I was recently reminded of a classic, ancient rabbinic parable.
A passenger on a crowded small ship suddenly takes out a drill and starts drilling through the bottom of the boat. A fellow passenger exclaims: “What are you doing!? You’re going to swamp us all!” At which point the passenger with the drill responds: “Why is it your problem, I’m only drilling under my own seat!”
Why is it that the obvious shortsightedness of that would-be hole driller fails to translate into our own understanding of our lives on earth? That is the question posed by the latest book I’m reading. It’s called the “Eco Bible” and seeks to reflect the wisdom of the Torah and Jewish commentaries as they impact our behaviors toward sustaining our earthly environment. Clearly, these authors believe that far too many of us are drilling holes in the boat.
Their contention is that science has failed us with respect to the environment. Not because science is wrong, but because it has done far too little to drive us to make the changes we need to secure our sustainable future. Spirituality affords a different dimension to existence and may inspire more of us to take the needed steps and support the required policies. Midor l’dor (from generation to generation) is among the deepest Jewish values which most of us find to be compelling. We are committed to the well-being of those who come after us. We seek to transmit Jewish identity which includes our sense of history and spiritual quest. Rabbis Yonatan Neril and Leo Dee wrote the “Eco Bible” to integrate sustainability into that Jewish spiritual quest.
As we hear about the western United States’ enduring drought and searing heat waves, flooding in low lying regions of the globe, famines, floods, and polluted water and air, we cannot but realize that we have doomed the next generation to dealing with our unsustainable consumption. The authors of the “Eco Bible” and so many who have devoted themselves to environmental action, challenge us to find inspiration from our most ancient, sacred text to move us to stop drilling holes in the boat that allows us all to float through our infinite cosmos.
—Rabbi Ron Stern