Shmita and the Climate Crisis, with Joelle Novey

Joelle Novey, executive director of Interfaith Power & Light (D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia), and guest editor Yaira Robinson discuss Shmita, who "owns" the Earth, the rhythms of Jewish sacred time, how to sustain activism, and more.

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“I come from people who get involved and take action when life is at stake.”

“I am grieving for so much that I love. I am grieving for the people I love who will experience a warmer and more dangerous world. I am grieving for the species that will not make it. I am feeling grief that is grounded in tremendous love. And then suddenly, with my heart open and my hands open, that's a tremendously powerful thing. It's like, I'm gonna be a warrior in the world for the things I love. I'm gonna have fierce, mother-bear protective energy for all that  I love. And, I'm in the fight of my life for all that I love.”

“What I appreciate so much about what I think a lot of our sacred traditions are bringing to this moment is putting an asterisk next to our feeling that we own the Earth.”

“There’ s a role for everyone that’s completely authentic to who they are.”

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Joelle Novey graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University where she received a BA in Social Studies and completed a minor in the Study of Religion. She is executive director of Interfaith Power and Light (D.C.MD.NoVA.), co-author of Green and Just Celebrations — a purchasing guide that Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) distributes to local congregations for assisting families in making greener purchasing decisions around weddings and bar/bat mitzvah celebrations, and an active leader in Washington D.C.'s Jewish community.

This podcast is part of our Winter 2021 collection, Shmita Now, guest-edited by Yaira Robinson.