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Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

The Stewardship Paradigm

that belongs to someone else. This guard as seen in Genesis 2. The famous your sake I created them all. See to it
guardian must exercise vigilance while story of Genesis 2-3 – the eating of the that you do not spoil and destroy My
protecting, and is personally liable for forbidden fruit and Adam and Eve’s world; for if you do, there will be no one
losses that occur through negligence. subsequent exile from Eden – supports else to repair it.”
This is perhaps the best short definition this point.
of humanity’s responsibility for nature as Creation has its own dignity as G-d’s
the Bible conceives it. Not everything is permitted. There masterpiece, and though we have the
are limits to how we interact with the mandate to use it, we have none to
We do not own nature – “The earth earth. The Torah has commandments destroy or despoil it. Rabbi Hirsch says
is the L-rd’s and the fullness thereof.” regarding how to sow crops, how to that Shabbat was given to humanity
(Psalms 24:1) We are its stewards on collect eggs, and how to preserve trees in “in order that he should not grow
behalf of G-d, who created and owns a time of war, just to name a few. When overweening in his dominion” of G-d’s
everything. As guardians of the earth, we we do not treat creation according to creation. On the Day of Rest, “he must,
are duty-bound to respect its integrity. G-d’s Will, disaster can follow. as it were, return the borrowed world to
its Divine Owner in order to realize that
The mid-nineteenth century We see this today as more and more it is but lent to him.”
commentator Rabbi Samson Raphael cities sit under a cloud of smog and
Hirsch put this rather well in an original as mercury advisories are issued over Ingrained in the process of creation and
interpretation of Genesis 1:26, “Let us large sectors of our fishing waters. central to the life of every Jew is a weekly
make the human in our image after our Deforestation of the rainforests, largely reminder that our dominion of earth
own likeness.” The passage has always a result of humanity’s growing demand must be l’shem shamayim – in the name of
been puzzling, since the hallmark of the for timber and beef, has brought on Heaven.
Torah is the singularity of G-d. Who irrevocable destruction of plant and
would G-d consult in the process of animal species. The choice is ours. If we continue to live
creating humans? as though G-d had only commanded
We can no longer ignore the massive us to subdue the earth, we must be
The “us,” says Hirsch, refers to the rest negative impact that our global industrial prepared for our children to inherit
of creation. Before creating the human, a society is having on the ecosystems a seriously degraded planet, with the
being destined to develop the capacity to of the earth. Our unbounded use of future of human civilization put into
alter and possibly endanger the natural fossil fuels to fuel our energy-intensive question.
world, G-d sought the approval of nature lifestyles is causing global climate
itself. This interpretation implies that we change. An international consensus of If we see our role as masters of the earth
would use nature only in such a way that scientists predicts more intense and as a unique opportunity to truly serve
is faithful to the purposes of its Creator destructive storms, floods, and droughts and care for the planet, its creatures, and
and acknowledges nature’s consenting to resulting from these human-induced its resources, then we can reclaim our
humanity’s existence. changes in the atmosphere. If we do not status as stewards of the world, and raise
take action now, we risk the very survival our new generations in an environment
The mandate in Genesis 1 to exercise of civilization as we know it. much closer to that of Eden.
dominion is, therefore, not technical, but
moral: humanity would control, within The Midrash says that G-d showed Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks is Emeritus
our means, the use of nature towards the Adam around the Garden of Eden Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew
service of G-d. Further, this mandate is and said, “Look at my works! See how Congregations of the Commonwealth
.
limited by the requirement to serve and beautiful they are – how excellent! For @RabbiSacks www.RabbiSacks.org

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