Tikkun of the Fertile Soil

36 T I K K U N W W W. T I K K U N . O R G W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 25 YEARS OF TIKKUN T he very first topic the Bible addresses at any length is food sufficiency for all creatures. In Genesis 1, the only feature of “the dry land” that receives extended attention is the primordial food chains: the wealth and diversity of “seed” that God hasprovided.“Here,Ihavegivenyouallthisforeating,”Godsays: grains and tree fruit for humans (meat-eating comes later, after the flood) and green plants for the other animals (Genesis 1:2930 ). Notably, this careful delineation of the food supply follows immediatelyafterthedivinechargethathumansshould“exercise skilled mastery among” the other creatures. (This is a better translation of Genesis 1:28 than the conventional rendering, “havedominionover.”)Soweshouldprobablyinferthatthisisthe primary and enduring form of skilled mastery that humans are meant to exercise: recognizing the God-given sufficiency of food for all creatures, and then working to perpetuate this sufficiency. TikkunoftheFertileSoil byEllenDavis Ellen F. Davis is the A. R. Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC, and author of Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (Cambridge, 2009). If that is indeed the special role of humans among the creatures (not “over” them), then we have fallen far short of our charge in this generation. In our time, largely as a result of our current practices of industrialized agriculture, the fertility of “the dry land” is severely compromised all over the world; food chains and ecosystems are collapsing and extinction rates are soaring; human food systems—involving food production, processing , transport, and distribution—are strained, fragile, or broken; and hunger is again on the rise. In this generation, we must attempt tikkun olam by learning what is required for all creatures, including all humans, to eat sufficiently. And we must learn how to restore and protect our soil and water supplies in perpetuity. Eating faithfully, doing tikkun of the fertile soil— these are the hopeful and healing forms of skilled mastery we must exercise, for the sake of our children’s children and the world that God has made. ■ 25 YEARS OF TIKKUN "BEATITUDE" BY MARGARET ADAMS PARKER (MARGARETADAMSPARKER.COM) ...