Sample Sermon on the Environment - Rabbi Benjamin David

"Turn On Your Love Light"

by Rabbi Benjamin David

To be a Jew in 5769 North America is to live amidst the stretching light of religious freedom. We enjoy more access to Torah, to synagogue life, to clergy and sacred Jewish literature than any generation ever has. We are not barred from schools or political offices or high-ranking posts.

In light of this considerable light, we turn this week to a portion that reminds us of the lack of light, indeed the considerable darkness, that still covers so much of our world. In ourparashah, we read the following regarding the penultimate plague: “Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days. People could not see one another, and for three days no one could move about; but all the Israelites enjoyed light in their dwellings" (Exodus 10:22–23).

There are times when the light that shines upon us—the light of possessions, of family, of shining joyous occasions—can be so blindingly fulfilling and uplifting that we fail to see the darkened state in which others are living.

As we read above, in Rabbi Zeplowitz's moving d'var Torah, we must partner with God to ensure that all creatures of our earth are cared for and tended to with certain compassion. We are not to simply bask in our own self-satisfaction and contentment or in the presumed safety of our “dwellings," but must strive to truly “see one another," to borrow the Torah's phrasing, and with that see the ever-dire needs of our fellow human beings: the hungry, the homeless, the shackled and persecuted, those who have been abandoned, insulted, or mistreated.

On an every-day basis, by way of the words we choose with thought and the actions we pursue with conviction, we no doubt can help to spread some of God's light to those who need it most.

Rabbi Benjamin David is the associate rabbi at Temple Sinai in RoslynNew York. He is a co-founder of the Running Rabbis, a nonprofit initiative aimed to inspire creative forms of social action (www.RunningRabbis.com).