My Climate Change Statement and the Lists of the 43 Israeli Orthodox Rabbis and 34 Israeli Masorti Rabbis Who Signed So Far

I hope to seek signatures of IsraeliReform Rabbis in conjunction with a future climate change conference

STATEMENT ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS (signed so far by 43 Israeli Orthodox rabbis and 34 Israeli Masorti rabbis).

“In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, he took him and let him pass before all the trees in the Garden of Eden and said to him:  “See my works, how fine and excellent they are.  Now all that I created I created for your benefit.  Think upon this and do not corrupt or destroy my world.  For if you destroy it, there is no one to restore it after you.” (Midrash: Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:28)

Today, 97% of climate scientists and all the major science academies worldwide– an overwhelming consensus– state that climate change is occurring, is primarily caused by human activities, and must be addressed immediately in order for life on earth to continue to survive and thrive. All 195 nations at the 2015 Paris climate change conference agreed and the vast majority pleaded to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Their conclusion is reinforced by many facts on the ground:

•Every decade since the 1970s has been warmer than the previous decade and all of the 17 warmest years since temperature records were kept in 1880 have been since 1998. The three previous years have successively broken worldwide temperature records.

•Polar icecaps and glaciers worldwide have been melting rapidly, faster than scientific projections. This has caused an increase elevation in oceans worldwide with the potential for major flooding.

•There has been an increase in the number and severity of droughts, wildfires, storms, and floods. California experienced so many of these events that its governor Jerry Brown said, “Humanity is on a collision course with nature.”

•Many climates experts believe that we are close to a tipping point due to positive feedback loops, when climate change will spiral out of control, with disastrous consequences, unless major positive changes soon occur. A 2017 report in the respected science publication Nature, signed by over 60 leading climate scientists, that warned that failing to start to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 would likely result in increasingly severe climate events.

•While many climate scientists think that 350 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric CO2 is a threshold value for climate stability, the world reached 400 ppm in 2014, and the amount is increasing by 2 – 3 ppm per year.

•While climate scientists hope that temperature increases can be limited to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), largely because that is the best that can be hoped for with current trends and momentum, the world is now on track for an increase of 4 – 6 degrees Celsius, which would result in major threats to human civilization.

•The Pentagon and other military groups warn that climate change will increase the potential for instability, terrorism, and war by reducing access to food and clean water and by causing tens of millions of desperate refugees to flee from droughts, wildfire, floods, storms, and other effects of climate change.

In light of the above and more, we, the Israeli rabbis, educators, politicians, and other Israeli leaders,  whose signatures are below, believe that Jewish teachings mandate that we do everything possible to help avert a climate catastrophe and other environmental disasters and to help shift our imperiled planet onto a sustainable path. Here are just two of these teachings:

 

•Genesis 2:15 indicates that the human role is to work the land but also to guard and preserve it: “The Lord God took the human being, and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and guard it.”

* “Who is the wise person? The one who considers the future consequences of his or her actions.”  (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Tamid 32a)

Based on these and other Jewish teachings, we believe Jews should be on the forefront of efforts to help avert a climate catastrophe. Making this even more important is that Israel is especially threatened by climate change. The Middle East is a very hot, dry area and projections are that it will become hotter and dryer, making instability, violence, terrorism, and war more likely. Also, much of Israel’s population and infrastructure are threatened by a rising Mediterranean Sea inundating Israel’s coastal plain.

Reducing climate change must be a central focus of Jewish life today. We strongly recommend that our fellow rabbis, Jewish educators, and other Jewish leaders, and our synagogues, Jewish schools, and other Jewish individuals and organizations take major steps to increase awareness of climate threats and steps that must be taken to reduce them. We urge the Israeli government to shift from its widespread use of fossil fuels to a far greater emphasis on renewable sources of energy like solar and wind, and we urge the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to prioritize legislation that reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Signatures of the 41 Israeli OrthodoxOrthodox rabbis (alphabetically) follows with information about each rabbi for identification only.

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Rabbi Elan Adler, teacher and counselor, Maale Adumim

Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, Officer of the Order of Australia, emeritus rabbi 

     of the Great Synagogue, Sydney

Rabbi Dov Berkovits, Bet Av – Creativity and Renewal in Torah

Rabbi David Bigman, Yeshivat Ma’aleh Gilboa

Rabbi Yitzchak Blau: Rosh Yeshiva Yeshivat Orayta

Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cadozo

Rabbi Bob Carroll, Former Program Director, Edah, and Board Member of      

     the Interfaith Encounter Association

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, Rosh Yeshiva of Emit Orot Shaul.

Rabbi Dov Ber Cohen, Director of Education: Justifi: Jewish Social Justice

Rabbi Menachem Cohen,  Chief Rabbi of Romania and rabbi of the 

     Moshavim Movement in Israel

Rabbi Chaim Dovrat, Modi’in, formerly at Wellington Hebrew Congrgation

Rabbi Yehoshua Engelman,

Rabbi Seth (Shaul) Farber, Kehilat Netivot, Raanana

Rabbi Zev Farber,

Rabbi Mike Feuer Sulam Yaakov – Educational Director

Rabbi Binny Freedman, Rosh Yeshivat (Dean ) Orayta

Rabbi Akiva Gersh, Educator, Alexander Muss High School in Israel, Hod 

     Hasharon, Israel.

Rabbi Fivel Yedidya Glasser, Director, Nesiya

Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy, Faculty/Director of Admissions, Director 

     of SocialJustice Tract, Pardes Year Program Alumna

Rabbi Shaul David Judelman, Educator, guide at Teva Ivri

Rabbi Ariel Konstantyn, MS, PT, Founding Rabbi, The Tel Aviv International 

     Synagogue – Beit El, Rabbinic Consultant, Tzohar

Rabbi Tzvi Koren, Rav of Kehilat Kinor David, Ra’anana

Rabbi Daniel Landes,

Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavie, Founder of the Hakhel Incubator for Jewish 

     Intentional Communities

Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, Sulam Yaakov – Dean, Jerusalem City Council 

     Member

Rabbi Hayim Leiter, Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies

Rabbi Ronen Lubitch, 

Rabbi Nir Etzion, president of the Ne’emanei Torah v’Avodah movement, 

     member of the Executive Committee of the Adam, Teva VeDin    

     Association.

Rabbi Dave Mason, Author of The Age of Prophecy series

Rabbi Michael Melchior   Rav of Kehilat Talpiyot Hachadasha, 

     Yerushalayim

Rabbi Yonatan Neril  Founder and director of the Interfaith Center for 

     Sustainable Development

Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth   V’AhavT”A – TLV Jewish Experience

Rabbi Micha Odenheimer

Rabbi Ariel Picard, Hartman Institute

Rabbi Chananel Rosen, Rabbi of Yakar Tel-Aviv, Director of Yakar 

     Institutions

Rabbi David Rosen  KSG CBE, International Director of Interreligious 

     Affairs, AJC; International President, Religions for Peace

Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Dov Rosen, Rabbi of the Yakar community in 

     Jerusalem.

Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, Director of International Relations, Roots/

     Shorashim/Judur

Rabbi Meir Schweiger, Mashgiach Ruchani, Pardes Institute of Jewish 

     Studies

Rabbi Yedidyah Sinclair,

Rabbi Renee Samuel Sirat, former Chief Rabbi of France.

Rabbi Daniel Sperber, Professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University

Rabbi Pesach David Stadlin, Author and spiritual director of Eden Village

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List of 34 Masorti Rabbi who signed

Rabbi Haya Rowen Baker, Congregation Beth Tzedec

Rabbi Ehud Bandel, President of Conservative Judaism in Israel

Rabbi Sara Cohen, Kibbutz Ketura

Rabbi Jeff Cymit,

Rabbi Micael Even David, Edgware Masorti Synagogue

Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, Jerusalem, Author of many Judaica books

Rabbi Yoav Ende, Director of the Center for Leadership at Hannaton

Rabbi Jerome Epstein, CEO Emeritus, United Synagogue of Conservative 

     Judaism

Rabbi Adam Frank, Congregation Moreshet Yisrael, Jerusalem

Rabbi Paul Freedman, Director, Israel Strategic Partnerships

Rabbi Mikie Goldstein, President, rabbinical assembly in Israel

Rabbi Professor David Golinkin, President of the Schechter Institute, Jerusalem

Rabbi Michael Graetz, A founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and its 

     first Executive Director

Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann, Author, involved with Rabbis for Human Rights in 

    and the Tag Meir Coalition in Israel

Rabbi Hayyim Halpern,

Rabbi Arie Hasit, Mazkeret Batya

Rabbi Dubi Hayun, Moriah Congregation

Rabbi Victor Hoffman, Tikvat Shalom Conservative Congregation

Rabbi Tzvi Landau, Kehilat Hakerem, Galilee

Rabbi Idit Lev, Rabbis for Human Rights

Rabbi Jim LeBeau, Conservative Yeshiva, Jerusalem

Rabbi Amy Levin, Tzibur Strategies: For Thriving Sacred Communities and 

     Their Leaders

Rabbi Jonathan Mott, Kibbutz Malkiya

Rabbi Dr. Gil Nativ, Kehilat Hakerem, Galilee

Rabbi Peretz Rodman, Masorti rabbi and Av Bet Din of the Masorti Bet Din of Israel

Rabbi Joel Roth, Rosh Yeshiva Emeritus, Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem

Rabbi Andrew Sacks, Director of the Rabbinical Center in Israel

Rabbi Gali Sneer, 

Rabbi Wilfred Solomom, Jerusalem, Rabbi Emeritus, Beth Israel Congregation, Vancouver, BC

Rabbi Diama Villa, Schechter, Rabbinical Seminary, Jerusalem

Rabbi Dov Vogel, Teacher and medical clown volunteer at hospitals, Kfar Saba

Rabbi Tavi Weinberg

Rabbi Todd Zeff, Program Officer, Nachshon Project

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