Shabbat Shalom. Thank you all for coming here today. It means a lot that you’d be willing to wake up early on a Saturday morning to be here. I know it was difficult for me, so hopefully this speech will keep everyone, including myself, awake.
For my Bat-Mitzvah, I was given the very beginning of the Torah, the portion of Bereishit. In this part, we read through the story of creation, which is pretty well known. You know, just the making of the entire world and heavens and all that. I had heard it many times before, and so I thought I knew the entire story of creation by heart. Throughout a course of 6 days, G-d creates the Earth and Heavens. G-d looks at everything that G-d has created, and deems it all to be very good. G-d then blesses the 7th day, declaring it to be holy, and then rests on that 7th day. And then it’s done. That’s it, right? However, upon actually reading the story more closely for my Bat-Mitzvah, there were details and moments that I hadn’t realized were ever there. Take the creation of man. Man was made in G-d’s image on the 6th day, and when G-d created Man, G-d blessed them. I had known about G-d blessing humans after they were made, but I didn’t realize the specific wording G-d used when addressing us humans. In chapter 1 verse 28 of Bereishit, G-d says “Be fertile and increase, fill the Earth and master it: and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on the Earth.” So, did we follow G-d’s orders? Have we filled the Earth and mastered it? Well, you could say we have definitely filled the Earth, with over 7 ½ billion humans now living on our planet. But, what about ruling? How does G-d want us to “rule over” and “master” the other forms of life on Earth? What are our responsibilities as humans over the world, and how does one maintain these responsibilities in their lives?
There are some answers that can be found in the Torah. In chapter 2 verse 15, we read: “The Lord G-d took the man and placed him in the Garden Of Eden, to till it and tend it.” G-d did not mention anything about controlling, or ruling over anything in The Garden, which could imply that G-d’s intentions of Adam were for him to take care of the life in The Garden, rather than for him to “rule over” anything. In “A Torah Commentary For Our Times”, Rabbi Harvey J. Fields seems to agree that we aren’t supposed to rule over the Earth in the way you would think. He often refers to our relationship with G-d as a partnership, explaining that the story of creation affirms our faith that one G-d formed the Earth and Heavens, and that we humans are partners with G-d in preserving the gift of life.
When I first read the word “partners”, more questions formed than were answered. We’re partners with G-d? Since when? It never seemed to me that we were in any way cooperating with G-d. In several of the stories of the Torah, it gave the impression that G-d was always the one in control, and we had to follow G-d’s orders, otherwise we would be punished. For example, in the story of Noah, G-d said to Noah: “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the Earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the Earth. Go, make yourself an ark...” G-d continues, giving Noah exact measurements for the ark, which I will spare you from, as well as telling him to take two of every animal, male and female, except for clean or kosher animals, of which he would take 7 pairs. And Noah listened, doing exactly as G-d commanded him to. However, in the story of Jonah, when G-d ordered him to go to Nineveh and warn the citizens of the consequences of their terrible actions unless they changed their habits, Jonah didn’t listen. He tried to escape by hitching a ride on a ship on the way to Tarshish and, long story short, he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a giant fish. In the end, he did follow G-d’s orders and go to Nineveh. So, how are we partners with G-d?
In the Talmud, some Jewish teachers likened the planet to a “palace” brought into existence for the benefit of humans. They explained that G-d had not only created Earth, but G-d had also filled the world with opportunities for enjoyment. G-d then presented the Earth as a gift to human beings. In my opinion, if someone gives you a gift, you are supposed to treat it with respect, and try your best to preserve it in the best condition possible. You wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, take that gift for granted. When you are given a gift, you are expected to take care of it. So, why aren’t we taking care of the gift G-d has given us, our planet?
It’s easy not to notice the increasingly fast and negative changes happening to Earth, with details of melting ice in the Arctic and the rising of the oceans being reported so often that some view these events as normal. Wanting to learn more about the long term effects of our current treatment of the Earth, I read The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells. This book discusses that climate change isn’t a few things happening here or there, but a huge issue happening everywhere and all at once. Every degree of warming brings us closer to a climate catastrophe, where certain areas near the equator will become uninhabitable for humans, and the hotter atmosphere causes wildfires and storms to happen more and more frequently, and cause more and more damage. Although scientists and leaders can say how we need to take better care of the Earth, it is we who need to take action and work to improve the health of our world. Because what good is talking about getting something done if you aren’t actually planning on doing it? This reminded me of the story of Jonah. Although G-d told Jonah to go to Nineveh, it was Jonah’s decision as to whether or not he listened to G-d. His decision to hide on a boat led to G-d creating a huge storm the ship was caught in, and his decision to have the sailors throw him overboard to save their lives led to Jonah being swallowed by the fish. His decision to listen to G-d the 2nd time led to him being spit out by the fish, going to Nineveh, and warning the citizens of the consequences of their actions. This caused the citizens of Nineveh to change their ways, and G-d did not carry out his actions of punishment. All of Jonah’s actions made a difference, as do ours now, when our choices as to how we handle pollution making all the difference.
I now better understand why Rabbi Fields interprets our relationship with G-d as a partnership. Although G-d is the one that gives us a job or responsibility, it is our decision whether or not we listen. We are partners in that both are vital to completing a task.
There are many examples of a partnership like this in our everyday lives. If my parents tell me to carry out a chore, I can determine if I decide to complete this chore, or I simply ignore them (which would not end well). I would then have to acknowledge the consequences of these two choices given to me, good and bad. If your boss at work gives you instructions, you can decide if you want to take what they’re saying and put thought into it, or you can put no value in their words. Although it may appear that they are the ones in total control, your decisions and your actions make just as much of an impact as theirs do. However, if you choose to not take heed in a responsibility given to you, you must live with the consequences of your decisions. In this case, the consequences of not taking action in preserving the environment would lead to extinctions of species, coastlines being pushed back from rising sea level, and the heat related deaths of many millions. This palace given to us by G-d is beginning to crumble, and it will only get worse if we don’t take our partnership with G-d, and our responsibilities, seriously. This is why I decided I wanted to do a Mitzvah Project that involved helping to take care of the natural world. I felt as if it was my job to try to make an impact. Because as important as talking about how bad climate change is, and how we need to do something about it, there also has to be people putting in time and effort to make sure that something is actually done. I thought it would be nice to contribute to the well-being of a local and familiar ecosystem, so I started working with the Charles River Watershed Association, an organization dedicated to the health and well-being of the Charles River since 1965. When the organization was formed, the condition of the Charles was rapidly declining, to the point where no one wanted to go near the water, let alone swim, for fear of getting sick. But with the hard work and dedication of the CRWA, people are now able to have fun on the water, while being surrounded by a healthy and thriving ecosystem.
With the help of the CRWA, I organized a group of family and friends to go out on the Charles River for an afternoon and remove an invasive and harmful plant known as the water chestnut. We managed to pull an amazing 231 pounds of water chestnuts from the river. It was great to know that we were all helping the environment, and having a good time in the process. Once a month, I have also been going out to the brook by the very unique name of Chicken Brook. I take a sample of the water, record things like temperature and depth, as well as any changes to the river’s appearance. I then turn in the sample and the information to the Charles River Watershed Association, so they can monitor the health of Chicken Brook. And it’s a good thing that this brook is being monitored, because from the results, we discovered that out of all of the sites being tracked, Chicken Brook is the only site that failed both the swimming and boating test, with more than twice the concentrations of E. Coli than any other site. So, I guess waking up at 5:00 in the morning once a month to go water sampling has definitely been worth it, because it is important that the CRWA is aware of the pollution in the water so people know that taking a bath in Chicken Brook isn’t the best idea. On a serious note, as I have learned while studying my portion, it is our responsibility to do these types of services and help our planet. In this case, we can be both people in the partnership. We can be the ones telling others to help our planet, and we can also be the ones doing so. Because if we don’t do our part to fix our mistakes, then who will?
In the process of preparing for today, I discovered many things along the way. I gained an understanding of just how severe global warming is, as well as how we can contribute to trying to stop it. I learned that hard work really does pay off in the end, and so does dedication. I learned that procrastinating is never a good idea. And, most importantly, I learned that writing emails isn’t as stressful as I thought it was. However, I wouldn’t have been able to learn any of these things if it weren’t for all of the amazing people who have helped me along this crazy journey.
First, I’d like to thank my wonderful mom and dad, over there, hi, for being the best role models I could possibly have. I would also like to thank them for their patience in dealing with my attitude and eye rolls for 13 years. Second, I’d like to thank the Rabbi for being a guide and leader throughout my entire time at the synagogue, as well as being a huge help in giving me new ideas and thoughts on my portion.Thanks to Morah Hillary and all of my teachers, for teaching me everything I know about Jewish history, Hebrew, and what it means to be Jewish, while still making my time at the synagogue enjoyable. A big thanks to Benita and Moreno, for your dedication to Hillel B’nai Torah and for all of the hard work you do at this building. I wouldn’t have been able to come up here and chant if it wasn’t for my tutor Missie, who was an incredible teacher and made learning my readings so much easier and more fun than I could have imagined. A special thanks to the friends and relatives that came in from as far as New York, Seattle, and Hawaii to be here today. Thanks to my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for being so supportive throughout not only the process of preparing for my Bat-Mitzvah, but my whole life. A big thanks to my little brother Isaac as well, who is a great brother and companion to play video games with. Thanks to all of the people that helped with my Mitzvah Project and were so supportive. I’d also like to thank my Hebrew School class, for being great friends all these years, and for mostly understanding my sense of humor. Finally, thanks to everyone else who came here today. Hopefully this introduced you to a different point of view on the story of creation and the importance of caring for the palace that is the world we call home.
Shabbat Shalom!