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Yonatan Neril

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Apr 27, 2018, 5:07 PM

Floods, Cars and Our Collective Future

Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean are experiencing an extreme storm in late April. Twelve people, mostly teenagers, have already died from flash floods stemming from intense rainfall and hail. Most were hiking in a riverbed, and swept away before they...

Apr 18, 2018, 2:37 PM

What does God have to do with eggs?

Where do the eggs we eat come from? How do the chickens that produce those eggs live? Is this in line with religious and ethical values? I ask these questions in part because this week, the US recalled and destroyed...

Mar 29, 2018, 8:33 PM

Trash, Passover, and the earth

Walking the streets of Jerusalem the week before Passover, I pass dumpsters with unopened bags of flour, crackers, bread, cakes, and other leavened products. This is edible food that is being destroyed to observe Passover, but which could be...

Dec 25, 2017, 4:49 PM

Blessed rain washes away 6 days of dust

View of the Sea of Galilee, northern Israel, April 19, 2017. (Isaac Harari/Flash90)

Irrigation as a stop-gap measure makes us forget how we used to turn to God to bring the rain

Aug 24, 2017, 4:11 PM

Can We Look a Chicken in the Eye?

As a child, I ate at New York delis, and enjoyed it. Like many people, I came to see a six-inch tall corn beef sandwich as the quintessential Jewish food. Eating that sandwich felt Jewish. Indeed, most Jews eat...

Apr 30, 2017, 4:16 PM

When will Israel lead on climate change?

The Jewish State is mortgaging its survival to fossil fuel interests

Jan 30, 2017, 6:20 PM

Jerusalem Garbage Workers Strike Forces Us to Reckon With Our Garbage

Why is there so much garbage in the streets of Jerusalem? The sanitation worker's strike in Jerusalem this week follows similar strikes in 2012 and 2016, and raised this and important questions for me. Why do those living in...

Dec 29, 2016, 6:03 PM

Let’s Look a Little Deeper at Why Israel’s Forests are Burning

In Israel recently, why did 1,700 fires consume more than 32,000 acres—an area greater than twice the size of Manhattan? As the JTA reported, the fires forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, and destroyed hundreds...

Jan 7, 2016, 5:00 PM

How Can We Keep the Holy City of Jerusalem Clean?

I am writing to encourage an expanded religious sensitivity concerning our waste—how much garbage we produce, and where our garbage and sewage go. Why, because in this week's Torah portion, Shemot, it is written, "They gathered them into many...

Nov 30, 2015, 3:03 PM

Jerusalem Climate Action Highlights Urgency of Addressing the Climate Crisis

About 60 people of different faiths came together today in Jerusalem calling for action on climate change, as global negotiations by 200 countries to address the climate crisis began in Paris. The event took place at Zion Gate of...

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About Me

Rabbi Yonatan Neril founded and directs the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development. He completed an M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University with a focus on global environmental issues, and received rabbinical ordination in Israel. He is the lead author and general editor of two publications on Jewish environmental ethics, speaks on faith and ecology, and was a Dorot and PresenTense Fellow. He lives with his wife, Shana, and two children in Jerusalem.