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The World is Our (Kosher) Oyster... Or Is It??!

(כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹקִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹקִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃(כח) וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹקִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹקִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכׇל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃(כט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כׇּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב ׀ זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶת־כׇּל־הָעֵ֛ץ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ פְרִי־עֵ֖ץ זֹרֵ֣עַ זָ֑רַע לָכֶ֥ם יִֽהְיֶ֖ה לְאׇכְלָֽה׃(ל) וּֽלְכׇל־חַיַּ֣ת הָ֠אָ֠רֶץ וּלְכׇל־ע֨וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם וּלְכֹ֣ל ׀ רוֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ֙ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה אֶת־כׇּל־יֶ֥רֶק עֵ֖שֶׂב לְאׇכְלָ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃(לא) וַיַּ֤רְא אֱלֹקִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֔ה וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם הַשִּׁשִּֽׁי׃ {פ}

(27) And God created humankind in the divine image,
creating it in the image of God—
creating them male and female.(28) God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”(29) God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.(30) And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so.(31) And God saw all that had been made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

וכבשוה נתן להם כח וממשלה בארץ לעשות כרצונם בבהמות ובשרצים וכל זוחלי עפר ולבנות ולעקור נטוע ומהרריה לחצוב נחשת וכיוצא בזה וזה יכלול מה שאמר "וּבְכָל הָאָרֶץ" (בראשית א׳:כ״ו):

AND SUBDUE IT. He gave them power and dominion over the earth to do as they wish with the cattle, the reptiles, and all that crawl in the dust, and to build, and to pluck up that which is planted, and from its hills to dig copper, and other similar things. This is included in what He said and over all the earth.

(טו) וַיִּקַּ֛ח ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעׇבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשׇׁמְרָֽהּ׃(טז) וַיְצַו֙ ה׳ אֱלֹקִ֔ים עַל־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר מִכֹּ֥ל עֵֽץ־הַגָּ֖ן אָכֹ֥ל תֹּאכֵֽל׃(יז) וּמֵעֵ֗ץ הַדַּ֙עַת֙ ט֣וֹב וָרָ֔ע לֹ֥א תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּ֗י בְּי֛וֹם אֲכׇלְךָ֥ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מ֥וֹת תָּמֽוּת׃

(15) God ה׳ settled the Human in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.(16) And God ה׳ commanded the Human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat;(17) but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”

רִבִּי חִזְקִיָּה רִבִּי כֹהֵן בְּשֵׁם רַב. אָסוּר לָדוּר בְּעִיר שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ לֹא רוֹפֵא וְלֹא מֶרְחָץ וְלֹא בֵית דִּין מַכִּין וְחוֹבְשִׁין. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי בֵּירִבִּי בּוּן. אַף אָסוּר לָדוּר בְּעִיר שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ גִּינּוֹנִיתָא שֶׁל יָרָק. רִבִּי חִזְקִיָּה רִבִּי כֹהֵן בְּשֵׁם רַב. עָתִיד אָדָם לִיתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן עַל כָּל־מַה שֶׁרָאָת עֵינוֹ וְלֹא אָכַל. רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר חֲשַׁשׁ לְהָדָא שְׁמוּעָתָא וּמַצְמִית לֵיהּ פְּרִיטִין וַאֲכִיל בְּהוֹן מִכָּל־מִילָּה חָדָא בְשַׁתָּא.

Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Cohen in the name of Rav. It is forbidden to dwell in a city which has neither a medical man, nor a public bath, nor a court lashing and jailing. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, also it is forbidden to dwell in a city which has no vegetable garden. Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Cohen in the name of Rav: Every person will have to justify himself for everything his eye saw and which he did not eat. Rebbi Eleazar took note of this statement and saved coins from which he ate every kind once a year.

Connecting Locally: Jumping Off the Production Line, by Batsheva Appel
(exerpted from The Sacred Table)
When we eat foods in their seasons, we remind ourselves of the agricultural seasons. When we can see the farms and orchards where our food is grown, we develop a sense of the land around us. When we speak with the people who grow the food, we remember that food does not just show up on our table, but there is a great deal fo real effort to bring us the food that we eat. When we develop all of these connections, we place ourselves within creation instead of outside of it.
The Art of Blessing the Day
by Marge Piercy
(an exerpt)
Read the full poem here: https://images.shulcloud.com/1181/uploads/files/Piercy-Poems.pdf
This is the blessing for sun after long rain:
Now everything shakes itself free and rises.
The trees are bright as pushcart ices.
Every last lily opens its satin thighs.
The bees dance and roll in pollen
and the cardinal at the top of the pine
sings at full throttle, fountaining.
This is the blessing for a ripe peach:
This is luck made round. Frost can nip
the blossom, kill the bee.
It can drop,
a hard green useless nut. Brown fungus,
the burrowing worm that coils in rot can
blemish it and wind crush it on the ground.
Yet this peach fills my mouth with juicy sun.
This is the blessing for the first garden tomato:
Those green boxes of tasteless acid the store
sells in January, those red things with the savor
of wet chalk, they mock your fragrant name.
How fat and sweet you are weighing down my palm,
warm as the flank of a cow in the sun.
You are the savor of summer in a thin red skin
Connecting Locally: Jumping Off the Production Line, by Batsheva Appel
(exerpted from The Sacred Table)
The Jewish way of celebrating "our dependence and our gratitude" is to recite the blessings for the food we eat, before and after eating. When we say that God "brings forth bread from the earth" in the Motzi, we are not speaking of bread that just appears ready for us to eat; rather we remind ourselves of the partnership between God, Creator, and humanity, farmer and baker. The less we know about the steps it takes to produce the food that we eat, the farther away we are from the connections to the sources of our sustenance, to the land, and to God. By eating locally, we connect to each of the steps that it takes to put food on our table. Then when we say the Motzi, we know that it is through our partnership with the Creator of the earth that bread is brought forth from the earth.