What is Jewish Farming is a question I get a lot...so let me share some thoughts that pretty much capture my main theory...
2/ let's start with the idea that G!d's original plan was to hang out in a garden with some naked vegetarians. (Ge. 2:8-9). A garden-not a farm. In fact, the first time we hear about farming is in the next chapter, when Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden tree
3/ G!d says, "cursed is the ground for your sake; in suffering shall you eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the grass of the field...
4/ ...By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread, until you return to the ground; for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and unto dust you shall return. (Gen 3:17-19). A few notes about this...
5/ 1st, the relationship with the land shifts from one of stewardship in the garden, to an adversarial one, rooted in struggle. 2nd, eating the grass of the field, and not the fruit of the tree, represents the advent of domesticating wild grains, which are grasses, aka farming.
6/ So one way of reading this story is that it is the telling of the agricultural revolution-a process of going from gathering in the garden to working the land. but isn't farming awesome? why would it be a curse?
7/ glad you asked. there are clearly many benefits from the shift to agriculture-most notably that we can outsource the production of food to a small % of the people, thereby freeing the rest of us up to do other things (specialization)
8/ agriculture allows for permanent settlement, major advances in building materials, tools, technology, broadly speaking. but there are also several major challenges that emerge from agriculture. the 1st we see right here-that we will have to work our butts off to eat.
9/ anthropologists say that hunter/gatherers worked an average of 2-4 hours/day to meet their daily needs-way less than farmers. what else? well, farming, in a good year, produces a surplus-more than you need right now. this is new in the realm of food...
10/ ...that we could possibly produce so much more than we need right now, and then store that surplus. this is also referred to as wealth-so farming creates the potential for wealth in a way that is totally new. good thing about this specialization thing...
11/ ...because now we can have dedicated people whose sole job is to protect that surplus for those who sit on top of the social and economic hierarchies. Those with the power. Oh yeah, that's something else that agriculture enables. And soldiers.
12/ back to the text, this idea that the early stories of Genesis is supported through a few more parts of the narrative… Adam and Eve have 2 sons-Cain the farmer and Abel the shepherd.
13/ When Cain kills Abel (Gen. 4:8) it can be read as the archetype of the farmer killing the non farmer. A process that has essentially continued up through the present day.
14/ We also see it in some of the details-Cain goes on to become a builder of cities - representing the permanent settlement that agriculture allows. We see it in some of the metal work that is described in the generations following Cain-
15/ metalwork that is only possible through forges that require permanent settlement. In fact, in the Talmud there is a discussion about what the fruit was that Adam and Eve ate (spoiler alert-it wasn’t an apple)...
16/ and there is an opinion that it is wheat-the iconic plant representing agriculture. (Talmud Brachot 40a). And the tree that they ate from, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil-how is that related to farming?
17/ Well, one way of thinking about the idea of the knowledge of good and evil, is that it is knowing (or deciding) what to nurture and what to destroy. Farming is about making those decisions when it comes to plants or animals-which are “good” and which are “evil.”
18/ So, if the story of the exile from the Garden of Eden is the story of the agricultural revolution, and the text suggests that it is a punishment or a curse, are there any stories that demonstrate how that curse can manifest? Why yes, there are…
19/ Fast forward many generations, and we get to the patriarchs and matriarchs of Judaism. Abraham (a shepherd) and Sarah have Isaac. Isaac (a shepherd) and Rebecca have Jacob. Jacob (you guessed it-a shepherd) and his partners Rachel, Leah, Bilha and Zilpa have a bunch of kids
20/ The brothers are jealous of Joseph as he is Jacob’s favorite, so they sell him off into slavery. Through a series of events, and thanks to his dream interpretation skills, he becomes the main advisor to the Pharaoh in Egypt.
21/ He interprets the Pharaoh’s dreams to reveal that there will be 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine, and instructs the Pharaoh to store up all of the surplus during the abundance.
22/ When the famine hits (Gen. 47:13-20), all the people from Egypt and the surrounding areas come to the Pharaoh to beg for food. Within 1 year they have used all of their money, and within 2 years they have sold their land, their animals, and their own bodies to the Pharaoh...
23/ Simply so they can eat.
Two years-that’s all it takes for Pharaoh to gain unprecedented control over the masses, including Joseph’s family who were forced to come down into Egypt in order to survive.
Two years-that’s all it takes for Pharaoh to gain unprecedented control over the masses, including Joseph’s family who were forced to come down into Egypt in order to survive.
24/ While at first they are treated well, once that Pharaoh and Joseph die, they are seen as strangers and as a threat, and are enslaved, murdered, and exploited. Sounds kinda like a curse.
25/ So that continues for a while, and then yada yada yada, Moses, the 10 plagues, the exodus from Egypt, followed by 40 years of wandering in the desert.
26/ This time in the desert is partly about preparing the nation to enter back into the land of Canaan, and become the dominant and ruling nation. So they are given a code (the Torah) which contains a blueprint for creating a just and holy community.
27/ And within that blueprint, there’s actually quite a bit about farming-kinda interesting for a nation of shepherds, whose main exposure to farming was in Egypt-where they were the oppressed strangers in a strange land.
28/ But when they enter into the land of Canaan, they too (most of them) will become farmers, so the Torah has some ideas about that…
29/ First, the text immediately draws some clear contrasts, “For the land that you are about to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come.” (Deut. 11:10)
30/ We’ll get back to this in a minute, but it’s important to note that this is the framing-yes, we will become farmers, but it will be different than how it went in Egypt.
31/ So the Torah lays out a whole slew of Jewish ag laws-everything from leaving the corners of the fields and the gleanings for the landless to come and harvest for themselves with dignity (Lev. 19:9-10), to donating a portion of your harvest to the poor and the priests
32/ (because in this nation, the priests are the one class of people who are prohibited from owning land).
33/ There’s laws about treating your animals fairly (Deut. 22:10), giving all people and animals a day off each week (Ex. 23:12), and forgiving the debt of the poor every 7 years (to prevent cycles of poverty). And every 50 years-land reform!
34/ And what is a constant theme throughout these laws?
“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 23:10)
“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 23:10)
35/ And what are the Israelites eating this whole time they are getting these farming laws? Manna-a food product that appears each day on its own and they go out and gather it. And if they take more than they need, it spoils.
36/ It’s a reversion to the way of eating in the Garden of Eden-a cleansing of the palate after their experience as slaves in Egypt.
37/ In fact, the whole practice of the Shmita (Sabbatical year) in which we let the land lay fallow, share all food and resources, and forgive debt, is an even more radical reversion to the pre-agricultural way of life.
38/ A reminder that there are other ways of being and feeding ourselves, and that farming has some inherent challenges that we need to preemptively address if we actually want a just and equitable society.
39/ So earlier I shared that the whole framing is that the land of Canaan is not like Egypt. In Egypt, the Nile allowed for constant production. But Canaan is a land with a rainy season and a dry season-so the success of the system is dependent on rain. And what makes it rain?
40/ “If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving Hashem your G!d and serving G!d with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil —
41/ I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle — and thus you shall eat your fill.” (Deut 11:14-15). So our entire agricultural system will thrive if, and only if, we follow the blueprint laid out for us.
42/ The rain becomes an indicator of our collective moral wellbeing. If we’re not looking out for the stranger, the orphan, the most vulnerable members of our community, in the context of food, land, work, and dignity, then the system will fail us.
43/ if you prefer a 7 point list, as opposed to a 43 point tweet storm, there's this. Thanks @JFarmSchool and @TheRaDR for the nudge. 
Footnote: these ideas come from a weaving of many books, sources, and my own experience working in this field. Some notables include the Ecology of Eden, Ishmael, and Genesis and the Rise of Civilization.
@threadreaderapp please unroll
