Kol Nidre 5767 – Climate Change on the Planet and in the Shul
On Rosh Hashanah we celebrate the birthday of the world –
the world into which we as humans entered very late in the scheme of creation,
the world upon which we latecomers have managed to wreak terrible havoc.
According to the Torah, Man and Woman came into this world on the 6th Day.
God instructed Adam and Eve to nurture and to preserve the Garden (Gen 2:15).
Science teaches us that if we divide up the history of the planet to add up to a total of 24 hours, we humans have been here for the equivalent of just half a minute.
In that ½ minute, the human race has managed to do great harm to this planet.
During the 10 days of Teshuvah, (Return/Repentance) we reflect on our lives and begin making the changes that we know we need to make.
On Yom Kippur we confess our sins.
The ways in which “civilized” society is destroying our precious planet earth is our greatest collective sin. It affects every single one of us, whether we realize it or not.
Some of us are more culpable than others, but we are all part of the problem.
We are all guilty.
Tonight, together with many rabbis around the country, I am sounding the Shofar about Global Warming – the frightening fact that we humans, especially we Americans – the most wasteful society in the world -- are destroying the planet.
With only 4.5% of the world’s population, Americans produce over 25% of its greenhouse gases.
A 13th century German Jewish pietistic text, Sefer HaChinuch (529), suggests that: “Tzadikim (righteous people) … do not waste in this world even a mustard seed. They become sorrowful with every wasteful and destructive act that they see, and if they can, they use all their strength to save everything possible from destruction.”
In that spirit then, I call on all of you to take action to preserve as much as possible of our remaining clean air, water, good earth, and the plant and animal life that dwells upon it.
Global Warming and the destruction of countless species that has accompanied this process, is a moral issue and a spiritual issue that transcends politics and geographical boundaries.
It is an issue of our responsibility to one other, to all the other forms of life on earth, and to the planet itself -- our only home.
It is also an issue of our responsibility to future generations.
In parashat Nitzavim, which is always read the week before Rosh Hashanah, we are told:
“You stand before me today...not only you, but all the generations that will follow you.”
When I think about the children that will inherit the mess that we and our parents and grandparents have created, my heart goes out to them.
I am worried about my nieces, my friends’ children, your children and grandchildren.
Many of us will be gone within 40 years.
The children will be the ones to suffer when the coastal cities of the world – including the USA -- flood due to the melting of the polar ice caps.
The children will be the ones to suffer, when fossil fuels run out and the global economy comes to a grinding halt.
The children will be the ones to suffer when there are no fish left in the oceans and the rivers.
Our parents’ and grandparents’ generations may not have been aware of their negative impact on the planet, but today we have no excuse for ignoring warning signs that become more obvious and urgent with each passing day,
not with the wealth of scientific information available to us in the mass media as well as in professional journals.
Every day, as part of the daily liturgy, we recite the second paragraph after the Shema – Deut 11:13-21, the one that says “if you do not follow God’s commandments, if you turn to false gods, the earth will not yield its produce and we will be banished from the Land that God has given us.”
As I say these words, I think about the false gods of oil, money and material comforts,
and I think about the situation that we, the humans of the “civilized world,” have created, as a result of worshipping – relying on -- these false gods.
We are spinning out of control, so dependent on oil and other limited natural resources,
a brutal crash is all but inevitable.
It’s just a matter of when.
The land referred to in Torah – the land that will cease to yield its produce -- is specifically the Land of Israel. But these verses from Deuteronomy are universal.
We, the human race, will almost certainly be banished from the entire planet earth in the not-too-distant future,
along with the many species that have already become extinct or are doomed to extinction as a result of our ignorance, selfishness and negligence over the past century.
But we don’t even have to look to the future to see the effects of global warming and related abuses of our planet. Right now we can see how our mistreatment of the earth has affected the plants, fish, birds and animals; the rivers, lakes and oceans; the air quality and the temperature of the air.
Environmental degradation affects our lives directly, even here in beautiful, wild Maine.
Asthma, other respiratory illnesses, cancer, and many other diseases are a direct result of the poisons we have poured into the air and water, which seeps into our food supply. None of us are immune from it.
When we drive our cars, use electricity, buy products that come to us from far away, use and throw away plastic, use and toss paper products, etc… all these things that we do every day without thinking… they all contribute to the ruin of our planet.
We are all habituated to a non-sustainable -- and therefore a destructive -- way of life.
I’m very excited that finally, several days ago, after thinking about doing this for a year, I switched my electricity supplier over to Maine Renewable Energy, which generates its electricity at the only certified low impact hydro facility in Maine.
It costs about 50% more than CMP’s default supplier. I’m grateful that such an option is available to me, and that I can afford to take advantage of it.
Are you willing to pay more for electricity, use less gas and electric power, reuse and recycle more, consume less, modify your diet to eat food that is primarily organic and locally grown, and put up with some other minor inconveniences, so that there will be a future for your children and grandchildren?
I know that there are many among you who have been aware of this impending crisis for many years, long before I awoke to it, and who are already doing your utmost to minimize your negative impact on the earth. You know who you are. THANK YOU.
There is no way to remove ourselves from this mess without completely getting off the power grid, which involves a lot of sacrifices that most of us are not willing to make.
Because families are so scattered today, living entirely off the grid would cut most of us off from people we love.
Tonight I invite you -- I call upon you as individuals and as a community, to participate in the Shalom Center’s Green Menorah Project, which asks us to commit ourselves, in a number of ways, to changing our habits to be just a little bit more earth-friendly.
You can find information about it out in the foyer, on the green fliers.
There is another flier out there, from COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life. The Coalition is sponsoring a campaign, cleverly called: “A Light Among the Nations,” or “How many Jews does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” which begins with the simple commitment to replace incandescent lightbulbs with Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFLs), which use 75% less energy.
Please take the fliers on your way out.
There will be at least two opportunities to discuss their contents with other members of the synagogue between now and the Nov 12 annual meeting.
Now for a Davar Aher – the Talmudic phrase meaning – “Another word”, or “another subject.”
Prior to Rosh Hashanah I had announced that my entire sermon tonight would be on the subject of Climate Change and Jewish teachings about the environment.
I realized later that my talk would be incomplete if I did not also address the social climate – the one that we create for ourselves and one another in every interaction we share.
On Erev Rosh Hashana I made a request to all of you (including myself) to cease from Lashon HaRa, to refrain from negative talk about one another for a minimum of 10 days.
We still have 24 hours to atone – to avoid saying anything negative and to avoid listening to any negative talk about any one else.
Of course negative talk has its roots in negative thinking, which usually has its roots in fear – fear of losing something -- a sense of being threatened in some way.
Rather than looking for, valuing, and expressing our appreciation of the unique gifts that each person brings to this community, there is sometimes a tendency to focus on what annoys and threatens us.
Orchot Tzaddikim, The Ways of the Righteous, a medieval Jewish treatise on Ethics, of anonymous authorship, teaches the following:
“One who speaks Lashon HaRa always targets the faults of others. A gossip is like a fly that always rests on the wound. If a person has boils, flies will ignore the rest of the body and hover over the sore. A gossip ignores all the good in a person and speaks only of the evil.”
We still have these 24 hours to reflect on our own part in whatever tensions exist among us, instead of pointing fingers at others.
Jewish tradition teaches that the Second Temple was destroyed because of Sinat Hinam, baseless hatred amongst the various Jewish sects of that period.
Animosity breeds animosity. Respect breeds respect. Attempts to understand one another breed greater understanding. Love breeds love.
The thirteen attributes of God that we repeat many times during Yom Kippur, all have to do with loving kindness.
As we reflect on our many transgressions, we comfort ourselves with these words (“Adonai, Adonai, El rahum v’Chanun,” etc) from the book of Exodus, which remind us that God is slow to anger and quick to forgive.
We are asked to try to emulate these qualities.
Orchot Tzaddikim, which I just quoted above, advises us:
“When you think about becoming angry, try not to feel the offense.
Stop yourself from growing angry before it begins.”
If we are focused on this or that melody which isn’t the same as the one we are used to,
or on what was included or left out of the service,
then we are missing the point of Yom Kippur.
If we are focused on a Board decision that does not sit well with us,
or on this or that person who said or did something we didn’t like;
If we are focused on those who have expressed hostility toward us either openly or behind our backs;
If we are focused on anything else but our own teshuvah,
then we are missing the point of Yom Kippur.
We cannot do teshuvah for others.
We can only try to improve our own character, to purify our own thoughts and speech,
to correct our own not-so-pleasant or productive behaviors, to develop our own humility.
If we in any way become distracted by the behavior of others, we lose out on the opportunity for growth, peace and kaparah (atonement) – that this Holy day offers us.
The most powerful scene in the film Ushpizin is when the main character, Moshe, after an extreme provocation, runs into the woods and throws himself on the ground sobbing and begging God to help him to overcome his anger.
“Lo rotzeh li’chos!” “God, I don’t want to be angry!”
Our egos are often stirred to anger. It doesn’t take much.
But in our heart of hearts, we don’t want to be angry.
I have been finding it helpful to do what Moshe did in the movie.
I believe that working to release our individual anger and self-righteous indignation will increase the health, peace and integrity of Adas Yoshuron, as well as improving all our other relationships. Everything else will flow from there.
The following words of Mother Theresa, albeit not a Chassid or a Talmud scholar,
have inspired and challenged me for many years:
People are often
unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them
anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish,
ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you
will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed
anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be
Honest and Frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone
could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and
happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you
do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give
the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give
the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the
final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between
you and them anyway.
There is similar wisdom in our own tradition:
The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 88b teaches:
“The Sages could be shamed but did not shame in return. They could be disgraced but did not answer. Serve God out of love and celebrate being tested.”
And from the Baal Shem Tov:
“If you see another person doing something ugly, meditate on the presence of that same ugliness in yourself. And know that it is one of God’s mercies that God brought this sight before your eyes to remind you of that fault in you, so as to bring you back in repentance.”
Ben Zoma said:
Who is wise? He who learns from all men…
Who is mighty? He who subdues his passions (his anger)…
Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion…
Who is honored? He that honors his fellow men.
[Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers, 4:1)]
Let’s all take these words of Ben Zoma to heart, and do our best to follow his advice.
The d’var (words) on Climate Change that I began with, and the d’var (words)
about how we treat each other that I just shared, are interrelated.
We are out of touch with the earth that sustains us, and we are out of touch with each other.
We USE the earth without thinking of how we are affecting her and without thinking about the long term consequences of our actions on future generations.
We USE each other to attain our goals and get our needs met.
We can be short-sighted and selfish.
We neglect to see the whole person before us, instead focusing on superficial personality traits or on issues about which we disagree.
We forget to see God in one another.
We forget that we are interconnected.
A friend sent me a Rosh Hashana card with a picture of a braided rope on the front, with the message:
“Our lives are interconnected. May our awareness of these interconnections increase so that we can all live together in peace.”
AMEN.
Gmar Hatimah Tovah – May you all be sealed for a good year.