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For Orthodox Israeli teens, battling climate change can be a lonely fight
This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.
(JTA) — Abigail Lerer, a Modern Orthodox vegan teen from Ra’anana, Israel, is working on changing throwaway culture in her family. ‘’It makes me feel frustrated, there is just no need,’’ Lerer says about using single-use dishes at meals. To win over reluctant family members who worried about the inconvenience, she took on responsibility for washing the dishes and taking out the recycling.
Eventually, after years of slideshows and lectures, Lerer’s family came to understand her point of view. They don’t have single-use utensils in their home anymore and her mother even brings reusable containers to stores when she buys nuts and grains.
Now, Lerer just wants the rest of the county to catch up. There are few environmentalists in the haredi or “ultra-Orthodox” community, where religious leaders do not put a high priority on protecting the environment and where large families often rely on single-use plastic cutlery for the sake of convenience.
A study by Kantar Ministry of Environmental Protection found that 73% of the general population use single-use plastic regularly compared to 96% of the haredi population who do so. This year, Israel’s new finance minister rolled back high taxes on disposables after haredi Orthodox leaders complained that they unfairly targeted their lifestyle. Community activists argued that they compensate for the big environmental impact of single-use plastic by flying and driving far less than the general population.
Even among Modern or Religious Zionist Orthodox communities, who tend to be less insular and have fewer children than the haredim, environmental action still lags.
Lerer, who subscribes to a vegan, minimal-waste lifestyle, says the solution lies in leadership. If religious figures endorsed eco-conscious living as a Jewish obligation, then this would galvanize the necessary action, she said.
“You need to make it halachic and then people will care,” she says, meaning legal according to religious law. But, she is skeptical that this will occur due to the highly complex nature of the Jewish legal system.
Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, who founded the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Israel, explores how traditional Judaism relates to science. He said the haredi Orthodox community doesn’t have the same level of concern for environmentalism because of insularity. ‘’They lack thinking about any issues that extend beyond their community,” he said. Because they are poorer than many other sectors of the population, economic considerations always come first, Slifkin said.
Bar Kaima was founded in early 2020 and aims to connect young Israelis to environmental causes. (Courtesy of Esther Hamou)
Nevertheless, environmental groups in religious circles do exist. Esther Hamou, 18, who dresses exclusively in second-hand clothes, volunteers in a religious environmental organization, Bar Kayma. The group uses arguments in the Torah such as tikkun olam — fixing the world — and baal tashchit — the prohibition against wanton destruction — to combat skeptics and to persuade religious Jews to be more sustainable.
This past January, Hamou organized an environmentally themed event for Tu Bishvat, the Jewish new year for trees. As part of her anti-plastic activism, Hamou requested that all attendees bring their own cup for refreshments. Despite her efforts in linking eco-friendly living to Judaism, Hamou finds that ‘’people just don’t want to hear it.’’
Penina Schorr is attempting to change this. The 14-year-old lives in a Modern Orthodox community in Jerusalem and tries to encourage her peers to avoid using throwaway plastic. They ‘’sometimes’’ listen. Schorr has been raised in a plastic-conscious home; they only use throwaway plastic in exceptional circumstances such as the day before Pesach, when strict rules require only kosher-for-Passover utensils for the holiday. However, her family’s attitude is not widespread, and most people in her community are far less vigilant.
She said that in Orthodox religious schools like hers there is a sense of ambivalence towards environmental issues. Her geography teacher, she said, justifies inaction, claiming that God would never destroy the world and that the claims of climate activists and scientists can’t be legitimate.
Practicality is also an obstacle. According to Ariel Shay, a volunteer at Plastic Free Israel, one of the main reasons Israelis with large families use single-use plastic is a fast cleanup after a meal.
Hadas Shlomi, 17, an activist from the north of Israel, feels alienated in her secular school because of her commitment to the environment: Peers mocked and teachers misunderstood her climate anxiety. Her parents are not on her wavelength either. She attributes the indifference of the older generation to the fact that they won’t be alive when the climate crisis peaks.
Shlomi appreciates the dedication of teens who are trying to convince their Orthodox friends and families to use fewer single-use plastics. As a leader of Strike for Future Israel, she knows the teens’ hearts are in the right place but sees the focus on individual actions as ineffective. Instead Shlomi lobbies the government to ban oil and gas drilling and pass a bill that sets a target of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030.
While these endeavors have not been successful yet, compounded by the transition to a new, more right-wing government in 2022 that is even more accommodating to haredi voters, Shlomi has the attention of some elected officials. In January 2022, the government required 30 hours of climate change education to the school year.
The changes apply to Israel’s secular and Religious Zionist school tracks. The government has sway in far fewer haredi Orthodox schools.
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What Israel Can Learn From American Thanksgiving
A traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Gratitude is a deeply Jewish concept, emphasized in the Biblical text, the Talmud, Jewish law, and throughout rabbinic thought. Most significantly, gratitude is woven into the rituals of daily life, including the first statement of “modeh ani” that we recite upon waking each day as well as in the morning blessings.
This overlap between the value Judaism places on gratitude and the theme of the upcoming American holiday of Thanksgiving gives us a reason to truly recognize that day as a Jewish experience. But there is another deep connection between Judaism and Thanksgiving, one that Jews everywhere, including in Israel, should be more aware of and embrace.
Many of the values that the United States was built on, including justice, equality and freedom, stem from the Bible and Judeo-Christian tradition. This should be a reminder that here in Israel as well — the land where those ideas started — we should be more cognizant of those values as a society, especially in these challenging days as we rebuild after more than two years of war and face deep divisions among ourselves.
On Nov. 26, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed a day of public thanks, saying gratitude wasn’t just a feeling but a national duty, “acknowledging … the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
His statement reflects the influence of the Bible on the Founding Fathers’ worldview — and not simply because he referred to the Almighty. Rather, it is important to recognize that many of the values that Americans are especially grateful for on Thanksgiving — the values that allow a form of government for safety and happiness — are derived from Judeo-Christian concepts.
As outlined in his book Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers, Daniel L. Dreisbach, a professor at American University, describes the Bible as the most read and most quoted book in early American political discourse. Stories and quotes from the Bible were used to justify civil resistance, examine the rights and duties of citizens, and understand the role of political authority. Early American politics and its groundbreaking democratic system can only be understood properly by understanding the role of the Bible, he writes.
The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are secular documents, but the ideas contained in them have unmistakable direct roots in values illustrated in the Bible.
Although the United States faces many challenges, and the Biblical values of justice, equality, and personal freedom are not always upheld as they should be, the ideal of these values has been front and center to the country’s success and to the opportunities it has given to millions, including my own father, my in-laws, and grandparents, who immigrated to the US from the ashes of the Holocaust and were able to freely raise a Jewish family.
In Israel, also a democracy, political and community leaders need to recommit to the values of freedom, equality, and justice, especially now — not just in theory, but in policy and practice.
Even though Israel remains without a constitution, these values need to be paramount, both in speech and action; in classrooms and courtrooms; in the Knesset and in the beit knesset. Freedom must extend to agunot, women trapped in marriages that have fallen apart and are often abusive, because their husbands refuse to grant them the halachic get required for a legal divorce. Jewish law demands that state rabbinic and government officials must do more to ensure the religious and civil laws are used in ways that promote freedom and dignity for these women.
Equality must be extended to minorities, including Arabs, Muslims, Christians, and Druze, who often face discrimination. From the lack of government investment in these communities to the racism expressed by some politicians, community leaders, and parts of the general public, minorities often do not receive fully equal treatment. Equality is also a value that needs to be embraced by the citizens. The most glaring example of this today is the continuing refusal of the ultra-Orthodox sector to serve in the army, which puts an undue heavy burden on those who do serve, including secular and religious Jews, Christians, Druze, and Bedouins.
Perhaps an approach that can help is trying to be more thankful for and aware of these democratic values derived from our very own Jewish tradition, especially now as we attempt to pick up the pieces and rebuild. Part of being thankful is looking beyond ourselves.
This is illustrated in a powerful way in the order of the words in the morning recitation of “modeh ani” — “thankful am I.” Usually the order would be “ani modeh” (“I am thankful”), but this prayer flips that order, emphasizing the thankfulness before the “I.” This implies we are better off as individuals, as a family, community and as a society when the first word out of our mouths is “thanks” rather than “I.”
During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln established an official date for Thanksgiving as a national holiday and called on everyone to care for the widows, orphans, and the wounded as the nation sought healing. This is the spirit we need in Israel now: to use gratitude as a moral call to rebuild our society, rooted in the very Biblical values that have long given hope to the world.
Rabbi Dr. Brander is the President and Rosh HaYeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, a network of 32 educational institutions in Israel. He previously served as a vice president at Yeshiva University in New York and is Rabbi Emeritus of the Boca Raton Synagogue in Florida.
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Israel Launches New Military Operation in Northern West Bank
Israeli soldiers walk during an operation in Tubas, in the West Bank, Nov. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Israeli security forces took up positions inside the northern West Bank city of Tubas on Wednesday and ordered some Palestinian residents from their homes in a counterterrorism operation.
Tubas Governor Ahmed Al-Asaad told Reuters Israeli forces, backed by a helicopter, were encircling the city and establishing positions across several neighborhoods.
“The incursion looks to be a long one; occupation [Israeli] forces have driven people from their houses, commandeered rooftops of buildings, and are conducting arrests,” he said.
The Israeli military said the operation carried out with police and intelligence forces began early on Wednesday following “preliminary intelligence identification of attempts to establish” terrorist strongholds and infrastructure.
The military said it located “an observational control room” during its searches of dozens of homes in the West Bank.
Israeli vehicles could be seen driving through the city, with troops patrolling streets carrying rifles and rocket launchers. Troops were also seen in the nearby town of Tammun.
PALESTINIANS ARRESTED, TROOPS SET UP ROADBLOCKS
Al-Asaad said Israeli forces ordered those whom they forced out of their homes not to return until the operation ends, which he anticipated could last several days.
“They are continuing to complete their control of the city,” he told Reuters, with Israeli forces setting up roadblocks and so far detaining at least 22 Palestinians.
The West Bank is home to 2.7 million Palestinians who have limited self-rule under the Palestinian Authority. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled there.
Wednesday’s activity extends military operations launched by Israeli forces across parts of the northern West Bank this year, beginning with the city of Jenin in January days after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Since Hamas carried out the Oct. 7 attack on Israel from Gaza two years ago, Israel has sharply curtailed movement in the West Bank, with new checkpoints erected and some Palestinian communities effectively sealed off by gates and roadblocks.
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A Reason for Jewish Hope: Perseverance Has Always Seen Us Through
The Western Wall and Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
In recent years, Jews across the world have witnessed intimidation, harassment, and even instances of violence. These developments are serious, and they deserve our full attention. Yet even in this climate, we must remember that we have, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “a rendezvous with destiny.” That rendezvous, when viewed across the arc of Jewish history, remains a profoundly hopeful one.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed in a moment like this. But perspective matters. If one were to graph the trajectory of the Jewish people across millennia, the line would not appear as a clean upward slope. It would look more like a stock market chart — containing multiple peaks and valleys. And yet, despite every downturn, the long-term trend has always been upward. It is important to recognize this as we endure the news cycle on a daily basis.
Children often repeat sayings like, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” or “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” We know reality is more complicated: words can harm, and challenges can shake us, but those old sayings contain a deep truth. Hardship, while never sought after, can strengthen us and forge unity. When we remember who we are — and what we have already overcome — we rediscover the inner steel that has carried our people through history’s darkest chapters.
This perspective is helpful today, especially as we confront new challenges from seemingly every direction. In New York City, for example, we will have a mayor — Zohran Mamdani — whose positions and rhetoric pose real questions as to whether he will defend Jewish people in New York against those who want to intimidate our community. The recent protest held outside a synagogue hosting a Nefesh B’Nefesh event was not just disruptive; it was frightening. Mamdani’s official response — which criticized the event itself — was lacking to say the least.
But even here, it is important to have perspective. Compared to the past violence and destruction we have been through, the challenges of this moment — though real — are not insurmountable. And unlike many eras of the past, today we have power and resources to fight back, and a state that exists to protect Jews with a Jewish army.
This does not mean that we are just passive passengers on history’s ride. Quite the opposite. We have obligations to resist with all our might in education, in advocacy, in political engagement, and in communal solidarity. We must defend our institutions and support those on the front lines, and we must cultivate the courage to stand proudly as Jews and supporters of the only Jewish state at a time when hiding might feel easier.
But humility is also part of wisdom. We are a people of roughly 15 million among billions. There are limits to the amount of influence we can exert on the world around us — and we can’t beat ourselves up too much about things that remain largely out of our control. The winds of history blow with a force larger than any one community. We have great challenges and even greater opportunities that point toward a future of continued growth, strength, and security.
It is natural to feel concern, even fear, when living through a period of backlash. Regression always feels permanent when you are inside it. But history tells a different story. This moment may be a valley, but valleys precede rises. We have every reason to believe that a rise is coming. Our rendezvous with destiny has never changed — and it is brighter than this moment suggests.
Daniel Rosen is the Co-founder of a Non-profit Technology company called Emissary4all which is an app to organize people to impact the narrative and move the needle on social media and beyond . He is the Co-host of the podcast “Recalibration”. You can reach him at drosen@emissary4all.org