Climate change focus for rabbis
CLIMATE change issues became a hot talking point in shuls as Australian raised the issue to coincide with the Copenhagen climate change conference.
DANNY GOCS
CLIMATE change issues became a hot talking point in shuls around Australia last Shabbat as rabbis raised the issue to coincide with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
The 12-day gathering of global leaders concluded at the weekend without a binding resolution on a new worldwide climate treaty.
Following a call by Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth Lord Jonathan Sacks to speak about the environment in sermons, Rabbi Yaakov Glasman, president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV), sent a request to all member rabbis to dedicate at least part of their sermons to highlight the importance of preserving the environment in accordance with the Torah and halachah.
Rabbi Glasman, who is the rabbi at the North Eastern Jewish Centre, said he was pleased that the rabbinate was taking a leading role in this area.
“The Jewish community is aware of the importance of the environment,” he said.
“In my sermon I noted that there are many opinions about climate change, but it is better to err on the side of caution. We don’t lose anything by adhering to the warnings about climate change.
“It is a basic mandate of the Torah to preserve the environment. We are the custodians of the earth for the sake of God and future generations.”
Rabbi Glasman said that on a personal note he felt the result of the Copenhagen conference was “disappointing”, but should also be seen positively as a step in the right direction.
Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black of the Leo Baeck Centre, Kew, gave one of his first sermons about the environment in 1988 and returned to the topic last Shabbat.
“Reaching an agreement at the Copenhagen conference was always going to be a hugely challenging task,” he said.
Rabbi Keren-Black, who founded the Jewish Ecological Coalition in 2003 and more recently the interfaith environmental group GreenFaith, said it was imperative that the nations of the world develop an action plan on climate change.
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