20 | APRIL 18 • 2024
J
N
I
n September 2022, Jewish
environmental organization
Adamah launched the Jewish
Climate Leadership Coalition
— a network of Jewish com-
munity organizations who
recognize the existential threat
and moral urgency of climate
change and commit to take
action.
Adamah has facilitated the
coalition for 18 months now
and, since its founding, over
300 institutions across North
America have signed the coa-
lition founding statement and
pledged to take climate action.
It’s an initiative launched by
Adamah, but also in partner-
ship with 22 founding initiative
partners, including Jewish
umbrella organizations such as
the JCC Association of North
America, Jewish Agency for
Israel, Jewish Federations of
North America and more.
Those partners signed the
initial founding statement
essentially saying the climate
crisis is real, it’s here, it’s affect-
ing us currently and, as Jews,
we have a moral obligation to
respond to it and we’re going to
do so.
Among the 300+ institutions
that have signed the founding
statement are 12 Michigan-
based institutions, includ-
ing Isaac Agree Downtown
Synagogue (Detroit), Adat
Shalom Synagogue (Farmington
Hills), The Well (West
Bloomfield), Temple Beth
Emeth (Ann Arbor), NCJW
MI (Southfield), Beth Israel
Congregation (Ann Arbor),
Jewish Ferndale (Ferndale),
Temple Kol Ami (West
Bloomfield), Michigan Hillel
(Ann Arbor) The J (West
Bloomfield), and Congregation
of Moses and Temple B’nai
Israel (Kalamazoo).
These institutions are acting
as environmental leaders in
the local Jewish community
through an array of environ-
mental education and climate
actions.
The Jewish Climate
Leadership Coalition seeks to
decarbonize North American
Jewish institutions. The goal is
to get 1,500 Jewish organiza-
tions to net zero emissions by
2040.
PLANS IN THE WORKS
This past Tu b’Shevat saw coa-
lition institutions release their
first round of individualized cli-
mate action plans. Around 200
climate action plans from across
North America were submitted.
The plans laid out thousands of
climate action goals for Jewish
institutions in the year ahead.
These climate action plans
are designed to look back at
what work has been done to
date, take stock of opportunities
and then lay out that path mov-
ing forward.
As far as specific
commitments to action in
these institutions’ plans, Ari
Cohen, program coordinator
for Adamah Detroit, says some
actions they’ve seen pledged
include everything from
nature-based Hebrew school
curriculum to environmental
continued on page 22
DANNY SCHWARTZ SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
OUR COMMUNITY
Since the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition’s launch,
12 Michigan-based institutions have signed the founding statement.
A Moral Obligation asJews
Jews
A member of Congregation Beth Israel talks about the projects
that have been initiated at the Ann Arbor shul.
Members of Adamah enjoy nature.