Adamah (Earth): Searching for and Constructing a Jewish Relationship to Nature

Author: Immergut, Matthew¹

Source: World Views: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Volume 12, Number 1, 2008 , pp. 1-24(24)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

This article examines the Adamah (Earth) Fellowship, a multi-denominational Jewish, sustainable and organic farming program in Northwestern Connecticut. Using a micro-sociological framework, I present an analysis of how this group of young Jews is attempting to use religious language, text and ritual to create a meaningful relationship to nature. In this effort, individuals are self-reflective, picking, choosing and trying on various religious resources within but also outside of their tradition's boundaries. In conclusion, I discuss the struggle participants have in feeling "held" by the religious world they are constructing. This article contributes to understanding the growing number of land-based religious projects seeking to recover or renew a religiously inspired relationship to the earth.

Keywords: JUDAISM; AGRICULTURE; SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF NATURE; SPIRITUALITY; PLACE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1163/156853508X276815

Affiliations: 1: Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY 10577, USA

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