Our Fractured Planet

by Reb Deb Smith

This blog is dedicated to all the endangered species, and all the species that are now extinct due to our carelessness and our human footprint on the natural world.

I have always had the reputation in my family of being a “weather weenie.” I have the Weather app on my phone and follow it religiously.  I have historically listened to the weather report multiple times daily. In fact, I even listen to the weather report for locations where I am no longer living or visiting!

Having done this for years, I have more recently  been following climate change and environmental issues as well. In fact, the incidents of the Canadian wildfires burning out of control and also the wildfires burning from California to Oregon on the West coast along with the ongoing conditions of flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes and other weather conditions due to the rapidly changing climate are constantly on my mind.

We have polluted our streams and our water supplies; we have cut down our forests. We have polluted our air and damaged our oceans with chemicals and plastics. In short, we have not lived in humility with our planet, nor have we followed the teachings in Genesis chapter 2, “to till and tend the earth” as God’s partners.

We are paying the price for disregarding the Torah’s  commandment
to care for our planet and those who inhabit it.

There needs to be more that we can do, other than reciting a daily or weekly Mishebeirach (prayer for healing) for our planet.  My community now routinely does this at our weekly Shabbat services.

Not being content to be a mere bystander to the destruction around me, I reached out to the Jewish community and invited submissions for a portfolio book on climate change and the environment.

The recently released portfolio book, called Our Fractured Planet: Reflections on Climate Change and the Environment, contains reflections, artwork, song lyrics and short kavannot on the topic of climate change by 44 authors. I have been gratified to have been able to provide a way to give voice to a diverse community of writers from places as far as Australia, several kibbutzim in Israel, Canada and across the US.  Each contributor has such worthwhile and thoughtful things to say about the condition of our planet. They give the reader so much to think about but above all, they give this reader pause to reflect on the blessings and gifts of this planet that we have received and what our responsibilities are to care for this amazing gift of the environment we inhabit. I am inspired to end this blog with a prayer which I call And  So We are Blessed:

Eternal source of light:
Thank you for the gift of Life
And the showers of daily miracles we receive each day.

You reveal yourself to us in each waking hour,
And also when we sleep.
You gift us with a beautiful, fragile world
And trust us to keep it safe and alive.

Healer of life
Repairer of souls
We pledge to carry out your holy work:
Restoring and tending our fragile, beautiful planet.

1 response to “Our Fractured Planet”

1. Norma Krasne-Levine says:

   January 21, 2024 at 3:38 pm

   We all need to make an effort, no matter how small. Hashem knows what we do and rewards our efforts. Hugs and Shalom, Nechamah

   Reply