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At the beginning of creation, the Living G-d began with planting first. For it is written; "And the L-rd G-d planted a garden eastward of Eden" (Bereishit 2:8) You too when you enter the land, shall engage in nothing but planting at first as it is written, "and you shall come into the land, you shall have planted…" (Leviticus 19:23) (Leviticus Raba 25/3) Caring for the environment is a mitzvah that has special significance in Eretz Yisrael. "How will you possess the land of Israel firmly? Building and planting will enable you to hold on to the land." (The Vilna Gaon, Kol Hator 471). We learn to appreciate the holiness of the Land by enriching it through our labor and attention. Moreover, we learn from Torah sources that building and cultivating the Land of Israel is an important step in preparing for the arrival of Mashiach: "There is no more revealed sign of redemption than when the Land of Israel produces fruits in abundance as it states in Ezekiel 36:8, But you, O mountains of Yisrael, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for soon they will come. "(Sanhedrin 98a) Long ago, travelers to the Land of Israel willingly endangered their lives just to be able to step foot on the Holy Land. They would bow down and kiss its very ground. Through working the land, a Jew is able to connect with the Creator, and work as a partner with G-d in transforming thorns and thistles into a paradise of lush greenery, bountiful with flowers, fruits, vegetables and all kinds of herbs. A real spiritual force enters one's body and soul while out in the fields of the Judean Hills. Here our Patriarchs lived, traveled, experienced joys and hardships, and had visions and insights into the future. We, too, can attain higher awareness by simply reaching out to the earth.
Living in Harmony with Nature "See my works and how good and excellent they
are! Now all that has been created is for the good of humankind.
Think upon this. Do not corrupt or destroy My world. You are to
be a caretaker of the Earth. For if you destroy it, there will be
no one to restore it after you." The prohibition of destroying fruit-trees during a siege, and likewise all destruction and waste is included in this prohibition: "… This is the way of the pious people of good deeds, who love peace, rejoice in the good of creation, and bring everyone close to the Torah. They do not destroy anything, even a mustard seed. It troubles them to encounter any destruction or waste. If they can act to save anything from destruction, they use all their power to save it." (Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzva 529) "What made the greatest impression upon me during my stay at B'erot was our hike to a wild vineyard in the surrounding mountains. I had never ever been at a vineyard before in my life. I felt mesmerized by the striking sight of clusters blue and green grapes. I experienced a feeling of merging with my environment. Just like the ultimate purpose of the grapes is to be used for Kidush - so were we all in our Tshuva in the process of becoming holy and learning to sanctify G-d' name." (Chana Gardner)
Uplifting The Sparks Recycling is part of the basic Jewish way of Tikkun
Olam - (Betterment of the World) through the way we live. By recycling,
we elevate even the "lowest" materials by reconnecting
them to a purposeful role in the cycle. This connects the sparks
of holiness and purpose in each thing that we work with to its higher
capacity. Here at B'erot we built a stone composter with room for three different piles, each at different stages. We spent an afternoon first clearing the thorns and grass from the area and then building the walls. Our compost pile is close to the kitchen for easy access and just in front of our future garden site. Students take turns emptying the compost bucket and adding earth to the pile. Finally, when the compost is finished, we put it back in the garden where it will enrich the soil and nourish the new plants . And so the cycle continues… "For most of the time I learned at Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin, our garden produced vegetables and herbs, food for our kitchen and spices for Havdalah. We learned how to take trumah and maaser, the portions reserved for Kohanin, Leviim and the poor. I truly felt myself to be the beneficiary of a tremendous miracle every time I prepared a meal with our homegrown vegetables." (Aviva Yechielli)
Faith Through Planting The medieval Torah scholar and poet Yehuda Halevi in his book The Kuzari notices that the seed actually decomposes completely before it is transformed into a tender plant. He compares this with the fate of the Jewish people who became completely decomposed and scattered before the ingathering of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Temple. On a personal level, we can learn from the nature of seeds that when things seem most dark and devastating it is only the dark before the dawn. The more hopeless the situation, the closer is its gratifying solution. In this way planting seeds can strengthen our faith in a better future.
Things We Learn From Weeding The earth always wants to cover itself. If you remove weeds it will grow new ones, unless you plant something else there. This shows us the modesty of the earth that it will never let it self lay naked. It also teaches us that when we repent and remove old patterns of life, we need to find replacements for the old ways, in our new improved lifestyle. Weeds often look similar to the plants they grow near. This teaches us that the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) tends to disguise itself to seem like the good inclination, which makes it hard for us to distinguish it and become aware of its workings. Also some weeds are totally entangled with the plants they grow near, making the selection (Birur) so much more difficult. Likewise our Yetzer Hara is sometimes so completely entangled with our good inclination that it is difficult to separate them. When you pull out weeds it is important not just to uproot them and have them lying around nearby but to totally remove them. Because they are so strong they may otherwise take root again. From this we can learn that when we do Teshuva it is important to completely remove ourselves from our previous environment and past ways of being, in order that we won't be tempted to slip back to our old patterns again. "When I first came to Bat Ayin I could
not relate to all this talk about the importance of agriculture.
We were intellectuals involved with lofty ideas! Why should we have
to get dirt under our fingernails?
Excepts From Text Sheets From Our Herbal Workshop Hyssop "Purge me with Hyssop, and
I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. " Growth: Hyssop grows all over the country of Israel between rocks and terraces. Mentioned in our Bible, by the Rambam, the Chida, and in the book of Segulot, the common denominator of these writings on hyssop is that it is used for both spiritual and physical cleansing. It is a spiritual purifying agent against the impurity of contact with death, and it also eliminates viruses. Medicinal Properties: Hyssop is good against stomachache, nausea, colds, earaches, cough, headaches, intestinal worms, infected gums, urinary infections, and more. Date Growth: Throughout Israel. Medicinal Properties: The sweet flavor of dates is soothing, tonic, building and nourishing. It is used for general debility, weakness and symptoms of aging.
Growth: It grows wild in the Galilee, the Golan, and Chermon. Medicinal Properties: Myrtle is an astringent as it helps stop bleeding, diarrhea, and strengthens the teeth. An excellent purification agent, its leaves are good against different skin problems and to heal infections and sores. Myrtle also fights high blood pressure (Gitin 68b)
Our Garden Vision
"AND THE L-RD G-D TOOK THE MAN, AND PUT HIM INTO THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO TILL IT AND TO GUARD IT"(Genesis 2:15)
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Finding
Our Roots
