CLIMATE CHANGE AND JEWISH TRADITION:
A compilation of web-based resources
This compilation is intended to serve as a database of sources for:
- Jewish leaders looking for ideas and sources for teaching and divrei Torah;
- Jewish climate activists seeking understanding of how Judaism supports their efforts; and
- anyone seeking Jewish sources to help them navigate the complicated emotions that come with understanding climate change and its impacts.
- On the Personal Action page, we have more Jewish Resources
ADAMAH
ADAMAH.ORG
TAGS: LEARNING, JUSTICE, ACTION
TAGS: LEARNING, JUSTICE, ACTION
Adamah is the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America. It's mission is to cultivate vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the earth. Adamah has created the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition to develop, implement, evaluate, and share organizational Climate Action Plans annually.
BELOVED OF THE EARTH
RABBI SHOSHANA MEIRA FRIEDMAN
WWW.RABBISHOSHANA.COM/CLIMATE
TAGS: JUSTICE, LEARNING, RITUAL
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman has a page full of climate resources. You will find sermons on climate change, divrei Torah written for the Forward, Huffington Post, and the Religious Action Center, and the chords and a video for the climate anthem The Tide Is Rising. In addition, there are a variety of other resources that can be used in Jewish or interfaith climate movement contexts, including a full resource packet for a course on Land Ethics & Climate Change in Judaism and her vernacular weekday prayerbook on shame resilience.
WWW.RABBISHOSHANA.COM/CLIMATE
TAGS: JUSTICE, LEARNING, RITUAL
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman has a page full of climate resources. You will find sermons on climate change, divrei Torah written for the Forward, Huffington Post, and the Religious Action Center, and the chords and a video for the climate anthem The Tide Is Rising. In addition, there are a variety of other resources that can be used in Jewish or interfaith climate movement contexts, including a full resource packet for a course on Land Ethics & Climate Change in Judaism and her vernacular weekday prayerbook on shame resilience.
CANFEI NESHARIM
Canfei Nesharim is dedicated to empowering leaders to educate their own schools and communities about the importance of protecting the environment from the perspective of Orthodox Judaism.
They offer holiday programs, parsha materials, and sample lesson plans to help you engage your school in our work, to sustain God’s resources for the benefit of our children. It also includes thorough educational material for adults, “Uplifting People and Planet: Eighteen Essential Jewish Lessons on the Environment”
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD) explores the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. ICSD was founded by Rabbi Yonatan Neril (Orthodox) and is based in Jerusalem, while working on a global basis, with current engagement in Africa, the Middle East, North America, and Europe. Their projects include a Seminary Faith and Ecology, Faith Inspired Renewable Energy, Interfaith Ecology Conferences, and the Faith and Science Earth Alliance
They offer holiday programs, parsha materials, and sample lesson plans to help you engage your school in our work, to sustain God’s resources for the benefit of our children. It also includes thorough educational material for adults, “Uplifting People and Planet: Eighteen Essential Jewish Lessons on the Environment”
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD) explores the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. ICSD was founded by Rabbi Yonatan Neril (Orthodox) and is based in Jerusalem, while working on a global basis, with current engagement in Africa, the Middle East, North America, and Europe. Their projects include a Seminary Faith and Ecology, Faith Inspired Renewable Energy, Interfaith Ecology Conferences, and the Faith and Science Earth Alliance
COMMUNITY CHAPLAIN
Rabbi Moshe Givental is a Community Chaplain, providing emotional and spiritual support and creating ritual for communities working on and living through environmental and climate disruption, so that they can find ways of responding to these with more rootedness in the wisdom of their ancestors, kinship with the natural world, resilience, and creativity. He is a trained facilitator of “Work That Reconnects,” integrating its roots in Buddhism and the anti-nuclear proliferation movement with Judaism and the challenge-opportunities current environmental and political crises. His website offers writings on these topics and online as well as in-person workshops.
JEWISH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK - DMV
JEWISH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK - DMV
TAGS: ACTIVISM, LEARNING
TAGS: ACTIVISM, LEARNING
JCAN-DMV is a network of Jews who stand up for action on climate change in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. They mobilize our communities to protect the sacred Earth and all her fullness, Jewishly and locally. We generally meet monthly.
JEWISH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK - GA
JEWISH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK - GA
TAGS: ACTIVISM, LEARNING
TAGS: ACTIVISM, LEARNING
JCAN-GA is a network of Jews who stand up for action on climate change in Georgia. They mobilize our communities to protect the sacred Earth and all her fullness, Jewishly and locally. We generally meet monthly.
JEWISH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK - NYC
JCAN-NYC is a network of Jews who stand up for action on climate change. They stand upon the teachings, traditions, and prophetic voices of Judaism that compel us to protect all of our sacred Creation. They work through advocacy and activism, and through sustainable practices that protect the Earth and its inhabitants. They have built a network of partnerships and relationships with Jewish and other environmental and justice leaders and support various campaigns.
JEWISH INITIATIVE FOR ANIMALS (JIFA)
JIFA supports innovative programs to turn the Jewish value of compassion for animals into action while building ethical and sustainable Jewish American communities in the process.They provide educational support and consultation to Jewish institutions to assist them in reducing meat consumption and finding higher welfare sources for animal products they serve.
They also provide a number of in depth training manuals to teach people of all ages about different aspects at the intersection of Animals and Jewish values. These are organized under, Bat/Bar Mitzvah, Food Tools, Holidays, Individual Lessons, Jewish Farms and Gardens, and Study Guides. In 2019, JIFA launched the Jewish Leadership Circle (JLC), a recognition program for institutions that commit to more sustainable food sourcing, as well as a comprehensive institutional food sourcing guide (the JLC Resource Guide).
They also provide a number of in depth training manuals to teach people of all ages about different aspects at the intersection of Animals and Jewish values. These are organized under, Bat/Bar Mitzvah, Food Tools, Holidays, Individual Lessons, Jewish Farms and Gardens, and Study Guides. In 2019, JIFA launched the Jewish Leadership Circle (JLC), a recognition program for institutions that commit to more sustainable food sourcing, as well as a comprehensive institutional food sourcing guide (the JLC Resource Guide).
JEWISH VEG
JewishVeg.org inspires and assists Jews to embrace plant-based diets as an expression of Jewish values. They have short articles and promotional materials about Jewish reasons to be vegan/vegetarian, and recipes, written by rabbis across all denominations.
KIRVA
Kirva (formally the Inside Out Wisdom and Action Project) makes Jewish spiritual wisdom from the Mussar and Chassidic traditions accessible for social change makers. It is led by Rabbi David Jaffe, Dan Gelbtuch and Mimi Micner. The project is an outgrowth of Jaffe's award-winning book, Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change.
KOHENET HEBREW PRIESTESS INSTITUTE
Kohenet is a training program in spiritual leadership for women on a Jewish path, through creating a paradigm of earth-based, embodied, feminist, Judaism. It focuses on celebrating the sacred in the body, the earth, and the cosmos, holding the world to be an embodiment of Shekhinah— divine presence.
It was founded by Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D. and Taya Ma Shere. Most of their work is offered through the two-year training program, facilitating rituals in person. They also offer a newsletter, description of some rituals online, poetry, prayer, and original music.
It was founded by Rabbi Jill Hammer, Ph.D. and Taya Ma Shere. Most of their work is offered through the two-year training program, facilitating rituals in person. They also offer a newsletter, description of some rituals online, poetry, prayer, and original music.
MA’YAN TIKVAH
Ma’yan Tikvah’s (www.mayantikvah.org) has posts called “Divrei Earth, spiritual wisdom from Earth and Torah,” written by Rabbi Allen, but also by various rabbis, environmentalists, poets, and others. In particular, this site hosts “Earth Etudes for Elul,” written by many different authors, connecting t’shuvah and Earth, which can be found by looking back to Elul in previous years.
NEOHASID.ORG
Neohasid.org is rooted in egalitarian Chasidic thought and practice and is designed to help people integrate Chasidic song, learning, and nusach into their davenning and communities and to explore embodied Torah. It focuses on eco-Torah and sharing liturgy that honors our relationship with the Earth and/or expresses gender parity. The main categories on the site are: niggunim & songs; liturgy; Torah & stories; eco-Torah, Kabbalah, and culture. The site contains original writings, unique holiday resources such as a 1-page Tu BiShvat haggadah, original translations of ancient texts, explanations of the meaning of prayers, and much more. Education: David was ordained by both the Jewish Theological Seminary and from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and holds a doctorate on Kabbalah and ecotheology from JTS. He is also the author of Kabbalah and Ecology: The Divine Image in the More-Than-Human World.
ORGANIC TORAH
Rabbi Natan Margalit founded Organic Torah Institute to foster holistic thinking about Judaism, environment and society. His website has a blog with posts about holidays, Torah, and other topics, with a focus on Earth. Scholarly works are listed as are articles published in books or journals. Rabbi Margalit is also coordinating ALEPH’s Earth Judaism Rabbinic Ordination track. His website includes recordings of past webinars and links to future e-learning. Rabbi Margalit received rabbinic ordination at The Jerusalem Seminary and earned a Ph.D. in Talmud from U.C. Berkeley. He has taught at Bard College, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. He lives in Boston, MA.
RABBI ELLEN BERNSTEIN
Rabbi Bernstein writes, teaches, speaks and consulst about the role Judaism can play in response to our daunting environmental predicament. She has written an ecologically oriented Passover Haggadah, The Promise of the Land, and has written and edited other Jewish ecological books, including a Tu Bishvat haggadah.
Rabbi Bernstein founded Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization in 1988, and has been thinking and writing about the relationship between ecology and religion ever since. She believes religious and spiritual communities can be vitally important in organizing, inspiring, and sustaining individuals in the repair of the world, and I work to help mobilize them.
Rabbi Bernstein founded Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization in 1988, and has been thinking and writing about the relationship between ecology and religion ever since. She believes religious and spiritual communities can be vitally important in organizing, inspiring, and sustaining individuals in the repair of the world, and I work to help mobilize them.
THE SHALOM CENTER
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Ph. D., founded (in 1983) and directs The Shalom Center, a prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious, and American life that brings Jewish and other spiritual thought and practice to bear on seeking peace, pursuing justice, healing the earth, and celebrating community. He was ordained by a transdenominational beit din convened under the auspices of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal. Rabbi Waskow was involved in founding the Chevurah movement, and has been a leading voice in social justice since the Civil Rights Era.
The Shalom Center website has information organized by weekly Parshah, Holidays, and thematically. The best access to the website is to use the search engine for “Move Our Money,” “Global Scorching” “Climate Policy,” and “World-Healing Judaism.” Each is a treasury of posts on those subjects.
The Shalom Center website has information organized by weekly Parshah, Holidays, and thematically. The best access to the website is to use the search engine for “Move Our Money,” “Global Scorching” “Climate Policy,” and “World-Healing Judaism.” Each is a treasury of posts on those subjects.
SHAMAYIM: JEWISH ANIMAL ADVOCACY
Shamayim is a nonprofit organization that educates leaders, trains advocates, and leads campaigns for the ethical treatment of animals. Good source sheets, cookbooks, etc available on website under education tab! Also divrei Torah, has an annual retreat, runs an annual synagogue vegan challenge and provides funding; Doesn’t seem to have an office location
TEL SHEMESH
Tel Shemesh is founded by Rabbi Jill Hammer. It is a web resource for those who are attempting to integrate Jewish faith and practice with earth-based beliefs. It provides writings, rituals, songs, prayers, and myths that integrate Jewish texts with earth-based images like the Divine feminine and the sacred earth, in order to promote an inclusive vision of a Judaism entwined with nature and with all life. Their resources are organized by Jewish Holidays, the 4 Mystical Worlds (Assiyah, Yetzirah, Briyah, Atzilut), and the 4 Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water). Rabbi Hammer is Co-founder of Kohenet and teaches at AJR.
WAYS OF PEACE COMMUNITY RESOURCES
RABBI REGINA SANDLER-PHILLIPS
WWW.WAYSOFPEACE.ORG/SACRED-UNDERTAKING
WWW.WAYSOFPEACE.ORG/GENEROUS-JUSTICE
TAGS: ACTIVISM, LEARNING, JUSTICE, RITUAL
WWW.WAYSOFPEACE.ORG/SACRED-UNDERTAKING
WWW.WAYSOFPEACE.ORG/GENEROUS-JUSTICE
TAGS: ACTIVISM, LEARNING, JUSTICE, RITUAL
Ways of Peace offers programs, consultations, and publications at the nexus of sustainability, social justice, and spirituality. "Sacred Undertaking" is a core initiative that reclaims classic Jewish practices of Bal Tashkhit (Do Not Destroy) through education to prevent environmentally destructive funeral choices—including unique Jewish dialogues on cremation. "Generous Justice," another core initiative, is a guided empowerment program of social and environmental justice through study, story-telling, action / reflection, and cultural development.
Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips, MSW, MPH, is the founding chair of a 70-volunteer sacred burial fellowship, whose guidance for end-of-life sustainability has helped to empower caring communities worldwide. She is also the author of Generous Justice: Jewish Wisdom for Just-Giving and Counting Days: From Liberation to Revelation. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Earth Island Journal, The Forward, Tablet Magazine, The Jewish Week, and in the books Parting Ways and Saying Goodbye to Someone You Love.
Rabbi Regina Sandler-Phillips, MSW, MPH, is the founding chair of a 70-volunteer sacred burial fellowship, whose guidance for end-of-life sustainability has helped to empower caring communities worldwide. She is also the author of Generous Justice: Jewish Wisdom for Just-Giving and Counting Days: From Liberation to Revelation. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Earth Island Journal, The Forward, Tablet Magazine, The Jewish Week, and in the books Parting Ways and Saying Goodbye to Someone You Love.