The Trees Grow Light, Shabbat B'Haalotecha

A guest post by PA IPL friend Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center and Interfaith Action on Climate.  This reflection was originally published in the Shalom Center's e-newsletter.

Twice a year – on Shabbat Hanukkah, when the sun and moon are darkest, and on Shabbat B’Haalotecha (this year, May 24-25, in the light-filled days and nights of a full moon between spring and summer) – Jews read a Prophetic passage that focuses on Light, and – unexpectedly – on the earthy roots of Light.
We read the passage from the Prophet Zechariah that envisions the future Great Menorah, taking its sacred place in a rebuilt Holy Temple after the Babylonian Captivity. 

Zechariah, in visionary, prophetic style, goes beyond the Torah’s description of the original Menorah (literally, a Light-bearer). That Menorah was planned as part of the portable Shrine, the Mishkan, in the Wilderness.
First Zechariah describes the Menorah of the future that he sees: “All of gold, with a bowl on its top, seven lamps, and seven pipes leading to the seven lamps.” It sounds like the original bearer of the sacred Light. But then he adds a new detail: “By it are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left.” (4: 2-3)
And then –— in a passage the Rabbis did not include in the Haftarah reading for Shabbat Hanukkah — Zechariah explains that the two olive trees are feeding their oil directly into the Menorah (4: 11-13). No human being needs to press the olives, collect the oil, clarify and sanctify it. The trees alone can do it all. 

Now wait! This is extraordinary. What is this Light-Bearer that is so intimately interwoven with two trees? Is the Menorah the work of human hands, or itself the fruit of a tree? 

Both, and beyond. In our generation it might be called a “cyborg,” a cybernetic organism that is woven from the fruitfulness both of “adamah” (an earthy sprouting from the humus-soil) and “adam” (a human earthling). Just as earth and earthling were deeply intermingled in the biblical Creation story, so the Divine Light must interweave them once again, and again and again, every time the Light is lit in the Holy Temple. 

What stirs Zechariah to this uncanny vision? Once we listen closely to the Torah’s original description of the Menorah for the wandering desert Shrine, we may not be quite so surprised. For the Torah describes a Menorah that has branches, cups shaped like almond-blossoms, blossoms, petals, and calyxes (the tight bundles of green leaves that hold a blossom). (Exodus 25:31-40 and 37:17-24)
In short, a Tree of Light, a Green Menorah. Small wonder that Zechariah envisioned its receiving oil directly from the olive-trees! 

Since Zechariah is seen as a Prophet by Christians and Muslims as well as by Jews, his vision may invite all three Abrahamic communities to connect with the Green Menorah Covenant. 

And in the more specifically Jewish legend told by the Talmud as the origin of Hanukkah, the Light itself is a miracle. Oil that would normally have been enough only for one day’s worth of light lasts for eight days, until more oil can be consecrated. 

At the physical level, this is about conserving energy, the triumph of sustainable sources of energy over the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire that guzzled oil and other forms of material wealth. Seen this way, the Green Menorah can become the symbol of a covenant to renew the miracle of Hanukkah in our own generation: Using one day’s oil to meet eight days’ needs. By 2020, cutting oil consumption by seven-eighths 

Hanukkah also reminds us of the victory of the guerrilla band of Maccabees over the great idolatrous empire of their generation. We might easily look at our own world and think it would be overwhelmingly hard to accomplish change against the entrenched power of our own Big Oil corporations – the empires of our day. But Hanukkah reminds us:  Small groups of seemingly powerless human beings can face huge and powerful institutions – and change the world. 

But let us not stop at the economic, political, or even ecological levels of meaning. At the spiritual level, what does it mean that One day embodied Eight days? Since “Seven” is the number of fulfillment, “Eight” is the number of “Beyond.” Always “Beyond”: the Infinite. 

So the storied eight-day miracle reminds us that the Infinite is always present in the One. It reminds us that conserving oil, or coal, or our planet, is not just a political or economic or even ecological decision. It comes when we take into our hearts the knowledge that seeking more and more and more – even more and more and more Light – can become an addiction to material possessiveness, hyper-ownership.  
That addiction is a form of idolatry. 

More and more and more is not the pathway to the Infinite; indeed, it blocks the way.  If we dare to choose the One, we can achieve the Infinite.

An award worth celebrating

PA IPL past president (and current co-secretary Sylvia Neely) was honored on April 25 as the Volunteer of the Year for Interfaith Human Services, where she also sits on the board.    Not our usual blog entry, but her citation deserves sharing.  We hope it may inspire others to create similar avenues for outreach, compassion, and emissions reduction in their cities and towns.

Interfaith Human Services 2012 Volunteer of the Year: Sylvia Neely

When contemplating the many people who have contributed to the successful work of Interfaith Human Services, one name brought a consensus of yeses: Sylvia Neely.

Sylvia is responsible for coordinating over 22 home energy efficiency classes for Interfaith Human services and the Centre County Fuel bank between July 2012 and February 2013.  Her efforts connected more than 200 Centre County households with information and hands-on training to promote responsible and consciencious use of heating resources.  She was also instrumental in establishing IHS's partnership with Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light.

Sylvia serves on the IHS Board of Directors and, in addition to her previous efforts, assists weekly in the office.  She has provided hundreds of hours of support, encouragement, knowledge, and professional skills to make a significant and lasting impact for positive change.

Sylvia is a special gift to Interfaith Human Services and to the entire community.

Thank you, Sylvia!


Photo: the fantastic kitchen team from PA IPL (and IHS) member congregation and host of the very first congregant/client dinner and energy efficiency class at Trinity Lutheran Church.  When presenters took time to explain an idea more thoroughly after the class, a 19 year old man who attended with his mother thanked the people there and commented "People aren't usually so nice to us."  Some client attendees were self-taught whizzes in energy efficiency already, and readily shared their tips and tricks. 

Religion and Ethics Newsweekly

View the PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly episode Religion and the Environment, aired April 19, 2013 (featuring the cyclists both on their bicycles and cleaned up in the halls of Congress).

Want to see Interfaith Power & Light founder Rev. Canon Sally Bingham's extended interview?  It's online over at PBS, too, as is the extended interviews with Sarah Jawaid, and Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb.

Before you head out to the wider 'net, scroll down to see the elevation change pictures from the cyclists, thanks to Dave Hunter's nifty GPS watch.   The first-day ride was a little longer than it appears -- he forgot to start the watch until the end of the community ride.

Selinsgrove: Interfaith Creation Care

On April 19, several members of PA IPL attended an  interfaith workshop put on by the Rivertown Coalition for Clean Air and Water.   There were workshops and a wonderful closing Litany of Dedication, shared below.  Look back next week for Bill Sharp's remarks, which he kindly scribed so that we can include them on the blog (thanks, Bill!)

As you plan events within your faith communities, think about when words, images, or ideas from other traditions might enrich a discussion in your community.  As you plan interfaith gatherings, consider the balance between appealing to all and sharing differences: what, when, and how best do we gain from interfaith practices, and what, when and how best can we gain from multi-religious opportunities?   


Interfaith Creation Care Symposium
Closing Ritual
Litany of Dedication
(Editor's notes: this Litany uses a notation common to many denominations: leaders read the regular text, the congregation joins or responds with the bold. The full prayer comes to under 1.5 pages of 12-point font.)

Creator G-d, in the beginning your Spirit, your Wind, your Breath hovered over the formless earth, and with your Word, you created all that exists.  You breathed life into your creation.  you created green plats to produce oxygen so that your creatures might breathe fresh air.  To keeping the air pure and fresh for all creatures,
I dedicate myself.

Holy G-d, you separated the waters from the dry land and made rippling brooks, flowing streams,  rushing rivers, and immense oceans and seas.  You gave us the cycle of the seasons, the rain and the snow and the giant glaciers.  To keeping the water clean and pristine,
I dedicate myself.

Lord, you made the dry land that it might produce plants of all kinds and be a home to your creatures.  You formed mountains and valleys, small hills and great plains.  To the proper, sustainable, and healthy use of the land for growing crops — planting seed, growth, and harvest, for building homes, shelter, and other structures,
I dedicate myself.

G-d of beauty, you created plants to purify the air, to feed your creatures with nuts, fruit, berries, vegetables, roots; to provide shade from the heat of the sun; to make a beautiful world with all its variety for us to live in.  Help us to use the resource of wood wisely and to plant and renew these wonderful gifts.  Thereto,
I dedicate myself.

Most marvelous G-d, in your almighty goodness you created all the members of the animal kingdom, each to its purpose, interdependent, each doing its part — the animals of the sea, the air, and the land, co-existing with us.  Such wonders you have created: the ultraviolet light-seeing bees to pollinate the flowers, the goldfish with its eyesight superior to all other creaturs, the dog with its super sense of smell, the horse with its strength, beauty, and speed, the birds with brilliant plumage, the ffogs wiht their spring chorus.  Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates you created them.  To preserve their habitat, to avoid and overcome threats to their extinction, to provide them with a pollution-free existence,
I dedicate myself.

Last, but not least, Holy Lord, you created us —created in your image to have relationship with you.  Out of love we were created, for you, Holy G-d, are love.  We were placed on the earth for a purpose.  For that purpose you, over time, gave us intelligence, the use of our hands to create, the desire to discover and invent, the ability to use tools to control our environment and to bring about bigger and better things.  you gave us fire to cook our food, to build community, to warm our homes and to cleanse.  To carry out the purpose for which you made us,
I dedicate myself.

Lord G-d, the first command you gave to us, your creatures, was to shamar the earth, a word with many meanings — not just to care for or have dominion over but to treasure, celebrate, protect, keep watch over, secure, defend, preserve, and keep in all its original pristine beauty. you have made us the protectors, the custodians, the defenders, stewards and guardians of your creation.  To these ends,
We dedicate ourselves.

Let us pray together,
Holy Lord G-d, help us to find ways to live lives that are simpler, that will use fewer resources, and to seek to use renewable resources.  Help us to share with others who do not have.  Give us the fortitude, courage and will to stand up for what is right and against injustice against your creation, the poor, and those who have no voice.  To those who would pollute the air and water; risk the health and welfare of your people; destroy the streams with runoff, spills, and mine waste; who strip the land; all for profit, help us say "No."  To politicians who turn a blind eye to toxic waste and pollution in exchange for kickbacks and to those who issue gag orders not to discuss health issues caused by industry's pollution, give us a voice to say, "No."  To those who operate in darkness and secrecy to deceive the public, knowing that what they are doing is destructive and wrong, give us the strength to shout, "NO."  To all who indiscriminately kill and destroy your creation, make us declare a resounding "NO"!  Enable us to carry out our task to be about the care and redemption of all that you have made and to carry out the mandate to speak publicly to the world in solidarity with the poor and oppressed, calling for justice and proclaiming God's love for the world.  We ask this in your holy name.  AMEN

A letter from Canadian faith leaders

A letter released on October 25, 2011 titled "Canadian Interfaith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change" is worth reading.  Excerpts appear in Canada's Embassy magazine here.  A PDF of the entire text can be downloaded from the national IPL website here. (Click on "read this important statement" just below the paragraph announcing the letter.)

The first paragraph states
"We, representatives of Canadian faith communities, are united in our conviction that the growing crisis of climate change needs to be met by solutions that draw upon the moral and spiritual resources of the world's religious traditions.  We recognize that at its root the unprecedented human contribution to climate change is symptomatic of a spiritual deficit: excessive self-interest, destructive competition, and greed have given rise to unsustainable patterns of production and consumption.  Humanity's relationship with the environment has become distorted by actions that compromise the welfare of future generations of life."

Paragraph 4 is my favorite as an inspiration for both speech and action by individuals, voices of faith, and communities of faith in our wider communities.
"All religious traditions uphold the nobility of the human spirit, calling us to seek moderation and service to the common good.  Such a vision empowers individuals to take responsibility for relationships with each other and our planet.  Indeed, our everyday choices about food, transportation, clothing and entertainment are all practical expressions of what we value.  At the same time, disconnections between our professed beliefs and our daily actions indicate our need for personal and collective awareness and transformation.  We need to seek coherence between our beliefs and our actions, so that our lives and consumption habits reflect our relationship with the rest of humanity and the Earth itself. "

Which parts speak to you?  Please use the comments to lead us to the writings within your own denomination or tradition that have inspired you to act on energy use and climate change!