Return Again, Return again, Return to the land of your soul…
A lot of Re’s come to play as we move into the High Holiday season.

Repentance. Responsibility. Retribution. Renewal.
My encounter with Bill McKibbon’s Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, has made me think of a different genre of Re’s : Reduce. Recycle. Reuse.

Our hope lies in renewable sources of energy, McKibbon reminds us. Our task lies in reshaping societal values and realigning our priorities, because if we don’t we won’t be able to recover.

We all know the routine by now. As good citizens we intend to take responsibility as we try to navigate the impending environmental crisis. But intentions don’t always jive with reality. That is why, of all the issues I could address in this year’s sermons, nothing seems as reasonable as our personal relationship with the environment.

There is a verse in the 2nd paragraph of the Shema that used to disturb me tremendously:

“Take care lest you be tempted to stray, and to worship false gods, for then Adonai’s wrath will be directed against you. God will close the heavens and hold back the rains; the earth will not yield its produce. You will soon disappear from the good land which has been given to you.” (Deut 11:15)

I am not one to believe that ill fortune is a ‘punishment’ from God. But reading this passage through the lens of today’s Re’s … we have strayed, we have abused the good earth which was entrusted to us, and now we are reaping the results as we read ever more frequent in the news, of unnatural natural disasters.

This is the year to rededicate ourselves, to return to the land of our soul, not just with words and lip service, but with real action. Recycling those plastic bottles is not enough. It is time to redirect our priorities… instead of opting for the convenience of a handy bottled drink buy by the jug, pour a drink and wash out the mug! This year, let us move beyond the minutia into a master environmental mindshift.

Rabbi Suri Krieger