For The Land Is Mine

FOR THE LAND IS MINE כי לי הארץ

I literally have not been to services or a synagogue since Shavuos. The consequences of this for me as a jew who also wants to be a rabbi aside, I had every intention of making it today. After changing half a dozen times and realizing that a recent shampoo experiment had failed, I still got out of the house and biked to the shul. Unfortunately the sign declared Mazel Tov to a bar mitzvah. They are a blessing to our community and I can see why their entire extended family and every friend they have would want to celebrate that with them but the parking lot was packed and I really just like our quiet services and had no idea if I was going to be an underdressed, greasy haired skeezbag crashing services.

So, I pulled a U-y, and by that I mean I waited to turn left on Sheridan for the rest of my life. I went to the farmer's market instead. I bought delicious healthful produce from the people who labored so G-d could bring it forth from the land for us. And I went home and watched the rest of the game. Nations coming together for healthy sport is part of the Messianic promise, right?

And after talking to one of my friends for a while I am now sitting down to catch up on Torah Portions because I'm clearly a bad jew and a shondes to our people.

I'm more than a month behind.

BUT, I found a gem, which I will now use to justify some of my failings.

Shortly after the commandment for Shmitta year (http://kxshazam.blogspot.com/2011/06/jubilee-biblical-not-marvelical.html), we get this:

Lev. 25: “....for the land is mine; you are but strangers resident with me. 24:Throughout the land you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land.”

That's a powerful message right there. The first part is that we are the lowliest of renters. The word for strangers is a familiar one to me, which means also a sort of convert-to-be living among Judaism, but it also is used for an alien resident, an immigrant. We are foreign to the earth. Guests here. And as renter-guests, we've laid a heavy deposit.

The second message is that we are responsible for the redemption of the land. And I believe that here it is a capitalized, Redemption. “to provide for”, at all times, we are to be making the land ready for it's re-set, for it's actual Owner. Not, nature itsowndamnself, but you and me-- US.

So as the world is ravaged by some pretty omnipotent [?] weather, increasing in it's potency, and a food crisis. And all the fraking and food packaging and bullshit. Maybe is is okay that I agoraphobia-d from that boy's special day to live a little Torah. Especially if it involved food. Culturally speaking, nothing says Shabbat like food.

And I guess my sabbatical World Cup adherence is just the sin of neglecting Torah study and I own up to that.