Ohalah (Renewal Rabbis) Passes Climate-Crisis Resolution

Submitted by Rabbi Arthur Waskow on

 Dear chevra,

I am pleased and proud to report to you the Climate Resolution just passed by Ohalah, the association of rabbis and rabbinic pastors for Jewish  renewal. Ohalah is itself multidenominational, including many rabbis and cantors ordained from all the  older denominations of Judaism, plus a number of people ordained under the auspices of ALEPH.

I want to add that I feel happy with the usefulness of The Shalom Center in this process. We proposed a resolution; it was very considerably and ably revised by Ohalah’s Committee on Tikkun Olam (including as one member David Seidenberg); the revised version was submitted (on Tisha B’Av) to the membership for ballot that requires both a large quorum and a large majority.  

I hope we might all think of this as a model for the process we might bring to other institutions of world Jewry --  where the process of discussion, adoption, and implementation are all important elements. This resolution itself points toward action, so that Ohalah will not leave it to be just empty electrons.

Perhaps this resolution can itself offer a beginning for analogous discussions in rabbinic and congregational organizations and in others on Jewish responses to the climate crisis.

Shalom, Arthur

Ohalah Resolution on Climate Change and Call to Action

On the eve of Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, when we mourn the destruction of the First and Second Holy Temples in Jerusalem, we join together to confront the danger of climate change. We remember that the Jewish tradition, in both Midrash (interpretation) and Kabbalah (mysticism), views the earth as a temple. We also remember that Tisha B’Av is a day when we look forward to redemption, as symbolized by the tradition that the Messiah is born on this day, a time when the seed of hope for a transformed society rooted in healing and justice, love and peace, is planted.

On this day, we call one another to reflect upon the impact of climate change on this Holy Temple that is our Planet Earth, and to turn toward a better future.

We recognize that climate change is a danger to our economy and ecology, and a threat to peace between nations and to our food security. Climate change is already contributing to the extinction of many species and undermining the web of life that sustains all of us. We also acknowledge that the climate crisis is a material and spiritual crisis, and addressing the climate crisis is the responsibility of all peoples and all religions.

The Jewish Renewal movement is part of a paradigm shift that has at its roots humanity’s realization of the unity of Life on this planet. In Jewish Renewal, we strive to see the face of God in all peoples and in all creatures, and we believe that humanity has a special role and privilege in being able to recognize the image of God in one another and within all of creation. We affirm that the fullness of God’s image includes all creatures, species and ecosystems, and that, as the Zohar teaches (3:123b), “All who wound God’s works wound God’s image.”

The burning and extraction of fossil fuels, and the destruction and development of habitat such as vast forests, all contribute greatly to the climate crisis, which is commonly called global warming but which has also been called “global scorching” and “global weirding.” Many of the methods for extracting fossil-fuels, such as fracking, exploitation of tar sands and drilling for oil in the ocean depths, and mountaintop removal, are in themselves devastating to the environment Scientists believe that climate change is already contributing to disasters such as droughts in Australia, Russia, central Africa and the United States corn belt; to deadly heat waves, to more powerful and frequent tornadoes in the midwest and to superstorms like Hurricane Sandy; to floods in Pakistan and other areas of South Asia; and to vast wildfires in the United States.

Solutions that mitigate climate change will require major shifts in our society and economic system. In the face of the daunting task of changing the course of society and civilization, we remember that Rabbi Tarfon taught, “It is not upon you to complete the task, but neither are you free to abstain from it.”  (Mishnah, Avot 2:21)

We, therefore, call upon the Jewish people and all people to increase their awareness of the dangers of climate change and to increase their involvement in actions and activities to help heal and sustain our planet. We learn from Kabbalah that there are four interpenetrating worlds: the world of Spirit, the world of intellect, the world of feeling and relationship, and the physical world of manifestation. We recommend the following actions to respond to climate change in these four realms:

Recommendations

  1. In the world of Spirit – The Torah teaches that we are all created in the image of the Divine. The Torah also teaches that the word meaning human, adam, comes from the word meaning earth or soil, adamah. We call on individuals, congregations and communities to include the healing of our planet in our prayers, and to acknowledge the inter-relationship of adam and adamah in our prayers, rituals, and celebrations of festivals and life cycles. We encourage the use of liturgies that address climate change directly.


  2 .  In the world of intellect – We call on individuals, congregations and communities to study Torah and the teachings of our         
    ancient and modern sages that support care for the Earth and the creatures who live upon it. We encourage study of science,
    ecology and the environment, to learn what we can do and what we need to change in order to live in a more harmonious
     relationship to the Earth. We encourage individuals, congregations and communities to make environmental issues personally relevant through learning about each community’s local ecosystem, about food security, and about how energy is used and generated where they live. We call upon our members to share their creativity and the creativity of their communities in finding interesting and fun ways to address climate address and to speak out in support of the Earth.

3. In the world of feeling and relationship – We encourage  individuals, congregations and communities to explore the ways we can reconnect to the Earth, including the use of rituals from the eco-spirituality movement and listening to and composing music. We also note that reconnecting to the Earth can deepen our human community and our connection with other creatures, and enlighten our relationship with God. On a more concrete level, we encourage individuals, congregations and communities to look at the relationships created by where our food comes from and where we invest our money, and to consider both using and investing in green and sustainable products and services, and, whenever possible, to move investments away from industries that engender climate change. We encourage the development and implementation of programs that support this goal.   

4.  In the physical world of action and manifestation – We call upon individuals, congregations and communities to reduce our carbon footprint on a daily basis by conserving energy, by using renewable sources of energy, and by recycling and reusing whenever possible. Though the effect of actions like recycling is small, it is vital to model in our own lives the changes we seek on a global scale. We also call on individuals, congregations and communities to engage their political officials, community boards, and the like, in environmental issues, including developing sustainable power and zoning for sustainable development. We support the wide dissemination of the idea of

  1. eco-Kashrut, and the implementation of new forms of certification that make sure that the products we use are grown, processed, transported, stored and sold in just and sustainable ways.


We commend the following examples of work that implements the recommendations above:


Recommendations for OHALAH

In the Talmud (Kedushin 40b), the question was posed, “Which is greater, study or action?” Rabbi Tarfon answered: “Action is greater.” Rabbi Akiva answered and said, “Study is greater.” All the others present answered and said, “Study is greater, for study leads to action.” In light of this teaching, we need to find new and creative ways to integrate study and action, and to integrate all four worlds, in the effort to stop or mitigate climate change. To this end, we commend to OHALAH that a collection of “Climate Change” resources be presented on OHALAH’s website in its public repository of resources, and call on all members to contribute their offerings. We also commend to OHALAH that at least once a year, a report be made to the Board and members with highlights of relevant study, advocacy and other actions and activities taken by members, supporters and allies.
 

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