isolation, and written by a person--like you or me?