Creation Care 164 (Thursday, June 5)
CC 164: An Exceedingly Good Land
This month's theme is An Exceedingly Good Land, chosen from the Torah Portion Numbers 14:7, our June reading from the Eco Bible: An Ecological Commentary, Vol. 2.
Numbers 14:7 – “The land that we traversed and scouted is an exceedingly good land.”
Caleb and Joshua recognized the deeper significance of what they saw when scouting the Land of Israel. Their positive report is like that of those who look into the world and, rather than seeing terrifying giants like the other scouts, see the world’s inner nature and beauty back to the original source of creation. This is what Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (Breslover Rebbe) meant when he stated that we must look for the “innate Divine wisdom and radiance that animates and lies at the heart of every tiny piece of the created world.”
The hidden message in the words of Caleb and Joshua might adeptly address today’s environmental woes. As Miriam and John Schlackman (contemporary) note, if we could appreciate the world’s inner nature as did these optimistic scouts, we would be compelled to live our lives in a way that respects God’s creation, treating its natural resources with love, awe, and appreciation for the privilege of using them wisely. Humanity’s lack of understanding of its impact on the natural world is at the core of the problems facing our planet. All that is required of us is to recognize and internalize that God’s creation is, indeed, exceedingly good and worthy of protecting. In the words of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (20th century), “There are three aspects of nature that command our attention: its power, its beauty and its grandeur. Accordingly, there are three ways in which we may relate ourselves to the world – we may exploit it, we may enjoy it, we may accept it with awe.”
- The Eco Bible, Vol. 2
Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, Prayer for Nature
Grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass - among all growing things and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong. May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field - all grasses, trees, and plants - awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things, which are made as one by their transcendent Source. May I then pour out the words of my heart before your Presence like water, O L-rd, and lift up my hands to You in worship, on my behalf, and that of my children!
Additional reflection: Praying in the Fields, by Drew Kaplan, My Jewish Learning
June 2025
Week 1 Eco Bible, Vol. 2 (Numbers 14:7)
Week 2 Laudato Si’ (Sections 10-13)
Week 3 Many Voices
Week 4 Creation Care
May 2025
Week 1 Eco Bible, Vol. 2 (Leviticus 19:9-10)
Week 2 Laudato Si’ (Sections 1-3)
Week 3 Many Voices (this month: focus on the Bahá’í faith.)
Week 4 Creation Care: Carl Sagan and the Pale Blue Dot
Week 5 Creation Care: St. Francis of Assisi and the Canticle of the Sun
Blessings,
Liz
Eco Bible: An Ecological Commentary
Vol. 1 ©2020 Vol. 2 ©2021
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development
Authors: Rabbi Yonatan Neril & Rabbi Leo Dee
Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home
©2015 Libreria Editrice Vaticana Author: Pope Francis
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