ABSTRACT
In the Hebrew Scriptures that form the foundation of the Jewish tradition, it is written, “The earth is the Lord's, and all that is in it; the world, and all who dwell in it” (Psalms 24:1). In the same Scriptures, however, we read, “The heavens belong to the Lord; the earth He gave to humanity” (Psalms 115:16). A contradiction? Not at all, at least not from the standpoint of Jewish tradition. The assertion that the earth belongs to the Holy One derives from the teaching that the earth and everything in it, all of its fruits, come into being through the never-ending utterance of the Creator. Therefore, despite our labor to reap the harvest from the land, when we place a piece of bread in our mouths, we say a blessing acknowledging God as hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz, that is, as the One “who brings forth bread from the earth.” The Israelites may have gathered the manna from the earth, but it came from heaven, that is, from the dimension of height that belongs to the One God, as it is written: “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat” (Exodus 16:15). Still, it is we who must till the soil, reap the harvest, and attend to the land.
