by Joseph Morris
You may remember that I’m President of the Board of New York Interfaith
Power and Light, the New York affiliate of a national non-profit dedicated to
bringing together faith and climate science to safeguard the Earth. Our
Executive Director is Rabbi Glenn Jacob, who is also Hillel Director at the Interfaith Center at Adelphi University in Long Island. Glenn visited the temple a couple of years ago in support of the Green Team, Glenn recently launched a new website, Aklim – A Jewish Response to Climate Change, www.Aklim.org, to add a Jewish voice on climate change. Aklim is Hebrew for climate. The site is divided into three sections:
- Facts and Fundamentals of Climate Change
- Theology: Tikkun Olam and the Purification Model
- Climate Audits and Assessments: help and guides to forming green teams.
I want to focus on the theology section, beginning with the admission that I am not anywhere nearly qualified in this area. However, this is where the site differentiates itself from most other climate change websites. We’ve all been exposed at some point to the concept of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. It’s the other topic, the Purification Model, that I want to briefly discuss. Glenn will be publishing a paper on this subject in the Winter 2020 of the Reform Jewish Quarterly. His Purification Model starts with the Biblical Temple Model and the idea that the Earth is God’s sanctuary and has become impure through our actions. Climate change is a result of this impurity, with the impurities being carbon, and other forms of pollution. Just as the ancient Temple had to be purified, as described in 1Chronicles, so must the Earth. The temple purification process began with the priests, followed by the vessels, and then the Temple itself.
Glenn argues that this is what we must do to purify the earth, i.e., changing our carbon producing behaviors before we can work to Repair the World. He admits that “purification” is a theology that was abandoned by the progressive Jewish movements, but argues that maybe it needs to be revived, at least in some limited manner, to support this concept. We, as individuals, must begin the purification by changing our lifestyle to reduce carbon emissions. In doing this, we will drive the corporate world to modify their polluting behavior. This would be the impetus to remove the polluting vessels, e.g., gasoline-powered cars and greenhouse-gas- emitting power plants. With those changes underway it becomes possible to work on purifying the earth itself, e.g., restoring habitats such as coral reefs.
It’s my belief that change can begin at the bottom and work its way up. I’ve seen it done in corporations where I’ve worked. Sure, it’s easier if those at the top decree the necessary changes but changes that move up from below can provide a deeper, more permanent change. It’s still up to all of us what future we offer our descendants.
Last Updated on 11/25/2019 by Marc Slonim