ABOUT

My journey to the Jewish Climate Movement traces its way back to my childhood; every day, I saw the print by Ben Shahn that hung in my childhood home: a brown hand and a white hand clasping each other, with the words from the book of Leviticus - לא תעמד על דם רעך / “Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By.”  My parents and their colleagues lived by these words, working to enforce civil rights legislation and building deep life-long friendships with each other along the way. I remember marching on Washington to pass the Equal Rights Amendment with my extended family, the menfolk alongside the women. Every year at Passover, we would celebrate our exodus from Egypt while simultaneously committing to working towards the exodus of all oppressed peoples. I learned about the importance of showing up fully as an ally while simultaneously not leaving myself or my people behind.

As an adult, new experiences have continued to shape me:  While learning at Pardes in Israel, I fell in love with studying Torah and celebrating Shabbat and I got a fuller picture of what community can look like. Teaching in Jewish day schools and raising a child of my own taught me what it means to nurture another and to believe in and fight for a future where all life can thrive. I protested in Minnesota with Anishinaabe First Nations women leading the resistance to the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline. Their teachings and deep connection to their ancestors led me to remember my own ancestors who left their home to come to this country out of hardship and circumstance, not much different from the climate refugees of today, seeking survival and a good life. Back at home in New York City, the realities of heat inequality have become painfully apparent after enduring extremely hot consecutive days over the past several summers, the new normal. Trekking to Albany to lobby my elected officials or participating in a protest or action closer to home push me, over and over again, to find my voice, to speak my truth, to choose coalitions and caring and community.

My story of becoming a Jewish climate activist is firmly grounded in Torah.  In the beginning of the book of Genesis, with intention and deliberation, God creates our world, a vast ecosystem of interdependent species with the capacity to self-perpetuate. It is a glorious moment and a turning point, on that 3rd day of creation, when God asks that the earth sprout forth vegetation that can reproduce on its own.  No longer is God the only one with generative capacity; God empowers and then blesses God’s creations, from the vegetation to the creepy crawlies to human beings, to flourish and populate the world that God has created - פרו ורבו / Be fruitful and multiply.  God culminates the act of creation by endowing humans the honor of partnering with God to steward the world. As we tackle the climate crisis as Jews, we can return to God’s initial vision -- of a world of abundance, bounty and biodiversity, a world filled with living things that co-exist and thrive alongside each other -- to guide us in our path forward.  And we can return to the extraordinary and unique role given to us by God to protect and care for this sacred world.