Reflections since October 7
Most of the ideas that I’ve written about on this website were formulated before October 7. The war has affected my focus on the Torah and Climate issue in a number of ways.
First of all, even recognising how serious the issue is, it’s been difficult for me to personally muster as much interest in it at this time, given Israel’s clear-and-present existential challenges.
Additionally, it’s been difficult to ignore the way many who speak in the name of climate action have been speaking about Israel and even the Jews. I was aware that many climate activists were aligned with the political left and probably did not have the most favourable view of Israel. I also knew that the UN, the body most involved in coordinating an international response to climate change, has inbuilt bias against Israel. Nothing could prepare me, however, for the outpouring of outrageous rhetoric and scandalous blood libels cast against Israel by a significant number of the above since October 7.
How should we respond to all of this?
Putting our potential knee-jerk emotional reactions to the side, I believe it’s clear that, even in the current circumstances, it is no less important for the Torah world to engage this issue, and is perhaps even more important to do so, for the following reasons:
War doesn’t make other problems disappear: While the immediate national dangers that we face may tug more at our heart strings than others, the existential issues raised by climate change are not becoming any less concerning, especially for Israel, and will only become more so with time. Just like Hashem doesn’t want us to stop looking after ourselves because of the war, He also would not want us to ignore serious Torah issues on its account.
Environmentalists who bash Israel are a liability to the environment: Those waving an environmental banner while bashing Israel cause immeasurable damage to the environmental causes they claim to support. The success of environmental solutions depends heavily on achieving broad social backing. By publicly taking divisive and marginal political positions while claiming to represent the environment, activists and bodies discredit the entire environmental movement and polarise the community where they should be unifying it.
The problem of polarising instead of unifying was already a problem with the alarmist modus operandi of many environmental groups, but the behaviour in the current conflict has exacerbated the problem incredibly.
A need for a responsible approach to the environment: Given that so many who speak in the name of environmental concern have been so inept - and even counterproductive - in unifying society around it, it is necessary to develop a balanced and responsible approach to the environment which will take the limelight off the extremists of both sides - those who are in denial of the problem, on the one hand, and those who discredit the issue that concerns them through their outrageous conduct, on the other.
It is an unfortunate fact of life that the people at the extremes make the most noise and garner the most attention. Therefore, it is necessary for as many “reasonable” people - the silent majority - to register interest in this issue in order to ensure that it gets the wide-ranging attention it deserves.
May the Almighty guide us in doing His will in order to bring about the best possible outcomes, both nationally and globally.
Rabbi Eisenberg
