Climate Change Subscribe
A selection of initiatives, blogs, resources and communities on Jewcology which focus on climate change.
Blogs
Climate Catastrophe or a Sustainable Future – It Depends On Our Food Choices
- December 7, 2015
Climate experts from 195 countries have gathered in Paris working to come up with an agreement that will help avert a climate catastrophe. However, they are overlooking an important factor and this threatens the success of their meeting. Here are some important reasons that it is essential to address climate change: Science academies worldwide, 97% of climate scientists, and 99.9% of peer-reviewed papers on the issue in respected scientific journals argue that climate change is real, is largely caused by human activities, and poses great threats to humanity. Every ...
What Did YOU Do?
- October 27, 2015
I offer here the oral testimony I gave today at the Massachusetts State House on Sen. Barrett’s carbon pricing bill, S. 1747, An Act combating climate change before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy. --KZA The time is 50 years hence, and this story is told –- you are old and your hair is gray . Children gather at your feet. They ask, Wise One, Ancient One – we have heard of a time when the inhabitants of the Earth became aware that time was limited, that little time remained to save the ...
The Jewish Veg Event of the Decade
- October 4, 2015
Eden Village Camp is hiring a Farmer/ Educator
- September 10, 2015
Eden Village Camp is Hiring! About Eden Village Camp: Eden Village Camp aims to be a living model of a thriving, sustainable Jewish community, grounded in social responsibility and inspired Jewish spiritual life. By bringing the wisdom of our tradition to the environmental, social, and personal issues important to today’s young people, we practice a Judaism that is substantive and relevant. Through our Jewish environmental and service-learning curricula, joyful Shabbat observance, pluralistic Jewish expression, and inspiring, diverse staff role models, we foster our ...
Light the Way: Support Pope Francis’ Call for Climate Action
- September 4, 2015
Pope Francis is speaking to world leaders at the UN on September 25 with a simple message for politicians: There is no more time for talk. Now is the time to act on climate change. In his recent encyclical on climate change, Pope Francis wrote that “…faced as we are with global environmental deterioration. I wish to address every living person on this planet.” His impassioned message to humanity was drawn from Torah. He wrote that Genesis 2 teaches us that we are required to respect and protect the dignity of every human being. And Psalm 148 is a ...
Light the Way – Support Pope Francis’ Call for Climate Action on September 24
- September 4, 2015
Pope Francis is speaking to world leaders at the UN on September 25 with a simple message for politicians: There is no more time for talk. Now is the time to act on climate change. In his recent encyclical on climate change, Pope Francis wrote that “…faced as we are with global environmental deterioration. I wish to address every living person on this planet.” His impassioned message to humanity was drawn from Torah. He wrote that Genesis 2 teaches us that we are required to respect and protect the dignity of every human being. And Psalm 148 is a ...
Earth Etude for Elul 20 – Saluting all who stand tall in the face of “Climate and Carbon Pharoahs”:Rabbinical activist plans eco Yom Kippur services at Lincoln Memorial
- September 4, 2015
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By Susie Davidson This article was first published in the August 27 issue of the Jewish Journal of the North Shore. On June 18, Pope Francis released his long-awaited, climate-centered encyclical, “Laudato Sii,” which translates to “May the Creator Be Praised," and is taken from a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi acknowledging Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and all other elements of Creation. To enthusiastic worldwide reception, the encyclical stated that humans were morally bound to protect the planet for future generations, and especially for the vulnerable ...
Earth Etude for Elul 17 – Taking Stock of the Future
- September 1, 2015
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by Rabbi Lawrence Troster During the month of Elul it's traditional to do a heshbon ha-nefesh a spiritual accounting of what we did in the past year so that we can do teshuva or repentance for what we have done wrong or failed to achieve. Indeed, the first step of teshuva is the recognition of doing wrong. We then can move on to trying to fix that wrong and gain atonement. One of the characteristics of the modern world is our ability to analyze possible future outcomes in a way that our ancestors could not. So we can take a future heshbon ha-nefesh if we want ...
Rosh Hashanah Message: Shifting Our Imperiled Planet Onto a Sustainable Path
- August 31, 2015
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Rosh Hashanah commemorates God's creation of the world. The “Ten Days of Repentance” from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is a period to evaluate our deeds and to do teshuvah (repentance) for cases where we have missed the mark. Sukkot is a holiday in which we leave our fine houses and live in temporary shelters (sukkahs) to commemorate our ancestors journey in the wilderness. Hence, the upcoming weeks provide an excellent time to consider the state of the planet's environment and what we might do to make sure that the world is on a sustainable path. When God created ...
Earth Etude for Elul 15 – Elul, the Month for Climate Action
- August 29, 2015
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by David Krantz Tekiah! In Elul, we hear the call for the quintessential sound of the shofar every morning. It’s meant as a daily wake-up call to action. Appropriately, the word Tekiah itself also means “disaster.” Day after day in Elul, the shofar shouts: “Disaster! Act now!” Just as an alarm clock gives us notice that we have to get to work, the shofar reminds us that time marches onward and that our mistakes won’t correct themselves. We must actively engage with the world to repair it and our relationships with each other. The process of repentance and ...
Earth Etude for Elul 14 – The Pool Is Closed
- August 28, 2015
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by Rabbi Natan Margalit, PhD “The Pool is closed. Have a good night. God Bless America” the lifeguard announced as I climbed out of the public pool at 5:00 pm on an August evening. I was a bit taken aback by that “God bless America.” Well, of course. Yes, it's America, we’re in a public pool, why not? I hope God blesses America. We need to work for our own country, of course. Im ayn ani li, mi li – If I am not my own advocate, who will be for me? Said Hillel. But, it seemed to say more: God bless America –rah rah, go home team! Beat those ...
A Rosh Hashanah Message: Aplying Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled Planet
- August 28, 2015
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Rosh Hashanah reminds us of God’s creation of the world. The “Ten Days of Repentance” from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is a period to evaluate our deeds and to do teshuvah (repentance) for cases where we have missed the mark. Sukkot, starting four days after Yom Kippur, is a holiday in which we leave our fine houses and live in temporary shelters (sukkahs) to commemorate our ancestors journey in the wilderness. So, that period provides an excellent time to consider the state of the planet’s environment and what we might do to help keep the world on a sustainable ...
Earth Etude for Elul 11 – The Freedom of Dance; the Prayer of Protest
- August 26, 2015
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by Maggid David Arfa Shalom Shachna, the son of Holy Angel, the grandson of the Maggid of Mezeritch, learned to dance from the Shpoler Zeide. For the rest of his life he would share with all who would listen how the Shpoler Zeide was a master of dance and able to achieve Holy Unifications with each step of his foot. Adapted from Tales of the Hasidim by Martin Buber. “For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer….Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Some...
Rabbinical School of Hebrew College Issues Environmental Call To Action
- August 25, 2015
“Even though we may understand the story of creation differently from our ancestors, like them we recognize the need to care for God’s holy works with care and diligence." Rabbi Arthur Green, Rector of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College
Earth Etude for Elul 9 – Weeds and Debris
- August 24, 2015
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by Maxine Lyons I started to think about teshuvah and Rosh Hashana early this summer while cleaning out my flowerbeds of weeds and debris. I noticed the different roots in my garden - fibrous roots spread laterally underground and re-appear in other places, taproots that remain steadfast in one place and grow downward deep into the earth. I was musing about how some people are like taproots- making a bold, firm stance whereas others are like the plants with fibrous roots, appearing and reappearing, showing their influences by reaching out in a variety of places and spaces. ...
Earth Etude for Elul 2 – Elul: A Time to Start Shifting Our Imperiled Planet onto a Sustainable Path
- August 16, 2015
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by Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D The Hebrew month of Elul has arrived. It is the traditional time for heightened introspection, a chance to consider teshuva, improvements in our lives, before the “Days of Awe,” the days of judgment, the “High Holidays” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The shofar is blown every morning (except on Shabbat) in synagogues during the month of Elul to awaken us from slumber, to remind us to consider where we are in our lives and to urge us to make positive changes. How should we respond to Elul today? How should we respond when: ...
Deadly Heat Wave in Israel Should Be a Wake-Up Call To the Need For Dietary Changes To Help Avert a Climate Catastrophe
- August 6, 2015
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When I speak to people about climate change, often they say that perhaps it will be a problem for future generations, but not now. The recent very severe heat wave in Israel, with temperatures ranging from the mid 90s to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, resulting in the deaths of a one-year old baby and an 18 year old soldier and in many other people fainting or suffering from dehydration, is an indication that the effects of climate change are already being felt. Other counties in the Middle East experienced even higher temperatures, which reached 122 degrees F in Iraq ...
Relating Tisha B’Av to Current Environmental Threats
- July 21, 2015
- 1 comment
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Tisha B'Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the first of many negative things that occurred on that day, including the destruction of the second Temple. Today there are many “Jeremiahs” warning us that now it is not only a temple in Jerusalem, but the entire world, that is threatened by climate change and its effects, species extinction, soil erosion, destruction of tropical rain forests and other valuable ...
Moral March for Climate Justice
- July 9, 2015
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Join the Moral Action for Climate Justice At the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. NEW DATE: Thursday 9/24/15 Washington, DC Because this is the day we can make history. On this day the Pope will be calling on Congress to take action to save our planet — and we will be right there to show him, Congress, and the rest of the world that we agree! PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE CLOSE TO THE DATE FOR THE UPDATED TIMES.
Tisha B’Av in the Age of Climate Crisis: Interactive Discussion and Potluck Dinner
- July 2, 2015
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Tisha B'Av is a day of fasting and mourning in response to the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, and other tragedies, with a traditional reading of the Book of Eicha, or Lamentations. Rabbi Katy Allen, rabbi of Ma'yan Tikvah and President of the Jewish Climate Action Network, will lead an experiential evening that will include going out outdoors to connect to the Earth. She will use selected passages Eicha and additional resources in juxtaposition with statements about climate change impact as the basis of our exploration of What Can Judaism Teach Us in the ...
