Ellen Bernstein: Rabbi, Author, and Ecotheologian

Sam Mickey

This week’s episode of Spotlights features Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, a leader and pioneer in the field of religion and ecology. She discusses her work with Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization, which she founded in 1988. She also talks about some of her work as an author and ecotheologian, focusing on the intersection of Judaism, Bible and ecology, including her ecotheology of Genesis 1 in The Splendor of Creation (2006), her ecologically centered Passover Haggadah in The Promise of the Land (2019),  her ecological interpretation of the idea of dominion, her ecological guide for the Jewish New Year of the Trees (Tu B’Shvat) (1988), and more.

You can learn more about her work on her website: http://www.ellenbernstein.org

More information about Judaism and ecology is available here, on the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology website.

You can watch the episode below or listen to it here.

An archive of previous episodes can be found here, with audio versions here and anywhere podcasts are available (e.g., Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, etc.).