U.S & Canada

Rabbi Yonatan Neril will be engaging in a speaking tour on Judaism, Israel, and the environment in late 2012. Between Nov. 29th and December 28th, 2012, he will be in New Jersey, New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and England. For information about the speaking tour, see below. For longer descriptions and directions, click on the links.

Scholar-in-residence at Temple Ner Tamid, Bloomfield, New Jersey. More information is available here.
R’ Neril will offer three sessions: 1) Friday, December 7th after services, which begin at 7 pm: Jewish Teachings on Environmental Sustainability in Light of Hurricane Sandy; 2) Saturday morning, December 8th. before Shabbat services (from 9-9:45 am): How Can the Light of Chanuka Inspire Us Toward Ecological Sustainability?  3) Saturday morning after Shabbat services during the luncheon (at about 12:30 pm): Israel’s Innovation in Water and Energy Use and its Basis in Jewish Teachings.

Guest Speaker at Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum at Claremont McKenna College, California, Monday December 10th, 11:30 am to 1 pm, » Environmental Sustainability and Interfaith Eco Cooperation in the Holy Land. For more information, click here.

Panel Speaker at The Commonwealth Club of California, Wednesday, December 12th at 12 pm in San Francisco, as part of an interfaith panel on «Congregation Power» together with Rev. Sally Bingham, founder and director of Interfaith Power and Light. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

Guest Speaker at The Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living, Danville, California, December 18th at 2 pm: Hurricane Sandy and Hope for the Future: A Jewish Persepctive. For directions, click here. 

Invited Presenter at Limmud Conference, Warwick University, England, Monday December 24 to Thursday, December 27th. More information is available here. R’ Neril will teach four sessions, on the following four topics:

1. A Jewish Approach to Sustainable Resource Use. Explore the contrasting worldviews of Jacob and Pharaoh on reuse of small vessels and how they relate to the future of human civilization on planet earth. This session will also examine the ways in which our ancestors have been reusing objects and elevating the physical for thousands of years, an important lesson to address today’s sustainability challenges.

2. How can the Light of Chanuka Inspire Us as Stewards of the Planet? Chanuka contains profound ecological teachings , which we will bring to light in order to bring them into our lives. We will explore the path of wise energy consumption advocated by Jewish sages over the millennia, and relate these teachings to practical ways we can use energy in more environmentally sustainable way.

3. Eco-Revelation for the Post-Industrial Jew: The Torah was given to people who would become subsistence farmers and who knew the difference between sheaves of barley and wheat. Most of us live urban technological lives and can distinguish between Jpeds and MP3s but likely do not farm or shepherd. What does this shift mean for ourselves and our planet, and what can we do about it?

4. How Interfaith Eco Cooperation Can Help Save the Earth: The presenter founded and directs The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, which accesses the collective wisdom of the world’s religions to promote co-existence, peace, and sustainability through education and action. He will discuss his experience in promoting interfaith cooperation on environmental sustainability, and explore why this is crucial for us and our children to inherit a liveable planet.

Rabbi Yonatan Neril traveled to the United States for a Jewish environmental teaching trip in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and New Jersey from September 28, 2010 through October 23, 2010. The teachings reached almost 500 Jews and included talks or classes on ‘What the Jewish Tradition Can Teach About the BP Oil Spill’, ‘Genesis and the Future of the Planet’, ‘The Rainbow and an Ecological Ethic’, and ‘Noah’s Environmental Legacy.’ The speaking tour was dedicated to the memory of Sue Steinman–Sarah Rivka bat Rachel Leah. It was also co-sponsored by Canfei Nesharim, including being a scholar-in-residence at Congregation Beth Israel for Parshat Noach.

To inquire about arranging a speaking or teaching engagement for your institution, call 973-433-3322 or email rabbi@jewishecoseminars.com.

The teaching trip reached the following institutions:

The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (HIR) in the Bronx, NY; Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove, NJ; Temple Emanu-El in Edison, NJ; Congregation Beth Jacob in Oakland, CA; Temple Emanuel’s Downtown Tauber Lecture Series in San Francisco, CA; Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley, CA; Congregation Emek Beracha in Palo Alto, CA; Hillel at Stanford’s Taube Center for Jewish Life in Stanford, CA; Beit Midrash Ohr Chaim in Berkeley, CA; and The Reutlinger Center in Danville, CA.

His 2008 teaching trip also reached about 500 Jews at the following congregations: Congregation AABJD in West Orange, NJ; Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove, NJ; Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA; Congregation Beth Jacob in Oakland, CA; and Chabad of Contra Costa in Walnut Creek, CA.