by Neil Amswych
In the second paragraph of the Shema (Deut. 11: 13-21), we read that should we love and serve God completely then we will be rewarded with ample crops and will be allowed to flourish. If, however, our hearts
stray then the sky will be shut up, the land will cease to be fertile and we will quickly be destroyed. The 21st century inhabitant of planet earth finds themself half-way in between. There is enough food to go round -
it's just that much is dumped to keep prices high, and much is poorly distributed. Conversely, the planet is undergoing catastrophic changes that will most likely destroy many peoples' lands and lives. But how did we
get into this limbo position?
Did we stop loving and serving God, or is the deal in Deuteronomy flawed? Certainly many readers of the text find this kind of simplistic deal between man and God fairly offensive - the
Midrash of God holding Mount Sinai over the Israelites threatening to destroy them if they decided not to accept the Torah comes to mind. Is God really like that or was this the way the Torah tries to explain the
occurrence of natural disasters? We know that organised religion was not the main player in Israelite society that we would like to think it was - archaeological excavations of common Israelite idolatry attest to this
fact. Have we always turned astray then?
It depends entirely on our theology. For thousands of years, Judaism has picked up different views on God from surrounding societies and has blended them together, making God
all the more difficult to understand. When we mixed with the Greeks, God became all-powerful and all-knowing to an extent that had not been described in the Torah, when we mixed with medieval apologetics, God became
incomprehensible and distant. When we mixed with modernity, God became less supernatural and more of a personal guide. How can you turn away from something that constantly changes - from an idea that is virtually
all-encompassing?
The answer is in the text. To love God is not enough - it continues that we must serve God. Judaism is not a religion of faith but of action - love of God is expressed through deed, not through
emotion or belief. Our turning astray was in allowing religion to become mere sentiment, to become a foothold into the past to give our lives more meaning, instead of being the dynamic force for change that it should
be. The Torah is described as a Tree of Life, but only to those who hold onto it. Looking at the tree is not enough, marvelling it and appreciating it is not enough, we have to physically cling to the tree - we have to
follow its thoughts and beliefs wherever possible. And the Torah is a text that teaches us that ethics are societal as well as personal. If we wish to cling to the Tree of Life - indeed to life itself - then we have to
act now, because mere sentiment is never enough. Talking about global warming is irrelevant if one fails to reduce pollution or waste. Worrying about the future generations is useless unless accompanied by actions to
help make their lives more tolerable.
The ways to help are innumerable - reduction of waste, reduction of pollutants, political lobbying and donations to environmental charities such as the Noah Project are just some
of them. The twentieth century was one of much talk and little action...let's make our generation the one that changed the balance so that we and others can literally cling to the tree of life.
