By Cantor Emma Lutz
This sweet and meaningful season of our 5778 High Holy Days has now come to an end. From Selichot to Yom Kippur, from Sukkot to Simchat Torah, our community has engaged in wonderful prayer and fellowship together on so many special occasions these past four weeks. Last week at our Shemini Atzeret Yizkor services, we made our liturgical transition to autumn, shifting from our summer prayer “Morid HaTal” to “Mashiv HaRuch u’Morid HaGashem,” asking God to send wind and rain to our fragile and spectacular earth. Our tradition acknowledges God as creator of the heavens and the earth, and our liturgy offers us many substantial opportunities to acknowledge the fragility, viability, and beauty of our natural world.
This week’s Torah portion, Noach, recalls the massive flood that overcame the earth in Noah’s generation. Whether we believe that God has an active influence on the weather or not, the words of both our biblical and liturgical text demonstrate the Jewish people’s strong connection to nature in all its dynamism. From the fires raging in Northern California and Anaheim to the recent earthquakes in Mexico and hurricanes in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, we human beings still bear daily witness to the powerful forces of nature around us.
As we read from Parshat Noach this week, I pray that God will help sustain our world and anyone suffering from the extremities of weather. May we find the strength to be God’s continual sacred partners in protecting the world for ourselves and all of God’s creatures. May our prayers and actions reflect our desires, hopes, needs, and a deep faith that in some way, all that we have depends upon the Source of Life that connects us all. Kein Y’hi Ratson, so may it be God’s will.