That said, we do make a lot of decisions about things like where to plant plants, which plants to protect and which to cut down, which plants to genetically modify, which plants to selectively breed, which pollinators to proactively expose plants to, etc. #ParshaChat

"To WHOM it may concern" #ParshaChat

I think the second version of the creation story implies that. #ParshaChat

Although, I think the classical Jewish understanding was that this is a fig tree, and fig trees aren't particularly awe-inspiring as far as trees go. Apple trees though... #ParshaChat

Exactly 👍 Yes. 🙌 I’m thinking of how little we know. How recently we learned about Mycelial communication networks. We’re constantly discovering new species, as we erase those we’ve known for generations. #ParshaChat Doesn’t Yah instruct us to be good stewards, rather than rulers/owners?

They're also living things that are bigger and older than we are. There's something kind of awe-inspiring about trees. #ParshaChat

I'm not sure; it's a fairly uncommon word. #ParshaChat

How could people direct prayers without knowing the name of the god they were directing prayers to? #ParshaChat

I wonder about alternative translations for the word here shown as “rule.” I’m thinking of indigenous wisdom of collaboration with nature. #ParshaChat

The logic I’ve heard for trees is that they connect and bridge the earth and sky, the earth goddess and the sky god, the mother and the father, man and woman, male and female. #ParshaChat

You’re right! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_B... I’ve corresponded with David about his nonfiction writing, but we never discussed religion! #ParshaChat

In the ancient world, to name something is to have power over it. That's why Moses wanted to know what God's name was: in Egyptian mythology, there were family gods, and if you knew their special name, you controlled them. But Moses found out that God could not be controlled. #ParshaChat

A4: At the same time, the plant and animal worlds are vast, and complex, and the idea of them being completely in our control seems like dangerous hubris to me.

It reminds me of how badly it goes when people decide to just make wild animals pets.
#ParshaChat

A4: I think it's true in some sense and not others. There are ways in which it is appropriate to rule over plants and animals and to use them in ways that it would *not* be appropriate to rule over and use human beings. #ParshaChat

And a piece on disability and indigeneity in Canada pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40063938/ #ParshaChat

Q4: What do you make of this instruction to rule over plants and animals? To what extent is it possible or impossible to do this? To what extent is it a good or bad idea to do this? #ParshaChat

Here is the essay about Māori linguistic of disability thedlist.co.nz/newsfeed/wha... #ParshaChat

And it's complicated by the fact that it's good to have *some* resistance to being told you're wrong, it's not good to be too easily influenced.

But we do need to be able to learn new things and change our minds when it's warranted. Easier said than done.
#ParshaChat

Basically all of the North American tribal languages lack a word for disability. Last week I was reading an essay the challenge of translating government disability policies into Māori where they recently created a word for this purpose, and that new word/phrase carries baggage. #ParshaChat

The story was written thousands of years ago, in a world where the tree was a powerful symbol of wisdom. Numerous religions have stories about key figures sitting under a tree and gaining some sort of insight. #ParshaChat