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Axar.az presents an article “Rabbis And Climate” by John Samuel Tieman.
Last Sunday, I listened to a rabbi. He said how he meditated on a Bible passage in which Abraham, Abram, was speaking with the Creator. But Abram broke off his conversation to attend to three strangers, foreigners. He fed them, gave them water, washed their feet. Abram loved God but attended to these strangers. Catholic that I am, I thought that other rabbi, Jesus, who was asked the greatest law. Good Jew that He was, Jesus recited the Shema. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Then Jesus famously goes on. “And the second [commandment] is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
I don't disagree with either rabbi. But I don't exactly agree either. Because I don't exactly know how you distinguish between these two things, the love of God and the love of the neighbor. After his sermon, I said as much to the Sunday rabbi. Abram never left God. Indeed, when he went to feed the strangers, God's love went with him.
When did we stop talking about love? Which brings up the subject of climate change. The International Court Of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, is hearing a case about climate change. It will be asked for an opinion on “the obligation of States with respect to climate change.” Over two weeks, it is expected to hear from 99 nations and institutions. Any finding of the court will be an opinion and therefore nonbinding. It will be, in essence, advice. Such a finding can be used in various matters both legal and political. That said, it will be a symbol, albeit a powerful one.
Over the last decade or so, sea levels have risen not quite two inches. Parts of the Pacific are even higher. Global temperatures have risen 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit since pre-industrial times. Most of this is due to the burning of fossil fuels. Folks often dismiss these numbers as small, insignificant. Such folks just aren't taking good notes. If this trend continues at its current pace, it will mean great danger to coastal areas and even the end of a number of island nations. The Maldives, Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands are at high risk from rising sea levels. In the Caribbean, Grenada, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands will suffer significantly. For those who think that the issue of climate change is some far-left conspiracy theory, one American institution that takes a keen interest in all this is the United States Navy. As just one example, sea level rise in Norfolk, Virginia, an enormous naval base, is expected to be 1-3 feet higher in 25 years.
I used to live in the Caribbean. There is a lovely island, Barbuda, known for its beautiful pink coral and white sands. The island is relatively flat. There is a small peak on the island. But most of it is right at sea level. The island will all but disappear if climate change continues. 1,678 people live there. So about that love thing.
Neither the United Nations nor its International Court Of Justice can compel the larger nations to act on climate change. But about those people on Barbuda. Do we love them? Or, perhaps, can we love them?
Let's think “up close and personal”, as the saying goes. Donald Trump calls climate change a “hoax”. Many states, like my home of Missouri, are controlled by Republicans. Such states will go along with Mr. Trump. This leaves climate action to the county and the municipality. Far from abstract, now it's personal. Now it's close. It's my town and it's those folks on Barbuda. It's not my point here to say, precisely, what climate action this county or that municipality should take. I have only one thought in this regard. Do something. We need to do something. For perfectly rational reasons, sure. But mostly out of love.
I started with religious imagery. So I'll end with these lines by the late poet of Ghana, John Atukwei Okai. “Between me and my God / There are only eleven commandments; / The eleventh says: Thou shalt not / Bury thy brother alive.”
Date
2024.12.09 / 09:52
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Author
Axar.az
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