Shavuot comes exactly seven weeks after Passover, which is also known as Chag Ha'Aviv, or "The Holiday of the Spring"
...ופי' אביב כמו בכור. כי הוא מגזרת אב שהוא כמו ראשון לאשר הוליד. או חכם לתלמיד שלמד...
...The word aviv means the first that ripens. Aviv comes from the same root as av (father), and has a similar meaning as the relationship between a newborn child to a parent, or a student to a teacher...
Many Rabbis believe that the festival of Shavuot commemorates the day that the Torah was given. The practice of learning Torah late into the night on Shavuot has been done for at least 500 years. As the previous passages stated, just as a student learns from a teacher, so too, we must learn a lesson from these holidays. So what lessons are we supposed to learn from the Torah?
Let's start at the beginning with the creation of humanity.
...בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, נְטָלוֹ וְהֶחֱזִירוֹ עַל כָּל אִילָנֵי גַּן עֵדֶן, וְאָמַר לוֹ, רְאֵה מַעֲשַׂי כַּמָּה נָאִים וּמְשֻׁבָּחִין הֵן, וְכָל מַה שֶּׁבָּרָאתִי בִּשְׁבִילְךָ בָּרָאתִי, תֵּן דַּעְתְּךָ שֶׁלֹא תְקַלְקֵל וְתַחֲרִיב אֶת עוֹלָמִי, שֶׁאִם קִלְקַלְתָּ אֵין מִי שֶׁיְתַקֵּן אַחֲרֶיךָ...
...When G-d created Adam the first man, He took him and showed him all the trees in the Garden of Eden, and He said to him: ‘See My creations and how beautiful they are. Everything I created, I created for you. Make certain that you do not ruin My world, for if you destroy it, there will be no one to mend it after you.
Right now we are facing the biggest threat to our planet. Climate Change. The damage BlackRock is causing to our planet is irreversible and directly goes against G-d's commandment to not destroy this planet.
Shavuot, among other holidays, is considered by rabbinic sources to be time of a judgment for different aspects of the natural world. The Mishnah understands the festival of Shavuot, which it calls Atzeret, to be the time for divine judgment regarding the next year's fruit harvest.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה...
He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it...
Our fight against climate change will continue past this action. It will continue for the rest of our lives. We are fighting for our future and the future of our kids and all the generations that will come after us. It is not our responsibility to solve climate change, but it is our duty to keep fighting against those who seek to harm our world.
הַעִדֹ֨תִי בָכֶ֣ם הַיּוֹם֮ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֣יִם וְאֶת־הָאָ֒רֶץ֒ הַחַיִּ֤ים וְהַמָּ֙וֶת֙ נָתַ֣תִּי לְפָנֶ֔יךָ הַבְּרָכָ֖ה וְהַקְּלָלָ֑ה וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּחַיִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן תִּֽחְיֶ֖ה אַתָּ֥ה וְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—
This passage spoken by G-d sums up the dilemma of why we are here. Hashem has given us the power of good and evil. Of selflessness and greed. In this message, God tells us to choose the lives of our children and future generations over our greed. But BlackRock's corporate power and focus only on monetary gain at the expense of our world is endangering our future and the future of our children. This is why we fight. But we are not only fighting for our future, we are also fighting for justice. For those who don't have a voice.
(1) Justice, justice — This is addressed to each of the contending parties. The repetition of "justice" implies that they should pursue a just result whether it brings them profit or loss, or perhaps that they should continue to pursue justice time after time, as long as they live. Or it may simply be for emphasis.
We are here today fighting for climate justice, regardless of monetary profit or loss. We are here fighting for a better world, for our children, for our earth, and for G-d.
Let's end with one last story, I will share the story and we can all go around and relate the meaning to our modern-day climate catastrophe.
תָּנֵי רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי, מָשָׁל לִבְנֵי אָדָם שֶׁהָיוּ יוֹשְׁבִין בִּסְפִינָה נָטַל אֶחָד מֵהֶן מַקְדֵּחַ וְהִתְחִיל קוֹדֵחַ תַּחְתָּיו, אָמְרוּ לוֹ חֲבֵרָיו מַה אַתָּה יוֹשֵׁב וְעוֹשֶׂה, אָמַר לָהֶם מָה אִכְפַּת לָכֶם לֹא תַחְתִּי אֲנִי קוֹדֵחַ, אָמְרוּ לוֹ שֶׁהַמַּיִם עוֹלִין וּמְצִיפִין עָלֵינוּ אֶת הַסְּפִינָה.
...Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught a parable: Men were on a ship. One of them took a drill and started drilling underneath him. The others said to him: What are sitting and doing?! He replied: What do you care. Is this not underneath my area that I am drilling?! They said to him: But the water will rise and flood us all on this ship...
What is the meaning of this story? What can we learn from it? How can we use this story and the other texts from the Torah to push us forward in our climate activism work and our pursuit of climate justice? Let's discuss.