Just like adult children who have recently begun caring for their elderly parents, we've gotten serious about caring for "mother" earth. And though it takes some getting used to, and perhaps even "infringes" on our freedom, we need to do it all the same.
Take a quick look in the garbage can (your own - we're not suggesting you look in trash around Hollywood in the hopes of writing a book about celebrity rubbish.) What you'll find, of course, is that which you don't need.
Recycling and All That Garbage
Glass, paper, plastic, aluminum. Many cities throughout the United States and countries around the world have instituted environmentally beneficial recycling. Put out your bottles, cans, jars (sorted or unsorted – depending on location) and bundle your newspapers and magazines. Earn extra “goodie points” if you reuse shopping bags, “throwaway” aluminum pans, and scrap paper..
Just like adult children who have recently begun caring for their elderly parents, we’ve gotten serious about caring for “mother” earth. And though it takes some getting used to, and perhaps even “infringes” on our freedom, we need to do it all the same.
Take a quick look in the garbage can (your own – we’re not suggesting you look in trash around Hollywood in the hopes of writing a book about celebrity rubbish.) What you’ll find, of course, is that which you don’t need.
Every day, for most of our lives, we’re sorting out the good from the bad. We’re separating and selecting what’s useful from that which is no longer, or was never, useful.
Rabbi Hillel was asked by a potential convert to teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot. Rabbi Hillel’s concise reply was, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the essence of Judaism while the rest is commentary. Go and study it.” Rabbi Hillel sifted and sorted through the entire Torah and felt that all of the Torah’s commandments are included in this one admonition.
Throughout the life of a Jew, every day and for our entire lives, we are expected to separate ourselves from the profane, from the non-essentials of life, from that which is not of use to our personal and communal mission. We need to sort out our priorities, recycle some of our old ideas, and trash others completely. Sometimes, we might begrudge the time and energy this recycling and sorting requires. After all, when we’re dealing with real garbage, who enjoys storing bottles, getting dirty from bundling newspapers or crushing cans? But do it we must, if we really care about future generations.
Even those who have heard of, or try to live by, Rabbi Hillel’s words unfortunately don’t always do the right thing. They sift through Rabbi Hillel’s teaching before they even have a chance to use it. They figure that the first part, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow,” is useful; it’s humanitarian, altruistic and universal. But they discard, as insignificant or cumbersome, “Go and study it.”
Yet, just as we need to read and know well our local regulations regarding what needs to be recycled and when in order to recycle properly, so too must we study the Torah and its teachings to understand how to properly implement this fundamental teaching of Rabbi Hillel.
So, the next time you’re sorting through piles of extraneous matter, consider in your life could use recycling.
