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In the film “Fiddler on the Roof”, Tevye, noted for his abundant wisdom, is asked if there is a blessing for the czar. Now this is in the first years of the twentieth century, and Jews have been victimized by the czar as his involvement in pogroms becomes more direct. After thinking a moment, you know Tevye’s brilliant riposte – “May G-d bless the czar, and keep him far away from us.” Tevye proves, once and for all, that there’s a blessing for everything.
But is there really a blessing for everything? Maybe not everything – but pretty close. There are blessings on food (e.g., hamotzi), blessing on sacred time (e.g., lighting Shabbat candles), blessings on daily mitzvot (e.g., putting on a tallit), and blessings on performing sacred tasks (e.g., studying Torah). In fact, there’s a rule that you should recite one hundred blessings daily!
But are there blessings on observing natural phenomena? In fact, there is such a blessing: “Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the Universe, who made the work of creation.” We recite this blessing when we find ourselves in a beautiful natural setting. This doesn’t have to be somewhere distant and exotic, by the way – sometimes during a morning run on the levee, I am moved to recite it while looking out on Lake Pontchartrain, with the sun still low in the sky.
It turns out that there are also blessings for individual natural phenomena. Let’s take an example from this week’s portion, Noah. We are told in Genesis 9:13 that G-d placed the rainbow in the sky as a reminder to humanity that never again would the world be completely destroyed by a flood. The formula for the blessing upon seeing a rainbow is recorded in the 10th century Midrash Tanchuma (Noah 6:1):
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May it please our master to teach us the benediction recited upon witnessing a rainbow. Thus did our masters teach us: Upon seeing a rainbow, one should recite the benediction: Blessed are You, O L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who remembers His covenant, is faithful in His covenant, and fulfills His word. This wording of the blessing is found in the Talmud. (Berachot 59a) How do we know that the obligation itself is from the Torah itself (and thus has the highest level of obligation behind it)? Because it is written: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be as a sign of a covenant (Gen. 9:13).
In other words, we are obligated to thank G-d for creating a magnificent planet, and for the promise not to destroy it. The more we do our part to combat climate change, the better the chances of continued enjoyment of nature.
Because climate change is something to keep far away from us.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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