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.

Combining the beauty of Jewish tradition with a modern message, the Atlanta community Tu B’Shvat Seder, co-sponsored by the Jewish environmental group Adamah Atlanta and The Temple’s Rothschild Social Justice Institute, will take place at The Temple at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12.

It will be the first in-person, community-wide Tu B’Shvat Seder since 2020, which also was celebrated at The Temple, with over 60 participants, just weeks before the COVID pandemic shutdown. The event continued virtually in the following years, but organizers are excited once again to be able to plan an in-person experiential program that celebrates the Jewish birthday of the trees, which in turn presents the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about today’s environmental concerns.

Participants at the last in-person community Tu B’Shvat Seder enjoy the program.

Combining the beauty of Jewish tradition with a modern message, the Atlanta community Tu B’Shvat Seder, co-sponsored by the Jewish environmental group Adamah Atlanta and The Temple’s Rothschild Social Justice Institute, will take place at The Temple at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12.

It will be the first in-person, community-wide Tu B’Shvat Seder since 2020, which also was celebrated at The Temple, with over 60 participants, just weeks before the COVID pandemic shutdown. The event continued virtually in the following years, but organizers are excited once again to be able to plan an in-person experiential program that celebrates the Jewish birthday of the trees, which in turn presents the perfect opportunity to raise awareness about today’s environmental concerns.

Rabbi Lydia Medwin (standing) leading the 2020 community Tu B’Shvat Seder.

Said Adamah ATL Director Joanna Kobylivker, “It’s also not a coincidence we’re doing it at [The Temple’s] Rothschild Social Justice institute. When we think about social justice, the climate is a huge driver of environmental justice. We are going to learn how extreme weather events do impact vulnerable populations first and worst. The Temple is so committed to social justice causes, trying to be problem solvers and providing resources, so it’s a very natural alignment. [We’ll explore] what can we do around environmental injustice here in Atlanta?”

Seder participants will enjoy a vegetarian meal and an interactive experience that includes the many Tu B’Shvat seder rituals. For example, like a Passover Seder, there are four cups of wine, but in a Tu B’Shvat Seder, the cups begin with white wine denoting winter’s potential for growth, with successive cups progressively mixing with red wine, until the last cup is all red wine symbolizing summer’s full growth. The Seder plate for this holiday features the seven species of Israel: dates, olives, wheat, pomegranate, barley, figs, and grapes.

According to Ruth Menter, who heads up The Temple’s sustainability committee, the festivities will include a mix of music featuring Congregation Bet Haverim Music Director Rebekkah Goldsmith, The Temple Singers, and others. The Seder will also provide opportunities for the sharing of blessings, table discussions, and words of inspiration from Rabbi Lydia Medwin, associate rabbi at The Temple. In addition, Jewish climate scientist Mark Papier will speak about the science of climate and weather, explaining why that is significant and why we are seeing extreme weather events.

“We want people to learn, experience, and have a good time,” said Menter.
Offering a summary of the origins of the holiday, Rabbi Medwin explained that in ancient times Tu B’Shvat (the 15th of the Jewish month Shvat) was the date when, the third year after planting a tree, you would tax it at this time “by giving a portion to the ancient Temple and to the poor as a first fruits offering, an offering of gratitude.”

Later, the Mystics, who believed that everything holds a little spark of the Divine, and food, when eaten, releases that Divine spark, evolved a kind of Seder around the different fruits that come from the Holy Land. In more modern times, she continued, with the environmental movement and climate awareness, Tu B’Shvat provides Jews a reminder of our connection to nature.

Myrtle Lewin, Ruth Menter, Joanna Kobylivker, Janna Diamond, and Amy Price at a 2024 Tu B’Shvat Seder at Adamah ATL Director Joanna Kobylivker’s home.

“What an amazing thing we have, this tradition of Tu B’Shvat, that connects us to trees specifically. There is a lot to be said about trees in our culture as a source of wisdom. Judaism compares tree to humans in lots of ways. And so Tu B’Shvat becomes an opportunity to speak about the trees, their impact on us, and our own impact on the planet. What is our job, from a religious perspective, in terms of caring for the earth and celebrating its bounty?” She added, “We need this earth to provide us with everything to survive, so we’re allowed to till it, but also have to tend it, as we see commanded in the book of Genesis. Finding the balance between tending and tilling is part of what Tu B’Shvat helps us to remember.”

In addition to treating people to a nourishing meal, music and a seder experience, Kobylivker says another goal is to leave people with something more tangible. “We want people to feel inspired to connect to their Jewish roots and values of caring for trees and the natural world,” she said. “We also want to equip people with actions that we can actually do to honor [our natural world] on the other 364 days that aren’t officially celebrating trees.”

According to Kobylivker, Adamah, which has recently marked its first year in Atlanta, is also leading other Tu B’Shvat events, including a community tree planting on Sunday, Feb. 9, with Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., to help grow the city’s urban forest. The organization is also available to lead groups in customized holiday-related activities such as guided nature walks or children’s parties. Contact joanna.kobylivker@adamah.org for more information.
Registration for the community Tu B’Shvat Seder can be found at: https://adamah.org/event/adamah-atl-tubshvat-seder/.

Recommended cost is $36 per person. The Seder is presented in partnership with: Adamah, Ahavath Achim Synagogue, Congregation Bet Haverim, and the Rothschild Social Justice Institute (The Temple).

By Fran M. Putney

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Joanna’s journey to this vital work is deeply personal. As a Jewish mother, community organizer, and environmental advocate, she embodies the Jewish values of responsibility, humility, and gratitude while tackling one of humanity’s most urgent challenges: the climate crisis.

From Project Manager to Environmental Leader

Joanna’s professional path began in project management, where she honed her skills at Emory Healthcare and Emory University for over a decade. She also earned degrees in economics from Barnard College and public health from Emory University. But despite her success in healthcare, Joanna found herself drawn to sustainability work through volunteer roles in the Atlanta Public Schools system and her synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel.

What began as small steps—encouraging her children to reduce food waste and packing reusable lunch containers—soon grew into larger-scale initiatives. At her synagogue, Joanna spearheaded the creation of sustainable Shabbat gatherings, where compostable serveware and energy-efficient practices were introduced. She was inspired by Jewish teachings like bal tashchit, the prohibition against wastefulness, to bring these values to life in her community.

Finding Her Voice as a Jewish Climate Advocate

Joanna’s reflections from a 2018 Jewish Women’s Connection (JWC) trip to Israel reveal her evolution as a Jewish mother and climate leader. Amid the joy of connecting with family and participating in communal learning, she experienced a powerful moment of clarity: her role as a Jewish mother was to be a guiding light for her family and community.

That clarity crystallized when she began noticing the pervasive waste in spaces where her family lived, learned, and worshipped. “What kind of values are we exemplifying to our children,” she thought, “when we toss untouched food and plastic into the garbage without a second thought?”

Joanna didn’t stop at questions—she took action. At Shearith Israel, she piloted sustainable practices like composting and hybrid Kiddush lunches, which combined reusable utensils with compostable plates. These efforts not only reduced waste but also demonstrated that sustainability could align with Jewish traditions and values.

Building a Movement with Adamah ATL

Joanna’s passion for combining Jewish values with environmental action led her to join Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) in 2021 as a community organizer for the Jewish community. She helped synagogues and other institutions reduce their carbon footprints by adopting practical climate solutions, such as installing LED lighting and improving insulation.

But Joanna wanted to do more. Inspired by Adamah, she envisioned a local hub in Atlanta that could deepen the impact of Jewish environmental education and action. In 2023, with seed funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Joanna launched Adamah ATL in partnership with GIPL.

A Vision Rooted in Tradition and Innovation

At Adamah ATL, Joanna and her team are weaving Jewish tradition and sustainability into the fabric of Atlanta’s Jewish community. They teach young people to notice the natural world, explore the agricultural cycles embedded in Jewish holidays, and appreciate Israel’s innovations in sustainable agriculture.

“We’re modeling our values of humility, gratitude, honor, and continuity,” Joanna explains. “It’s about teaching our community to slow down, reconnect with the earth, and recognize our responsibility to care for it.”

L’dor v’ dor — Joanna Kobylivker and her family plant a tree

Programs like tree planting for Tu B’Shvat, river cleanups for Reverse Tashlich, and solar panel installations at Jewish institutions exemplify Adamah ATL’s commitment to practical solutions. Joanna’s work also reflects her resilience: even in the wake of the October 7th attacks in Israel, she continues to lead with hope and determination, ensuring her two sons wear their Jewish stars with pride and purpose.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Through her leadership, Joanna is empowering a new generation of Jewish environmental stewards. By connecting Jewish youth, families, and institutions to the urgent work of climate action, she is showing that tikkun olam isn’t just a lofty ideal—it’s a tangible, achievable goal.

Joanna Kobylivker is a passionate environmental leader. Photo provided courtesy of Adamah ATL.

Adamah ATL’s mission is clear: to connect people and planet through Jewish environmental education, climate action, and youth empowerment. With Joanna at the helm, this vision is becoming a reality, one sustainable Kiddush, compostable plate, and tree planting at a time. Joanna’s story is a reminder that one person’s determination can spark meaningful change. She saw darkness—in landfills, waste bins, and indifference—and chose to bring the light. For more information about Adamah ATL and its programs, contact atlanta@adamah.org.

The post Bringing the Light: Joanna Kobylivker’s Journey to Founding Adamah ATL appeared first on Adamah.

During COVID, when her son’s elementary school switched to Styrofoam trays and disposable plasticware to save water, she did something about it. “Nobody uses Styrofoam anymore, I mean, not even McDonalds! Styrofoam leaches polystyrene, especially when used to serve hot food, like oatmeal at breakfast or chili at lunch. In 2019, APS used 8.4 million Styrofoam trays.” Kobylivker kept fighting and brought compostable cutlery and plates into her school.  

At her son’s bar mitzvah at Congregation Shearith Israel (CSI), there was recyclable tableware and composting of leftovers. Afterward, Kobylivker launched the congregation’s first sustainable Sukkot event. “People brought food to the sukkah and took their dishes home so there was no trash or food leftovers. I lifted up an orange peel and asked, ‘Do you know how long it would take for this peel to break down on the ground? About two weeks. In a landfill, it will petrify, rot, and produce toxic methane gas.”  

Today at CSI, there is always compostable tableware, and leftovers are routinely composted.  
 
Eventually, Joanna applied for a Propel Grant through Federation to keep the GIPL work and other sustainability initiatives going in Atlanta. Through Federation CEO Eric Robbins, she learned about the merger of two existing Jewish environmental organizations, Hazon and Adamah into one.  

“The merger seemed like a great opportunity to affiliate with Adamah and bring that work to Atlanta. They have wonderful resources in outdoor education, all with a climate focus. We now offer a full menu of educational classes for synagogues, day schools, and camps. At our honey-making workshop, the kids were so into it!  It’s wonderful to reconnect people with nature — this is a big part of who we are as Jews, with all our agricultural holidays.” 

“What drives me is pure pragmatism as well as respect for land. And it all aligns with being Jewish,” Joanna believes. “Historically, Jews are problem solvers – we’re the people who make the desert bloom, who build pop-up hospitals in a time of war, who use drip irrigation and desalinated water. We have to be a loud, proud voice for caring about the earth. To me, sustainability and climate activism honor God and our children.” 

Through Adamah, Federation has just signed on to be part of The Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition — a network of Jewish community organizations that recognize the existential threat and moral urgency of climate change and commit to taking action. By working together, the impacts of individual organizations will be amplified, rippling throughout networks, neighborhoods, and beyond.  

Please consider making a gift to Adamah Atlanta through your Donor-Advised Fund. l project is projected to cost $270,000. They expect a federal tax credit of $44,000 and a NYSERDA tax credit for $120,000. The synagogue will be left with about $110,000 to raise.

Article by Atlanta Jewish Foundation.

The post The Mom Who is Bringing Climate Change Activism to Atlanta appeared first on Adamah.

• Immersive retreats, which take place at either the Pearlstone campus near Baltimore, Maryland, or the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in the Connecticut Berkshires, may celebrate Jewish holidays including  Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, or provide educational farming experiences for families and older adults. All retreats include farm-to-table kosher meals, Jewish learning and spiritual practices, and community-building. All are welcome to participate in the retreats, regardless of religious background. 
• The Farm Fellowship is a three-month program that teaches adults in their 20s and 30s about organic agriculture, farm-to-table living, Jewish learning, community building, social justice, and spiritual practice. People of all cultural and religious backgrounds are welcome to participate.
• A paid, six-month Farm Apprenticeship is also available for current farmers to enhance their agricultural training while participating in Adamah programming. Farmers of all cultural and religious backgrounds are welcome to participate.
• Teva (Hebrew for “nature”) Day School Programs are offered to fifth and sixth grade student groups from Jewish day schools, Hebrew schools, camps, and youth groups. Over four days, students learn about Jewish traditions and their connection to the environment, gratitude for nature, awareness, and responsibility. 
• Summer Adventure Camp is offered to students entering first through twelfth grades, with an overnight option for fourth graders and up. During their camp experience, children learn to connect with nature by swimming in the creek, hiking the forest, working on the farm, exploring, and playing games. Students of all cultural and religious backgrounds are welcome to participate.
• The Jewish Youth Climate Movement is a nationwide effort led by Jewish Gen-Z youth towards climate justice in order to improve sustainability and equity worldwide. 
• The Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition is a group of Jewish community organizations working together to take action against climate change. 
• Local programming is also available through Adamah’s Community Impact Hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, New York, and Southern California, in addition to the Baltimore/Pearlstone campus, and includes Farm and Forest School, training programs for educators and camp counselors, and a farm volunteer trip to Israel.  

Latest project/campaign: On April 7, 2024, Adamah NY and partners hosted the Jewish Climate Summit at Central Synagogue in New York City. Adamah led two breakout sessions, one with elected officials and Adamah NY Director Shahar Sadeh, and the second with Liana Rothman, Director of Youth Empowerment at Adamah.

• Decarbonizing NYC: A Dialogue Between the Jewish Community and Elected Officials:  This session featured local elected officials from New York City discussing the city’s ambitious commitment to leading the world in decarbonization. The speakers explored the roles that the Jewish community could potentially play in advancing this effort and highlighted the fact that there is much to do in this area. Featured speakers included:
  • Council Member Julie Menin – District 5 and Central Synagogue Member
  • Council Member Eric Dinowitz – District 11, Chair of the Jewish Caucus
  • Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
  • Moderator: Dr. Shahar Sadeh – Adamah NY
• Navigating Climate Anxiety and Building Resilience: Turning to Judaism for Wisdom: This session featured a special focus on intergenerational perspectives, with leaders from the Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN) and Adamah’s Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM). Participants engaged in thought-provoking activities about taking individual and collective action, and learned what Jewish wisdom has to teach us about building resilience and responding to the climate crisis. 

Additionally, on March 18, Adamah hosted a virtual food summit discussing the environmental impact of food choices made by Jewish institutions within New York. 

Major Funding Sources: Major support from UJA-Federation of NY, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, and many major national Jewish Foundations including the Jim Joseph Foundation, The William Davidson Foundation, and the Schusterman Philanthropies.

Interesting fact about how they are working to positively affect the food system: Adamah believes “that bringing awareness to our food can generate profound connections and healing – to ourselves, our communities, and our planet. As Jews, we bless our food. We need to infuse the gratitude inherent in those blessings into our food choices, ensuring they reflect that care and concern for the planet, the people and animals involved in getting that food to our table.”

Article by NYC Food Policy.

The post Adamah Connects Jewish Community to Farming, Food, and the Environment appeared first on Adamah.

As the climate emergency becomes ever harder to ignore, American Jewish organizations rooted in social and environmental justice are moving beyond localized efforts to reduce their carbon footprints to advocate for rapid system change—including an end to fossil fuel era.

For many American Jews, it’s hard to make space for thinking about climate change in the wake of October 7 and amid the war in Israel and Gaza. Already before Hamas’s October 7 attack, American Jews had plenty to worry about: rising antisemitism, threats to abortion rights and LGBTQ equality, voter suppression, even the fate of American democracy.

Nonetheless, American Jews, like the U.S. public at large, have become increasingly alarmed about climate change. Climate-related disasters—floods, wildfires, heatwaves and mega-storms—have become a daily reality. Average global temperatures are breaking record highs month after month. Scientists warn that the planet faces a climate emergency and that a catastrophe threatening civilization as we know it can only be avoided with the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, the biggest source of the pollution heating the planet.

In 2014, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reported that eight out of ten Jewish voters said the planet’s climate was facing a crisis or major problem. In a 2020 J-Street exit poll, Jewish voters ranked climate as the second most important issue after COVID-19. In 2020 and 2021, the Jewish Electorate Institute found that climate change was the top issue for Jewish voters, ahead of voting rights and the economy. A 2023 PRRI poll showed that Jews continued to be more alarmed about the climate crisis than any other faith group. 

American Jewish responses to this existential threat include a spate of new books, fresh efforts to organize grassroots Jewish climate activists, increased attention to climate within the Jewish environmental movement. Fresh initiatives abound from leading Jewish institutions, including the national leadership of the Reform movement, the largest branch of American Judaism.

A growing Jewish climate action movement is working to organize people with these concerns as effective climate advocates by drawing on three sources of strength: the Jewish social justice movement, with roots in the Civil Rights campaigns of the 1960s; the decades-long Jewish environmental movement, traditionally focused on nature-based spirituality and localized greening; and the wide participation of American Jews, especially Jewish youth, in the secular climate movement.

…

Jewish Environmental Movement Acts on Climate 

For most of its history, the U.S. Jewish environmental movement focused on outdoor education; nature-based spirituality; and localized greening, reducing a community’s environmental footprint through things like composting and rooftop solar. While these activities remain important in the movement, there is a growing recognition that responding to the climate emergency requires a broad coalition and more pointed advocacy.

This shift has been accelerated by the creation of Adamah, a merger of Hazon, a two-decade-old Jewish environmental group that was itself an amalgam of multiple grassroots efforts, and the Pearlstone Center, an outdoor education campus in Maryland. Launched last year, Adamah (Hebrew for Earth), is the country’s largest Jewish environmental organization. Climate action is one of four pillars of its work, along with immersive nature experiences, environmental education, and leadership development.

Adamah CEO Jakir Manela, who previously led the Pearlstone Center, has organized Adamah’s climate work around three national programs: the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition, a growing network of more than 300 Jewish organizations; the teen-focused Jewish Youth Climate Movement (JYCM), which currently has 70 chapters; and Adamah on Campus, a network of university-level student clubs, mostly based at Hillels, which currency has 15 chapters.  

The Coalition brings together organizations such as synagogues, summer camps, Jewish federations, Hillels, and others that “recognize the existential threat and moral urgency of climate change and commit to take action.” Coalition members prepare Climate Action Plans that include goals for reaching net-zero emissions and “mobilizing the community to take other forms of climate action.”

“Adamah has helped to create a broad and deep consensus for climate action unlike any that had existed before in the Jewish community,” Manela said. “Our approach is to get everyone on the bus and help them find ways to take increasingly impactful climate actions year over year.” “The growth of the Coalition has been much more dramatic than we anticipated,” he added. 

Adamah established a Climate Action Fund that has so far raised $1.2 million and disbursed grants and interest-free loans of about $400,000 to support implementation of the Climate Action Plans. Coalition members participate in communities of practice for JCCs, congregations, Hillels, federations, camps and day schools.

Adamah’s guidance for the Climate Action Plans includes advocating for “climate-smart policies” and choosing “organizational investments, endowments, and banking relationships based on their climate impacts.”  For organizations that want to focus on advocacy or decarbonizing their investment holdings, Adamah refers them to Dayenu and other partners. 

“Given our unique scale, reach, and influence as the largest Jewish environmental organization, there is potential and demand for Adamah to do more on climate,” he adds. “We are thinking about that a lot these days.”

Article by Lawrence McDonald.

The post Beyond Greening: Jewish Responses to Climate Emergency appeared first on Adamah.

Spring was on its best behavior with a gentle breeze and temps in the high 60s. Rosemary lemon cocktails and mocktails were flowing, served with fresh, herby appetizers. The Edgewood Community Learning Garden was buzzing on March 27 with plant-loving members of Atlanta’s Jewish community. 

In a cooperative fashion, many hands came together to create the food and spirituality retreat. It was led by Adamah ATL Director Joanna Kobylivker, Adamah ATL Community Program Coordinator Amy Price, and Ma’ayan Spiritual Arts Ritualist McKenzie Wren. Gardeners in the group contributed garlic, garlic flowers, herbs, spring onions, and kale. 

“We invite you to feel about plants, rather than think about plants,” Wren said. 

Before sitting down to dinner, the 35 attendees wandered the garden, practiced a meditation of the senses, and sang with Rabbi Ariel Wolpe as she led prayers to bless the fruit of the earth. 

Sephardic chef Susan Barocas served vegetarian and vegan dish after dish as Nina Rubin acted as her line chef. A Washington, D.C. resident, Barocas is the founding director of Savor, a Jewish food and music experience. She brought Sephardic food into the White House as guest chef for three of President Obama’s Passover seders. 

Barocas ran a waste-free kitchen, using as much of each ingredient as possible. For example, the cucumber slice served with beet hummus as an appetizer was hollowed out and used in the tzatziki dressing at dinner. Materials at the event were compostable or reusable.

Dinner dishes included quinoa with chickpeas, aqua faba (chickpea water), dates, green garlic oil, and chives; fennel braised in fennel stock; Kuku or Quajado, a kugel-like dish made from cauliflower, onion, fenugreek, cumin, parsley, dill, cilantro and eggs; a green salad with carrot shavings, seeds, cucumbers, bell peppers, and lettuces; and Shai Lavi’s tahini. The dessert was baklava with local honey and apple crisp.

Barocas pointed out that nearly every dish on the menu was kosher for Passover. 

“Everything here, provided you eat quinoa, it’s all good for Passover,” she said. “The commandment is to taste the matzah, not eat it 24-7.”

Adamah ATL’s mission is to connect people and planet through Jewish environmental education, climate action, and youth empowerment. The organization’s next event is an Earth Day celebration on April 19 at Mason Mill Park in Decatur.

Photo and article by Logan C. Ritchie.

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In partnership with Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL), and with the support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Adamah ATL will mobilize the Atlanta community around Adamah’s areas of national programming while leveraging GIPL’s expertise engaging faith communities in practical climate solutions and advocacy in the state.

Jewish institutions across Atlanta will have access to the resources of Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition—a network of Jewish community organizations that recognize the urgency of climate change and are committed to taking action.

Adamah ATL will work with synagogues, Jewish day schools, camps, and other organizations by offering hands-on, regionally-informed support in identifying and implementing climate solutions. Jewish institutions will also have access to environmental programs and events. Adamah’s youth empowerment initiatives will provide unique opportunities for high school and college students to engage with climate action while strengthening their Jewish identity.

“Adamah is thrilled to be expanding our work to Atlanta. We are tremendously grateful to our partners at the Atlanta Jewish Federation for their visionary support for this work, and to our allies at GIPL for their leadership in sparking a powerful local Jewish voice for environmental justice and climate action. We look forward to working in deep collaboration with these partners, and many others, to ignite and inspire vibrant Atlanta Jewish life in deep connection with the earth.”

Jakir Manela, Adamah CEO

GIPL has a longstanding relationship with the Jewish community in Atlanta and beyond. Rabbi Laurence Rosenthal of Ahavath Achim Synagogue currently serves as vice chair of GIPL’s Board of Directors and many of the organization’s most active Green Teams are in Jewish congregations in Atlanta.

“We believe the Jewish voice for environmental justice is one vital to curbing our present climate crisis…It is our belief that Georgia Interfaith Power and Light and Adamah may do more for our climate and Atlanta together than apart.”

Codi Norred, Executive Director of GIPL

Adamah ATL’s Founding Director is Joanna Kobylivker, who became GIPL’s first Jewish Community Organizer in May 2021. At GIPL, Kobylivker established the Jewish Climate Action Network of Georgia (JCAN GA) to grow Jewish engagement around climate advocacy in Georgia.

The post Jewish climate nonprofit opening hub in Atlanta appeared first on Adamah.

At Congregation Shearith Israel’s community-wide Day of Service, dozens of volunteers collaborated to reuse, reduce and recycle at the Morningside synagogue.

Kids and adults made comfort bags, meals and dog beds with personal touches. The idea was generated in part by Atlanta moms who wanted to give leftover materials a second life when their kids finished a three-week, Jewish summer camp session.

Joanna Kobylivker is the Atlanta hub director of Adamah, a national Jewish environmental organization. Full of ideas about how to upcycle camp materials, Kobylivker was invited to meet the founder of Ridwell, a residential pickup recycling service, when a brainstorming session began.

Ryan Metzger, Ridwell CEO, said, “Our community partners are doing incredible work to support kids, artists, and animals in the Atlanta area and we are honored to be the bridge that brings them together through sharing resources and upcycling.”

Together the environmentalists developed an idea: Take old mattress toppers from Camp Coleman and sew them into pet beds for PAWS Atlanta with materials from Scraplanta. Ridwell would store the mattress toppers until project day.

“We had all these ideas, but the biggest lift was figuring out how to coordinate everything. It required transporting the beds from camp, storing them somewhere in Atlanta, gathering materials and sewing machines, getting volunteers, and then delivering the beds.”

Joanna Kobylivker, Director, Adamah Atlanta

The idea grew. By the time the Sept. 10 project rolled around there were a handful of opportunities for doing a mitzvah, or good deed.

Scraplanta provided sewing machines on site at Shearith Israel, the first time the organization has taken the sewing equipment on the road, said Executive Director Jonelle Dawkins.

“We’re very open to providing art education to the community,” said Dawkins.

In addition to the middle schoolers who upcycled foam mattresses to make 23 pet beds for animal shelter PAWS Atlanta, volunteers worked on:

• Pre-K through second graders made 45 cards and packed 30 comfort bags for Intown Cares, a local nonprofit with a mission to prevent and reverse homelessness and hunger in Intown Atlanta. Shearith Israel was one of the faith-based organizations that helped launch Intown Cares in 2010.
• Thanks to a grant from JFC&S, students in third through fifth grade made 300 bagel sandwiches through Bagel Rescue, a local non-profit that supports hunger relief by connecting restaurants with excess bagels to neighbors in need.
• Volunteers packed over 100 bags of shelf-stable meals for nearby food-insecure elementary students with Backpack Buddies.
• In the synagogue’s kitchen, young professionals baked honey cake and assembled Rosh Hashanah gift bags for One Good Deed, a program that matches older adults with volunteers for connection and companionship.
• The Shearith Israel community gathered with other synagogues and Adamah ATL to clean up PeachtreeCreek Greenway, hauling off 3,000 pounds of trash.

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