Blessed are You, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who entrusts us with the power to create and destroy worlds.
This is a blessing I composed as I considered the destruction we bring upon our Garden in so many ways.
I read an article this morning from Scientific American titled “Destroyed Habitat Creates the Perfect Conditions for Coronavirus to Emerge.” It is about pandemics in general, and Covid-19 in particular. On our current trajectory, this pandemic will be far from our last.
We need to talk more about this: “There’s misapprehension among scientists and the public that natural ecosystems are the source of threats to ourselves. It’s a mistake. Nature poses threats, it is true, but it’s human activities that do the real damage. The health risks in a natural environment can be made much worse when we interfere with it.”
Maybe the Torah expressed an important truth when it differentiated between domestic animals and wild beasts. Humans are responsible to care for their domestic animals. Domestic animals are to enjoy Shabbat along with their human caretakers. But between humans and wild animals, separation, respect, live-and-let-live.
Sometimes “awe and amazement” have to do with becoming fully aware of the power placed in our hands. I hope God’s trust in humanity wasn’t fully misplaced.