It was Tu Bishvat last Sunday. A late addition to the minor Jewish festivals and very associated with Modern day Israel (those of us who were in the Independent will remember the old classics such as 'Tu Bishvat Higiya....') and its agriculture but it got me thinking - if I was a rabbi or teacher giving a nice thought-provoking shiur linked to this day what would it be? Well, trees and fruit so.... Judaism and the Environment! Then I started thinking, well which sources would I use? Something about not cutting down fruit trees in war, the symbolism of a man as a tree of the field and something to do with not wasting resources.
Then I realised the problem with this - I barely think about the environment. Yes, if asked I would say that I try to recycle, I don't litter etc. I definitely should care about things like global warming but does it bother me deeply? No.
So is it reasonable for me to get up and talk to an audience of willing participants about how environmental concerns are fundamental to being Jewish and, after half an hour probably get to the stage where I had everyone convinced that everyone since Moses had aspired to prevent global warming? After an hour I would go home and, without a trace of guilt, not think about it again until I had to give the next talk.
Indeed is it ok to talk confidently about what Judaism stands/ has always stood for? In this instance, a rabbi will often stand up, read off an impressive array of traditional sources on the environment but if we go out to the streets and see who is actually talking/campaigning /acting on these things it is rarely the people giving the shiurim.
No, this isn't a rant about hypocrisy - we all fail to reach our ideals, better to have them in the first place - but it rather highlights the gap between talking about things and actually doing them. This has always bothered me to some extent. Topics such as social action, human rights and universal world issues by and large are the property of the Left, and not particularly associated with Orthodox Judaism, however much sources will seem to tell us otherwise. (This may be culturally ingrained into Ashkenazic Orthodoxy as a reaction to the universalistic and liberal tendencies of the Reform movement, but that is for another time.)
Because it seems that we cannot properly answer the question of whether a religion or group cares about x or y by looking at sources. Of course we can look at our sources, but do we choose to or do we just turn to them every now and again when it is convenient to pay lip service? There are many many Gemarah passages out there, do we assume that every person who subscribes to its sanctity consciously absorbs every teaching? Actively cares about it, regardless of its theoretical truth?
I have always had the exact same problem with the University student culture. For a few years a lot of noise is made about Socialism and world poverty but then they leave and go and work in a bank like the rest of the world, as though they had gone through a teenage phase that had been outgrown. How do we know what people really stand for?
I don't know exactly, but I suggest that the best of way of telling is by asking them to quieten down and see what they do when the fanfare has gone.
Miracles occur throughout the Torah, particularly during yetziat Mitzrayim/ the Exodus. They assume many shapes and sizes but are basically about the fact that God is in control of the world, above nature and has personal concern with the fate of human beings and the Jewish people.
One of the first qualifications used when discussing miracles today is that 'These things happened a long time ago but not anymore' for reason x or y. So if you want to you can put them in the 'don't have to think about it as not really relevant' draw and discuss it as an abstract topic if it arises.
But are they of any importance today? One of the main purposes of the miracle was that it inspired awe of the greatness of God. The problem is that miracles don't sound particularly impressive any more and would be very unlikely to inspire awe. In fact, I doubt they would stir any significant religious feeling whatsoever. Sea split? Cool. Great trick. Google it for an explanation. No explanation? Dno, back to youtube. Others might point out that it is not a compelling argument to suggest that because I can't think of a reason for it now something which can explain it won't come along in a few years, after all gravity, medicine etc...
Miracles, it seems clear from reading the pesukim, are supposed to draw people closer to God, to know Him. But a huge gap would exist today between the stimulus and our response, as lots of incredible, apparently inexplicable things happen all the time with perfectly reasonable explanations. Illusionists such as Derren Brown spend much of their time debunking the miraculous credentials of charismatic religious preachers.
A few weeks ago we went to visit the northern lights. Now that really was incredible, watching these mysterious rays of light dancing across a midnight sky. Of course, there are simple scientific explanations for them but they don't capture that feeling being gently mesmerised and yes, even awe.
It reminded me of something. Religion is often given the function of being a primitive means of explaining phenomena that we don't understand. This viewpoint has been absorbed into the western mindset and is similarly sometimes felt within religious communities. Miracles are seen as possessing a function - proof of that which lies beyond nature. If that reasoning is faulty, their purpose expires.
But it was that awe that I felt at the Northern lights which reminded me of the approach of the Rambam that the power of miracles is not found in their inability to be explained nor their ability to prove or demonstrate. Things that are disconnected from our minds can't penetrate deeply into our lives and can't really help us in our relationship with God.
The power of the miracle is found in the nature of awe itself. It's not something that you experience everyday. When you encounter awe you briefly feel very small and very important simultaneously. Tiny man, insignificant in the face of the vast universe and yet still capable of feats of greatness beyond our size. To me this lies at the heart of miracles; that they are supposed to stir feelings which combine these two perspectives on being a human being. Then, perhaps, we can attempt to approach God.
Often, I find, you need to approach religious matters from a different angle in order for them to remain relevant in your life which after all, is constantly changing.
