Why should addressing the climate crisis be a Jewish priority?
The climate crisis touches core Jewish obligations: to protect life, to steward creation, and to act for the sake of future generations we will never meet.
We share below just some of the ways that Jewish tradition enjoins us to protect the earth and its inhabitants. But before all this, there’s a quite different summation of more than twenty centuries of Jewish life:
In every community and country in which we have lived, we have always tried to have a positive influence beyond our numbers – to do good, to advance science, and to contribute to human flourishing. So, whether you are observant or not, Jewish tradition challenges us all to raise our game on climate.
Jewish tradition: A Mandate for Stewardship
Twenty-five centuries of Jewish life and thought long precedes “the climate crisis”. We cannot directly map ancient rabbinic injunctions to contemporary life. Yet Jewish tradition offers both wisdom and clear moral instructions. These are just five of the ways that Jewish tradition can and should speak to our current challenges:
( 1 ) Bal Tashchit Do Not Destroy
The prohibition on needless destruction (Deuteronomy 20:19–20) began with protecting fruit trees in wartime. The rabbis extended it: wasting food, destroying usable goods, or squandering energy violates bal tashchit. Today that might mean thinking about clean energy deployment, energy efficiency, or circular manufacturing – exactly what the over 500 organizations that are part of Adamah’s Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition are doing.
( 2 ) Shomrei Adamah Covenantal Responsibility for the Future
Genesis 2:15 commands humanity to “serve and guard” the Garden of Eden, meaning both active cultivation (l’ovdah) and careful protection (l’shomrah): a sacred trust placed in human hands. The Midrash warns: “If you destroy it, there will be no one to repair it after you.” Our responsibility extends beyond the horizon of our own lifetimes. Climate philanthropy today is a way to actualize this injunction for our kids and grandkids. The steady growth in funding to Jewish environmental education and action in North America is testament to this.
( 3 ) Shabbat A Weekly Ethic of Limits
Shabbat models restraint, and reverence for the world. Abraham Joshua Heschel famously described it as “a palace in time,” a sanctuary from relentless production. In an era of overconsumption, Shabbat offers a model of “enoughness,” dignity, and ecological sanity, so does the concept of shmita, the injunction that the land should rest every seventh year. Teva Ivri is one of the organizations that work to bring this ethic to contemporary Israeli society.
( 4 ) Pikuach Nefesh Saving Life Above All
The mishnah teaches famously that saving a single life is like saving a whole world. Climate change already threatens millions through extreme heat, water scarcity, food insecurity, and climate-driven conflict. Making a difference on climate represents contemporary pikuach nefesh at scale. The work of IsraAID around the world is a powerful exemplar of this.
( 5 ) Start Here and Now
The Talmud teaches that even if the messiah is approaching, one must first plant the sapling in one’s hand. Jewish tradition is idealistic – and deeply practical. As Pirkei Avot famously puts it:
not just jewish: interfaith coalition-building
The Jewish community needs to renew or strengthen its relationships with other communities. And climate work, by its nature, requires cross-communal collaboration. Organizations such as the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development and the Ohr Torah Interfaith Center demonstrate the potential power of interfaith collaboration.
Why is taking action hard? Climate psychology and Jewish wisdom
Climate change is not only a policy challenge; it’s also a psychological and spiritual one.
obstacles to action
Even when the facts are clear, taking action is hard. We can easily feel overwhelmed. Jewish wisdom, with its insight into human nature and ethical responsibility, can help move us from paralysis to purposeful engagement.
One barrier is denial: “I know it’s serious, but it can’t be that bad. And in any case, someone else will deal with it.” Denial enables us not to really think about acting on climate.
Another is disempowerment: the feeling that actions are too small to matter. The “climate crisis” seems overwhelming in scale.
Or we may simply feel it’s inevitable. “It’s too late; nothing can be done.” Doom, like disempowerment, leads to inaction. Despair can feel almost comforting because it releases us from responsibility.
Finally there’s the “finite pool of worry.” Humans cannot hold too many urgent concerns at once.
“The Jewish community has too many other challenges to face.” When the climate crisis competes with other challenges, we simply ignore it.
Attitudes to climate change among US adults
Emotional Responses: Grief, Anxiety, and Hope
Many people experience climate anxiety or grief for altered landscapes, or for the world our children will inherit. These emotions are signs of care. The challenge is learning to turn these feelings into action. Jewish tradition doesn’t avoid difficult feelings. The prophets are clear both in naming future threats and in insisting that change remains possible.
This leads to a famous distinction drawn by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks:
“Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Hope is the belief that we can make things better.”
Eco-theologian Rebecca Solnit has her own take on this:
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency.”
Jewish Pathways from Fear to Action
Jewish wisdom offers antidotes to paralysis:
Return and repair (teshuvah):
Not guilt, but agency. It’s never too late to improve our behavior and actions.
Community (kehillah):
People act when they see others acting. Jewish communal structures enable collective impact.
Covenant (brit):
Responsibility is framed across generations. Our choices shape the lives of those who come after us.
Mitzvah:
Obligation cuts through apathy, replacing vague concern with concrete action.
Begin now:
“If not now, when?” Partial good is better than delayed perfection.
The Work of Hope
Jewish tradition offers us not passive optimism, but active hope. Our task is not to predict the future, but to shape it, step by step. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
What kind of climate philanthropist would you like to be?
This guide exists to move us beyond climate paralysis.
There is no single right way to engage in climate philanthropy.
Instead, there are different entry points, shaped by what you care about, and the resources you have and choose to commit. You may see yourself in one (or more) of these roles. Start wherever feels most relevant.
what’s your Climate philanthropy profile?
A climate explorer
A Jewish- & Israel-focused funder
An
investment-led philanthropist
A Jewish climate philanthropy leader
A Climate Explorer: how do i get started?
Early engagement often begins with questions:
- How does climate change intersect with the causes I already support?
- At what scale do I want to have impact – local, national, global?
- Who is already working effectively in this space?
- Are there funding collaboratives where I could learn and co-fund?
- Why is climate change a Jewish issue?
- What’s the greatest possible impact I could have with a specific amount of money?
For many, climate philanthropy starts not with a new cause, but with a new lens. Education, health, Israel, Jewish community – all are being reshaped by climate change, and all offer opportunities for specific climate philanthropy.
Start wherever feels most relevant.
A Jewish- or Israel-Focused Funder:
Can i add a climate lens that will be effective on climate and align with my values and existing goals?
One of the core intuitions that led to the founding of Jewish Climate Trust is that “climate” and “Jewish” are not either/or. There are vitally-needed climate interventions which also strengthen the Jewish community and/or the state of Israel in significant and material ways.
Key questions include:
- Given my or our funding priorities in Jewish life, are there climate projects we could or should fund that would also advance those funding priorities?
- If as a family we’re seeking to involve the next generation(s), are there ways that “climate” offers useful opportunities to do so?
- Are there ways that we could or should help our existing grantees better address climate issues?
For many, climate philanthropy starts not with a new cause, but with a new lens. Education, health, Israel, Jewish community – all are being reshaped by climate change, and all offer opportunities for specific climate philanthropy.
an Investment-led philanthropist: Deploying YOUR Balance Sheet
Your annual philanthropy may be 5%, 8% or 10% of your overall balance sheet. The other 90-95% of your assets offer an increasing number of opportunities to align assets and impact.
Key questions include:
- How do we define risk and return in light of philanthropic goals?
- Is our investment advisor equipped for climate-aligned investing?
- How tightly do we want to align investment and philanthropy?
Approaches range from catalytic capital (recoverable grants and PRIs), to green bonds and infrastructure debt, to screened public equities, to higher-risk venture and First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) financing. Each can play a role. Investment-led strategies will obviously be proportionate to mission, capacity, and expertise. There are growing numbers of Jewish and non-Jewish philanthropists, and a range of philanthropic and financial advisers, who are willing and able to offer advice across the entire risk/return/impact axis.
a jewish climate philanthropy leader : how can i further increase Impact?
If you are already active in climate philanthropy, the question shifts from whether to engage to how to deepen impact:
Key questions include:
- How should we balance mitigation and adaptation? (A growing number of projects will involve both.)
- Are there Jewish- or Israel-linked opportunities that add leverage?
- Where does collaboration unlock systemic change
- How can we bring others with us?
Partnerships – between funders, sectors, and geographies – often genuinely scale impact.
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Victor Mizrahi: Advocacy, Investment, and Jewish Climate Leadership
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and her husband Victor Mizrahi combine climate advocacy, philanthropy, journalism, and venture investing. Jennifer’s path into climate work grew out of leadership in pro-Israel and disability advocacy. She publishes widely and serves as a philanthropy representative on Maryland’s Commission on Climate Change.
Victor, a technology entrepreneur, invests in early-stage climate and cleantech firms through Mizrahi Enterprises, LLC. Meanwhile, Jennifer manages the family’s donor-advised fund, political giving, and engagement in public policy. Together, their activity spans gifts to climate NGOs, journalist trips and fellowships to spotlight Israeli climate tech, coordination and empowerment for climate leaders, and direct startup investments (e.g., EV-battery cooling, and other cleantech plays). Reflecting on their journey, Jennifer explains:
“I was hoping other people would solve it… but the pace of change is not nearly meeting the demand. I have kids and I don’t want this world to fall apart.”
Jeff Hart: Mobilizing Capital, Innovation, and Jewish Values
Jeff Hart, a Canadian philanthropist, has focused his climate philanthropy on accelerating breakthrough technologies, particularly in Israel. He is the founder and Executive Chair of the Climate Solutions Prize (CSP), launched in 2021 with JNF Canada, KKL-JNF, and Start-Up Nation Central. CSP awards research grants and startup capital, addressing critical gaps between discovery and commercial viability. Hart’s approach is values-driven, drawing on Jewish ethics alongside private-sector discipline. He said at the launch of CSP:
“As Jewish people committed to tikkun olam – repairing the world – we created the Climate Solutions Prize to galvanize Israel … to develop breakthrough solutions to help solve the climate crisis, and even turn it into an opportunity.”
The Roadburg Foundation: Climate as a Core Philanthropic Imperative
The Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation is a significant funder both in the Jewish community and on climate. Initially focused broadly on emissions reduction, Roadburg has refined its climate strategy to concentrate on the transition to a sustainable economy, prioritizing
electrification and building retrofits, and ensuring that major economic projects advancing Canada’s national economic interests move forward with a focus on clean energy. The foundation funds parallel projects in Israel, including support for organizations such as the Arava Institute, Chaim v’Sviva, and Green Course.
The foundation traces its climate focus to early board conversations about a clear need for environmental stewardship. As Mark Gurvis, Roadburg’s CEO, put it:
“The real question for funders is not whether to engage, but how much to fund, and how fast.”