|
|
Article: "One, walking and studying ...": nature vs. Torah. (on nature worship vs. worship of God)
- Article from:
- Judaism
- Article date:
- March 22, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 American Jewish Congress. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Rabbi Ya'akov says: One, who while walking along the way, reviewing his studies, breaks off from his study and says, "How beautiful is that tree! How beautiful is that plowed field!" Scripture regards him as if he has forfeited his soul (Ethics of the Fathers, 3:7).
The orthodox scholar, Michael Wyschogrod, ends his seminal essay, "Judaism and the Sanctification of Nature," with the following thought:
It is difficult to return to the religion of nature. It is difficult and dangerous, particularly for Jews, to worship nature again. At the same time the destruction of nature, which seems to follow to some extent from the desacralization of nature, has reached a ...