Tagged Climate change

Torah and science come together for UArizona climatologist

Gregg Garfin, Ph.D.

Growing up in the 1970s it was almost impossible not to be surrounded by environmental movements. The first Earth Day was held in April 1970 and many people were concerned with saving forests and protecting the air, land, and water from pollutants. Gregg Garfin, Ph.D., was no exception. Garfin,… Read more »

500 rabbis and Jewish leaders call for action against climate change

(JTA) — Five hundred rabbis and other Jewish leaders from around the world are calling for climate change action. The letter released earlier this month was signed by rabbis and leaders spanning the denominational spectrum — from Orthodox to Reform and secular — and from countries including the United… Read more »

Why these 2 nice Jewish girls are skipping school on Friday

Rebekah Oppenheimer, left, and Hannah Fremmer are skipping school to protest climate change. (Courtesy of Rebekah Oppenheimer)

(JTA) – We are Jewish middle-school students, and we are extremely worried about climate change. This is why we, along with other students around the country, are protesting the government’s refusal to act on this important issue by skipping or walking out of school on Friday, March 15. While… Read more »

Relating Tisha b’Av to today’s environmental crises

Tisha b’Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) which we commemorate this year on July 21-22, reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Jews failed to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, with the result that the first Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the first of… Read more »

Local expert: mitigating climate change is way to practice tikkun olam

Gregg Garfin, Ph.D.

Climate change is happening in the Southwestern United States and across the globe, and Judaism gives us an incentive to address environmental problems, says Gregg Garfin, Ph.D., university director of the Southwest Climate Science Center at the University of Arizona. Garfin presented “The Changing Climate of Arizona and the… Read more »

4 things to know about Bret Stephens, the latest Jewish New York Times columnist

4 things to know about Bret Stephens, the latest Jewish New York Times columnist

  NEW YORK (JTA) — At first glance, The New York Times’ hiring of another white, Jewish male opinion-page columnist is anything but news. But the arrival of Bret Stephens, formerly the foreign affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal, may be especially resonant for American Jews. Stephens, 42,… Read more »

Local Jewish pediatrician hails climate change education, conference

Not only is climate change a hot topic, it coincides with Judaism’s long-held value of caring for the environment. “We have an obligation to God as stewards of the earth to not destroy the planet,” says Eve Shapiro, M.D., a local Jewish pediatrician who’s on the board of the… Read more »

Earth changes (sung to Lara’s theme)

I'm lucky I brought my down jacket from New Jersey with its faux eskimo hood

Two years ago, it snowed like the apocalypse in Newark, New Jersey. Nevertheless, the airports were open the next day and early in the morning December 28, we packed our three kids and 15 duffel bags into a shuttle bus. As the sun rose, we headed up the NJ… Read more »