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Inter-Existence: Reverence for all Life!

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February 3, 2015

It is not only a clear starry night, a beautiful ocean, or a memorable sunset that should strike spiritual awe in us. Those are breath-taking and obvious moments of wonder and mystery. But in every encounter with existence, and with every kind of creature, there is potential for amazement.

It is said that the Ari Hakodesh would not even kill a bug, even if it was biting him (Sha’ar HaMitzvot, Noach) and that Rav Kook would not pull up a blade of grass (A Tzadik in our Time, 108-109) due to their reverence for all life. It is not merely out of respect for various life forms but respect for the Creator that this spiritual sensitivity is to be cultivated. Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, the great 16th century philosopher, taught

One should respect all creatures, recognizing in them the greatness of the Creator Who formed man with wisdom. All creatures are imbued with the Creator’s wisdom, which itself makes them greatly deserving of honor. The Maker of All, the Wise One Who transcends everything, is associated with His creatures in having made them. If one were to disparage them, God forbid, this would reflect upon the honor of their Maker,” (Tomer Devorah, chapter 2).

We are bound up with life. We are not only inter-dependent but share inter-existence. We are made of the same stuff and our destinies are inseparable. Avot D’Rebbe Natan teaches that animals are deeply influenced by human behavior and culture (chapter 8). Animals can detect human energy, fear, and decision-making and they are as impacted by deception and cruelty as they are by our kindness. So too, humans are deeply impacted not only by our “animal nature” but also by what we learn from non-human animals we encounter. Scientific studies, for example, have demonstrated the psychological impact of owning a pet such as a dog.

No creature is unnecessary in the social fabric and it is an affront to the Creator to suggest that something is pointless or merely instrumental. Rav Kook teaches

Man stands and wonders: what need is there for the diversity of creation? He is unable to understand how everything comprises one great unity… If you are amazed at how it is possible to speak, hear, smell, touch, see, understand and feel—tell your soul that all living things collectively confer upon you the fullness of your experience. Not the least speck of existence is superfluous, everything is needed, and everything serves its purpose. ‘You” are present within everything that is beneath you, and your being is bound up with all that transcends you,” (Orot HaKodesh, Volume II, page 361).

There is a thought in Jewish philosophy that animals are not to be merely used as servants to the whims of humankind. Rather we must embrace the necessary humility to bracket our sense of anthropocentrism. Maimonides explained: “It should not be believed that all the beings exist for the sake of the existence of man. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of something else,” (Guide for the Perplexed, 3:13).

Rebbe Nachman taught: “The day you were born was the day God decided the world could not exist without you.” This is an inspiring way for each of us to think of our lives, but also to think about all existence. All exists because God has chosen it to, for this very moment, for a unique purpose that may be indiscernible.

The great contemporary Chasidic thinker Rabbi Dovid Sears teaches how this moral sensitivity is part of a larger theological collage.

One of the distinguishing features of this great Jewish mystic’s teaching is the essential unity of life, which he described as a “garment” for the Divine Oneness (based on Sefer Baal Shem Tov, Genesis 12)…..This has been summed up by one Chassidic leader as “one teaching that can be expressed in two ways: Godliness is everything, and everything is Godliness,” (cited by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. IV, sec. 36).

Each of us is given a short time on this earth to be physically and spiritually interconnected with all of creation. What a wonderful gift to cherish!

 

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the Executive Director of the Valley Beit Midrash, the Founder & President of Uri L’Tzedek, the Founder and CEO of The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute and the author of seven books on Jewish ethics.  Newsweek named Rav Shmuly one of the top 50 rabbis in America.”

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