WE, AS JEWS, CARE

JCAN NYC raises up a distinctly Jewish voice for climate justice. We join in this holy work with a growing movement of Jews working for climate action because of their Judaism. We join hands, too, with a broad alliance of faith-based environmental groups, including GreenFaith.

The Jewish climate movement includes Jewish environmental groups like Hazon, Dayenu, Jewish Earth Alliance, Jewish Climate Action Network (Massachusetts), and the larger JOFEE movement, as well as a growing number of JCCs, Federations, synagogues, schools, and many other groups.

JCAN NYC specifically seeks to channel the attention of the New York Jewish community, the country’s largest such community, to tackle climate change through a Jewish lens. When our community speaks out – on behalf of climate justice, in support of frontline communities – our message carries weight.

There is “a time to tear and a time to mend; a time to be silent, and a time to speak” (Kohelet 3:7). We believe this is a time for mending, and time for speaking out. We cannot be silent.

But why do we believe this? How does Jewish tradition inform our work?

WHY WE CARE: JEWISH VALUES & CLIMATE CHANGE

The modern environmental movement exploded into the nation’s consciousness on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day. Though we celebrate its many successes in the decades since, JCAN believes that the nature of the climate crisis requires looking further back. Climate change is not only a technical crisis, but a spiritual one – and thus demands embracing a spiritual answer, informed by ancient law and tradition.

Many rabbis and thinkers have explored the Torah of sustainability. Here we offer but a small appetizer of their work, three paths into this Torah of the Earth:

|. נביאי ישראל – Prophetic Tradition

||. תורת ישראל – Halachic Tradition

|||. ארץ ישראל – Agricultural Tradition

Hody Nemes

Steering Committee Member, Co-Founder

Jewish Climate Action Network NYC