Honor the Sanctity of Measured Consumption
Seven Laws for a Beautiful Planet, The Noahide Tradition
By Tzvi Freeman
The fourth principle of Noah has to do with how we exploit the life and resources of our world.
This principle is stated clearly in Genesis, “Do not eat meat while its soul is still within it.” Quite simply, if we wish to eat meat, we must wait until the entire animal has died before removing one of its limbs for consumption. We are not permitted to cause unnecessary suffering to any creature.
But we must look deeper, into the spirit of the words: that we must respect the life and function of whatever we consume. And that is only sustainable when we recognize that all life is purposeful because it is the work of a single, deliberate and purposeful consciousness.
Everywhere on the planet, a grand symphony of life unfolds. Oxygen, carbon and hydrogen are fused by the sun to give life to plants and trees; a multitude of swimming, crawling, running and flying beings each plays its part as simple organisms are consumed by more complex, intelligent and conscious beings.
Which way is up and which is down? There is no way to tell. For it is the simple that gives life to the more complex and each depends on the other—until all together they present a masterful, integrated whole.
The chain of life continues into the non-physical realm, for the human being stands as a bridge between the material and the spiritual. We are meant to live with our feet on the earth and our hearts towards the heavens, tending to the most mundane matters of eating and sleeping in a mindful way, consuming our food with care and respect for the life that brought it to us. In this way, we carry the life we consume one step higher, from the material to the spiritual.
With every bite we eat, every calorie of energy we burn, we can choose to continue dragging our environment into greater disarray—or to bond heaven and earth, connecting the life of this planet with a higher purpose.
Since the Source of all things is an essential oneness, so every detail of the world around us expresses a magnificent unity. As the Kabbalists explain, in every event, every life and every creature an infinite light can be found, because the truth within each thing is divine.
Humankind has the capacity to reveal that divinity within all earthly things and to connect them to the infinite light. But we also have the capacity for the opposite, to cause acrimony and unbalance. This is a challenge for every human being: To choose harmony with the soul of the universe and reveal the harmony of all of the creation.
And this begins with acknowledgment of the world’s master and awe for the masterwork we inhabit.
Source Text:
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4157474/jewish/Seven-Laws-for-a-Beautiful-Planet.htm#2
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