It is a strange thing, and probably a measure of our exilehood, to be celebrating Tu Bi'Shevat in the dead of winter, when the remains of an old snowfall are covered with the soot and grime belched forth by chimneys dedicated to technology and the artificial rather than the natural. Yet this is the day, according to the Mishnah, that begins the new year for trees; that is, today is the first day of a new calendar year for the calculation of payment of the tithes and for the other laws of Judaism relating to agriculture. And therefore, despite the inclement and inappropriate climate, this is the right time for a discussion of the relationship of man to, and his kinship with, Nature.The relationship of man and Nature may sound abstract, utterly Inconsequential and impractical. Yet It is this which defines the whole outlook of a man upon his life and has, therefore, the broadest ramifications.We find two tendencies. On the one hand, there is a group of Nature-lovers who see in the return to Nature a great ideal. Ancient mythologies, and modern science as well, consider man as a part of Nature. In our more recent literature, Nature-worshipers find a strong distaste for man’s interference in the natural order. These authors see man as one who violates, defiles, and deforms Nature, who pollutes the atmosphere and poisons the sea, who desolates wild life and who must be protected against by programs of conservation.On the other hand, there are those who see man’s uniqueness in his divorce from Nature. Thomas Hardy put it this ways "Man begins where Nature ends; Nature and man can never be friends." And in the most recent issue of Saturday Review (February 5, 1966), Eric Hoffer maintains that the great undeclared war, the contest between man and nature, is "the central drama of the universe." From his own highly varied experiences, from that of longshoreman to philosopher, he finds that Nature is inhospitable and ill-disposed. It is Nature, after all, that is responsible f…

Ever since Rachel Carson wrote her Silent Spring some seven years ago, and especially during the last year or two, the problem of man’s mishandling of nature has come to the forefront of public consciousness. Once, a small, elite group used to advocate conservation, trying to protect certain specific preserves of nature from plundering by a careless humanity. Today, however, all segments of the public have become interested in ecology – not only in specific areas of nature, but in the totality of natural forces, based upon the premise that injury to any one significant segment of the natural scene will upset its fine balance of forces and so eventually destroy human life on the face of this planet. We should not be deterred by the attraction ecology seems to have for many radicals and cultists, who apparently have tired of civil rights and even Mao and the Black Panthers. It is an extremely urgent project and deserves the most serious attention by all of us. The President and Congress have moved forward commendably in trying to legislate on the subject. Yet, that is still inadequate. It is not enough to eliminate known sources of pollution of the air and water. A distinguished scientist, Rene Dubos (in Psychology Today, March 1970), has reminded us that we still know very little indeed about pollution. Some 70% of the precipitate contaminants in urban air are still unidentified, and 20-30 years from now, those who today are infants, the ages of 1, 2, and 3, will undoubtedly show varying signs of permanent and chronic malfunction. Modern technological man, apparently, is clever enough to subdue nature – and stupid enough to wreck it.There is no doubt that Judaism fully supports the endeavors to restore the balance of nature with man’s respect for it. The Bible teaches us that man was given dominion over Nature: after creating man and woman, “God blessed them and God said unto them: ‘be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; and have dominion ov…