Ellen Bernstein

Dubbed the “birthmother of the Jewish environmental movement,” Ellen Bernstein founded Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization in 1988. Rabbi, environmental thinker and writer, she is author of numerous books including Toward A Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in an Age of Climate Crisis, The Promise of the Land: A Passover Haggadah (Behrman House), The Splendor of Creation, Ecology & the Jewish Spirit, The Trees’ Birthday, and Let the Earth Teach You Torah. Bernstein began studying religion and ecology in high school and graduated from one of the first environmental studies programs. at U.C. Berkeley in 1975. In 1988, after teaching highschool biology and leading wilderness river trips for several years, Ellen founded Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth. She created and hosted the first ecologically-centered Tu B’Sh’vat (Jewish New Year of the Trees) seder (1988) and popularized Tu B’Sh’vat as a community-wide inter-spiritual ecological arts celebration. In 1990, she organized an All Species Parade in Philadelphia for the 20th anniversary of Earth Day which was witnessed by 30,000 people. Ellen received an M.A.in biology and education from Southern Oregon State University, an M.A. in Jewish studies from Hebrew College and rabbinic ordination from the Academy of Jewish Religion. She serves as an advisor to the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and Faith for Our Planet. Ellen lives with her husband Steven Tenenbaum and their dog, Ro’I in the (aspiring) eco-village of Mt Airy (Philadelphia) near the Wissahickon Creek, where she hikes most days.