To reach people, you have to come from a place of love. Our tradition teaches love, love for one another and love for the the natural world. The psalms are full of natural imagery, imagery that conveys G-d's majesty and glory.
(יג) צַ֭דִּיק כַּתָּמָ֣ר יִפְרָ֑ח כְּאֶ֖רֶז בַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן יִשְׂגֶּֽה׃ (יד) שְׁ֭תוּלִים בְּבֵ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה בְּחַצְר֖וֹת אֱלֹהֵ֣ינוּ יַפְרִֽיחוּ׃ (טו) ע֭וֹד יְנוּב֣וּן בְּשֵׂיבָ֑ה דְּשֵׁנִ֖ים וְרַֽעֲנַנִּ֣ים יִהְיֽוּ׃ (טז) לְ֭הַגִּיד כִּֽי־יָשָׁ֣ר יְהוָ֑ה צ֝וּרִ֗י וְֽלֹא־עלתה [עַוְלָ֥תָה] בּֽוֹ׃
The righteous bloom like a date-palm; they thrive like a cedar in Lebanon; (14) planted in the house of the LORD, they flourish in the courts of our God. (15) In old age they still produce fruit; they are full of sap and freshness, (16) attesting that the LORD is upright, my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
This is among my favorite psalms, it always makes me think of Shabbat and my family. When my mother made me a tefillin bag, I asked her to put some of the words from it as well as a palm tree design on the bag. I did a kibbutz ulpan before rabbinical school and would spend hours looking out at the date palms spread out in the valley the kibbutz was part of. The psalm reminds me of the beauty of that time. Its words give me hope that if we strive to do good, good will come.
The natural world provides a means of connection and understanding of G-d, we may never see G-d but we will likely see towering waves and hear the clap of thunder at different points in our lives. We can see date palms and taste their sweet fruit. Through these symbols and our connections to them we may begin to feel awe.... and this awe can inspire love.
To fight for climate justice we have to remember what that love feels like, and to continuously draw from it in our work.
The consequences of climate change are terrifying and human caused, but this verse teaches me that when attempting to alter the behaviors causing these consequences and in the process confront my fears, I must do so from a place of love for the people I am addressing. I can't put my head in the sand about climate change but I also can't come from a place of finger shaking. I have to remember that I am doing this because I love the world and the people in it.
Fighting climate change is an expression of this love and it's why I am speaking to you today.
(טז) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה. אִם לָמַדְתָּ תוֹרָה הַרְבֵּה, נוֹתְנִים לְךָ שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה. וְנֶאֱמָן הוּא בַעַל מְלַאכְתְּךָ שֶׁיְּשַׁלֵּם לְךָ שְׂכַר פְּעֻלָּתֶךָ. וְדַע מַתַּן שְׂכָרָן שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא:
(16) He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it; If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward. Faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor; And know that the grant of reward unto the righteous is in the age to come.
It is not my individual duty to solve the climate crisis, but I have to try to alter the course of events for the better. We are not guarenteed short term success, but we should have faith that our actions are not without consequence.
When I was interviewing for this internship, I told our boss Vicki Kaplan that I felt I would be able to spiritually handle an election outcome harmful to our planet and society. However I couldn't do that if I didn't feel like I had made a serious effort to stop that from happening.
The Torah I study teaches me these values, but I have to combine them with action. When I do there is this beautiful synergy that emerges. I am the text and the text is me.
(ב) רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל בְּנוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא אוֹמֵר, יָפֶה תַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה עִם דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, שֶׁיְּגִיעַת שְׁנֵיהֶם מְשַׁכַּחַת עָוֹן. וְכָל תּוֹרָה שֶׁאֵין עִמָּהּ מְלָאכָה, סוֹפָהּ בְּטֵלָה וְגוֹרֶרֶת עָוֹן. וְכָל הָעֲמֵלִים עִם הַצִּבּוּר, יִהְיוּ עֲמֵלִים עִמָּהֶם לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, שֶׁזְּכוּת אֲבוֹתָם מְסַיַּעְתָּן וְצִדְקָתָם עוֹמֶדֶת לָעַד. וְאַתֶּם, מַעֲלֶה אֲנִי עֲלֵיכֶם שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה כְּאִלּוּ עֲשִׂיתֶם:
(2) Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi Judah Hanasi said: excellent is the study of the Torah when combined with a worldly occupation, for toil in them both keeps sin out of one’s mind; But [study of the] Torah which is not combined with a worldly occupation, in the end comes to be neglected and becomes the cause of sin. And all who labor with the community, should labor with them for the sake Heaven, for the merit of their forefathers sustains them (the community), and their (the forefather’s) righteousness endures for ever; And as for you, [God in such case says] I credit you with a rich reward, as if you [yourselves] had [actually] accomplished [it all].
We have to try to address the problems in our world and in our lives, that is what this mishnah teaches me. It is how we keep the fire of Torah burning through the generations. The reward might seem remote or success improbable, but they exist and we have a duty to fight for them. The challenges become much more manageable when we approach them as a group, and this is especially true in the case of the climate crisis.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato's 18th century musar text "Messilat Yesharim" has a passage that pretty well encapsulates the nature of the challenge the climate crisis presents.
(ד) וההולך בעולמו בלי התבוננות אם טובה דרכו או רעה, הנה הוא כסומא ההולך על שפת הנהר אשר סכנתו ודאי עצומה ורעתו קרובה מהצלתו. כי אולם חסרון השמירה מפני העורון הטבעי או מפני העורון הרצוני דהיינו סתימת העינים בבחירה וחפץ, אחד הוא.
(ה) והנה ירמיהו היה מתאונן על רוע בני דורו מפני היותם נגועים בנגע המדה הזאת, שהיו מעלימים עיניהם ממעשיהם בלי שישימו לב לראות מה הם: הלהעשות אם להעזב?
(ו) ואמר עליהם (ירמיה ח): אין איש נחם על רעתו לאמר וגו' כלה שב במרוצתם כסוס שוטף במלחמה.
(ז) והיינו, שהיו רודפים והולכים במרוצת הרגלם ודרכיהם מבלי שיניחו זמן לעצמם לדקדק על המעשים והדרכים, ונמצא שהם נופלים ברעה בלי ראות אותה.
(4) One who walks along in his world without contemplating whether his ways are good or evil is similar to a blind man walking on the bank of a river. His danger is certainly very great and his calamity is more likely than his escape. For negligence in guarding oneself from danger due to natural blindness and negligence due to willful blindness, namely shutting one's eyes by choice and desire is one and the same.
(5) Jeremiah would bemoan on the evil of his contemporaries' affliction with the disease of this trait. They would turn a blind eye to their deeds, not putting heart to consider what they were doing, whether to do or refrain from doing it.
(6) Regarding them he said: "no man regrets of his evil, saying, What have I done? Each one running to his own course, as the horse rushes into the battle." (Jer. 8:6)
(7) The explanation is that they would pursue and go by the momentum of habit and conduct, without leaving themselves time to consider their deeds and ways. Thus they fell into evil without even seeing it.
While I don't believe we can accurately equate physical blindness with anything other than physical blindness, the above text does a great job of explaining how we have gotten to this point in our relationship with the Earth. It is this same cycle of action without reflection but multiplied on a global scale over an extended period of time.
This cycle has built such tremendous, global momentum that I believe the only hope for breaking it is a radical societal overhaul beginning with government policy. We have about a decade to nearly halve our emissions or risk dramatic increases in flooding, droughts and other deadly weather events, per a 2018 report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The damage we are doing is being done on a massive scale, so to must be the corrective.
Our actions have the power to cause incredible harm or good in aggregate, Dayenu is an effective vehicle for individuals to work towards the common good. Two and a half hours of your evening spent phone banking or text banking might not seem like much, but climate changed is caused and will be defeated by many small actions. Dayenu began with an initial goal of reaching 200,000 voters, we've already exceeded that and are now pushing towards 500,000 voters. I hope what the other Dayenu fellows and I have said today has made you want to be a part of that.