Shabbat & Nature

The conundrum of Shabbat observance and environmental damage.

Print this page

After arguing that Shabbat is as much a respite for the natural world as it is for those who observe it, the author, an Jewish environmental educator, points out a contradiction between that interpretation of Shabbat and the nature of traditional observance in the modern world. Excerpted from The Jerusalem Report, January 26, 1995.

The Sabbath appears out of place in the Ten Commandments. It is the only ritual requirement in the bunch. Tucked in between the first three commandments, which deal with monotheism and idolatry, and the following six, which regulate relations between people, Shabbat is connected to both categories yet fully part of neither.

It is among the best known Jewish practices, and one of the least understood.

We are commanded to rest, yet nowhere is the meaning of rest spelled out in the written Torah. The rabbis, on the other hand, provide us with more details than we might care for. It becomes a violation to pick a flower, write a poem or, later on, flick a switch.

"Are we dealing here with extravagant and compulsive exaggerations of an originally `sensible' ritual," psychoanalyst Erich Fromm wrote, "or is our understanding of the ritual perhaps faulty and in need of revision?" Fromm's answer was the latter, and he provided the following definition of what is forbidden on the seventh day: "'Work' is any interference by man, be it constructive or destructive, with the physical world. Rest is a state of peace between man and nature."

This aggadah of Shabbat, the theory behind the practice, is hinted at in the commandment itself: We rest in imitation of the original divine rest that was the climax and cessation of Creation. Yet God's rest allowed the world to exist without divine intervention. In the same way, Shabbat is as much a respite for the world as it is for the people who observe it. How else can we understand a day of joy and rest that prohibits labor-saving devices, and involves frequent inconvenience - but by seeing that something other than human needs are paramount?

Creation and Rest

The link between the commandment and the creation story indicates how Shabbat rest contrasts with creative labor. Genesis describes a very anthropocentric world: Humanity stands at the head of the created beings, as benevolent dictator in chapter 1, and conscientious steward in chapter 2. Shabbat implies an approach that can be labeled biocentric, demanding that humans abstain from domination. It thereby allows them to see themselves as creatures, rather than creators.

Jeremy Benstein is the fellowship director of the Abraham Joshua Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership in Tel Aviv.