York alumnus to deliver talk on faith-based environmental action

The Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University will host a talk titled, “Faith-Based Environmental Action: The Jewish Experience,” with University of Toronto Professor and York University alumnus Tanhum Yoreh on Monday, March 14 at noon on Zoom.

The event will be held within the framework of York University’s Climate Change Research Month.

Poster for event on faith-based environmental action and the Jewish experience

Faith leaders and activists are increasingly vocal about environment and climate issues. The common drivers of faith-based environmentalism are a sense of responsibility to care for the planet and the moral imperative to act. Yet, we know very little about how this discourse translates into action in individual faith communities. Yoreh will open this talk by broadly examining faith-based environmentalism and highlighting some of the specific Jewish values that are emphasized in this discourse. Then, he will shift to present findings from empirical research on the way environmental action manifests itself in places of worship across the mosaic of faiths in the Greater Toronto Area and in Jewish communities in the United States.

Yoreh is an assistant professor at the School of Environment at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on religion and environment, faith-based environmentalism, faith-based environmental ethics and religious legal approaches to environmental protection. He is particularly interested in the themes of wastefulness, consumption and simplicity. Yoreh is currently researching environmental engagement in faith communities in Canada, the United States and Israel. He is the author of Waste Not: A Jewish Environmental Ethic (2019). Yoreh completed his PhD at York University through The Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies.