Elu V' Elu for March 2008

(Rabbi’s Corner)

Rabbi Gary A. Glickstein

On Kol Nidre, I spoke about our Congregation’s commitment to the environment. I highlighted the work of our Green Committee and the fact that we at Temple Beth Sholom are taking important steps to partner with others in changing the way we use and sometimes abuse our environment. I spoke about change,Teshuva, the primary religious concept permeating Yom Kippur.

A few of our congregants were unhappy with my words. They felt that I was making a political statement and that politics are not appropriate on Kol Nidre.

I disagree. It is precisely on Kol Nidre that political issues which affect our lives and the lives of the entire population of the world are appropriate. Furthermore, the issue of embracing the Green Movement is as much a Jewish spiritual issue as embracing God.

In Kohelet Rabba, a classic Midrash, it is written that when the Holy One, Blessed be God, created Adam and led him around all the trees of the Garden of Eden, God said, “Take care that you do not become corrupt and thus destroy My world. For once you become corrupt, there is no one after you to repair it.” Everything we do affects everything that exists.

Rabbi Yerucham of Mir wrote,“We learn from the seismograph that a tremor in any part of the world can be felt by a sufficiently sensitive instrument everywhere in the world. The same is true of a person’s deeds. One should not think that one’s actions do not affect others. Everything one does in some way affects everyone else in the world. ”Our tradition places us, as human beings, in the role of both conqueror of Nature and keeper of the Garden.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, the Rav, wrote The Lonely Man of Faith. In it, the Rav describes both roles given to us. He describes
the first Adam, found in Genesis Chapter 1, as mandated to control nature and the natural world. In Genesis, Chapter 1:28, God blesses humans, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth.” The Rav contrasts that with the second Adam, described in Genesis Chapter 2, who is charged to “cultivate the Garden and guard it.” We are commanded to live with the tension that we both master the environment and use it to our benefit, but at the same time, not exploit it to the point of destroying our natural habitat.

The scientific world has reached the consensus that we are approaching the critical time when what we have done in harnessing our natural
resources may very well be irreparable. Our Jewish tradition has always deferred to scientific consensus. Furthermore, our tradition has generally followed the golden mean, erring on the side of preservation. Our tradition speaks of making a fence around the Torah, to protect it and to keep it vibrant. It is time for us to do the same for the environment.

Our congregation has started transitioning to environmentally-sound practices. The FP&L evaluation of our building validated that the steps we have taken are in keeping with the best practices of present conservation standards. Our Green Committee has instituted recycling throughout our building. We are presently examining a number of further steps we can take to raise awareness of this issue. I encourage each of our congregants to become involved in this essential effort. Temple Beth Sholom will be offering various programs, in partnership with FUSE (Faiths
United for Sustainable Energy) and other organizations, to further aid in the goal of “cultivating the Garden and guarding it.” We are taking seriously God’s command that we become shomrei adamah - guardians of the earth.

This is not political.
This is the deepest of spiritual quests.
This process demands that we examine our lives and account for the way we use the blessings God has given us through nature.
This is not business.
This is personal.

What we do today will affect our children and our grandchildren. Each of us can make a difference. Like the tremors in the earth, each act reverberates around the world. Make a difference. Change is not only possible, but also fundamental to our Jewish faith.