MOSES, THE FIRST ENVIRONMENTALIST?

The drama begins. Pharaoh and the Egyptians are smitten by plagues: blood, frogs, lice, pestilence, boils, and the rest. But Pharaoh’s heart is “hard” or stubborn, and he doesn’t let the Israelites go.

Moses famously did not initiate the first three plagues – the blood, the frogs, and the lice. Instead, it was Aaron who held out the staff. This shift in leadership for the Nile and the ground is no mere detail; it reveals a profound lesson in character. The explanation given by Rashi is striking. The river had protected Moses when he was an infant placed in the bulrushes. Later, the sand “protected” him by concealing the Egyptian taskmaster he was forced to kill to save a Hebrew slave. Because these elements had served him, Moses practiced hakarat hatov – recognizing the good he had received. He realized it would be a failure of character to personally strike the very water and sand that had once saved his life. Therefore, the task fell to Aaron.

At first glance, this seems puzzling. Water and sand are inanimate objects. Why should there be a need to show gratitude – or feel moral restraint – toward insentient components of the natural world?

Moses embodied a level of moral sensitivity to creation that we, as a society, are only beginning to rediscover. It took a David Attenborough, in his Blue Planet II films, to wake millions of people to the problem of plastic pollution. We may not have been placed in baskets on the Nile, but we are part of an interconnected ecosystem that we damage at our peril. Our Sages taught: “Do not throw dirt into the well from which you have drunk” (Bava Kama 92b). That is, if you have derived benefit, don’t spoil that resource for others.

These lessons are easy to learn when the connection is visible and immediate. What is far more difficult to grasp why the plastic bottle I toss into the sea should make such a difference. Moses teaches us that it was not only that small section of river or that patch of sand to which he felt indebted. In showing gratitude to them, Moses was acknowledging the moral claim of a world that had sustained him. He recognized that it would not be right for him to use any part of the river or the ground to smite the Egyptians.

We need to cultivate this same sensitivity toward our environment today. Just as the Egyptians suffered because of Pharaoh’s “hardness of heart,” we risk suffering from our own hardness of heart – an indifference toward the natural world that sustains us. If we wish to avert the modern plagues of climate change, we must soften our hearts and sensitize ourselves to the changes we can each make in our daily lives. Many small choices, collectively, will help ensure that we and our children inherit a liveable planet.