Praying for Rain: Who Affects the Weather, God or Us?

By Rabbi Julian Sinclair
Sukkot has a special connection to rain. The Talmud (Rosh Hoshanah 16a) says that on Sukkot, we are judged for the rainfall we will receive in the coming year. On Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the holiday, we begin to say Mashiv Ha’Ruach u’morid Hagashem, in the Amidah prayer, invoking God [...]

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The Ninth of Av, Copenhagen and Climate Change

By Rabbi Julian Sinclair
Recently I was asked an interesting question by an Israel environmental leader.
“I was a bit surprised and somewhat dismayed,” he began, ”to find out that the date chosen for the Copenhagen Planning Seminar was also Tisha B’Av.”

A bit of background for the uninitiated:
1.    The Copenhagen Summit in December is a gathering of world [...]

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On Wings of Solar Panel: Swiss Team looks to Fly ‘Round the World in Sun-Powered Plane

By Yannai Kranzler
Today I booked a flight from home in Israel, to visit my family in New York. I’ll probably be one of tens of thousands of Jews flying to and from Israel this summer and holiday season.
As a nation, we really fly a lot. Proportionally, I’d bet there are more Jewish environmental organizations and [...]

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The Whole World is the Land of Israel: Rabbi Dov Berkowitz on Water, the Desert, the Jewish People and Climate Change

By Rabbi Julian Sinclair
This was one of the most exciting and original talks at JCI’s April conference. In it, Rabbi Dov Berkovitz asks what the 3000 years of Jewish tradition, “one of the most remarkable human creations on the planet”, can contribute to helping humanity grapple with global climate change (video of Rabbi Berkowitz’s speech [...]

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Pollution in a Promised Land: Alon Tal on Israel and the Environment

By Rabbi Julian Sinclair
Here in Israel we celebrated Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Independence Day, last week; fireworks, barbecues, mutual congratulations on how much we’ve achieved in 61 years (absorbing millions of immigrants, sustaining a vibrant democracy, building a dynamic economy, etc.), and a certain amount of soul-searching about how much we still haven’t: (peace, intra-Jewish harmony, a national [...]

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Nigel Savage on What the Jews can (and cannot) do about Climate Change

In the following video, from the Vayehi Or Workshop, Nigel Savage, founder of Hazon, discusses Hazon, Jews, food and Climate Change. Nigel and Hazon have been working with JCI on the Seven Year Plan for the Jewish People on Climate Change and Sustainability, and in this piece, Nigel offers some hopeful and practical tips towards [...]

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Solar Power, Wind Power and Spiritual Power Come Together at Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference in Southern Israel

By Rabbi Julian Sinclair
Two things were clear from attending the International Renewable Energy Conference that took place in Eilat this week.
The first is that Israel is now a world leader in clean energy.
The second is that there is a small but growing group of players in the field who see this not just as a [...]

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A New, Green, Social Justice Movement in Israel: HaTnuah Hayerukah-Meimad

By Yannai Kranzler
There are a few things one notices upon visiting the website of Israel’s new Green Movement-Meimad political party:
1) Everyone’s smiling.
2) Everyone looks different from one another
And it’s hard not to think: “Hey- this party just might actually be different.”

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A Renewable Light to the Nations: An Interview with Arava Power Company’s Yossi Abramowitz

As we reported on climate of change last week, The Arava Power Company just announced plans to generate
500 MW of solar energy in the Arava Desert over the next five years, meeting 10% of Israel’s energy needs at a stroke.
Last week, Climate of Change met Yossi Abramowitz, President of the APC and explored with [...]

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Carrots and Climate Change: Hazon Interviews JCI’s Rabbi Julian Sinclair on Food, Sustainability, Judaism and the Global Climate

As featured on Hazon’s The Jew and the Carrot.
By Nina Budabin McQuown.
Rabbi Julian Sinclair is an author, educator, and economist. He is also the co-founder and Director of Education for Jewish Climate Initiative, a Jerusalem based NGO that is articulating and mobilizing a Jewish response to climate change.  Before starting JCI, Julian worked as [...]

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