n>Why have Orthodox Jews been so slow to commit to the struggle against climate change? The Pope and the Islamic Society of North America have spoken up about it. In January, Renewal Rabbi Arthur Waskow’s Shalom Center issued a statement with more than 500 rabbinic signees, and this spring, Reform Rabbi Jennie Rosenn launched Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, a new Jewish non-profit devoted solely to mobilizing the American Jewish community to confront the climate crisis. In the legal arena, the Conservative Movement Committee on Jewish Law and Standards recently accepted a teshuva (responsum) calling for education and engagement with the crisis. Amidst all this religious activity, high profile Orthodox voices are conspicuously absent.
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