20 | APRIL 18 • 2024 
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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.

