When
President Theodore Roosevelt championed the designation of National Parks, he
said, ”We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people
ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation
is worthy of its good fortune.” An avid outdoorsman, Roosevelt
was often more at home in the wilderness than in the political back alleys of
Washington yet, what is evident in his words is that the natural beauty in our
world requires each of us to do our part in taking care of it. It is hard to
imagine today our countrywithout the National Parks but, before Roosevelt
lobbied to create them, rampant industrialization was literally raping the land
of its resources without regard to conservation or the complete destruction of
the land.As Dr. Seuss would later write, “Business
is business, and business must grow, regardless of crummies in tummies, you
know.…”
(The Lorax)
In
Jewish thought and law since the Earth was created by God, the entire Earth
itself is owned by God. As tenants on God’s
earth we must not wantonly destroy it (baal tashchit) and are in fact
positively commanded to be caretakers of it. Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 7:28
teaches, “When God created the first man He took him and showed him
all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to him 'See My works, how
beautiful and praiseworthy they are. And everything that I created, I created
it for you. Be careful not to spoil or destroy My world — for
if you do, there will be nobody after you to repair it.” The midrash’s words of wisdom
ring as true today as ever. As a world, we are inching closer to environmental
catastrophe caused by our progress, growth and development. We are consuming
our planet faster than our planet can rejuvenate and replenish itself. With
melting ice caps, an island of garbage in the Pacific, and the continuing rise
of animal extinctions we are destroying God’s
masterpieces at an ever increasing rate.
But we
can still change this course. The state of Israel is a great example of where
there is a will there is a way. Combining ingenuity and resolve Israel is the
only country that has more trees today than at the beginning of the twentieth
century. Through the efforts of the Jewish National Fund(JNF), and its tree
planting initiative millions of trees have been planted. Today the JNF is
working to create sustainable water solutions for the Negev and manage water
more efficiently around the country. Each time I visit Israel, I am continually
amazed at how technology is being used and developed to conserve and preserve
the land. Israel exports this technology around the world and has been
instrumental in teaching green ways to farm in Africa and Asia.Yet, we
are slower here in America to adopt eco-friendly policies and practices that
other countries around the world have already adopted. We mistakenly believe
that our freedom and rights come before anything else. We are sadly resistant
to adopting new restrictions that will change or impinge on our “American” way
of life.
On Tu B’Shevat,
the Jewish new year of trees, we have the opportunity once again to raise
environmental awareness in our communities. We should resolve to redouble our
efforts to living more in tune with our environment. From coffee cups to paper
towels we live in one of the worlds most disposable societies. We can start to
change this in small ways by bringing our own coffee cups to work &
synagogue, using reusable bags when grocery shopping, taking shorter showers,
carpooling, and redoubling our efforts to recycle. Each behavior we change does
make a difference. As rugged an individualist as President Roosevelt was, it
was clear that he understood the need to balance between using our nations resources
and preserving God’s masterpieces. As
he wrote,“Of all the questions which can come before this nation,
short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none
which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land
even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.” To
this we should all say, Amen!
