Joyful Compassionate Abundance
This project is a subset of my Bible/Torah-related posts. I started this project as I searched for insights on food, “animal rights,” agriculture and ecology. I called it “Torah Ecology” because that described nicely how I thought my project would unfold.
Ecology is the “study of interactions among organisms and their environment.” It is a study, therefore, of relationships, and one thing I was pretty sure I’d find as I studied the text is that Torah is a study of relationships.
At the time, it seemed to me there are three domains in Torah: Transcendence/G-d, humans, the rest of creation. I wanted to look at relationships between and within those categories, Torah ecology.
Early on, my interest focused more on the human-nonhuman animal relationship described in the Torah. My study stalled for a significant period of time for a variety of reasons, only one related to the study itself.
During the first half of 2022, I find myself beginning to engage again. Beginning is the operative word. I’m not sure where this might go right now.
Ki Tissa is one of the most extraordinary portions in the biblical year, and there’s a lot one could say about it. Last year I reflected on the beautiful love story this portion relates and the moments in which Moses acts as
Where Terumah suggested ways to understand the meaning of sacrifice through spatial arrangements, Tetzaveh offers additional insights by looking at the priests’ activity, their garments, the spaces they use and the role of blood. What we learn is that sacrifice is a
In last year’s initial exploration of Terumah, I looked at the structure of the narrative about building the Tabernacle and how its construction alludes to and parallels the creation story, setting out the environment from the outside in, then furnishing it from
Increasingly I focus my attention on a paradox: the beautiful vision of Genesis 1-3 against a world filled with bloodshed and violence in the rest of the Torah, a world in which bloodshed is deliberately increased through animal sacrifice. It is very
Last year’s analysis of Yitro revealed a relationship theme and a 3-2-3-2 structure to the 10 Utterances: The first three utterances refer to G-d: 1) I am the Lord your G-d; you shall have no others before Me, 2) No graven images,
Beshallach focuses on food and water, essentials for life, and how these necessities shape and define relationships. Last year I explored these themes and how structural elements in the story reveal them. This year I will examine the Animals’ Story subtext, how
I began my Torah Ecology project with this pair of Torah portions a year ago shortly after and because of the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. I mention that because today is one day after Trump once again showed us
This week’s portion begins with a genealogy of sorts, the sons of Israel (Jacob) in Egypt — 11 who came to Egypt with Jacob from the land of Canaan and Joseph who was already there. The real purpose of this brief introduction,
Genesis ends with hints and an increasing sense of foreboding about the future of Joseph’s family in Egypt. The portion is sandwiched between two references to G-d as a shepherd, parallel to the role of the Israelites with their flocks. The references
The Joseph story is one of the most beautifully structured narratives in the Torah and is a perfect example of structure supporting and communicating meaning. These two Torah portions, Miketz and Vayigash, are the second half of the narrative chiasm I presented