Gardening in NYC
Last night I stayed up much past my goal bedtime because I was gardening. You may be 
asking yourself: "who gardens at midnight?" The simple answer which, admittedly, leads to more questions is: someone who lives in a 3rd floor NYC apartment! How does one garden in a NYC studio apartment? Instead of a shovel I use a large spoon, instead of lush gardens that flow into each other I have potted plants (beautifully and lovingly made by my father), instead of a compost pile I have a mini bag of soil.... I think you get the point.
So there I was, past midnight, my fingers deep in soil and dirt all over the floor; throughout, an incredibly satisfied smile was planted on my face (sorry that I don't have a picture for you).
There are some technical bonuses to my craziness: plants increase oxygen levels in a room and they are aesthetically beautiful. But my excitement did not come from these secondary benefits. Real earth may have been three floors down, yet, in the simplest of ways I was connecting with the source of life.
In Leviticus (19:23) we are told, "When you enter the land of Israel you shall plant all kinds of trees for food." My apartment is not in Israel, nor are most of my plants edible. My own interpretation of this passage suggests that when you find your dwelling place, connect physically with your land and plant that which will sustain you. For those who may not have a green thumb - it's hard to kill a cactus.
asking yourself: "who gardens at midnight?" The simple answer which, admittedly, leads to more questions is: someone who lives in a 3rd floor NYC apartment! How does one garden in a NYC studio apartment? Instead of a shovel I use a large spoon, instead of lush gardens that flow into each other I have potted plants (beautifully and lovingly made by my father), instead of a compost pile I have a mini bag of soil.... I think you get the point.So there I was, past midnight, my fingers deep in soil and dirt all over the floor; throughout, an incredibly satisfied smile was planted on my face (sorry that I don't have a picture for you).
There are some technical bonuses to my craziness: plants increase oxygen levels in a room and they are aesthetically beautiful. But my excitement did not come from these secondary benefits. Real earth may have been three floors down, yet, in the simplest of ways I was connecting with the source of life.
In Leviticus (19:23) we are told, "When you enter the land of Israel you shall plant all kinds of trees for food." My apartment is not in Israel, nor are most of my plants edible. My own interpretation of this passage suggests that when you find your dwelling place, connect physically with your land and plant that which will sustain you. For those who may not have a green thumb - it's hard to kill a cactus.
nice one.
my recommendation for those new york hebrews far from the land of israel and far from a reasonable plot of earth:
the wandering jew.
makes for a great house plant. but, beware: it really will wander into nearby pots. (Comment this)
Great point! Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandering_Jew_(plant) for more information on and pictures of the beautiful plant. (Comment this)
I did the search because I was bothered by so much focus on global warming etc. (global, international) by a Jewish environmental group, as though jumping on the Western bandwagon rather than digging into our own tradition and coming up with the goods there.
I consider Judaism the world's best (only?)guide to the treatment of food animals (raising, slaughtering, cleaning) -- all with an implicit goal of reducing and, ideally, eliminating the practice of eating animals, but not necessarily. The laws are very specific to our people/country and require us to stand up and live by them -- starting with the self & our community, and perhaps eventually globally.
Thank you SO MUCH, Loire, for starting from the specific instead of the general, for starting from the Jewish instead of the so-called universal or global, for tying it into & quoting our Jewish sources so nicely, and for speaking of yourself and your own practice instead of speaking (like some kind of social engineer or dictator or philosopher) of what others should do!
It looks like you're the only one into a thread that is the one that I consider most essential & most Jewish and the greatest area of potential Jewish contribution to the world at this time, and that is the rules to govern our dealings with animals & soil and water & plants.
You might want to read THE LONG EMERGENCY by Kuntsler (not Jewish but it will give you the schemata of the change that the "modern" world--the American lifestyle--is going through). You will see how necessary & good it could be for Jews to live by (and demonstrate, inter alia) the very brilliant Jewish laws regarding earth & living creatures.
Thanks again for being who you are & for speaking up.
PS I had read awhile ago in a World Jewish Congress publication about an Israeli product called Garden-in-a-box where you buy a small, ready-made garden... Neat, huh?
-pk (Comment this)
Thank you for your comment and your support for this blog. As you mentioned, Jewish text and tradition are filled with environmental meaning and purpose. That is, after all, why COEJL was founded. Though all members of the COEJL staff are vegetarian, eat local and regularly enjoy the outdoors, we, as a Jewish people and global citizens, must deal with the reality of global climate change.
We pursue to teach and create a Jewish connection to the environment/nature, but now our greatest task is to mobilize a personal, communal and political response to climate change. I hope that we meet your needs and continue to blog/address intimate modes of environmental Judaisum, while educating and advocating around climate change, as well. (Comment this)