During the month of Ellul it traditional to do a heshbon ha-nefesh a spiritual
accounting of what we did in the past year so that we can do teshuva or repentance for what we have
done wrong or failed to achieve. Indeed, the first step of teshuva is the recognition of doing wrong. We then can move on to
trying to fix that wrong and gain atonement.
One of the characteristics of the modern world is our
ability to analyze possible future outcomes in a way that our ancestors could
not. So we can take a future heshbon
ha-nefesh if we want even given the inevitable uncertainty. In fact, we can
help to shape much of the future in our lives and in the world. While there are
still many things that we cannot predict or control but there is much that we
can do that shapes the future for ourselves and the world.
When it comes to climate change, we know the various
possible scenarios that will occur depending on how much carbon we emit into
the atmosphere in the coming decades. We know that climate change is happening
and it is not in our power now to completely stop it. But we can prevent it
from becoming much much worse and we can mitigate some of its impact. Some of
the greatest impacts will be on those who were least responsible for causing
climate change and have the fewest resources to deal with it. It is morally
imperative that our teshuva includes
pushing for our country to supply the necessary aid to help those countries
survive climate change. This is our future heshbon
ha-nefesh: we know where we can go wrong not only where we went wrong on
climate change. We must begin our teshuva
for the future now.
One of the spiritual ways forward is to treasure each day, hopefully
leading to an understanding of the possibilities that lie before us. The
favorite biblical verse of the philosopher Hans Jonas (1903-1993) was Psalm
90:12: “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” How do
we get a heart of Wisdom? It is not an easy thing to do: most of our days are
taken up with all the things that ordinary life demands. But if stop for some
time each day to think, prayer or meditate we might be able to rejoice and
appreciate this moment while also considering the many possibilities that lie
before us—how our actions today affect the future and how we can begin our teshuva right now.
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is the coordinator of Shomre Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth, a project of Aytzim and GreenFaith.