MESI

Jewish communities are collectively taking action in response to climate change. Bruce Spierer from Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition will share about ways to commit to climate action in your synagogue, including creating a path to net zero emissions and expanding your impact. Representatives from USCJ synagogues Diane Edelson from Agudath Israel, Caldwell, NJ, and Jennifer Lader from Brith Sholom, Bethlehem, PA, will offer research results & examples for taking climate action in their synagogues and creating an internal structure to support environmental goals for the long term.

The way we speak about climate change matters. Moshe Kornfeld of Colorado Jewish Climate Action will discuss the intersection of climate communication and Judaism. Julia Lin from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication will discuss results of their research and communication best practices.

Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action mobilizes the American Jewish community for bold, strategic climate action, rooted in Jewish wisdom, tradition, and spirit. Join Rabbi Laura Bellows, Dayenu's Director of Spiritual Activism and Education, for a taste of Dayenu's Spiritual Adaptation work. This interactive session will offer participants strategies and Jewish frameworks for addressing climate distress; cultivating imagination for a livable, sustainable future; and moving together toward courageous action.

With new government and utility company incentives, there is an unprecedented opportunity to update synagogue facilities to make them greener and cleaner. Led by Jerry Sorokin, Executive Director of Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, MI, learn about what this congregation is doing to take advantage of grants, rebates, and heightened environmental awareness as it renovates its aging building.

Join Scott Kadish, EA, and Leonard Whitman, CPA, to learn about how to help your synagogue save money and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by taking advantage of monetary benefits available from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Jonathan Bernhard will speak about the Biblical understanding of humanity's relationship with the other species with whom we share this world. Becky Joseph will share material illustrating rabbinic preferences for limiting meat consumption, including a few suggestions for how to eat like a vegetable-loving Sage. She'll also include a link to two plant-based seasonal recipes with ingredients mentioned in the Gemara for you to make at home.

Jews are taking action personally and as communities to heal the earth. We also need new laws and policies to achieve our goals. Come together with intergenerational climate activists from Jewish Earth Alliance, Adamah’s Jewish Youth Climate Movement, and Dr. Adriane Leveen of Hebrew Union College to learn how you and your congregation can get involved in climate justice.

Join Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, co-author of a Teshuvah (Jewish legal Responsum) called "On the Mitzvah of Sustainability” to explore *the* foundational mitzvah for caring for the world - though most of us have never heard about it. Learn about what the mitzvah says about how should a Jew live and what Jewish Law (Halakhah) teaches and requires in the critical matter of environmental sustainability.