Commentary for Parshat Yitro (Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 ) and Tu BiShvat
“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” — John Muir
One of my ideological inspirations, John Muir, was one of the world’s most influential and well-known conservationists and naturalists a century ago, helping to found and create many of our great national parks. He often wrote and spoke about the incredible healing power of nature, mountains, forests, oceans and more to help humanity to clear our heads and focus our intentions.
In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Yitro, we hear a very different tale as Moses prepares to meet God on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, leaving the Israelites encamped below with these instructions from God:
And you shall set bounds for the people around you, saying: ‘Take care of yourselves, so that you go not up on the mountain, or even touch the border of it, for anyone who touches the mountain is liable to be put to death. (Exodus 19:12)
As I consider this powerful moment from the perspective of both Moses and the Israelites, I imagine there was some communal confusion. In the midst of a barren and awe-inspiring wilderness that symbolized the freedom of the people, they encounter a mountain that only Moses can climb. “What is the truth, Moses?” the people might have thought. “Are the mountains and the desert and all the seas for us, or are they only for God? Are we invited into the vast world to encounter God, or are we to stay confined at home where it’s safe? Are we being warned away to protect us, or to protect this particular mountain?”
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In the 21st century, the same tension occupies us, but now our ability to harm these wild places where our ancestor wandered has increased beyond measure. Do we go out into the wilderness and climb the mountain, or do we accept certain limitations?
Parshat Yitro and the Jewish “New Year for Trees” known as Tu BiShvat, the 15th of the month of Shvat, align this year (January 21, 2019), as they do most years, and I believe that juxtaposition may offer a way to reconcile this contradiction.
As a child and teen, my siblings and I were privileged to enjoy many moments of adventure in the midst of nature. I recall my parents taking us on numerous fishing and camping trips when we were young, often to remote and beautiful places that lacked the flash and thrill of tourist attractions but offered awe and inspiration instead. Later, thanks to my years as a boy scout, I continued to frequent the “Great Outdoors” on monthly camping trips, canoe trips and other adventures. Like many, I continue to this day to draw great inspiration and a sense of peaceful renewal from moments, days and weeks spent away from the city, in beautiful and more natural settings such as beaches, mountains, forests and more.
Lurking in the background, though, is that warning from the Torah. After all, there is a reason that the Torah reminds us not to ascend the mountain, not to enter the wilderness, with abandon. “Be careful with nature” the Torah seems to suggest. “Don’t go up on that mountain unless you follow the rules.” Of course, in Parshat Yitro, the rules are revealed to be the “Ten Commandments,” but I think that there is a more universal message even than this.
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The warning is clear, at least to me: If we are not ready, nor willing, to take responsibility for the great planet on which we are blessed to live, then we are also not ready to partake of it. Put simply, if we don’t accept our responsibility for this planet and its vast beauty and resources, we don’t deserve them. Casual observation suggests that this is the case.
We live in a moment of history from which there may be no turning back. Some of the leaders of our nation give in to their desire for easy and unfettered access to the natural resources of our planet; they do not accept the accompanying responsibility to create some kind of boundaries, rules and regulations to hold us back. Parshat Yitro suggests a dramatic fate for those who cannot control our animalistic impulses. Like the ancient Israelites who need to be reminded that ascending the mountain without following rules may lead to death, we, too, must take responsibility for pointing out that depleting the resources of our planet, fouling the air, and polluting the seas with abandon will lead to death as well. The death of human beings, animals, forests and more, and ultimately, the death of our planet.
Rules and regulations are not always what we want, but as Parshat Yitro teaches, they are often what we need. As Tu BiShvat arrives this year may we remind ourselves to act and advocate for sensible rules and regulations to protect our greatest gifts, the gifts of planet Earth.
For as John Muir also said, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”
James Bennett has served as Senior Rabbi of Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis, Missouri since 2004. Ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rabbi Bennett has also taught theology and philosophy at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. Rabbi Bennett is also a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.