The land must be kept sacred and pure. Fertility became a consequence of the moral standards of human society. A recent U.S. edition of the Bible for popular use omitted the book of Leviticus because the editors deemed it to be archaic, primitive, and irrelevant. Nothing could be more obtuse. Urban civilization has blunted our reverence for land and our appreciation of its fragileness.
Atheism is a philosophy spawned in settings where people are surrounded by what they have built.
As the liturgical calendar of Leviticus shows, the priestly code is the product of an agricultural society in which the immediacy of nature still prevails. The festivals have not yet been historicized. They remain grounded in the sanctity of the land, which will bless its human occupants only if treated with reverence and restraint. Talk Shop Sign Up Search Courses Receive the JTS Torah commentary and Shabbat candlelighting times sent to you weekly by e-mail. Click here to sign up for free membership.