You can lead a Global Day of Jewish Learning (theglobalday.org) event in your community by inviting people to study together on Sunday, November 17, 2019. At the same time you are learning, hundreds of diverse communities across the continents will also join this experience. Communities receive free learning resources to help facilitate the experience (this source sheet is adapted from the full 2014 curriculum - Heroes and Villains, Saints and Fools: The People in the Book). The 2019 theme is "Speaking Volumes" exploring how and why words matter. Together we can unite the Jewish people.
Introduction
Robert Louis Stevenson, a 19th century Scottish author, wrote in his play Admiral Guinea (1892):
“Do not judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th century American poet and essayist, wrote in Essays: First Series (1841):
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”
What message do you think these writers are trying to share with us?
Can you give other examples of small things that are significant?
These authors suggest that harvests and forests come from humble beginnings. In order to produce fields of produce or mighty forests, someone has to plant tiny seeds and acorns.
Can you think of one small step you have taken that has led to big results?
Part One: The First Gardens
After God created the basics of the world — light and darkness, the heavens and earth, sky and water — He planted.
(11) And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. (12) The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good.
God clearly values plants; they are the first living things He creates. Why does He value them so highly?
Do you have a garden? Describe it.
Think of painting or drawing a picture. You start with a blank space, but if you work on it and carefully add things, it becomes a full picture. You have worked hard and created something beautiful.
How does it make you feel to accomplish something? To finish a project?
If God was the first gardener, he wasn’t the last! He commands the Children of Israel to plant as soon as they enter the land of Israel.
The following text is from Leviticus Rabbah, a compilation of midrash on Leviticus.
אף אתם כשאתם נכנסין לארץ ישראל לא תתעסקון אלא במטע תחילה, כי תבאו אל הארץ ונטעתם כל עץ מאכל.
Leviticus Rabbah 25:3
Therefore, when you are in the Land of Israel, occupy yourselves first and foremost with planting. Hence it is written, “When you come into the land, you shall plant trees for food” (Leviticus 19:23).
Did you expect this to be the first action that the Children of Israel had to do when they arrived in the Land of Israel?
Why do you think they were commanded to plant immediately?
When the universe was created, God made gardens before mankind. The first thing the Children of Israel did when they arrived in the Land of Israel was to plant. Clearly, planting is something important and valuable to God.
אשקא קא דריספק חריב ביתר דהוו נהיגי כי הוה מתיליד ינוקא שתלי ארזא ינוקתא שתלי תורניתא וכי הוו מינסבי קייצי להו ועבדו גננא
§ It was stated earlier that the city of Beitar was destroyed on account of a shaft from a carriage. The Gemara explains that it was customary in Beitar that when a boy was born they would plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born they would plant a cypress [tornita]. And when they would later marry each other they would cut down these trees and construct a wedding canopy for them with their branches.
Why do you think planting plays such an important role in Judaism?
Planting plays such an important role in Judaism because it signifies new beginnings — when the world was created, when the nation moved into its homeland, and when children are born.
Part Two: Planting for the Future
Let’s look more closely at how planting connects beginnings with the future, helping us to take a long-term view.
The next text is from Midrash Tanchuma, a compilation of legal and narrative midrash on the Torah named for Rabbi Tanchuma, the first person mentioned in the collection.
אע”פ שתמצאו אותה מליאה כל טוב, לא תאמרו נשב ולא נטע אלא הוו זהירין בנטיעות שנאמר ונטעתם כל עץ מאכל, כשם שנכנסתם ומצאתם נטיעות שנטעו אחרים אף אתם היו נוטעים לבניכם שלא יאמר אדם אני זקן כמה שנים אני חי מה אני עומד מתיגע לאחרים למחר אני מת.
Midrash Tanchuma, Parshat Kedoshim, Chapter 8.
Even if you find the land full of all good things, you should not say, “We will sit and not plant”; rather, be diligent in planting! As it says “you shall plant trees for food” (Leviticus 19:23). Just as you came and found trees planted by others, you must plant for your children; a person must not say, “I am old, how many years will I live? Why should I get up and exert myself for others? I’m going to die tomorrow.”
What life lessons can we learn from these texts?
What in your life has been passed down from previous generations?
What is something you can do today that would benefit future generations?
We may think that planting only benefits us directly; after all, if we plant a seed, we will enjoy its fruits. Yet these sources show us that planting is valuable even if we derive no immediate benefit from our seeds and deeds.
Conclusion
Our final text is a bit surprising, and shows us the priority we are to give planting! It is from Midrash Avot Derabbi Natan, a commentary on Ethics of our Fathers (Pirkei Avot) compiled in 700–900 CE
אם היתה נטיעה בתוך ידך ויאמרו לך הרי לך המשיח. בוא ונטע את הנטיעה (ואח”כ צא והקביל).
Midrash Avot Derabbi Natan, Version B, Chapter 31
If you had a sapling in your hand and were told that the Messiah had come, first plant the sapling [and then go out to greet the Messiah].
What is this Midrash trying to teach us?
Jews have been praying for the Messiah for thousands of years. How could planting be more important than greeting the Messiah?
One would think that if something so important was happening, we would put down the seeds or the sapling. Imagine seeing a famous person or a beloved grandparent. What would you do? The Midrash is telling us that planting is
so important that it comes before anything else; first you finish planting and then you go greet the Messiah (or the grandparent!).
It is almost unexpected to see Judaism’s approach to planting. The act of doing something so small and simple is actually revered in Judaism. What could be more special and important than helping out future generations? Planting a seed or a garden allows us to help preserve and sustain the earth. Judaism places value on thinking about the next generation and how to provide them with a beautiful planet.