Joyful Compassionate Abundance
Ecology is a “study of interactions among organisms and their environment.” It is about relationships, and one thing I was pretty sure I’d find as I worked my way through the Torah text this time is that Torah is a study of relationships in a system.
Torah focuses on relationships between G-d, humans, non-human animals, the earth, and the heavens. These are relationships within a system, a cosmos, so I called my project “Torah Ecology”.
While my focus is particularly on the G-d/human/non-human animal relationships, touching on other aspects of the biblical cosmos, earth and heavens, may give a more complete picture of how the parts come together in a whole. Explore with me, and let’s see where this leads. I appreciate comments.
Deuteronomy (Devarim, “things” or “words”) is attributed to Moses, his final words to his people in which he summarizes their experiences over 40 years wandering. Since it is presented as a repetition of material in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, it invites intra-textual
This double portion that concludes Numbers begins with regulations related to women’s vows and ends with regulations related to women who inherit. As attractive as it might be to our modern sensibility to view these sets of regulations as a bold statement
The book of Numbers continues to elude me structurally. Neither an overall structure nor micro-structures within certain passages have revealed themselves yet. There are so many dramatic passages like the Sotah (wife accused of acting unfaithfully), Naziriteship, consecration of the Levites to the
The portions during these last two weeks have been so full and rich that it’s hard to know where to start…and I confess, I’ve been short on time so haven’t been able to give them the attention they deserve. Taken together, though,
The most dramatic moment in this dramatic story of rebellion and punishment comes in verse 16:27 with this poignant image: “…and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their
This portion uses an unusual construction of the phrase “Children of Israel,” namely congregation of the children of Israel, pointing repeatedly to the idea of community. Like the preceding portion, it illuminates how the community is so easily led astray by the
From the perspective of structure, this section begins with the purification of the Levites in 8:5, paralleling the story of Miriam’s leprosy and purification beginning in 12:1. Within that envelope are four complaints and outcomes. THE COMPLAINTS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL For
Naso wraps up the numbering sequence that introduced us to the Book of Numbers and concludes with genealogies and the numbers of gifts and animals for sacrifice brought by the princes of Israel for the dedication of the desert Tabernacle. The numbering
Sometimes when I study Torah these days I get a little lost in the details of animal sacrifice and numbering and valuing people and animals. My original purpose in this study was to  try to understand what the Torah says comprehensively, pervasively,
This portion expresses one of the most soaring, beautiful, inspirational ideas in the entire Torah. I’m just going to free-float with it a little, enjoy the words and the resonances, the lofty ideas and the vision. The Torah talks about G-d, humanity