Introduction: Can we read Hashem’s mind?
Before we launch into seeking to discern the spiritual significance of climate change, it must be asked whether this a legitimate endeavor in the first place. After all, didn’t Hashem tell Yeshayahu (Isaiah): “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways, says Hashem” (Yeshayahu 55:8)? And when King Chizkiyahu decided not to have children because he had discovered that Hashem had intended to give him evil children, Yeshayahu rebuked him saying, “Why do you get involved in the secrets of the Merciful One?” Isn’t it a chutzpa for us to imagine that we can even understand Hashem’s transcendent thinking and what the meaning behind climate change might be?
The Rambam’s Response
Interestingly, the Rambam tells us that this is actually not the case. At the beginning of the Laws of Fast Days:
It is a positive Torah commandment to cry out and to sound trumpets in the event of any difficulty that arises which affects the community… [The Torah is saying that] whenever you are distressed by difficulties - e.g., famine, plague, locusts, or the like - cry out [to God] because of them and sound the trumpets.
This practice is one of the paths of repentance, for when a difficulty arises, and the people cry out [to God] and sound the trumpets, everyone will realize that [the difficulty] occurred because of their evil conduct, as [Jeremiah 5:25] states: "Your sins have turned away [the rains and the harvest climate]." This [realization] will cause the removal of this difficulty.
Conversely, should the people fail to cry out [to God] and sound the trumpets, and instead say, "What has happened to us is merely a natural phenomenon and this difficulty is merely a chance occurrence," this is a cruel conception of things, which causes them to remain attached to their wicked deeds. Thus, this time of distress will lead to further distresses.
This is implied by the Torah's statement [Leviticus 26:27-28]: "If you remain indifferent to Me, I will be indifferent to you with a vengeance." The implication of the verse is: When I bring difficulties upon you so that you shall repent and you say it is a chance occurrence, I will add to your [punishment] an expression of vengeance for that indifference [to Divine Providence].
The Rambam explains, following the lead of Chazal, that the Torah’s passage of the Tochecha (“rebuke” - Vayikra 26:15-41), detailing the tragedies that will befall the Jewish people if they don’t follow in Hashem’s ways, seeks to teach us that when trouble strikes us, we must not see it as a chance occurrence, but should rather recognize that it contains a message, or messages, for us from Hashem about how we need to change our behavior. So it behooves us to ask what those messages might be.
What if we get it wrong?
Notwithstanding all of the above, given that we do not have nevi’im (prophets) to explain to us exactly what Hashem is trying to tell us, how do we know if our conclusions will be right or wrong?
The simple answer is that we probably cannot know with any confidence what Hashem’s reasons for climate change actually are, and I don’t think the goal here is to understand exactly what Hashem has in mind. I think we can say the following points with confidence:
We know that Hashem wants us to grow and that He wants us to use experiences like this to help us grow.
We should daven to Hashem to lead us on a path of growth.
We should proceed with significant humility and caution with regard to any conclusions that we draw to ensure that they lead us to grow as ovdei Hashem and as human beings.
We should be wary of turning this into a self-righteous finger-pointing opportunity highlighting the weaknesses of others that do not apply to ourselves.
If we see that our search is leading us to grow as ovdei Hashem and as human beings, we can assume that we are doing something right.
On that note, let us tentatively proceed…
