Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest 2022
The Big Bold Climate Fest is free, thanks to our generous sponsors and collaborators. Donations of any amount are welcome and tax-deductible. Thank you for helping make the Fest possible! For Gen-Z, the climate crisis has become a major phenomenon looming intimately over our lives, and we have grown up learning to navigate this collective fear for the uncertainty of our future. Join leading youth activists across the climate movement as we share our perspectives on grief, resiliency, and hope through a series of curated personal narratives, poetry, art, and conversations, shedding light on our generational reality and how we heal together through story and action. These federations are driving impactful climate action reducing carbon footprints while saving money and increasing communal engagement. Join us to hear three case studies from a diverse set of communities, and then participate as we think together about what models are most replicable and how we might accelerate the pace of change across the federation system. Dayenu Circles are where people to take action to address the climate crisis with spiritual audacity and bold political action. There are more than 50 Dayenu Circles across the U.S., rooted in neighborhoods, congregations, on college campuses, and among friends. We're having an impact, from working to end neighborhood oil drilling in California to stopping a dirty fracked gas power plant in Connecticut, to working together across the country to pass the Build Back Better Act. Learn from Vicki Kaplan, Director of Organizing for Dayenu (a Jewish Climate Fest producer) and friends what Dayenu Circles are, our values and principles, how we work, and how to get started. How is this climate era changing what Jewish spiritual leadership looks like? What does Jewish spiritual leadership look like in a new reality defined by existential threats to humanity and the world? What does it mean to make Judaism radically relevant in an existential context? In this discussion, moderated by seasoned Jewish social-environmental justice leader and teacher Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, early-career rabbis will explore these questions and the new kinds of roles that Jewish spiritual leaders are stepping into, including climate activist, prophetic voice, pastoral counselor, organizational change-maker, interfaith partner, and resilience visionary. Most of us care about climate change - but are we taking meaningful action? Learn from current students at multiple universities who are building student-led groups to take climate action on- and off-campus. So you’ve heard about ways to push for bold climate policies at the national level. But how does that translate into taking action in your own locality? Where do you start to find resources about incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency? What are the resources in your area that can help you start your projects on decarbonizing? What kinds of projects can you realistically take on given factors in your community, building, and region? Join us to learn more about how to find local resources, what to be looking for based on your organization’s objectives, and how to get started with the resources you have to take actionable steps in reducing your organization’s environmental footprint. To turn the tide of the climate crisis for us and future generations, we need to move away from coal, oil, and gas and invest in clean, renewable energy. Endowments and Pension funds hold trillions of dollars in investments that, if mobilized, can help speed up this shift. Hear from experts on how foundations, federations, universities, and other institutions can declare fossil freedom and lead on sustainable investing. As global climate actions turn towards pushing major financial institutions to divest from fossil fuels, we understand that a future-oriented towards climate justice requires a transformation of how we utilize money and monetary systems. To facilitate this transition, join youth leaders at the Jewish Youth Climate Movement and Torah scholars to draw from Jewish texts and teachings about the Shmita Year (the year of land restitution and debt forgiveness) in crafting our modern economic vision out of the prescient ideas of the Jewish past. Learn about ways that you can decarbonize in your organization. This conversation will center around practical and proven solutions to the climate crisis and the importance of lowering the carbon footprint of the Jewish community. Join this panel of experts as they share and discuss their experiences decarbonizing in their own organizations. Learn about projects you can implement in your institutions and communities and how to make environmental concerns a priority. Young adults today are universalists. They care about issues and practical change and want to use their money, voice, and influence to improve the world. Climate action is an opportunity to engage young adults meaningfully in the Jewish community, marrying values and action. This session will provide context on the mindset and decision-making of this demographic, and feature case studies of Jewish engagement through climate and related justice issues. Just 100 fossil fuel companies are responsible for 70% of the emissions fueling the climate crisis. Learn from campaigners and Indigenous water protectors about how banks and investors are threatening sacred lands and waters and contributing to climate change by financing fossil fuels – and what you can do to stop the money pipeline to these companies. Thanks to the tireless efforts of grassroots leaders, including Jewish climate activists, Congress is on the verge of passing the first-ever federal climate legislation. What comes next? Join this panel of experts to hear about what Build Back Better means for the country and our communities, and learn about key upcoming opportunities to push bold climate policies rooted in justice, at the federal, state, and local levels. As we wrap up an incredible few days of learning and empowerment, JYCM, Batya Levine, and Aly Halpert invite you to join us in celebrating our Jewish resilience through the joy of stepping into Shabbat! We will reflect on the teachings of the festival with the ancient teachings of Parshat Beshalach, centering youth kavanot, and rejoice in song and experimental prayer as we transition into the strengthening spirit of Shabbat. Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest (Free Registration)
Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest (With Donation)
Schedule
Monday, January 10, 2022
Coming of Age in the time of Climate Crisis: Stories of Climate Grief and Resilience
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Jewish Federations Leading on Climate
Shelley Rivkin
Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Vice President of Local and Global Engagement
Spiritual Audacity & Bold Political Action: What is a Dayenu Circle and How to Start One
Next Generation Jewish Spiritual Leadership for the Era of Climate Crisis & Resilience
Rabbi Josh Weisman
Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, Senior Program Officer, and co-founder, Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest
Rabbi Laura Bellows
Dayenu: A Jewish Call For Climate Action, Incoming Director of Spiritual Activism and Education
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
POWER, Pennsylvania’s Faith In Action affiliate, Interim Director of Organizing. Previously, Founding Director of Reconstructionist Rabbinical College’s Social Justice Track, where he designed and taught course on Rabbi as Environmental Activist.
Campus Calling: Organizing for Climate Justice at the University Level
Emily Cervenka
Repair The World, Youth Climate Leaders, and M.Sc. Candidate at Queens University, Molecular Biology
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Navigating Local Resources and Connections to Take Action
Fossil Freedom: Greening Endowments and Investments
Jewish Debt Forgiveness: Divesting our Communities during the Shmita Year
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein
Jewish Federations of North America, Rabbinic Scholar and Public Affairs Advisor
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Decarbonizing Community Organizations
Engaging Younger Demographics Through Climate Action
Rabbi Laura Rumpf
Jewish Family Service of Seattle, Jewish Educator, Previous Rabbi at Peninsula Temple Beth El
Stopping the Money Pipeline: Banks, Investors, and Water Protectors
Friday, January 14, 2022
Toward a Clean Energy Future That Leaves No One Behind
Shantha Ready Alonso
U.S. Department of the Interior, Director for Intergovernmental and External Affairs
Shabbat Celebration! Spirituality, Reflection, and Resilience
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein
Jewish Federations of North America, Rabbinic Scholar and Public Affairs Advisor
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