I was having lunch with a dear rabbinic colleague. After inquiring into each other’s health and family, I said “I just read the Pope’s Encyclical. It is fantastic. Have you read it?” My friend looked at me quizzically and said, “I never read the Popes’ encyclicals.“
“Well, I never have either, but this is really different and quite extraordinary!”
It is true. I never could have imagined that I would be so enamored, moved, inspired by and impressed by the words of a Pope. The Pope is the single most prominent person on this planet and his message is directed to “every person living on this planet.” In Laudato Si – On Care of Our Common Home (https://laudatosi.com/watch), Pope Francis asks us to have faith as we learn to experience how deeply interconnected we are to each other, to the vulnerable, fragile planet, and to the poorest and least powerful amongst us. The Encyclical is filled with indisputable data about climate change, but what struck me so deeply was his profound challenge to us all that “we can finally leave behind the modern myth of unlimited material progress. A fragile world, entrusted by God to human care, challenges us to devise intelligent ways of directing, developing, and limiting our power.”
Is this not the theme of these days of turning, returning, waking up? Are we not called to connect the dots: between this throwaway culture and rampant poverty? Between our worship of speed and technology and our loss of faith in the heart pulsing through all life in this world of sacred wonder?
In this week’s parashah, Vayelech, the Israelites are in their huge transition. It is a time of deep turning. They are losing their leader. Joshua is assuming command. They are poised to enter the Land. They are instructed to “be strong and resolute,” a phrase which appears three times in this parashah and four times in Joshua chapter 1. Moses expresses this in depth: “Be strong and resolute, be not in fear or in dread of them; for it is indeed your God YHVH who marches with you: [God] will not fail or forsake you. “ (Deut. 31:6)
As we contemplate our own personal transitions, there is inevitable loss and fear. As we prepare to prioritize a sustainable and just future, we must be bold. Boldness is needed when we let go of comfort, habit and certainty. Boldness grows when we feel connected to a power that is good and loving, ever present, filled with care and kindness.
The day after Yom Kippur, Pope Francis will address a joint session of the US Congress. I will be joining colleagues and friends, students, activists, interfaith leaders, the curious and the concerned to celebrate Yom Kippur in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. All are invited! We are demonstrating our deep solidarity with the message of the Pope and the realization that to atone is be AT ONE. This is the root of our boldness and our future activism to create a healthy and just future.
In the time of Lincoln, a Chicago Jewish leader, Abraham Kohn, bestowed on the President a painted American flag. On the white stripes, a Hebrew inscription reads: “Be strong and of good courage… Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Now, a century and a half later, Rabbi Arthur Waskow reminds us that “The Memorial enshrines and honors not Lincoln alone but also the millions of Americans who have gathered there to stand for the dignity of every person.”
These days we seek to affirm the dignity and wholeness of ourselves as we face the places of constriction and separation in our hearts and minds. These days we affirm the dignity and sacredness of all life which is being hurt and damaged by systems of oppression, extreme extraction, lack of attention.
Pope Francis invites us to learn “how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and inner peace.” May we be strong and resolute to pray and act from this awareness.
For information on the Yom Kippur event, see www.theshalomcenter.org and https://www.facebook.com/events/386739524868931/
Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg has worked in the Jewish community for over fifty years. Currently she writes, does climate activism, teaches mindfulness meditation, and serves as a spiritual director.