The Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University will feature Hava Tirosh-Samuelson of Arizona State University as the speaker for this year’s Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies.
The lecture on Monday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m., will address “Judaism and Climate Change: Environmental Ethics and Social Activism.” This free public lecture can be viewed in-person at Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum (Ackerman Hall) or via Zoom. Registration for both in-person and virtual attendance is required.
Drawing on Tirosh-Samuelson’s broader work on the intersection of Judaism and ecology, the lecture will present climate change as the most significant challenge to the future of humanity and other life forms on Earth. It will explore how, along with other world religions, Judaism has recognized the challenges posed by climate change and has inspired its own forms of religious environmentalism. The lecture will identify principles that guide Jewish environmental ethics and the characteristics of Jewish environmental activism, paying special attention to the relationship between religious and secular dimensions of Jewish climate advocacy that links ecological justice to social justice.
Tirosh-Samuelson is Regents Professor, Irving and Miriam Lowe Professor of Modern Judaism, professor of history, and the director of Jewish studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She holds a PhD in Jewish philosophy and mysticism from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her scholarship focuses on a wide array of topics including philosophy and mysticism in premodern Judaism; the interaction among Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Middle Ages; feminist philosophy; Judaism and ecology; bioethics; and religion and science. Tirosh-Samuelson is especially committed to understanding the complementary relationship between science and religion from a historical perspective. She is the author of more than 50 articles and book chapters and three scholarly monographs including, most recently, Religion and Environment: The Case of Judaism (2020).
This year marks the 25th Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies, which salutes the family of the late Meyer W. Tenenbaum 31C 32L of Savannah, Georgia. Tenenbaum, a native of Poland, arrived in the United States at the age of 13 knowing no English and graduated from the Emory School of Law 11 years later. He went on to head Chatham Steel Corporation, now a major steel service center with headquarters in Savannah.
The lecture is cosponsored by Emory University’s Center for Ethics, Climate@Emory Initiative, Department of Environmental Studies, Department of Religion, Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Hightower Fund, Office of Spiritual and Religious Life and Office of Sustainability Initiatives.
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson speaks on “Judaism and Climate Change: Environmental Ethics and Social Activism” Monday, March 21, 2022 7:30 p.m. Michael C. Carlos Museum (Ackerman Hall) and online 25th Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies