A warm refuge from the most frigid winters, and cooling relief from stifling summer days: the notions of comfort and sustainability in a place of prayer and gathering, fueled by heat extracted from far beneath the earth’s surface, may be a trite observation, but it’s bold and literally grounded in both nature and technology.

Montreal’s Reform Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom is set to become a pioneer with a project to shed its outdated and failing gas-powered heating and cooling system in favour of a geothermal climate control system and becoming one of the greenest buildings on the island of Montreal.

Geothermal is the most cost-effective solution to replace the temple’s aging gas-powered HVAC system. The new system will draw heat from the ground—a stable and renewable source that is not subject to market inflation—offering long-term predictability and minimal maintenance. Heated water circulates through long tubes and is passed through pumps extracting heat in summer to cool and maintaining and circulating heat in winter to warm.

Crews began drilling a test well on June 7 to probe how deep the tubes that will pull the water will go. “It can go up to half a kilometre,” temple member and volunteer project manager Len Smofsky told The CJN.

Expected to be completed within 18 months, the transition to a clean energy source is expected to save the congregation more than $40,000 annually, but it does come with a hefty price tag. While these are current estimates, says Chad Lubelsky, executive director at the temple, which will be further refined over time as they advance in the work, the total cost is around $1.5 million for the new geothermal HVAC system, “which includes changing the entire guts of the distribution system to bypass what was there before.”

The temple received a 5-year, US$100,000 interest-free loan from the Adamah Climate Action Fund which was matched by a member of the congregation. The project will also pick up additional subsidies from Quebec’s environment ministry as well as Hydro-Québec.

“Care for the planet is a Jewish value,” said Senior Rabbi Lisa Grushcow. “As a synagogue, we are committed to reducing our footprint and increasing our impact when it comes to the environment. Another strong Jewish value is our commitment to future generations. By taking these steps, we are ensuring that our building and community will continue to thrive and be a welcoming spiritual home for many years to come.”

Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom contracted local firm Marmott Énergies to transition the 50,000-square-foot building by employing standing column well technology, which plunges deeper and is more efficient than traditional closed-loop systems. “It’s also the only way we could use geothermal for the entire building” said Smofsky, “because like many urban buildings we don’t have a lot of land relative to the size of our building, so traditional geothermal would be problematic.” The kind of well they are digging goes down fairly deep, and how far they go will be dependent on the nature of the water flow underground.

In essence, wells pull water from deep below the surface, while closed loop systems bring it up from shallower depths and require more tubes in closer proximity, thereby requiring a larger footprint. The deeper system is not quite as widely used in the region, says Smofsky, “a little bit more in the States. But even in our cold environment, it works quite well if you go down far enough and there’s good, consistent heat underground.” That lends extra excitement in the quest to prove that projects like this can be done in Montreal’s urban core. “I think Hydro is very interested in that, because they want to reduce their peak consumption in the winter when their grid is pressed.”

Generally, most religious institutional buildings are older, and inefficient from a heating and insulation perspective. Dealing with larger buildings with high ceilings and large open spaces presents challenges, as they were not designed when energy efficiency was a main consideration. (St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, whose construction began in the late 1850s, used the same technology to transition in 2018, for a building that’s even larger, and more challenging to dig.)

Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom was rebuilt in 1960, following a fire to its original structure that was built in 1918. The late ‘50s rebuild left a patchwork of old water-based radiators and other systems, all which has rusted, says Smofsky. “It’s problematic as the gas burners are being degraded quickly by rust in the pipes, which can’t be efficiently removed or accessed. So we needed to do a new system.”

The change is projected to reduce the temple’s CO₂ footprint by 100 tons annually, equivalent to that produced by driving 22 gas-powered cars for a year. “Any time a building of that size converts from something like gas or oil, there’s also a big savings there in terms of pollution in the city,” says Smofsky. “I look at our weather maps to see what problem we have with pollutants, especially in the winter pollution in the city.”

As reported by The CJN in 2023, the temple joined ten other sites across Canada in a post-Covid sustainability challenge under Adamah (formerly Hazon), that included a transition to non-disposable dishes, silverware, cups and mugs for all activities, and planting a pollinator garden. The last large infrastructure project it embarked on was to update its accessibility.

Mark Gibson, co-founder of the Zero Emissions Churches Project, has worked with the temple since the fall of 2023 to get their project going, beginning with a presentation “essentially about what we in North America could do, in practical terms, to respond to the climate crisis that western culture had created,” he told The CJN. “One clear thing we could do as faith groups is to change our heating and cooling systems to be electricity-based rather than fossil fuels, as soon as it was financially feasible or when the system was at its end of life.”

Founded in 1882 and situated in the city of Westmount, adjacent to downtown Montreal, the congregation counts some 650 member families. “There are many reasons for temple to do this,” said Lubelsky, “ecological, financial, and we couldn’t be more excited. But when we say temple is doing this, it means the temple community is doing it. This would not happen without the work of volunteers.” Fortune favours the well prepared he says, “and we’re extremely fortunate that we have a very long history of being a place where people come and contribute, and turn it into the institution that it is, of having a very engaged and engaging community.”

Gibson’s organization also has a corps of volunteers providing free assistance to faith groups to make the transition most effectively in their own region. He says he’s proud of the work that he saw the Montreal temple’s committee do, particularly “in exploring new territory; we were able to provide reassurance based on having watched a number of communities explore these same questions and having analyzed a number of successful and less-successful projects. Because they allowed me to walk with them, I gained valuable insights which I could share with the rest of our network.”

The organization is partnered with several communities around Montreal including four Anglican churches and others that are still in assessment. They have also worked with a French Catholic diocese and individual churches and have work going on in seven other Anglican dioceses, a Lutheran synod and a variety of independent churches.

“People of faith have been reflecting together on the climate crisis over the past years,” says Gibson, “and this puts them slightly ahead of most of the Canadian population in deciding to take action.” The change is slower than many would like, he agrees, “but it is starting to pick up speed… our well-being depends on our being able to learn how to restore balance to the ecosystems we depend on.”

Since its launch in 2023, the Adamah Climate Action Fund has awarded US$1.3 million to 50 projects across North America, comprised of $996,593 in interest-free loans and $309,016 in matching grants, allowing Jewish organizations to immediately cut energy costs, freeing up resources to invest in their core missions, said Adamah CEO Jakir Manela in a statement. “Our community has the tools—and now the funds—to lead on climate action… Adamah’s Coalition represents an unprecedented mobilization of the Jewish world toward meaningful climate action—at pace and at scale. With expert support and financing available, there’s no reason Jewish leaders can’t be at the forefront of creating a livable future for our children.”

The post Montreal Temple Goes Green to Save Money and the Planet appeared first on Adamah.

ROCKLAND — The local synagogue is joining in the effort to combat climate change.

The Adas Yoshuron Synagogue in Rockland removed its oil-fired boiler and oil tank last week. The heating system is being replaced by mini-split electric heat pumps, which also provide air-conditioning in the summer.

The project is being financed by an Adamah Climate Action Fund loan. This 0%-interest loan allows the synagogue to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions. The electric heat pumps are projected to reduce the gas emissions by 13.1 tons per year and save about $1,000 per year. This loan is made possible by Adamah and its Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition.

The cost of the heat pumps was $54,000 but the synagogue expects to receive a rebate from Efficiency Maine that will reduce the cost by several thousand dollars. The pumps are projected to pay for themselves in 10 years.

The synagogue was established in 1912.

“Adas Yoshuron is proud to be part of a coalition that represents Jewish organizations engaging millions of people of all ages and backgrounds, across the world. Together, we recognize the urgency of the climate crisis and our obligation to do more,” stated David Statman, president of the congregation in a news release.

The post Rockland Synagogue Takes Action to Deal with Climate Change appeared first on Adamah.

Ever since I was evacuated on a raft from my home in the pouring rain during Hurricane Harvey, I have cared about climate action. When I was 15, I learned that climate change intensified the Category Four hurricane that decimated Houston, Texas in 2017. That same year, I joined the Jewish Youth Climate Movement as a climate activist.

Now, amid my regular high school activities, I devote several hours a week to writing about climate change, and planning and attending actions demanding a better future for me, future generations and the world. 

Throughout my activism, I have watched, with increasing anxiety, the climate clock tick and the world experience more and more climate change-fueled disasters. More recently, I have seen extreme hypocrisy from the federal government and major companies that backtrack on promises to lower emissions and fight the climate crisis. These decisions all but confirm that the choking wildfire smoke I face in my new home in Denver will get worse and that my activism has not been enough to single-handedly stop the crisis. 

This climate neglect by the current administration starkly contrasts with the start of my activism during the Biden administration. During his term, climate change was acknowledged (a low threshold), and combating it was even one of the administration’s goals, eventually leading to the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, an imperfect but historically large climate spending bill.

The hope that this bill instilled in youth activists is now being undone by historic levels of climate denial, gutting clean energy initiatives and research and new federal investment in fossil fuel projects. This has left my peers and me dismayed and demoralized at a time when we most need the energy to protect our communities and our generation. 

Thankfully, for me and the other members of the Jewish Youth Climate Movement, having a Jewish focus to our activism can help prevent burnout and provide hope in a dark time for climate action. It’s easy for us to see climate work as inherently Jewish because our organizing seeks to repair the world and take care of the most vulnerable in our society, principles also instilled in Torah. Knowing that your faith supports and compels you to fight for a better future is motivating, and no lack of federal or corporate action can take that away. 

“Taking Jewish climate action enables young people to not only fight for their local geographic communities but for the continuity of a collectivist, environmental tradition at odds with the exploitation and consumption causing climate change,” said Madeline Canfield, one of the staff advisors with JYCM who herself was a youth organizer. “This crisis requires youth activists to see their Jewish identities as two-fold: something which links them to a community to strategically mobilize and gives them texts, rituals, ideals and histories from which to draw clarity and resilience amid existential uncertainty.”

JYCM, a program of Adamah, the Jewish environmental group, does this on an explicit level, building relationships between high school members of the National Leadership Board and drawing joy from community and Jewish ritual. Meetings include time to catch up on daily life, de-stress, discuss hopeful developments in the climate world, and focus on the things that we should be grateful for in the midst of our fight for a better future. There are divrei Torah (sermons) at retreats and online meetings, connecting our work to our Jewish roots and inspiring hope, which is central to all movement planning. Our activism is loving, friendship-based, fun, and incredibly Jewishly enriching.

We are bringing that same attitude to JYCM’s newest campaign, Underwrite Earth. In partnership with other climate organizations, the initiative targets insurance companies and calls on them to stop insuring new and existing fossil fuel projects. Fossil fuel projects cannot move forward without insurance, and recently, insurance companies have shown greater willingness to respond to public pressure than the current federal government, since they rely on the public’s trust when buying their plans. 

Underwrite Earth also specifically engages Jews who lead insurance companies. Part of the campaign strategy involves sending postcards to these Jewish executives pressuring them to stop insuring LNGs and to consider their faith and the climate in company decisions. Last month, in solidarity with the campaign, 110 rabbis, cantors, and clerical students sent a letter to the CEO of the insurer Chubb, making a similar Jewish appeal. 

This innovative use of shared faith as a strategic tool is a reflection of the Jewish spirit of JYCM. Jews have faced setbacks in their search for safety and freedom of religion, but they adapted and kept on practicing their religion. Similarly, the climate movement has faced setbacks and has changed its strategy to adapt to the times and meet the moment. Developing these new strategies to combat the climate crisis and drawing on our history as resilient people creates hope and sparks more motivation to continue the climate fight.

Teens Hope Adelson and Liora Pelavin, who serve with me on JYCM’s Leadership Board, also draw hope from Underwrite Earth. Due to pressure from many environmental organizations, “Chubb just recently ruled out insuring the East African crude oil pipeline, which is one of the biggest oil projects in the world,” said Adelson, 17, from Orlando, Florida, “We are seeing movement, and that’s inspiring, because it shows us that the world isn’t closing in on us.”

Insurance companies “have a big financial incentive to stop insuring fossil fuel projects, because their home insurance [rates] have to go up because there are more disasters,” said Pelavin, 17, from Teaneck, New Jersey, “If they want to actually make money from insurance, they have to fight the climate crisis.”

While pressure on insurance companies may provide a boost for climate activists, decreased governmental and corporate attention to climate change is causing burnout. Finding ways to keep up motivation in the climate fight is critical to youth activists outlasting this period of lackluster focus on climate change.

Adelson admits that living in a state whose government is highly averse to talking about or acting on climate change saps her motivation and energy for climate organizing. “It’s mind-boggling to me that my state has been hit with hurricane after hurricane, natural disaster after natural disaster, tornadoes, hail, and snow, which doesn’t happen in Florida, and yet our governor is doing nothing about it.” 

When frustrated with the lack of climate action in her state and on a federal level, Adelson leans on her Jewish faith. Her bat mitzvah portion discusses pe’ah, the commandment to leave a corner of your field unharvested so those who do not have food can take from it. Adelson reminds herself of this commandment when she feels herself losing hope or motivation. She remains grateful for all that she has and considers the ways that she can use what she has to help those who might not have the same resources. 

Pelavin said that “being in community is a way that I spiritually heal myself so that I can keep going in this fight… I burn out, and then I bring myself back up” by drawing strength from her community.

This cycle, she said, is fueled by “the Jewish community that I have, and the wisdom that I know.”

Climate activist Bekah Garlikov, 16, who served as a youth climate ambassador for San Mateo County, acknowledges that “activism as a whole, it’s hard. It’s really hard. The things you learn while becoming an activist are somewhat depressing and anxiety-inducing.” However, Bekah’s Jewish identity helps motivate him and avoid burnout. “Being a Jew, understanding that you have to rally behind your community, it’s a similar feeling of rallying behind climate action and making progress. The world and nature are our community, and we fight to protect them.”

My motivation comes from my community of Jewish climate activists. With them, I have attended protests, phone-banked, planned actions, established local JYCM chapters, and educated thousands of Jews intergenerationally about the climate crisis and its connection to Judaism. Throughout our work, we never lose sight of our Jewish roots, recognizing that we are supported by hundreds of generations of Jews who have cared for the earth before us. These Jewishly-rooted communal components of climate organizing help me avoid burnout and continue fighting for climate justice.

Reducing any amount of greenhouse gas emissions is a huge win and will prevent natural disasters from intensifying. If action had been taken earlier, then perhaps the climate-change-fueled hurricane that destroyed my home would not have been as extreme either. The stakes in this fight are not low; they affect everyone on Earth. 

With the continued intensification of the climate crisis, Jewish teen climate activists are not slowing down. We are coming up with new strategies to reduce fossil fuel consumption despite a lack of federal government interest and are drawing on our Jewish identities, communities, experiences and families to find the motivation to continue our work and avoid burnout. There is no excuse to stop fighting for climate action. Our fight is holy work that benefits all of humanity.

The post ‘Climate anxiety’ isn’t a fad. For Jewish teens like me, it’s our inspiration. appeared first on Adamah.

Oh, Okefenokee 

Adamah, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America, is celebrating a small victory after the announcement that Twin Pines Minerals, the company trying to mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, has agreed to sell its land in South Georgia to The Conservation Fund for $60 million.

Adamah ATL Advisory Board Member Josh Marks has been instrumental in mobilizing Jewish Georgians to protect the swampland. As the president of Georgians for the Okefenokee, Marks collaborated with local students, rabbis, and families to campaign for this water protection win.

Marks said the fight is not over.

“There are still more than 20,000 acres of land along the swamp’s edge that are vulnerable to mining and which need to be protected. The best way to accomplish that is for the legislature to finally pass the Okefenokee Protection Act, which would prohibit the issuance of mining permits along the entirety of the swamp’s eastern boundary. Citizens should contact their state legislators and urge them to support the OPA during the next session,” he said.

Adamah’s Clara Camber added: “Jewish texts tell us how important it is to protect the natural world and prevent needless destruction and waste (bal tashchit).”

The post Save Our Swamp appeared first on Adamah.

Greenbelters Jeannie Bellina and Melissa Ann Ehrenreich traveled on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11 to Pearlstone Retreat Center in Reisterstown to learn from former Greenbelter Joe Murray how to make an earthen, smokeless pizza oven using natural materials. 

Inspired by stories of how
Toronto public parks have created almost 20 pizza ovens for community use surrounded by gardens of tomatoes and basil, the duo registered for a Pearlstone Adamah service project to learn Cob Construction 101. 

Murray shared materials, design specifications and wisdom on how to assess clay composition in dirt gathered locally, how to achieve the best mixture to create a thermal layer that could support temperatures of up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit to meet kosher standards, and tips for success (a covered oven is key to preventing the oven from eroding when it rains).

The small team of five volunteers onsite created the final 6-inch layer on top of a sturdy sand dome, fire brick and cob brick base that was previously constructed. After this final thermal layer fully dries for two weeks, Murray will cut an oven opening out of the clay structure, remove the sand inner core and then light a fire to cure the inside of the oven. 

Participants were delighted with the hands-on approach and accessibility of construction, to say nothing of the low costs made possible by sourcing materials straight from the earth. They immediately began to think of ways to engage and bring this concept back to Greenbelt.  Could our community build a community oven here to host pizza parties for all? Maybe so.

The post Two Greenbelt Women Learn Art Of Building an Earthen Oven appeared first on Adamah.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, SAR Academy’s fifth grade embarked on a fantastic overnight trip to Teva. The experience was filled with bonding, learning and plenty of fun.

The adventure began with early morning tefillah at school, followed by breakfast. Afterward, the fifth graders boarded buses headed to the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, ready for two days of outdoor exploration and connection.

Once they arrived, students enjoyed a wide range of activities—hiking scenic trails, engaging in nature lessons, walking along a stream, participating in team-building challenges, playing sports and enjoying delicious meals.

In the evening, the grade gathered for dinner and capped off the day with s’mores around a cozy campfire under the stars.

The Teva trip was a wonderful opportunity for SAR’s fifth graders to connect with nature, strengthen friendships and create lasting memories in the great outdoors.

The post SAR Academy Embarks on Teva Trip appeared first on Adamah.

One of the largest synagogues and religious schools in the Los Angeles area is embracing on-site solar power to cut its carbon emissions and save money on utility bills.

Valley Beth Shalom, which is in the San Fernando Valley, has spent close to $1.24 million on installing solar panels and energy efficiency improvements. The renewable energy installation includes more than 850 Q Cell rooftop panels by Sunistics Corp.

The solar energy output should generate close to 615,000 kWh per year and save close to $180,000 in annual utility costs. The new system should offset more than 75% of the synagogue and school’s energy use, paying for itself within five years.

“This solar project is a testament to VBS’s proactive leadership and dedication to sustainability,” said Matthew Weintraub, Executive Director of Valley Beth Shalom, in a statement. “By harnessing solar energy, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint but also securing long-term financial benefits that allow us to invest more in our community, education, and religious programs. Thanks to the support of our Board of Directors, individual donors, Jewish Solar Challenge, and Adamah’s Jewish Leadership Climate Coalition, we are proud to be at the forefront of sustainable transformation in the Jewish community.”

The project was supported by a combination of funding sources, including a $50,000 grant from the Jewish Solar Challenge, generous individual donations, an interest-free loan from Adamah’s Climate Action Fund, significant incentives and rebates provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for nonprofit organizations, and financing by Beneficial State Bank.

Valley Beth Shalom was founded in the 1950s and is in Encino. It includes more than 1,500 member families and, in 2009, was named by Newsweek as one of “America’s 25 Most Vibrant Congregations.”

Rabbis from the synagogue launched the non-profit Jewish World Watch, committed helping survivors of genocide and mass atrocities worldwide.

The post Los Angeles Area Synagogue Commits to $1.24M Rooftop Solar Array appeared first on Adamah.

Mission highlighted Israel’s achievements in fighting climate change.

I was invited by the National Adamah group to join their staff and 30 other climate activist lay leaders from around the country, England and Canada, to learn more about our joint Israeli-Diaspora mission to help fight climate change. 

I am deeply grateful to Adamah for the opportunity to experience Israel in a way unlike any of my previous visits. This was not a sightseeing tour; it was about peoplehood, planethood and problem-solving — focusing on one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change.

My fellow travelers on this journey were leaders in their Jewish communities, working to bring this crucial work to others, regardless of religious, cultural, political or national differences. Their dedication should be recognized and celebrated.

Upon landing in Israel, I immediately felt as though I were entering a house of shivah. From Ben Gurion Airport to the streets, roundabouts, stores, restaurants, Tel Aviv boardwalk and train/bus stations, reminders of the country’s ongoing trauma were everywhere. Yellow ribbons and the faces of the dead and hostages lined the streets, making it impossible to forget the pain that lingers. This feeling was crystalized by a visit to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where I spoke with kibbutz survivors and Nova Festival attendees who shared their harrowing experiences.

This trauma brought me back to my first trip to Israel as a 17-year-old in the summer of 1974, just eight months after the Yom Kippur War. At that time, Israel was still reeling from the trauma of war, struggling with the weight of heavy losses. Ceasefire agreements with Egypt and Syria had been signed only a month before my arrival with Camp Ramah Canada for an eight-week journey across the country. It is deeply saddening that throughout my entire life, this land has known so much war, hostility and trauma.

A Start-Up Nation Amidst Growth and Innovation

Despite its challenges, Israel remains a “start-up nation” — a beacon of resilience and innovation. 

People often forget that, with all its advancements in technology, agriculture, mass transit and booming construction, Israel is still a young nation — just 77 years old, nearly four times younger than the U.S.

The post Reflections on the Adamah Leadership Mission to Israel appeared first on Adamah.

Bringing the themes of Passover to Earth Day, we connected with our partners at Adamah to discuss, “How can we all be free from environmental injustices?”. Read on for a conversation between Recustom’s Partnerships Manager, Jessica and Madeline, the Youth Empowerment, Education and Actions Manager at Adamah, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America.

At Recustom, we provide tools to DIY Jewish rituals. Our full content library is free to explore here. And, you can learn more about how to connect with Adamah here. 

Jessica: I would love to hear a bit about your background and work with Adamah. 

Madeline: At Adamah we’re trying to catalyze vibrant contemporary Jewish life in connection with the earth. My focus is working with young people to do climate action, organizing, and education, which is rooted in Jewish environmental teachings, traditions and rituals.

Passover is both a call to environmental thinking and a call to climate justice work. It’s about liberation and finding autonomy in that process of collective liberation. My own background as a a young person who has experienced the front lines of the climate crisis in the Gulf South, who has been in a lot of movements, and who has watched the Jewish community suffer at the hands of climate change, both through experiencing things life wildfires and floods, particularly in my hometown, and who has watched the roots of Jewish tradition be jeopardized by changing climate patterns. All of this has brought me to my work at Adamah.

Jessica: Could you share a bit more about how you understand climate action to be a Jewish value and where you see that value ultimately intersecting with Passover? And, how might we bring this understanding into our day to day? 

Madeline: In Passover, so much of the tradition is rooted in the turning of the season, connecting with the foods that are available to eat seasonally. At the same time, we’re abstaining from wheat, from chametz. Therefore, we can draw this understanding of collective liberation coming from a process of figuring out what in our lives we want to take out, in order to move from narrowness into expansiveness. I think the climate crisis shows us the ways that we have fixated on a narrow understanding of what it means to produce and consume, based on a model of extraction from the land that is not regenerative and frankly, not aligned with Jewish time or practices. 

Passover is an opportunity to root out the many systems of oppression that brought us to the current moment: racism, white supremacy, unequal economic systems, anti-semitism. Passover is this big liberation holiday in which a relationship to land and an attunement to the time of year is put into relationship with justice. That’s a lot of what fighting the climate crisis is. It’s an opportunity to see how a different mode of relating to land, to agriculture, to resource extraction, renewable energy, to economy, can also be an opportunity for justice for so many marginalized groups that have suffered at the expense of the systems that have enabled the climate crisis historically.

Jessica: There is a broad spectrum of backgrounds who might be represented at a seder table: Jewish people, friends of Jewish people, people attending their first seder, people in interfaith relationships, and more, each with their own connection to the climate crisis. What advice do you have for hosts, who want to bring these ideas into their next seder or gathering?  

Madeline: The entrypoint that comes to mind are the plagues. There is a tradition in liberal seders in recent decades of talking about modern day plagues in connection to the climate crisis.

What I think needs to be probed more deeply is that the plagues are not these injustices that are festering in Egyptian society that the Israelites are rooting out in their liberation tale. Rather, they are inflicted upon the Egyptians in the process of liberation. So, they’re really complicated. They’re fraught because what they demonstrate is that the process of coming into a better future of freedom, sometimes has measures of violences that come as a side effect, or even a deliberate response. And that’s really complicated. When we think about the climate crisis, there’s a lot that needs to change in our world. We’re experiencing how, when those in power don’t shift, the consequences are like plagues. I think there’s a lot of interesting room for conversation there.

We can interpret the plagues and climate disasters as the ways that people suffer at the hands of their leaders. The Egyptian people are different from Pharaoh, and yet everybody, and sometimes including the Israelites (but mostly including the Egyptians) suffer from the plagues. From there we can draw parallels to the ways that the climate crisis is manifesting for everybody. What losses might happen? What would we actually need to think of ourselves as shifting and what might feel tense? What pleasures or privileges do we feel like we’re losing on a shifting planet? And actually, how can we transcend that mindset of narrowness and loss to the expansiveness of getting out of narrowness into a justice oriented to climate justice?

The practice of storytelling and the plagues, particularly thinking that you personally came out of Egypt and being in conversation with our descendants and ancestors are really ripe topics for understanding the meaning of the climate crisis as an emotional, somatic, intergenerational experience and an imperative to action today. 

Jessica: How might hosts empower attendees to bring their own stories to the table? And, to feel empowered to talk about something that could feel sensitive and challenging?

Madeline: I love a good discussion prompt. What’s beautiful about the seder is that in the enactment of the ritual, everything is thematic, everything has meaning to be parsed, and that meaning is really oriented in time. It’s not just that we’re telling the story of the past. We’re figuring out why this past has meaning to us today. 

I would recommend finding one or two resources that resonate and preparing a few discussion questions to invite in conversation. Ask participants to share their own stories– maybe you, as the leader, could model telling a story first, making a connection between the personal, collective, and present moment. I think there are lots of different ways to do it. What’s beautiful about Jewish ritual is that it’s always an invitation to interrogate our current world and how it shapes our understanding of the past into the future in creative ways.

Check-out discussion prompts from Adamah for your next seder or to use year round on Recustom and explore Adamah’s full Passover 2025 resource here.

The post From Passover to Earth Day appeared first on Adamah.

Global temperatures continue to rise, breaking records every year; fires, floods and other extreme weather events are increasing at a rapid pace. 

As climate change accelerates, individuals and organizations are looking for ways to address climate concerns, invest in sustainability, protect our waters and make sure our critical resources, such as food, are used responsibly.

The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore is at the forefront of these efforts. More than a decade ago, it made a decision to go green, beginning with recycling, then moving on to a Green Loan Fund and solar power.  

“That decision,” says Ben Gershowitz, vice president of facilities at The Associated, “is part of our corporate mission and values, which is deeply rooted in the teachings of Jewish culture. It drives our commitment to be good stewards of the environment.”  

The Associated recognizes that by investing in the environment and safeguarding our resources today, we will leave a better, more sustainable world for our children and grandchildren.

Last year, The Associated became the only Jewish federation to be a founding member of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, powered by Adamah, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America. As a member, the organization released a Climate Action Plan that outlined the strategic efforts for The Associated network. 

Here are a few ways The Associated is leading the effort to address the growing threat of climate change. 

The post The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore at the Forefront of Environmental Efforts appeared first on Adamah.

Written by: City & State

The transition to clean energy has entered a new phase in New York, as the state faces threats from new tariffs, economic headwinds and a pivot away from climate change policies in Washington, D.C. Yet renewable resources like solar and wind power as well as advances in battery storage and energy efficiency remain a key part of the energy equation, championed by public officials and industry executives alike. And even as federal subsidies for renewable energy dry up and climate goals come under scrutiny, there remains plenty of industry momentum behind major initiatives like offshore wind installations and upgraded and expanded transmission lines across the state.

City & State’s annual Trailblazers in Clean Energy puts a spotlight on the clean energy leaders of New York, including innovative industry figures, groundbreaking policymakers and notable environmentalists and conservationists.

Shahar Sadeh

Founding Director, Adamah NY

Shahar Sadeh is connecting the Jewish community to the clean energy and climate change movements in order to make progress toward a sustainable future. Adamah, North America’s largest Jewish environmental organization, is creating the Roadmap to Decarbonize American Jewish Life that incorporates sustainability practices within Jewish organizations. The roadmap is expected to launch in the later part of 2025. Adamah organizes an environmental education camp for Jewish children and the Jewish Youth Climate Movement to better involve Gen Z in sustainability issues.

The post The 2025 Trailblazers in Clean Energy appeared first on Adamah.

Trees are a great tool for restoration—they store carbon, provide habitat for wildlife, and prevent erosion with their root systems.

But some types of trees hold a trick within their biology that makes them even more effective, a kind of shortcut that allows people to quickly fill an area with new plantings.

“Trees are expensive,” said Zach Cline, live stake coordinator with the Chesapeake Conservancy. “Live staking is a great way to get them really cheap, and plant hundreds of trees with only a few hours of time.”

Rather than planting a seed or a sapling in the soil, live staking involves taking a cutting of a branch or stem and driving it into the ground. Each stake—they must still be alive, hence “live” staking—will then grow roots and eventually become an individual tree.

Though there’s something almost magical to full trees sprouting from stakes, the process is a longstanding technique that takes advantage of reproductive strategies of trees in areas of high disturbance. Cline said that trees such as willows and dogwoods evolved to propagate not only from seeds but also with stems and branches that take root when they fall off a tree.

Live staking doesn’t work everywhere. It’s more successful with certain types of trees adapted to wetlands (willows, dogwoods, elderberry, buttonbush, alders, and sycamores) and in wetter areas where stakes can get a lot of moisture. Live stakes can be beneficial along streambanks, where they help against erosion, as well as for urban or agricultural areas.

With the right conditions, live staking can be very successful. Chesapeake Conservancy carries out live staking projects throughout the region, and they’ve had planting areas where 90 percent of stakes grow into trees, Cline said.

In March, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources hosted a live staking training event at Pearlstone Retreat Center, an environmental education center in Reisterstown, Baltimore County. The Chesapeake Conservancy led the training, which brought in staff and volunteers from several local organizations.

DNR and the Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition support a workforce development program called the Climate Crew Network. Emily Morrow, green jobs network coordinator with DNR’s Office of Outdoor Recreation, said these trainings are aimed at helping people gain skills for green jobs, but they also offer other benefits.

“Part of that workforce development is getting exposure to a lot of different environmental fields,” Morrow said. “So learning how to live stake might be environmental education and it might be community engagement, but it’s also showing people the value of being outside and why that’s good for your physical and mental health.”

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