Tu BiShvat

Chag Sameach! Tonight marks the beginning of Tu BiShvat. It's a time for reflection on our relationship with nature. And what a poignant time for reflection. Our planet that we have been charged as stewards of is in crisis. Politically, Socially, and in terms of Global Warming and Climate Change.

Often Tu BiShvat is a time of looking ahead, a hopeful time. But I think this year, while still remaining hopeful, it would be wise to take stock of what's going on around us. This "Winter" has been so uncategorically hot. Here in Texas winters aren't typically that harsh, but 70 degrees and having to worry about Flash Flooding and Tornados isn't on the Bingo card.

The Polar Vortex has been steadily for the past few years been dipping lower and lower into the lower 48, with this year being the harshest we've seen yet. Some parts of the country saw -60°, which is unreal. We along the gulf coast have been seeing the consequences of Global Warming for years with miles upon miles of coastline being taken by the rising seas.

We are being shown by Science left right and center how the climate change disaster is unfolding around us and how we are slipping further and further away from the point of being able to correct it. But those who are in power to do the lion share of what is needed to help stem the tides and reverse them are obstinate. It's not mankind helping usher in the end. It's the inevitable cycle that has happened before and will again. But the science doesn't support that. And it's apparent to those with eyes that we are certainly helping spur the crisis on.

It seems that most of those in power who are kicking the can down the road are of a certain age. They have accumulated their wealth and power and they are enjoying the fruits of their exploits, but to what end? What are they leaving for the future generations? Do they care? They may not, but many of us down here in the thick of it do care. I am nearly 40. So I am at that delightful stage of being too old to be young and too young to be old, but I very much care about the world I am currently living in and the one that will be left to those who come after us.

It's common to look at Tu BiShvat as the Jewish Earth Day. And I think that is apt, if not an over simplification. I see it very symbolically. As Adam Ross states "We're in the middle of winter; isn’t this celebration a little premature? The message of Tu B'Shvat is that although the fruit have not yet grown, the process which creates them has begun!". And that can be applied to many things we're experiencing now.

Firstly, the Political arena. It is an Election year. An important one, not going to use the worn out "It's the most important election of your life", but it definitely feels like it. The primary season is beginning and people are actively thinking about, if they haven't already come to a conclusion, about who they will be voting for come November. I believe Trump to be an existential threat, so we who oppose the darkness he represents to really put in the legwork and get out the vote. While Biden is certainly not the ideal candidate and I have many issues with him, when given the choice between he and the Orange Man, he handily wins. That work begins now.

On to the Global arena of Climate Change and Global Warming, the work is over due, but can still be done. We can begin to make sustainable changes in our lives and habits. Recycling, planting trees, moving away from single use plastics etc. Also finding local environmental groups and volunteering and helping them in their moves in your area, and also find some national groups and initiatives and help them. Push for your representatives and senators to introduce reasonable Environmental legislation and then to vote FOR that legislation.

This week the Doomsday Clock, which shows us how close we are as a species to Midnight (Extinction), has been kept at 90 minutes to Midnight. It was initially moved to this position in 2022, the closest it has ever been in the history of the Doomsday Clock, and has remained steadily there. The Nuclear threats posed by Russia, Iran and North Korea, the Global Pandemic and the specter of others to come, Global Warming, Political Unrest in the form of Right Wing Nationalism rising in nearly every corner of the globe, all have lead to this decision.

But there is hope. Just as Winter moves to Spring, there is renewal. We can reverse course on all of these things, and all it takes is the planting of the seeds now. And then we must build on that, plant more seeds. Nurture those seeds, and tend them and grow them into the world we all desire. One where Peace can be achieved and enjoyed by all. A world where equality is the standard and no one person is put above another. Where all are free to live and love in unmolested. That is what I am taking from this Tu BiShvat.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה.

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu, v'kiy'manu,
v'higiyanu laz'man hazeh.
Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Sovereign of all, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.