Earth in the balance

Editorial

Jews have been at the forefront of countless social movements throughout history. The religious and cultural imperatives inherent in Judaism encourage us to strive for a better world. Rather than merely waiting for Moshiach, we are driven to create the conditions that will herald the time of Moshiach.

So it is no surprise to see Jewish names pop up when we review the leadership of so many social justice and humanitarian causes. Still, it is always pleasant to see a member of the tribe recognized for an achievement or sought after for expertise in a particular field.

Jewish values of tikkun olam and tzedakah, as well as our commitment to education, can be interpreted to give a religious (or, if one prefers, cultural) imprimatur to almost any good works. But perhaps nowhere is it easier to find Jewish justification, if that is the correct term, than in the field of environmentalism. Is there another people who celebrate a special new year just for trees?

The very first words of Torah, the Creation stories of Bereishit, lay out our relationship with the rest of creation and instruct us in our roles of guardianship and partnership with the earth. The Jewish tradition is overwhelmingly an agricultural one. The calendar, with its feast days and holidays rooted in the cycle of the agrarian seasons, is the most present reminder of our connection to the land. Shabbat, which reflects the agricultural sabbatical that is another tenet of Judaism, recognizes the necessity of fallow periods or, in the human context, of rest, relaxation and contemplation.

Tzeporah Berman, the prominent British Columbia environmentalist profiled on our cover this week, is one of the voices featured in Leonardo DiCaprio's film The 11th Hour, which premières today (Aug. 31).

The new movie, joining a genre of social action documentaries that have demonstrated a surprising box office pull, can perhaps be most directly compared with Al Gore's opus An Inconvenient Truth. The genre, of course, broadly includes the work of Michael Moore, who can be criticized for emphasizing drama and ideology over veracity and taste, which raises a quick diversion into a sort of intellectual caveat emptor. Though environmental skeptics are now nearly as vilified as flat-earthers, there could be more questioning on the other side, as well.

We do not necessarily share the cutting perspective of the American wit P.J. O'Rourke, who declared: "The college idealists who fill the ranks of the environmental movement seem willing to do absolutely anything to save the biosphere, except take science courses and learn something about it."

Still, there are among the well intentioned those whose objectives exceed their comprehension. Just as we repeatedly demand that the knee-jerk critics of Israel learn something about their topic, there are those who could use more critical thinking skills on a great range of issues, including the environment.

There is a danger in blindly accepting that a product with the word "green" on its plastic packaging is better than the one without – and this is not a reasonable expectation in an world where trickery is not unheard of. Organic does not necessarily mean no pesticides have been used in the growing process; in some cases, it means simply that the pesticides are naturally derived, rather than synthetic. "Fairer trade" coffee is not "fair trade" coffee, though it may or may not be just as fair. Being aware of the appropriate certification processes and labels is crucial to being a conscientious consumer, as is researching all your options before assuming that a hybrid car is necessarily more environmentally friendly than a small economy car, for example, or that ethanol or wind power are the best energy waves of the future.

Similar advice can be taken for informing ourselves on other topics of global importance. We should not be prepared to take at face value every utterance in films like those of Moore – it would be to our great detriment if we did. However, documentaries such as those like An Inconvenient Truth and The 11th Hour are important in that they bring urgently needed discussions to the fore. We have an obligation to be good stewards of the earth and we need to apply ourselves not only to analyzing the problems, but to figuring out practical solutions – rather than simply longing for the glory days of the cavemen, when we lived more in tune with nature.

So, this Rosh Hashanah, on the birthday of creation and humankind, think not only of your various human relations and paths to self-improvement, but of the impact we each have on our environment and how we can best fulfil our particular responsibility to take care of it.

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