To Till and to Tend

I just returned from Israel where I spent the week with family and friends, absorbing the realities of a Jewish state. Some aspects of a Jewish state elicited a guffaw (see articles on Mikvah ladies and chametz), but some I found to be insightful, meaningful and even useful. For now, I will focus on the commandment of shmita,which is taking place this year, 5768. Leviticus 25:3-4 explains the mitzvah of shmita.

Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

Torah doesn’t talk science, but in this case, the spiritual tradition is right on target. The text continues with the ramifications of fulfilling and ignoring the law. If you fulfill: “then shall the land make up for its sabbath years (26:34).” But, “the land shall be forsaken of (those Israelites who did not practice shmita), making up for its sabbath years by being desolate of them (26:43).” This isn’t just God having fun with random laws.

Scientifically speaking, when one plot of land is used in the same fashion, year after year, the soil becomes depleted of its nutrients. Eventually, crop yields weaken until the land is so depleted that it must be deserted.* On the opposite end, when a farmer allows land to lay fallow, nutrient balance is naturally restored, allowing for endless use and production.

Science and Torah take it one step further. Though the owner is not allowed to work the land, the naturally growing fruit remains available to people, wild animals and livestock. By allowing animals in the fields, they naturally fertilize it (think feces), enabling greater yields.

Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore’s Dilemma, spotlights a modern farmer who, by using methods similar to those demanded in Leviticus, manages a model sustainable farm.

It’s rare when Jewish law and modern science lead to a uniform conclusion - hopefully we’ll eventually get the message.

* Today, many farmers “solve” this problem with intense (oil-based) fertilization, an energy-intensive endeavor that, due to chemical run-off, is the source of a whole range of other environmental problems.

The sustainable farming vision of the Torah is still alive:
Jewish Farm School
Adamah, The Jewish Environmental Fellowship