In honor of Blog Action Day 2009 on Climate Change, here is a guest post I wrote for the JGooders Blog:
In honor of the Sukkot holiday, here’s a guest post from Carmi Wisemon, Executive Director of Sviva Israel.
A friend in Atlanta recently posted Facebook photos of the dramatic floods behind her home. This set me thinking about Sukkot…
The Mishna in Tractate Rosh Hashanah states that the world is judged four times a year. On Rosh Hashanah all the creatures in the world, including us, are judged for the coming year; on Sukkot the amount of rainfall; on Pesach the grains and Shavuot the fruits.
According to Jewish tradition, the difference between Rosh Hashanah and the other three main holidays, is that on Rosh Hashanah the individual prays for and is judged regarding their personal allotment of the world’s resources (including life). Whereas during the other three festivals,we need to focus on the general good of the world, how much food will be available to others and how much rainfall there will be for everyone else.
During Sukkot rather than focusing on ourselves, we do tikkun olam, praying for the resources needed by the global community. Not just for ourselves, or even for the Jewish community, but for all of the earth’s inhabitants.
In Biblical times, during Sukkot the People of Israel made offerings and prayers on behalf of the other nations of the world. In his commentary on Numbers 29; 18, Rashi, one of the foremost rabbinical commentators, explains that the total number of oxen offered during the seven-day Sukkot holiday came to seventy, representing the seventy nations of the world. The special ceremonies and prayers at this time were intended to bestow on the peace and prosperity.
Sukkot is also about coming together as a Jewish community for the greater good. About moving out of the insular walls of our homes and opening up our Sukkah to welcome whoever wants to come in. Many of the ceremonies that are associated with Sukkot, such as the Hakhel gathering, the Simchat Beit Hashoevah and Hoshanas are not only about praying for water, but also about doing so together with other members of the community. And again, these prayers are not personal requests for ourselves, or for just Israel or the Jewish People, but rather for the general good of the world.
So this Sukkot, as we relax in our Sukkot, and admire the natural splendor of our lulavs and etrogs, think about the deeper meaning of the holiday. We can all do our bit to prevent climate change, and that includes a 2,000 year-old tradition of praying for rain to fall – neither too little nor too much – in Israel, but also in the Philippines, Indonesia and even Atlanta.
[…] writes: So this Sukkot [holiday], as we relax in our sukkot [huts], and admire the natural splendor of […]
I don’t see what tikkun olam has to do with world resources. It is a purely religious concept of repairing the damage from paganism.
At some time in the dim and distant past, tikkun olam may or may not have been “a purely religious concept of repairing the damage from paganism”. Paganism is not a threat to the planet, while Climate Change is probably the greatest threat to complex life (note: not intelligent life) that the planet has faced since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Words and concepts change their meanings over time, and we should gracefully accept the new meaning poured into the vessel of tikkun.