I’ve Got Questions for Ahuva Batya Scharff

Editor’s Note: This exchange is part of a series of brief interviews with emerging writers of recent or forthcoming books. If you enjoyed it, please visit other interviews in the I’ve Got Questions feature.

*The Path to God’s Promise* by Ahuva Batya Scharff

What’s the title of your book? Fiction? Nonfiction? Poetry? Who is the publisher and what’s the publication date?

Title: The Path to God’s Promise

Fiction

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers

Publication Date: October 13, 2023

In a couple of sentences, what’s the book about?

If God asked you to drop everything to become a prophet, to warn the world about climate change, would you? That’s what’s asked of Elinor Simentov in The Path to God’s Promise. Through the story, we travel with Elinor as she is transported to witness horrific past events and a range of potential futures, while she explores her perception of self and relationship with God, and decides whether to accept God’s direction to serve as harbinger and herald for the world.

What’s the book’s genre (for fiction and nonfiction) or primary style (for poetry)?

Genre: Visionary Fiction; Jewish Fiction; Dystopian; Cli-Fi

What’s the nicest thing anyone has said about the book so far?

A woman at a book signing in Salem, Oregon said to me, “Your book showed me that ordinary, broken people can change the world.”

What book or books is yours comparable to or a cross between? [Is your book like Moby Dick or maybe it’s more like Frankenstein meets Peter Pan?]

It’s a bit of an unlikely cross between The Shack and Oryx and Crake. I don’t know of another climate fiction book that relies so heavily on religious experience or text. In a lot of ways, it has parallels with The Alchemist, as it’s very much a story about a spiritual journey.

Why this book? Why now?

I am a mental health researcher, focusing on responses to trauma caused or exacerbated by climate change. It has been interesting—and saddening—for me to observe the anti-intellectual pushback and charges of “fake news,” levied against climate scientists. The truth is that more than 99% of climate scientists agree that human activity is causing climate change. Many of those researchers are living in a tent near a glacier or in a desert doing their research, to try to bring the best data to humans to make decisions for our future and generations to come.

Because of the negativity and disbelief that has met so much climate change nonfiction, I thought I’d take a different approach and use fiction to explore the idea of climate change response.

So, I introduced the world to Elinor Simentov, a middle-aged Jewish woman of no renown who is asked by God to serve as a prophet and warn humankind about impending disaster.

Fiction allowed me to go into a character’s interior life—to consider what we think of ourselves and our ability to create change. It gave me the opportunity to explore Jewish ideas about service, spiritual growth, community, and how to deal with competing values. Fiction also provided an occasion to let characters move through time to explore potential past and future scenarios that could make a difference in our real-world decision-making processes.

That said, there is a tremendous amount of science in the book. The scenes of climate degradation and natural disasters are all based on real events. The political scenes are also based on historical situations. For those who say, “These things couldn’t happen,” I can point to the documents that show where these circumstances have already occurred.

There is no more time to wait. If we’re going to abate the worst of projected climate change outcomes, we have to act now.

Other than writing this book, what’s the best job you’ve ever had?

I absolutely loved working at summer camps. I spent five seasons at summer camps, mostly with the Girl Scouts, across the Western USA. I also spent three years overseeing a Girl Scout camp property for year-round use. If I could make a good living working at camp, I would still do that work. It is wonderful to serve youth as they explore the outdoor world.

The best thing about Girl Scout camp is that it gave me serious skills that I use when I go on expeditions for my current work, which I also love, as principal investigator for the Institute for Complementary and Indigenous Mental Health Research. I research the relationship(s) between trauma, resilience, and climate change. My research takes me to some of the most remote places on earth where I learn how communities are addressing climate change-related trauma and are resilient despite changes to the foundations of their communities.

What do you want readers to take away from the book?

We can stop the worst of the impacts of climate change, but we are not going to “recycle” our way out of the problem(s). To prevent the worst outcomes, our social and economic systems must be radically restructured. I believe that Jewish ideas on justice, compassion, community-mindedness, and wisdom have something to offer that conversation. I explore these ideas in the book and hope that the reader is moved by them.

What food and/or music do you associate with the book?

I am Ashkenazi, so I associate matzah ball soup and gefilte fish with the book – because the book is in large part about what it means to have a Jewish soul and the lengths that we are willing to go to for our community.

But it’s also about lack and want, so I think of stockpiled dry and canned goods that are necessary in times of scarcity—about canning in the late summer and putting up for the winter, and providing gifts of those provisions to those who may be old or in other ways unable to prepare for winter or hardship themselves.

As for music, I think of “Hatikva”. The book released a few days after the October 7 massacre in Israel. I was in Ecuador on a research expedition when the massacre occurred and the war began. I had little access to internet service and was desperate to learn about my Israeli friends. I will forever associate the two events. My book is about hope—for Jews, for humankind, and for our planet.

What book(s) are you reading currently?

I am currently reading The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez – it’s quite literally one of the most enchanting books I’ve read. Alvarez deeply appreciates what it means to be a writer and the sometimes overwhelming need to tell stories. I have also been on a binge of Octavia Butler. Last week I completed Fledgling. I love a twist on vampire tales.