Pre-shabbat action

Make climate action a regular habit, and connect that action to your Jewish values and practices.

Pre-shabbat action of the week

Shabbat Shalom!  I’ve been enjoying this week’s cooler weather, but I’m steeling myself for another weekend baseball tournament with my teenage son with temperatures well into the 90’s.  While this isn’t the most dire consequence of the climate crisis (with enough sunscreen and Gatorade, he and I will be ok), sometimes these very personal effects - lack of snow for a skier, changes in the growing season for a gardener - can provide a way into climate conversations for those who aren’t yet engaged.

If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that Governor Hochul has been slow-walking her earlier commitment to establish a cap-and-invest program for NYS.  Such a program would limit emissions by requiring corporate polluters to pay for their emissions, invest the proceeds in community-based solutions and improvements to our infrastructure, and help us meet the emissions-reduction benchmarks set out in our Climate Law.  We all know the climate crisis is here *now* and we don’t have any time to waste - click here to sign a petition urging Governor Hochul to commit to a full and rapid implementation of Cap-and-Invest today!

Idea to Ponder:

Creating a new kind of civilization that, rather than blindly destroying itself, aims to build a world in which everyone can thrive is a righteous goal. But each step has been marked by obstacles and challenges; so much so that it can feel like we’re standing still rather than making real progress.

This week’s Torah portion centers on Moses recounting all the 42 “legs” of the people’s journey through the desert. The language of Moses’ recounting implies the act of pulling up stakes each time and moving forward. And that’s us; the Jewish community that is acting on climate like our lives depend on it; because they do. That’s not alarmist; it’s science. And each time we face another headwind, another effort to derail progress toward that vision, we weather the storm and then we pull up stakes and get going on the next leg of our journey.

We might not be anticipating an arrival in a promised land any time soon. For now, we just want to ensure a livable future for our descendants; we owe that to them and we want that for them.  

If taking part in the small action we offered you in this message feels meaningful or even satisfying, we invite you to make this work a part of your journey and help us reclaim our obligation to care for one another and for creation. Hope to see you again next week.