Self-Reflection and Environmentalism – Olameinu: Our World, Our Environment
The High Holidays are a time of self-reflection and accountability. There are many people who do not know how to begin this process and for them the High Holidays can be a time of self-guilt, isolation, disconnection and family politics.
The question of self-reflection is addressed by Jewish text in a discussion on why the Torah was given in the wilderness. In fact, Pharaoh had offered Moses to worship God in Egypt and God rejected such an offer. The setting within which we begin to self-reflect is crucial to first steps.
Most of the world around us contains symbols of our sociopolitical realities. Consumerism, materialism, consumption, these are the things that fill our day. It is difficult to connect with a still, small, inner voice when the boom of modern media reference points floods us.
Self-reflection does not have to begin with the grand essential questions of existence and purpose. The beginning should be modeled on Torah, change your reference points so you broaden your perspective. The beauty of the wilderness is that we have no confining reference points – anything is within the realm of possible perspective.
The Midrash on the book of Numbers states ‘Anyone who does not throw himself open to all, make himself masterless like the wilderness, cannot acquire wisdom and Torah.’
The crux of Jewish environmentalism is not in beautifying our environment but in cherishing it as it was created. Jewish self-reflection is best begun in an environment that is unfamiliar to us where we can honestly look in a mirror.
Tags: High holidays, reflection