Tikkun Olam and the Shmittah: A Rabbinic Letter on Climate Change

 

The Jewish faith places an immense importance on the connection between humans and the earth. This is obvious in the Hebrew word for land, adamah, very closely connected to the name of the first man, Adam in the Book of Genesis. Adam was literally made from “the dust of the ground,” according to Genesis 2:7. Through my study of the Anthropocene it seems to me that this understanding of people as an integral part of the land should allow Judaism to embrace the idea of this new epoch, and recognize that people present a significant geological force, especially in recent times.

In October 2015 A group of 425 American rabbis from a “broad spectrum of American Jewish life,” Reformed and Orthodox rabbis alike, got together, shortly after the Pope’s affirmation of the climate crisis in Laudato Si´, to present how Judaism’s view of human relationships with the Earth and to each other can present a framework for a religious solution to the climate crisis. “To the Jewish People, to all Communities of Spirit, and to the World: A Rabbinic Letteron the Climate Crisis” begins in a way that signals the difference of Judaism from many religious traditions in the United States. The rabbis assert that Jews have “great respect for what scientists teach us– for as we understand their teaching, it is about the unfolding mystery of God’s Presence in the unfolding universe.” Unlike religions which write science off as antithetical to their texts and traditions, these rabbis show how Judaism incorporates science into the Jewish worldview. This has never been more clear than their response to the climate crisis in this letter: “We celebrate the presence of the divine hand in every earthly creature... Yet in our generation, this wonder and this beauty have been desecrated.” The view of science as one of God’s creations helps Jewish people understand humanity’s complicity in anthropogenic climate change. 

The rabbis’ main point is that after reconciling your faith with the acceptance that we must do something about the climate crisis, a path forward may be found within the Jewish faith, through important Jewish religious texts, like the Torah, the Talmud, and various prayers. Leviticus 25-26 is paid particular attention, as this passage from the Torah warns us, “if we refuse to let the Earth rest, it will ‘rest’ anyway, despite us and upon us – through drought and famine and exile that turn an entire people into refugees.” As the Rabbinical Letter explains, Leviticus 26 outlines the consequences of human behavior that overworks the Earth, and these consequences include droughts, floods, heatwaves, rising sea levels, expansion of disease, and other phenomena which are scientifically understood to be the effects of the climate crisis. To avoid this, every seventh year shall be the Shmittah year, or a “year of restful release for the Earth and its workers from being made to work, and of release for debtors from their debts.” In biblical times, this meant no harvesting was done to let the soil rest and heal, but today the Rabbis use science to specifically call out certain activities that would have to stop in the Shmittah to achieve the restful release the Torah requires: such as fracking, coal burning, drilling for oil, and laying pipelines on indigenous land. They say these are examples of “precisely what our Torah teaches we must not do.” 

Finally the rabbis present a new way of thinking about social justice and climate justice brought about by the Shmittah year, but one which should be used all the time, not just during Shmittah. Tikkun Olam is a Hebrew phrase, literally meaning to “repair (or fix) the Earth.” They say Tikkun Olam must represent the unity of eco-social justice, arguing “Our ancient earthly wisdom taught that social justice, sustainable abundance, a healthy Earth, and spiritual fulfillment are inseparable. Today we must hear that teaching in a world-wide context, drawing upon our unaccustomed ability to help shape public policy in a great nation.” It is only through this new conception of Tikkun Olam as eco-social justice that the traditional goals of the Shmittah year can be achieved. 

Although this was written right after a Shmittah year, the next is coming up, beginning (in the Hebrew Calendar) in September 2021. The rabbis provide a path forward for all of us, while acknowledging the increased responsibility of corporations and other major contributors to the climate crisis, like the United States. They advise, “One way of addressing our own responsibility would be for households, congregations, denominations, federations, political action --- to Move Our Money from spending that helps these modern pharaohs burn our planet to spending that helps to heal it.” This is something I believe should be done more than just during Shmittah, and with their explanation of Tikkun Olam it is clear the Rabbis agree. Shmittah is more than just one year in which we perform eco-social justice, but a year in which we evaluate our commitment to Tikkun Olam at all times, and how we can better exemplify it in our lives. This, the rabbis conclude, is “God’s challenge” for us Jewish people; a stark departure from some religious thought which claims that “God will save us.” Just like God’s first human creation’s name is embedded within the Hebrew word for land, adamah, God himself is “interwoven… within as well as beyond the world.” This means it is not up to a distant God to save us, but up to us to save God and his creations. 

(TM)

Image: https://jewcology.org/initiative/jei/