Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on global warming has created quite a stir. Here is a sampling of his observations:
“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods… It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. …It is true that there are other factors (such as volcanic activity, variations in the earth’s orbit and axis, the solar cycle), yet a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity…This century may well witness extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us.”
Reflecting upon St Francis’, his namesake’s, attitude toward the world, the Pope writes “His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister’”.
In considering the natural world, the world in which we live, one should consider three fundamental questions. What is humankind’s role in nature? What is G-d’s role in His creation? How does humankind ensure its future and that of the world in which it must survive?
What is humankind’s role in nature? “And G d blessed them; and G d said unto them: Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) This passage from the very first chapter of the Bible encapsulates G d’s sense of the relationship of humankind to our environment.
Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, the 19th century champion of German Orthodoxy, in his work “The Nineteen Letters” expands on this relationship. “…he (humankind) is to be the administrator of the earth, and it is his task to attend to everything on it and further it in accordance with G d’s Will. It is only from G d, the source of all power, that he has received the right to appropriate the world for his own use; and with this privilege comes also the duty to take only what the Giver has permitted and to use it according to His Will.”
In the Kabbalistic tradition we are taught that G d through the “breaking of the vessels” creates the physical world. Essentially G d “condensed” aspects of Himself in such a manner as to create a physical reality. The rectification of the physical world means, in light of Kabbalah – that humankind plays a dynamic role, an essential role in completing the creation process. The human being must see in every encounter an opportunity to draw out the G dliness of the inanimate or the animate in concert with G d’s directives, thereby repairing the broken vessels.
This human role of completing the creation begun by G d is clearly demonstrated in the Midrash Tanhuma’s account of the encounter of Rabbi Akiva with the Roman General Turnisrufus. The Midrash tells us that when the General asked the Rabbi whose creation is superior, G d’s or man’s, Rabbi Akiva anticipated the purpose of the question. The General desired to challenge the Jewish rite of circumcision. Rabbi Akiva responded that man’s creation is superior in that it completes the creation of G d. To Jews even the human body, considered as perfect in the Greco Roman tradition, is born imperfect so that the Jew can fulfill the Mitzvah of participation in the act of creation through circumcision.
Human beings are not an overgrown ameba. Unlike the view of St. Francis, the ameba, or any other living creature is not our “sister or brother.” We are unique, separate and distinct from the rest of creation as we are created in “the image of G d.” Yet we depend upon the physical world for our very survival and are obliged to shepherd it. We are to join with G d in the unfolding process of creation itself through our interaction with the world about us by drawing out its G dly essence.
Taken to heart this approach necessarily creates within the human being a love for his/her surroundings and a responsibility for them not only because the world sustains the human being but because it presents the unique opportunity, the human being’s highest “calling”, to join in partnership with G d in the ever unfolding creation process.
As to the particulars of our interaction we need but turn to the Torah and Codes. The prohibition of wanton destruction, of wasting resources unnecessarily, the prohibition of cutting down fruit trees that surround our enemy’s city during war time, the removal of stumbling blocks in the public way, the Sabbatical year when we are required to leave our fields fallow, the requirement to leave our oxen unmuzzled so that they may graze whilst working, the obligation to feed our domestic animals before we feed ourselves, and so many many more Biblical rules are all part of Jewish environmentalism.
What is G-d’s role in His creation today? Several years ago, the BBC and the Discovery Channel developed an 11 part series entitled “Planet Earth.” A major production receiving the accolades of people from all walks of life, its purpose is to introduce us to the magnificence of life on our spherical spaceship, Earth. As one watches this unfolding panorama of the dynamics of G-d’s creation, its splendor and symmetry, one fully captures the meaning of Isaiah’s observation (6:3), “Holy, holy, holy is the L-rd Alm-ghty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Most captivating was the part of the series entitled “Deep Ocean” which explored the vastness of the seas. The cinematography was spectacular. Considering the utter emptiness of the ocean bed, in contrast, we were treated to the profusion of life that lives amidst this black emptiness surrounding the fissures in the ocean bed. Heated water filled with nutrients pours forth from the inner core of the planet through these fissures. The array of color, the unusual shapes of plants and creatures alike is breathtaking. It is truly an uplifting spiritual experience to gaze upon the wonder of G d’s creation far from the ocean’s surface previously unseen by humankind.
It was noted that each fissure has its own peculiar life forms found nowhere else. The fissures do not continue to release water forever. When the nutrient enriched water ceases to flow, all the life forms surrounding the fissure die resulting in the extinction of many species. Fissures are constantly beginning to emit water while other fissures cease emitting this essential elixir of life miles below the surface of the seas. Life dies and species become extinct life is renewed including species which take their very first bow on the stage of life. As recorded in the morning daily prayers, “He who in His goodness renews each day, constantly, the first act of Creation.” G-d’s act of creation is an ongoing process even in the deepest depths of the seas; a natural process of life of death of renewal of life in new forms. G-d is ever active in his creation seeing to its vitality and its future.
And G-d said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life”. Genesis 9:12-15. Unlike the Pontiff’s observation that, “This century may well witness extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us,” G-d promises that He will see to the positive future of this planet.
How do we ensure our future and that of the world in which we must survive as G-d’s partner in the ever unfolding process of creation? As stated in Genesis we must fulfill our G-d-given responsibility: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion…” G d in His infinite wisdom places humankind in the very center of this ever unfolding process empowering the human being to join in the creative process and requiring that we ever care for and nurture that which He has and continues to create in accordance with the statues He places before us in the Torah. In stark contrast to the gloom and doom espoused by the proponents of global warming, the challenge of Jewish environmentalism is compelling, positive and forward looking providing for a purposeful and a spiritually invigorating life for humankind in the future.