To till and to tend

According to a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists, since 2007 when animal population census in the Florida Everglades began, the percentage of animals has dropped approximately 98 percent: raccoon, opossum, deer, fox, bobcat, and rabbit, are all but gone from this wildlife preserve. You may have seen the photograph in the news recently of the Burmese Python which had just consumed a six-foot alligator. The census has not been able to determine how many of these giant snakes inhabit the Everglades, but considering that the female lays about 100 eggs at a time, they might resort to eating each other pretty soon. The acceptable number of pythons in the Everglades is zero. Every once in a while some pet owner gets tired of buying rats for his python, anaconda or boa constrictor, and figures that the snake will fare just fine in the wild, or even your neighborhood lagoon.

The Torah tells us in Genesis 2:15 that God put the human being in the Garden of Eden to till and to tend to it. The example of the python is one that demonstrates a lack of stewardship over the garden that God entrusted us with. To be aware and to be careful is what shmirah, is all about; guardianship.

On Jan. 16, the Senator, a 3,500-year-old bald cypress in Seminole County burned and collapsed; a tree that was around when the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai. Incredible. They said that maybe lightning stuck the tree and it smoldered in its hollow trunk for two weeks before it finally caught fire. However, the tree was equipped with a lightning rod and the residents who live nearby said that they would surely have smelled the smoke. It is sad enough that this ancient tree came to the end of its life, but can you imagine if arson was really involved?

There will always be irresponsible people in the world, who do damage to God’s creations. We can only counter that by being even more conscientious of the environment than we already are. On Tu B’Shevat, the new year of the trees, we the Jewish people renew our sense of duty to fulfill the commandment, l’shomrah u’l’ovdah, to till and to tend. Buy a tree in Israel, plant a tree or something else in your yard for the tilling. And do something to protect or care for the environment: pick up some trash along the road or beach, do some weeding in the garden, or write a letter to your congressman on some environmental issue. Eat some of the seven species from Eretz Yisrael, and may you also blossom like the almond tree.

The Rabbinically Speaking column is provided as a public service by the Jewish Press in cooperation with the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis. Columns are assigned, on a rotating basis by the board.