Saving Earth as important as saving a soul

It was a cruel travesty of Scripture: this month's floods across Europe and Russia brought death to the animals of Prague's zoo.

As the climate produced its worst ravages for more than a century, there was no Ark to carry all of the helpless captives to safety, and the modern Noahs came with lethal doses of tranquilliser instead of feedbags and bales.

The Indian elephant, Kadir, who was 35 years old, was put down as the waters rose around him and the last islet in his paddock was submerged. A gorilla that tried to flee was drowned.

Other animals, including a rhino that somehow survived being winched up beneath a crane, were taken to a haven on higher ground. It was a horrible echo of the carnage at Kabul's zoo earlier this year as the Afghan capital came under heavy allied bombardment.

Despite assurances from Whitehall and the Pentagon that our infallible missiles were trained only on proven terror bases and the private residences of Taliban and al-Qaeda bigwigs, the zoo was blasted to ruins.

Animals which did not die in the shelling either starved to death or had to be put down by their keepers. A one-eyed lion that had come to symbolise indomitable Afghan courage during the Soviet occupation stood no chance against the Allied military machine.

If Blair and Bush had proved as successful in tracking down any of al-Qaeda's leaders as they were at slaughtering zoo pets, the world would be better and safer. But as the anniversary of September 11 approaches, Osama bin Laden and every one of his cronies remain at large.

The West stands more chance of wiping out al-Qaeda with pollution than with bullets. That is not simply a facetious statement - it might even be true.

A two-mile-thick smog cloud is shrouding southern Asia, according to a UN-sponsored study, and rainfall over north-west Pakistan, Afghanistan and western China - the likeliest hiding places for bin Laden - is expected to fall by nearly half.

Professor Victor Tamanathan was one of 200 scientists involved in the study. He warns the smog is soaking up 15 per cent of the sun's energy, and turning what remained of the rain to an acid precipitation. Millions face respiratory illnesses.

The Nobel prize-winner Paul Crutzen, who helped to identify the hole in the ozone layer, says up to two million people are dying from atmospheric pollution in India every year.

''If present trends continue, we have a very serious problem,'' he says. Of course present trends will not continue: they will accelerate and become far worse. As long as the West pays only lip-service to ecological tenets - or ignores them entirely, as the Americans do - Earth has no hope of regeneration.

Of all the Jewish customs which guide my daily life, I believe the rules which teach green living are among the most essential - as important as daily prayer and respect for God. Indeed, the truest way to show respect for our Maker is to love and cherish the planet.

Tikkun Olam is one of the 613 Mitzvot: ''Heal the world.'' It is a sacred injunction. Think of the words of the Shema, from Deuteronomy, when God promises to send rain as long as we love and serve with all our heart and soul.

A few chapters later, God forbids mankind to tear down trees that bear fruit, even in the heat of battle. Jewish sages have laid great emphasis on these laws through the centuries.

Rebbe Nachman of Braslav wrote in the 18th century: ''If a person kills a tree before its time, it is like having murdered a soul.''

In Africa and South America, trees fall like blades of grass, as developers shred the rainforests. In Asia and Europe, woodlands are reduced to barren landscapes of dead black fingers poisoned by acid rain. Rebbe Nachman was right: we are commiting ecological genocide. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi has spoken out against waste caused by kosher customs, and suggested an ecological alternative: ''I invented the word eco-kosher to say that this is ecologically kosher.

''Now I'll give you an example of eco-kosher. The regular kosher way, is about the dishes that mustn't be contaminated, etc. If I pick a cup to have coffee, Styrofoam would be the best thing to have. It hasn't been used before and after I drink from it, I'll throw it away and nobody else will use it.

''From the kosher place that's the direction to go . . . but in comparison to what will happen to the planet by my drinking in a Styrofoam cup, I'd much rather make the other choice - eco-kosher.''

Every schoolchild knows the words of the Native American proverb: ''Treat the Earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children.

''We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.''

And every Jewish child should know these words from Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah: ''When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said, 'Look at My works! See how beautiful they are - how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it'.''

This column was written before Uri flew to Australia to take part in the TV show, I'm a Celebrity . . . Get me out of here! You can follow his progress nightly on ITV1 and ITV2.

The Jewish Telegraph

Uri Geller's Monthly column in the Face

Email him at urigeller@compuserve.com

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