Our Passover tables will soon be festooned with goblets, nibbles
and dips. Each mouthful tells a piece of
our sacred story.
Karpas is the green vegetable we dip into salt water. The sprig represents springtime and hope. The salt water is our ancestors’ tears.
This year, both Passover and Earth Day occur on April
22. So it’s fitting that we contemplate the
health of our planet, and how many people are already suffering because of
environmental degradation.
When I taste the salt water this year, I’ll be thinking of
our planet’s oceans. They are at risk in
many ways. For one thing, acidity is
rising due to higher concentrations of carbon dioxide. Acidification is proven to dissolve shells,
leading to the deaths of those animals that inhabit them. That’s bad news for the many creatures who
consume mollusks and crustaceans.
Coral will perish, and along with it fish who call the reef home. If the ocean’s acid levels continue to rise, the
fishing and tourism industries will collapse.
What’s more, the proliferation of plastics, over fishing,
the use of drift nets, and polluted run-off are causing additional damage in
the oceans. When is the point of no
return? Try to imagine life on earth if
our seas perish.
The cup of salt water will also bring to my mind the 663
million people (1 in 10 globally) who lack access to safe water, according to
Water.org. A child dies from a
water-related illness every ninety seconds, about the time it takes to fill our
wine cups. Women and children spend 125
million hours each day collecting water.
2.4 billion Human beings lack access to proper sanitation. For these people, like those in Flint,
Michigan, fresh water is the exception, not the rule.
What can you do? This
Passover, as you dip the karpas into the salt water, dip once, then pause. In that moment, acknowledge with gratitude
your access to plentiful, uncontaminated water.
Then, dip a second time for all those billions for whom clean water is a
regular struggle. Surely, they are in
Egypt still; their plagues are real. As
you eat the salty parsley – a blend of suffering and hope -- commit to making a
difference for others. Double your
efforts at reducing plastic, since it winds up infiltrating ecosystems. Consume only sustainable fish, whether at
home or in restaurants. Reduce your
carbon emissions. Pledge to donate at
water.org.
Perhaps you’ll offer this blessing over the second dip or
over Miriam’s Cup:
Blessed are You, Be’er Chayim, Sacred Wellspring of Life. You are the Source of Life, coursing through my
veins. May Your blessings flow through
me into the world, and may I, like my ancestor Miriam, be an agent for sustaining
the all that lives.
I’d like to thank Yael Dennis who has so inspired me to
develop my thinking on Judaism and Environmental Justice.
Wishing you and your family a happy, meaningful Pesach.
About Acid Seas
About Plastics in our Oceans and our Bodies
Water.Org
No comments:
Post a Comment