Environment: A journey into the wild soul we lost among the towers

Source: The words of A.D. Gordon: Gazing into the eyes of nature

"And on that day you will open your eyes, O man, and gaze straight into the eyes of nature and see your image in them. And you will know that you have returned to yourself, for in ignoring nature, you ignored yourself."

(A.D. Gordon, "Man and Nature", Chapter 2)

Explanation: Agriculture as medicine for the soul: Healing the inner rift

A.D. Gordon did not view agriculture as an economic endeavor, but as an existential need. In his eyes, urban man is "maimed" in his soul because he has been severed from the source of his vitality. The return to nature was not meant merely for growing tomatoes, but for the psychological healing of the inner rift carved out by an artificial life—a return to the womb of 'Mother Earth.'

Perspective: From Enkidu to the tower: The story of lost wild strength

We live in boxes, commute in a box, and stare at a box. This sterile environment has bred a collective neurosis; humans simply did not evolve to live above the earth, under LED lights. Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh lost his wild strength and his wondrous bond with beasts the moment he entered the city and integrated into humanity. Resh Lakish, the bandit of legendary strength, found his vigor drained and was no longer able to leap across the Jordan the moment he took upon himself the yoke of Torah and entered the beit midrash (study hall) (Sanhedrin 26b). Huckleberry Finn fled to the raft and the open river the moment 'civilization' (Aunt Sally) tried to 'sivilize' him, dress him in a suit, and shut him up in a house. We have lost the foundation of the earth, and we hang in midair, suspended in high-rise towers.

Going Deeper: Sustainable development: Between needs and limitations

As stated in one of the landmark international conventions on environmental protection (the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, 1987, Chapter 2): "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs."

Since that report, endless more reports and conventions have been drafted, yet turning a blind eye to our own greed and resting on the feeling that 'everything will be fine' prevents any real change. The 'Pareto principle' continues to prove true: 20% of the population consumes 80% of the world's resources, and for now, there seems to be no way to break this 'law of relativity.'

Culture: Thoreau at Walden: Living deeply instead of in quiet desperation

Henry David Thoreau, a nineteenth-century American philosopher and poet, withdrew from civilization to an isolated cabin in the woods near Walden Pond in Massachusetts for two years in order to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life," culminating in his book Walden (1854). His aim was to prove that most people lead lives of "quiet desperation" because of an endless chase after luxuries and property. He traded reading the newspapers for watching the melting ice and wars between ants, arguing in the book that the richest person is the one whose needs are the few and simple. Only by disconnecting from social noise, he discovered, can a person finally hear their own thoughts.

It is worth remembering that many like him across the world—perhaps even the majority—make do with little, live with dignity, and see the world as majesty rather than a mere resource.