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April 21, 2000/16 Nisan 5760, Vol. 52, No.33
Earthly delightsEditorialThe Jewish calendar is intimately tied to the seasons, each holiday rooted in historical and religious significance and reflecting an abiding appreciation for the wonders of God's creation. The waxing and waning of the moon, the rotation of the sun, the planting of the first grains and the ingathering of the first harvest mark the cycles of our year.Passover, the holiday that celebrates our passage from slavery to freedom, is replete with symbols of springtime renewal. The paschal lamb reminds of the miracle of birth, the roasted egg of the wholeness of creation, the green parsley of the nascent promise of new growth. Charoset (fruit, nuts and wine mixture) and maror (bitter herbs) play on the inherent duality of life, the sweet and the bitter, recalling the awesomeness of God's creation and the immensity of divine power. How else to explain the plagues that rain down on the Egyptian captors - blood, frogs, vermin, beasts, cattle, plague, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn - and the miraculous parting of the Red Sea to allow the Israelites' passage to freedom? In Arizona, our respect for God's earthly work is heightened with the retelling of the Passover story amidst the blooming of our spectacular desert spring. So it is an auspicious convergence that Earth Day 2000 comes this year on Shabbat chol ha'moed, the Sabbath in the midst of the Passover holiday, April 22. On this Shabbat we read the "Song of Songs," the beautifully poetic evocation of the partnership between God and human as expressed in the sexually charged relationship between two lovers. The book is filled with lush metaphors and voluptuous similes that evoke nature's intense beauty - "my love is a cluster of myrrh, a sheaf of henna blossoms, in the vineyards of Ein Gedi." "Song of Songs" glorifies God's work and reminds us of our role as divine partners. It creates for us a veritable garden of earthly delights, imbuing Earth Day's message of responsibility and stewardship with a spiritual, intensely Jewish significance. |
