Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi ztz"l, “Renewing God Model”
The absence of a vital mythology for a whole and healthy Earth, one shared by all peoples and species, is a cause of great concern. Earth is in a dire crisis for survival, and we have as yet no means to re-dream our hoped-for story. We have faced an historic turning point: the millennium. There is a need for visioning the future of human spirituality in harmony with our Gaian understanding.
(26) And G-d said, “Let us make earthling in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”
(7) Then YKVK Hashem formed earthling of the dust of the ground, and breathed into its nostrils the breath of life; and earthling became a living soul.
Mirror of Nature A.D. Gordon, “Logic from the Future” (1910)
"When you will return to Nature—on that day your eyes will be open, you will gaze straight into the eyes of Nature, and in the mirror you will see your own image. You will know that you have returned to yourself, that when you hid from Nature, you hid from yourself."
Going to the Source Ellen Bernstein, “How Wilderness Forms a Jew.”
"Many of our ancestors took to the wilderness. Abraham, Jacob, and Moses were all called to forsake their settled lives, their homes, and their communities to endure a period of uncertainty and unfamiliarity in the desert. It was only in the unknown that true self-knowledge could be obtained. There they would meet G-d, discover their sense of purpose, and become Jews."
Wilderness & Israel Evan Eisenberg, “The Mountain and the Tower:
"In all of ancient Near Eastern literature, the Bible is one of the few texts that knows wilderness as a place of majesty, a place where G-d lets himself be known. Far from rejecting nature, the Hebrews embrace her as a whole, thorns and all."
(א) וּמֹשֶׁ֗ה הָיָ֥ה רֹעֶ֛ה אֶת־צֹ֛אן יִתְר֥וֹ חֹתְנ֖וֹ כֹּהֵ֣ן מִדְיָ֑ן וַיִּנְהַ֤ג אֶת־הַצֹּאן֙ אַחַ֣ר הַמִּדְבָּ֔ר וַיָּבֹ֛א אֶל־הַ֥ר הָאֱלֹקִ֖ים חֹרֵֽבָה׃ (ב) וַ֠יֵּרָא מַלְאַ֨ךְ ה' אֵלָ֛יו בְּלַבַּת־אֵ֖שׁ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַסְּנֶ֑ה וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה הַסְּנֶה֙ בֹּעֵ֣ר בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אֻכָּֽל׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֔ה אָסֻֽרָה־נָּ֣א וְאֶרְאֶ֔ה אֶת־הַמַּרְאֶ֥ה הַגָּדֹ֖ל הַזֶּ֑ה מַדּ֖וּעַ לֹא־יִבְעַ֥ר הַסְּנֶֽה׃ (ד) וַיַּ֥רְא ה' כִּ֣י סָ֣ר לִרְא֑וֹת וַיִּקְרָא֩ אֵלָ֨יו אֱלֹקִ֜ים מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַסְּנֶ֗ה וַיֹּ֛אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֥ה מֹשֶׁ֖ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ (ה) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַל־תִּקְרַ֣ב הֲלֹ֑ם שַׁל־נְעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֵעַ֣ל רַגְלֶ֔יךָ כִּ֣י הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא׃ אֶת־הַלַּ֔חַץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִצְרַ֖יִם לֹחֲצִ֥ים אֹתָֽם׃ (י) וְעַתָּ֣ה לְכָ֔ה וְאֶֽשְׁלָחֲךָ֖ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְהוֹצֵ֛א אֶת־עַמִּ֥י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃
(1) Now Moses, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, drove the flock deep into the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (2) An angel of G-d appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. (3) Moses said, “I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?” (4) When G-d saw that he had turned aside to look, G-d called to him out of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” (5) And The One said, “Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. (10) Come, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh, and you shall free My people, the Israelites, from Egypt.”
Braving the Wilderness, Brene Brown (2017)
True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.
(יח) וּמִמִּדְבָּ֖ר מַתָּנָֽה׃
(18) And from Midbar to Mattanah...
מאי דכתיב (במדבר כא, יח) וממדבר מתנה ... כיון שעושה אדם את עצמו כמדבר שהוא מופקר לכל תורה ניתנה לו במתנה שנאמר וממדבר מתנה.
Why is it written, "and from wilderness a gift? ... When a person makes oneself like wilderness, which is free to all, Torah is given as a gift, as it says, "from wilderness a gift."
דבר אחר: וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני אלא כל מי שאינו עושה עצמו כמדבר הפקר, אינו יכול לקנות את החכמה והתורה, לכך נאמר: במדבר סיני:
Another interpretation of 'G-d spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert (Ex. 19) - whoever does not make oneself open to all [lit. ownerless], like wilderness is not able to acquire wisdom and Torah, therefore it is written 'in the wilderness of Sinai.'
Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely G-d is present in this place, and I did not know it!”
God Was In This Place & I, I Did Not Know, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
Each person has a Torah unique to that person, his or her innermost teaching. Some seem to know their Torahs very early in life and speak and sing them in a myriad of ways. Others spend their whole lives stammering, shaping and rehearsing them. Some are long, some are short. Some are intricate and poetic, others are only a few words, and still others can only be spoken through gesture and example. But every soul has a Torah. To hear another say Torah is a precious gift. For each soul, by the time of his or her final hour, the Torah is complete, the teaching done