By Nati Passow
“All the life of this planet breathes and what’s more, they inter-breathe. The animals, all of them, breathe in oxygen and breathe out CO2, and the vegetation, all of it, breathes in CO2 and breathes out oxygen. And that’s the inter-breathing of all living things, all saying the unpronounceable name of God in every moment. And that’s when the science and the spirituality, it seemed to me, joined together. It took a while for me to realize that what we call the climate crisis, which is caused by the overproduction of CO2, so much so that all the plants on earth couldn’t absorb that much CO2 to turn it into oxygen, is also a spiritual crisis. The inter-breathing is being choked by the overproduction of CO2, which makes the planet hotter and hotter and hotter. We are choking God’s name.”
–From an interview celebrating Arthur Waskow’s 90th birthday
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, who passed away on October 20 at the age of 92, was a prophetic voice on climate decades before others awakened, and always rooted deeply in Jewish tradition.
Arthur was a real rabble rouser – a lifelong activist, author, rabbi, and religious leader who spoke truth to power fearlessly. He published more than two dozen books, including the Freedom Seder and Seasons of Our Joy. He founded and ran the Shalom Center as a “prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious, and American life.” He trained rabbis at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; co-founded Aleph: the Alliance for Jewish Renewal; helped to found the National Havurah Institute, the Green Hevra (an early network of Jewish environmental organizations), and Rabbis for Human Rights North America (now T’ruah).
He was very active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and carried his prophetic vision and activist work right up until his passing. When his haggadah was first published, it was long before the proliferation of haggadot addressing social issues, and was quite radical.
I had the privilege of meeting him over 20 years ago and we stayed connected through our overlapping work (and by both being based in Philadelphia).
Two memories I would like to share about him.
First, he liked to open most learning sessions with this: He would share the story of growing up and seeing the Hebrew letters that make up the name of G!d – יהוה – which in Hebrew are actually impossible to pronounce (at least on the surface). When he asked how to say that word, he was told that we shouldn’t try to say the true name of G!d. But, filled with rebellious spirit even as a child, he kept trying, and eventually realized that those letters come together to essentially make the sound of breathing. In fact, we are all saying this name of the divine all the time, and that our breathing in and out, like all life forms, is what is meant by the idea of G!d containing the Breath of Life.
Second, for a few years there was a field-building initiative for the Jewish environmental movement that brought together the leaders of about 15 different organizations, including the Shalom Center. When the conversation at one of our early retreats turned to what collective action we could all take together, Arthur immediately suggested that we go to DC and chain ourselves to the White House to protest the continued support of fossil fuels. Other organizational leaders in the room responded, “Uh, I need to check with my board,” or, “I wouldn’t want to alienate our constituents with something so political.” Arthur, the oldest person in the room, was also clearly the most radical. In fact, I recently learned, he was arrested more than two dozen times for his activism.
Arthur believed the terms global warming or global climate change masked the true impact of what is happening to the planet, so he would often use the term Global Scorching. He had the ability to simultaneously shake us out of our comfort zone and also serve as a living inspiration to take action. Up until his health made it impossible, Arthur would be on the streets marching, protesting, teaching, all with a prophetic authority laced with kindness and joy.
He was truly a gadol (great).
May his memory be a blessing.
Nati Passow
Nati Passow has been a leader in the Jewish environmental movement for the past two decades. He co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Jewish Farm School, overseeing hundreds of programs for children, college students, and adults. Nati was a Joshua Venture Fellow and recognized in Jewish Week’s 36 Under 36. From 2019-2021 he taught as an assistant professor of sustainable food systems at Temple University. When not working, Nati can be found biking, tending his garden, and sharing food with family and friends in West Philadelphia.