Earth Etude for Elul 6

Repentant and Grounded: Allship in Elul

By Rabbi Mike Moscowitz

One of the reasons that we are called “Earthlings,”1 b’nei adam in Hebrew, is because our ability to return to a pristine state of purity can be achieved through our connection to the Earth. Our rabbis teach “טומאה מקבל אינו לקרקע המחובר - anything that is attached (m’chubar) to the ground can’t become impure.”2 The Earth reminds us of God’s nature as Creator, who formed us from the Earth, and our role as a partner in co-creating goodness. When we separate ourselves from that relationship, the void is filled with ritual impurity.​

Tradition teaches that the same is true in the way we come together as earthlings, for each other. The Talmud posits “דִּלְכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא טוּמְאָה דְּחוּיָה הִיא בְּצִיבּוּר - everyone agrees that impurity is deferred in a community.” Purity is acquired through uniting society. When we interact with each other, the way that God expects us to, then there is nothing to repent for.

The Hebrew word for “ally,” is “חבר - chaver,” and like its Latin analog “alligare,” it is a language of attachment. Seeing people as an image of the Divine obligates us in ensuring the wellbeing of others. In the same manner, acknowledging the Earth as the physical material God used in our formation necessitates careful stewardship of it.

Seeing ourselves as one with the world around us frames the reunification of all creation as the ultimate return to the beginning. By allying with the Earth, and all earthlings, we are able to
co-create the world as God intended.

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz is the Scholar-in-Residence for Trans and Queer Jewish Studies at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBT synagogue. He is a deeply traditional and radically progressive advocate for trans rights and a vocal ally for LGBTQ inclusivity. Rabbi Moskowitz received three Ultra-Orthodox ordinations while learning in the Mir in Jerusalem and BMG in Lakewood, NJ. He is a Wexner Field Fellow, Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Hartman Institute, and the author of Textual Activism, Graceful Masculinity, and Seasonal Resistance. His newest book, Covenantal Allyship, will be available this year. Rabbi Moskowitz’s writings can be found at www.rabbimikemoskowitz.com