Earth as Sacred/Divine
Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Shiur Komah 206b
(a.k.a. the RaMaK, 1522-1570 kabbalistic community of S'fat)
The essence of Divinity is found in every single thing—nothing but it exists. Since it causes every thing to be, no thing can live by anything else. It enlivens them; its existence exists in each existent. Do not attribute duality to God. Let God be solely God... If you suppose that Ein Sof emanates until a certain point, and that from that point on is outside of it, you have dualized. God forbid! Realize, rather, that Ein Sof exists in each existent. Do not say, “This is a stone and not God.” God forbid! Rather, all existence is God, and the stone is a thing pervaded by divinity.
Tikkunei Zohar 122b
(appendix to the Zohar also attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son Rabbi Elazar)
There is no place empty of the Divine. (Leit atar panui minei)
(א) וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּהַר סִינַי לֵאמֹר. (ב) דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵקֶם כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם וְשָׁבְתָה הָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לַה'. (ג) שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְרַע שָׂדֶךָ וְשֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים תִּזְמֹר כַּרְמֶךָ וְאָסַפְתָּ אֶת תְּבוּאָתָהּ. (ד) וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִת שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן יִהְיֶה לָאָרֶץ שַׁבָּת לַה' שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרָע וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תִזְמֹר.
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(כ) וְכִ֣י תֹאמְר֔וּ מַה־נֹּאכַ֤֖ל בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁבִיעִ֑ת הֵ֚ן לֹ֣א נִזְרָ֔ע וְלֹ֥א נֶאֱסֹ֖ף אֶת־תְּבוּאָתֵֽנוּ׃ (כא) וְצִוִּ֤יתִי אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי֙ לָכֶ֔ם בַּשָּׁנָ֖ה הַשִּׁשִּׁ֑ית וְעָשָׂת֙ אֶת־הַתְּבוּאָ֔ה לִשְׁלֹ֖שׁ הַשָּׁנִֽים׃ (כב) וּזְרַעְתֶּ֗ם אֵ֚ת הַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשְּׁמִינִ֔ת וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֖ם מִן־הַתְּבוּאָ֣ה יָשָׁ֑ן עַ֣ד ׀ הַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַתְּשִׁיעִ֗ת עַד־בּוֹא֙ תְּב֣וּאָתָ֔הּ תֹּאכְל֖וּ יָשָֽׁן׃
(כג) וְהָאָרֶץ לֹא תִמָּכֵר לִצְמִתֻת כִּי לִי הָאָרֶץ כִּי גֵרִים וְתוֹשָׁבִים אַתֶּם עִמָּדִי.
(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying: (2) Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. (3) Six years you shall sow thy field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof. (4) But the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the LORD; you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard.
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(20) And should you ask, “What are we to eat in the seventh year, if we may neither sow nor gather in our crops?” (21) I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it shall yield a crop sufficient for three years. (22) When you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating old grain of that crop; you will be eating the old until the ninth year, until its crops come in. (23) And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and settlers with Me.
(ט) וּבְקֻצְרְכֶם אֶת קְצִיר אַרְצְכֶם לֹא תְכַלֶּה פְּאַת שָׂדְךָ לִקְצֹר וְלֶקֶט קְצִירְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט. (י) וְכַרְמְךָ לֹא תְעוֹלֵל וּפֶרֶט כַּרְמְךָ לֹא תְלַקֵּט לֶעָנִי וְלַגֵּר תַּעֲזֹב אֹתָם אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם.
(9) And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, neither shall you gather the gleaning of your harvest. (10) And you shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shalt leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
(1) Thus said the LORD: Observe what is right and do what is just; For soon My salvation shall come, And my deliverance be revealed. (2) Happy is the person who does this, the person who holds fast to it, who keeps the sabbath and does not profane it, and guards their hand from doing any evil. (3) Let not the foreigner who has become attached to the LORD say, “The LORD will keep me apart from God's people”; and let not the eunuch (a man who cannot bear children) say, “I am a withered tree.” (4) For thus said the LORD: “As for the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, who have chosen what I desire and hold fast to My covenant— (5) I will give them, in My House and within My walls, a monument and a name (yad vashem) better than sons or daughters. I will give them an everlasting name which shall not perish. (6) As for the foreigners who attach themselves to the LORD, to minister to God, and to love the name of the LORD, to be God's servants— all who keep the sabbath and do not profane it, and who hold fast to My covenant— (7) I will bring them to My sacred mount and let them rejoice in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on My altar; for My House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (8) Thus declares the Lord GOD, Who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather still more to those already gathered.”
This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie (combination of versions)
This land is your land this land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me.
The sign was painted, said 'Private Property.'
But on the backside, it didn't say nothing.
This land was made for you and me.
One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple,
by the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if
This land was made for you and me?
When the sun came shining, then I was strolling,
With the wheat fields waving, the dust clouds rolling,
The voice come a-chanting, and the fog was lifting.
This land was made for you and me.