Would you rather go for a hike or read a good book? Is the physical world a distraction from Torah study, or do they complement one another? In the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Shimon takes a stand:
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, הַמְהַלֵּךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וְשׁוֹנֶה, וּמַפְסִיק מִמִּשְׁנָתוֹ וְאוֹמֵר, מַה נָּאֶה אִילָן זֶה וּמַה נָּאֶה נִיר זֶה, מַעֲלֶה עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב כְּאִלּוּ מִתְחַיֵּב בְּנַפְשׁוֹ:
Rabbi Shimon said: if one is studying while walking on the road and interrupts his study and says, “how beautiful is this tree!” [or] “how beautiful is this newly ploughed field!” he is judged to be guilty of a capital crime.
Rabbi Shimon describes a scene of someone whose mind is focused on Torah, walking along the road, and becoming distracted by the scenery. In this story, nature is an "interruption" or a break from Torah study. Rabbi Shimon's position seems extreme, and generations of scholars have tried to explain what's behind it.
Compare that to the next source:
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר וְרִבִּי אַבָּא וְרִבִּי יוֹסִי, הֲווֹ יַתְבֵי יוֹמָא חַד, תְּחוֹת אִילָנֵי, בְּבִקְעָתָא גַּבֵּי יַמָּא דְּגִנּוֹסָר. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, כַּמָּה יָאֶה צִלָּא דָּא, דְּחַפְיָא עֲלָן מִגּוֹ אִילָנֵי, וַאֲנָן צְרִיכִין לְאַעְטְּרָא הַאי אֲתָר בְּמִלֵּי דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא.
Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Elazar, Rabbi Abba, and Rabbi Yossi were sitting under the trees in the valley of the Kinneret. Rabbi Shimon said, "How beautiful is the shade with which these trees protect us, and we need to crown them with words of Torah."
According to the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon recognizes that nature can provide us with an inspirational setting for the study of Torah. Instead of being a distraction, the trees - just as "beautiful" as the nature in the first source - will receive crowns of Torah when they shelter scholars from the sun and provide them with a place to rest or study.
Some scholars have suggested that it's all about our attitude: When we view the natural world as totally separate from Torah and feel that it is just a distraction, we're judged negatively. On the other hand, when we see the beauty of the world as intertwined with our study of Torah, we enhance both.
Questions for Reflection:
1) Where is your favorite place to study or read? Why?
2) How might we bring our Torah study into the natural world? What impact might our texts or traditions have on trees or other plants?