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Hot and bothered: Young Jews are demanding action on climate change
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) — On an unusually warm February day, approximately 200 Jews gathered at the Hebrew Educational Alliance in Denver, Colorado for the inaugural Colorado Jewish Climate Summit, which coincided with Tu Bishvat, the new year of the trees.
Among the attendees were about 20 teens, who filed into the sanctuary, past tables stacked with brochures on sustainability and vibrant tapestries portraying Torah stories. They clustered into wooden pews, discussing the climate workshops they would attend — or lead.
“In the Jewish community, we talk about being collective in our efforts. And climate change is the same way — it’s not what one of us does, it’s what many of us do,” said Noah Shurz, a 16-year-old from Denver who helped plan the summit.
As the climate crisis and the global response to it intensifies, many Jewish teens are utilizing the intersections of Jewish and environmentalist teachings as impetus for activism. Through participating in groups like Jewish Youth Climate Movement, Dayenu and Jewish Climate Action Network, teens are strengthening their connection to Judaism and deepening their sense of community. Values like Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof (“justice, justice you shall pursue”), Tikkun Olam (“repairing the world”) and L’Dor V’Dor (“from generation to generation”) fuel their activism. These activists bring a unique perspective to the movement, combining the fervor of young changemakers with the tradition of the Jewish people.
Event attendees sign up for lunch orders from the sustainable food trucks provided during the Colorado Jewish Climate Summit. (Courtesy of Colorado Jewish Climate Action).
“My Judaism and my desire to fight against climate change go hand in hand,” said Rivka Schafer, a Modern Orthodox 18-year-old from Teaneck, New Jersey who uses they/them pronouns. In their role as co-director for Jewish Youth Climate Movement, a youth organization founded in 2019 that has about 450 members, Schafer acts as the bridge between youth leaders and adult staff.
Schafer described participating in climate action as almost a religious obligation. “When I go into nature, I feel inherently connected to God,” said Schafer. “To see that loss of our natural world to me resembles a loss of spirituality as well.”
Schafer became a climate activist at age 12 after seeing bleached coral reefs firsthand during an underwater dive. “For the first time, it hit me, the destruction we are causing our world,” they said. “I decided that if the government wasn’t doing anything to fix the world, and if the adults weren’t doing enough, then it was up to me to bear that responsibility of healing our planet.”
Schafer’s co-director, Amber Marcus-Blank, 18, from Sharon, Massachusetts, shares this connection to the natural world. “There is a very similar feeling that I get when I’m reading Jewish prayers and when I’m in nature,” said Marcus-Blank.
In the past, Jewish Youth Climate Movement has pushed for banks to divest from fossil fuels, participated in and led climate protests and sent youth representatives to the U.N COP27 climate conference. More recently, as smoke from wildfires engulfed the eastern U.S, causing alarmingly poor air quality, JYCM teens connected the Biblical concept of neshama (both “breath” and “soul”) to the climate fight. The organization challenged their Instagram followers to “fight to protect the sanctity of our breath and the right for all communities to breathe safe and clean air,” suggesting actions like calling representatives to pass climate legislation like the NY HEAT Act.
The organization works with local Jewish institutions to create change within Jewish communities. Institutions “can look at implementing recycling/compost…can encourage transit usage by trying to get a bus stop next to them, or having bike parking and reducing car space: things to get people to see what they could also do in their household… and advocating for [climate action] bills,” said Shurz. JYCM teens lead sustainability trainings at Jewish institutions, build resources, run the social media accounts, and organize demonstrations; a few adult staff handle behind the scenes work.
Jewish activists use similar tactics to other groups — such as divestment campaigns or changes to unsustainable infrastructure — but their actions are by, about, and for Jews. Groups like JYCM make helping synagogues or day schools become more sustainable, a top priority.
For example, many synagogues, with assistance from Adamah (previously Hazon), are moving towards greener energy. The organization provides energy audits, educational resources, and institutional partnerships via their Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition (with more than 30 institutions across the country). Youth activists help educate Jewish communities as to the necessity of the program.
Rabbi Jennie Rosenn speaks at the Colorado Jewish Climate Summit about the importance, history and impact of Jewish climate action. (Courtesy of Colorado Jewish Climate Action)
Some teens interviewed say they were previously engaged in non-denominational climate action, but that Jewish activism serves their needs better. “As an Orthodox Jew, I keep Shabbos, I keep kosher,” said Schafer. “I wanted to be in a place where people would understand me and be respectful of my religious observances, so it just didn’t make sense for me to join [a climate] organization that wasn’t Jewish.”
Their co-director, Marcus-Blank, said that the intersectional nature of JYCM — Jewish, youth, climate — provides space for all her interests. “It allows me to be my full self in a way that I can’t really be in any other space.” She felt limited by other organizations: struggling with not discussing Judaism in secular climate spaces or climate in Jewish spaces, and sometimes, given her age, being ignored in both spaces.
“Being Jewish is what led me to [climate activism],” said Marcus-Blank. Being taught tikkun olam, surrounded by Jews who took action for the things they believed in, contributed to her desire to pursue environmental activism.
Not only can Jewish values like Tikkun Olam be connected to environmentalist principles, but many of those principles are explicitly found in Jewish teachings. Judaism regards human beings as the “guardians of the earth.” It dictates that God created the universe and it is the duty of humans to protect it (stewardship). Nature is woven into much of Judaism — from environmentally related holidays such as Sukkot or Tu Bishvat, to the Tree of Life, a metaphor for the Torah. Jewish tradition also supports modern sustainability concepts such as regenerative agriculture and low waste living.
Nevertheless, the Jewish presence in the climate movement is relatively recent. The first official Jewish-environmentalist organization, named Shomrei Adamah (for the Hebrew phrase “keepers of the earth”) was created in 1988 by Rabbi Ellen Bernstein. The organization’s mission was to “illuminate and make accessible the ecological roots of Jewish tradition and to inspire Jewish individuals and institutions to care for the earth and act on her behalf.” It has since been joined by other groups, such as Adamah (the parent organization of JYCM), which formed with the merger of Hazon and Pearlstone.
Recently, the field of faith-based activism has become more diverse, with interfaith organizations such as Greenfaith gaining prominence. Jewish climate activism also has been increasing as more Jews learn of the scale and speed of the threat.
Through JYCM, teens also learn more about Judaism. Marcus-Blank learned about nigun, a form of sung prayer, at a retreat with JYCM in 2022. During Dayenu’s 2022 “All Our Might”campaign, JYCM youth activist Lexie Miller brought matzah to the leader of a Wells Fargo bank as symbolism for the limited time remaining to fight the climate crisis – just as the Jews had limited time for the matzah to rise.
JYCM also conducts trainings relating Jewish persecution and perseverance to climate action. Miller, who serves on the JYCM national youth leadership board, helps to create ‘equity and inclusion’ resources explaining to youth that now is a time that Jews must fight for survival, just as in the past. “I perceive the threat of climate change very similar to how I felt people in the Torah must have felt when their homes were threatened,” said the 13-year-old from Boulder, Colorado. The concept of justice for Jews and other marginalized groups plays a large role in JYCM’s philosophy. “All of our Jewish teachings tell us to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves and to care for the world. That’s why climate activism and [equity and inclusion] is rooted so much in Jewish history,” said Miller.
Attendees paint a protest banner during the Colorado Jewish Climate Summit. (Shira Nathan)
For the Colorado Jewish Climate summit, the teens planned with adult organizers for months. The event was similar to others that Jewish teens are coordinating across the country. The summit came to fruition under the direction of Colorado Jewish Climate Action, and included Rabbi Jenni Rosen of Dayenu and a message from U.S senator Michael Bennet. Colorado Jewish Climate Action hopes to collaborate further with the youth activists; in the future, the Denver kvutzah will serve as a youth outreach partner.
Many teens choose Jewish-based climate action because it fosters community. “[The other teens] inherently understand some of the biggest components of my identity and the things I value,” said Schafer.
Taking action in these groups can also alleviate burnout, a common phenomenon experienced in climate activism. “In this line of work, where you’re facing an existential crisis, it’s not a tangible goal that you’re reaching for. And so it can be really easy to get burned out and be disappointed by the lack of action,” said Marcus-Blank. “JYCM is what kept me going, because these people have so much hope and optimism.”
These teens combine the ideals of youth and deep-seated values of Judaism as fuel for continued engagement in the climate movement; especially l’dor v’dor, “from generation to generation,” the value of preserving/protecting Jewish faith and livelihood in the face of adversity in order for future Jews to benefit,
“There’s a certain urgency that comes with young people, because we are starting to see the effects of climate change in real time. My Jewish values project that urgency because I’m really in tune to wanting to help people,” said Marcus-Blank. “And the persecution of Jews has always created changemakers. So both of those things go hand in hand.”
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The post Hot and bothered: Young Jews are demanding action on climate change appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Six US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week requesting that he increase security measures along the northern border in response to Canada accepting an influx of refugees from Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the terrorist group Hamas.
The six Republican lawmakers — Sens. Marco Rubio (FL), Ted Cruz (TX), Joni Ernst (IA), Tom Cotton (AK), Mike Braun (IN), and Josh Hawley (MO) — said they were “deeply concerned” that refugees from Gaza could sneak into the United States. The senators warned that allowing unvetted Palestinian refugees to cross the border poses a serious national security threat.
“On May 27, 2024, the Government of Canada announced its intent to increase the number of Gazans who will be allowed into their country under temporary special measures,” the senators wrote. “We are deeply concerned and request heightened scrutiny by the US Department of Homeland Security should any of them attempt to enter the United States at ports of entry as well as between ports of entry.”
After arriving in Canada, the Palestinian refugees will be given a “Refugee Travel Document,” which serves as a valid form of identification, the letter claimed, adding that US Citizenship and Immigration Services recognizes these documents as a valid substitute for a passport. The senators warned that “individuals with ties to terrorist groups” could potentially enter into the United States.
The letter argued that the US should maintain “common-sense terrorist screening and vetting” for any individual attempting to enter its borders from a foreign country. The lawmakers lamented that the Biden administration’s “”ax border enforcement” has rendered the country vulnerable to potential terrorist attacks. From April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations intercepted over 233 suspected terrorists at the northern border, according to the letter.
“[T]he possibility of terrorists crossing the US-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,” the senators wrote. “It would be irresponsible for the US to not take necessary heightened precautions when foreigners attempt to enter the United States.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre of 1,200 people across southern Israel. The Palestinian terrorist group also kidnapped over 250 hostages.
In response, Israel launched defensive military operations in Gaza with the aim of freeing the hostages and permanently dislodging Hamas from the neighboring enclave.
The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the West Bank, still support Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel that started the ongoing war, and they would prefer a “day after” scenario in which Hamas remains in control of Gaza rather than the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the West Bank, or other Arab countries, according to recent Palestinian polling. The same polling found that, when asked about support for Palestinian political parties and movements, a plurality chose Hamas.
US lawmakers are split along party lines as to whether the United States should accept refugees from Gaza. Republicans are largely opposed to importing refugees from Gaza, arguing that individuals from the war-torn enclave present “a national security risk” to the United States.” In May, Ernst and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent US President Joe Biden a letter, urging him not to accept any refugees from Gaza.
In June, however, a group of 70 Democratic lawmakers sent Mayorkas a letter, requesting he create “pathways” for more refugees of the Israel-Hamas war to resettle in America.
The post US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin
Screenshot of a widely circulated video published on social media showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel. According to reports, the video appears to be fake and of Russian origin.
A widely circulated video published on social media this week showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel appears to be fake and of Russian origin, according to reports.
The video — published on Tuesday on social media networks including X/Twitter and Telegram — featured a keffiyeh-clad man with his face covered, delivering an Arabic-language address threatening France with violence due to the country’s alleged support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Addressing “the people of France” and “French President [Emmanuel] Macron,” the masked individual said, “You supported the Zionist regime in its criminal war against the people of Palestine. You provided Zionists with weapons; you helped murder our brothers and sisters, our children.”
“You invited the Zionists to the Olympic games. You will pay for what you have done!” continued the man, who wore a shirt adorned with a Palestinian flag. “Rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris. This day is approaching, God willing. Allah is the greatest.”
The video, published on X/Twitter by the account @endzionism24 and retweeted by Palestinian activist Ihab Hassan, ended with the speaker holding a prop severed head complete with fake blood up for the camera.
He is not a Palestinian:
A video clip has surfaced showing an individual wearing a keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag badge, threatening France with a “river of blood” at the Olympic Games.
It is glaringly obvious to any Arabic speaker that this person is not Arab; his dialect… pic.twitter.com/rwWGkkbiAi
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 23, 2024
Hassan and other social media users immediately noted that the man speaking was clearly not a native Arabic speaker, citing his reasonably fluent but awkward and occasionally incorrect pronunciation.
Many social media users aware of the mispronunciations seemed to blame Israel for the video, implying the clip was a false flag meant to fearmonger and demonize Palestinians and Muslims. They did not address the fact that Israel has access to hundreds of thousands of native Palestinian Arabic speakers who would sound far more convincing than the man in the video.
On Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that “French secret services and their partners have not been able to authenticate the veracity of this video.”
According to researchers at Microsoft, however, the video appears to be part of a Russian-linked disinformation campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics, which began with the opening ceremony on Friday.
The researchers from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center told NBC News that the clip appears to have come from a Russian disinformation group known as Storm-1516, an outgrowth of Russia’s Internet Research Agency.
The latest clip was linked to a similar disinformation video falsely alleging that Ukraine had sent arms to Hamas — a claim for which there is no evidence. According to the researchers, the more recent video appears to be part of a Russian scare campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics.
The video came just days before France’s rail infrastructure was hit on Friday, ahead of the start of the Olympics, with widespread acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from the rest of France and Europe just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. French authorities described the acts as “criminal” and “malicious.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the sabotage of France’s high-speed rail network was directed by Iran, which Western intelligence agencies have for years labeled as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.
“The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam,” Katz wrote on X/Twitter. “As I warned my French counterpart [Stéphane Séjourné] this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians are planning terrorist attacks against the Israeli delegation and all Olympic participants. Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot. The free world must stop Iran now — before it’s too late.”
Katz was referring to a letter he sent on Thursday to Séjourné raising alarm bells about what he described as a plan by Iran to attack Israel’s Olympic delegation.
Darmanin and French National Police both announced previously that they are taking increased security measures to ensure the safety of Israel’s Olympic delegation while they are in Paris amid mounting threats. These measures include providing them with round the clock security from French police. The Israeli delegation will also receive additional security details from Israel’s Shin Bet security agency during the Olympics.
The post Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey
The editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the largest daily newspaper in Missouri, has endorsed the opponent of US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), pointing to the incumbent congresswoman’s lack of legislative accomplishments and stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Post-Dispatch argued that Bush’s position on Israel and the Gaza war should be “disqualifying” for any elected representative. The outlet took umbrage with Bush for equating a close democratic ally of the US with a genocidal terrorist organization.
“Israel’s conduct of the war has been far from perfect, but it remains a democracy fighting for survival against an evil terrorist organization. Bush’s tendency to equate both sides — and even to side with the terrorists, as when she cast one of just two House votes against a resolution to bar Hamas members from the US — should in itself be disqualifying for re-election,” the editorial board wrote.
Bush has established herself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the US Congress. Only nine days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, Bush called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group. As the war dragged on, Bush’s rhetoric toward Israel sharpened, with the congresswoman accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Bush has also accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza without providing evidence.
Bush seems more interested in pandering to the far-left fringes of the progressive movement than serving her constituents, the Post-Dispatch argued. Bush’s membership in “The Squad” — a clique of far-left progressive, anti-establishment lawmakers in the House of Representatives — has rendered her completely incapable of “accomplishing anything” in the halls of Congress, according to the newspaper.
The editorial board urged its readers to vote for Wesley Bell, pointing to his moderated approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example of his pragmatism and moral clarity.
“On Israel, Bell offers an appropriately measured stance, acknowledging the need to protect Gazan civilians and work toward a two-state solution, while supporting America’s closest ally in the Middle East,” the outlet wrote.
In contrast to Bush, Bell has expressed more sympathy to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, emphatically rejecting the notion that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.”
Moreover, Bell has strengthened his ties with the Jewish community over the course of his campaign. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, donated a reported $5 million to Bell’s campaign through its United Democracy Project super PAC. A group of 30 St. Louis-area rabbis penned a letter endorsing Bell, accusing Bush of a “lack of decency, disregard for history, and for intentionally fueling antisemitism and hatred.” Bell also brought about an official “director of Jewish outreach” to increase turnout among the Jewish community.
A poll commissioned by McLaughlin & Associates and sponsored by the CCA Action Fund, a pro-Bell super PAC, showed Bell with a commanding 56 percent to 33 percent lead over Bush.
Supporters of Israel see the primary race as a prime opportunity to oust another opponent of the Jewish state from the halls of Congress. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a progressive lawmaker, lost his primary race to a pro-Israel challenger on June 25. Over the course of his reelection campaign, Bowman accused Israel of committing “genocide” and enacting “apartheid” against Palestinians. Bowman’s comments incensed Jewish constituents in the leafy suburbs of Westchester County, New York.
Furthermore, observers are looking to the race as a potential indicator of the Democratic electorate’s position on Israel. Opinions of the Jewish state among Democrats have soured in the months following Oct. 7, calling into question whether anti-Israel views are still a liability with American liberals.
The post Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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