Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787

I love my garden. Gardening is my joy, my pleasure, my therapy; my heartbreak and despair when the slugs gobble my parsley down to the stalk or, this summer, when carefully tended plants and flowers perished in the parched and scorching sun. Despite a large water butt storing harvested rainwater over the wet winter, the water ran out through this year’s 5 heat waves. The earth cried out in thirst.

Climate change wreaked its wrath with dramatic effect beyond the boundaries of my garden in the past year. From wild fires raging across Europe in Spain, France, Scotland and across England, to the devastating flash floods on the Nepal Tibet border a fortnight ago, we are all being impacted by the continuing rise in global warming and the resulting more frequent extreme weather events. According to the Met Office, climate extremes are becoming the new ‘normal’ for the UK. Looking ahead, the largest El Niño in living memory is on its way. Impacts on flooding, food production and food prices are expected. ‘Catastrophic’, ‘Irreversible’, ‘Overwhelm’, ‘Disaster’ – these are all words used to describe the climate emergency and our response to it. For many, especially younger people, anxiety and depression over the future of the planet have become a heavy burden. For some young people, despair born out of the Climate Emergency shapes their life decision not to bring children into this world.

And…. Today, we have all the solutions we need to halt global warming, effectively mitigate the damage done so far, and here in the UK to achieve the Government’s commitment to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. In ‘Head North, A rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain’, written in 2024 by then Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram, the now Prime Minister writes passionately about Greater Manchester’s ambition around a new green hydrogen industry, of Steve Rotheram’s plan for a tidal barrier on the River Mersey, and of a path to decarbonising Britain which ‘at the same time improves people’s jobs and homes.’

In 2015, world leaders signed the Paris agreement, a major treaty to put the solutions to climate change into practice. Solutions to climate change include: Keeping fossil fuels in the ground; Investing in renewable energy; Switching to sustainable transport; Insulating our homes and switching away from oil or gas boilers to heat pumps or electric boilers; Improving farming methods and decreasing meat consumption; Restoring nature to absorb more carbon; Protecting forests like the Amazon and Protecting the oceans; Reducing how much people consume and Reducing plastic.

We have the solutions. We have the technology. We have everything we need on a local, national and global scale to mitigate climate warming. ‘Exciting’, ‘Innovative’, ‘Creative’ ‘Collaborative Problem solving’– all words used to describe the solutions within our grasp to deal with the most serious threat to life on our planet.

Two stories can be told about the Climate Emergency. One story, and another story. Two very different stories. Both stories are simultaneously true. What matters is which story we choose to tell. The story itself has power.

Hayom HaRat Olam. Today is the birthday of the World! A phrase that runs through our Rosh HaShanah prayers. Rosh HaShanah celebrates the creation of the earth, of all living things and, as sun sets on the sixth day, the creation of human beings. Rabbi Arthur Waskow z’l likes to call us Earthlings. Adam, the first human being, was formed out of the Adamah, the clay of the Earth.

In our founding myth, in the opening verses of Bereishit, Genesis, God creates the world through the power of words. In the Torah, the world is created by the words God speaks.

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר יְהִ֣י א֑וֹרוַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃

God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

God said, on every day of Creation… and it was so.

In the morning liturgy we recite:

בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר וְהָיָה הָעוֹלָם. בָּרוּךְ הוּא… בָּרוּךְ אוֹמֵר וְעוֹשֶׂה.

Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came into being. Blessed is the One… Blessed is the One who speaks and does.

Words and stories don’t just describe, they create, transform and change reality.

In our tradition, this is also true of the words human beings speak. In Ten Days’ time, on the holiest day of the Year, the Day of Atonement, our 25 hour period of prayer, fasting and repentance will begin with Kol Nidre, a ritual annulment of vows with a haunting melody echoing across time that underscores the biblical warning that we are absolutely accountable for every word that comes out of our mouths.

If words of fear and anxiety are constantly chosen to describe a situation or a community, a region like the Middle East or the Earth we inhabit, the words become self-fulfilling. If, by contrast, joy and hope are spoken about the same situation, the words will have impact and can transform.

Positive stories lead to positive change.

At a recent BPS Council and Wider Leadership Strategic Planning day we worked on creating a new mission statement for BPS. Which story do we want to tell about our community? A story of demographic decline, diminishing financial resource and faltering commitment? Or a story of regeneration, energetic dedication to building community, a deep yearning for collaborative action in making a difference in the wider world, and a passion for learning, Torah and a connection to Jewish Peoplehood?

Of course, words alone aren’t enough. Words must be linked to action in order to carry through our ideas and vision into the world. Jewish tradition gives us a pathway for this. Each and every day we are invited to do Mitzvot – daily acts of kindness, justice, generosity and healing that, one mitzvah at a time, have the power to transform our world. Here at BPS, from planting a new sapling in the Interfaith orchard to reading Torah or leading a service; from putting up tables to doing the washing up; from signing up for a slot on the security rota to giving a friendly smile and making someone feel welcome and at home. Simply showing up for each other. We are invited to transform this community through a myriad acts great and small.

If the negative story is the one that always prevails, we undermine the positive that is, that could be.

וַֽיְהִי And so it was.

The story we choose to tell is up to us.

Rabbi Lisa Barrett
BPS, erev Rosh HaShanah 5787

With thanks to Bishop Philip North, whose Thought for the Day inspired this sermon.