Yonatan Neril

Rabbi Neril has co-organized several interfaith environmental conferences in Jerusalem, New York City, and Washington D.C.

International Seminar on Science & Religion for Environment Care (2016, Spain)

In June, 2016, Rabbi Neril presented at the International Seminar on Science and Religion for Environment Care Torreciudad, Spain and at a press conference in Madrid. The Seminar concluded with a Torreciudad declaration that summarised in six points how a partnership between science and religion could promote ecological sustainability.

Parliament of World Religions (2015, Salt Lake City)

Rabbi Neril, together with H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, spoke at the “Climate Change and You” event which formed part of the Parliament of World Religions in 2015. Rabbi Neril spoke to the moral imperative to take action in light of mounting environmental degradation.

The Islamic Climate Change Symposium (2015, Istanbul)

Rabbi Neril spoke along with other religious figures at the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium in Istanbul, Turkey in August 2015. The aim of the gathering was to release the Islamic Climate Change Declaration, which intended to provide an “urgent and radical reappraisal” of today’s humanity.

Interfaith cooperation

Faith and Ecology Conference for Seminarians (2014, Jerusalem)

In October, 2014, Rabbi Neril spoke at the Faith and Ecology Conference for Seminarians in Jerusalem, which was co-organized by the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Salesian Pontifical University. He discussed the importance of current and emerging faith leaders being a potential vehicle for environmental stewardship and to expand ecology and environmental teaching and action within seminaries. Over 100 Muslim, Christian and Jewish clergy and seminary students attended the event.

Interfaith Climate and Energy Conference (2012, Jerusalem)

In March, 2012, Rabbi Neril spoke at and co-organized the Interfaith Climate and Energy Conference in Jerusalem, which was focused on promoting change and action for a sustainable development within faith communities around the globe. The conference was co-organized by ICSD and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders who spoke on the ethical and religion-based need for the use of renewable energy and for curbing climate change.

Speech in the Interfaith Climate & Energy Conference (2012)

Interfaith Eco Forum (2011, Jerusalem)

In July 2011, Rabbi Neril and the ICSD team organized an interfaith panel of Jewish, Muslim and Christian authorities, who discussed the religious importance of ecological sustainability. The panelists were Auxiliary Bishop to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Msgr. William Shomali, the Deputy Minister of the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs Haj Salah Zuheika and AJC International Director of Inter-religious Affairs Rabbi David Rosen, and Rabbi Neril also spoke at the event...

Press Conference: Judaism, Christianity and Islam religious leaders unite to adress Climate Change (2017, Jerusalem)

In the Jerusalem Press Club, on July 26, 2017, Rabbi Yonatan Neril summoned three esteemed religious: a judge of the Muslim Sharia Courts in Israel, Kadi Iyad Zahalha; Rabbi David Rosen, AJC International Director of Interreligious Affairs; and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton. The event focused on the key role faith leaders can play on raising awareness of the relevance and urgency of curbing climate change and achieving environmental sustainability. As Rabbi Neril, who acted as moderator of the panel, pointed out: ““Religions are the biggest, richest NGOs in the world. Studies have shown that 85 percent of the people in the world identify with religion. They have huge resources, land holdings, media networks. They must be involved”. The three authorities agreed on the need of putting aside religious and ideological differences for the uppermost necessity of restraining environmental degradation and the depletion of natural resources, for the wellbeing and future of our “common home”.

Rabbi Neril lives with his wife Shana and two children in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Neril writes frequently on religion and ecology, climate change, and environmental sustainability, including for blogs on The Huffington Post and The Times of Israel. He has written about how “climate change is the greatest long-term challenge to human civilization,” and how contemporary consumer society is what is driving extreme heat, desertification, water scarcity, and pollution. He has emphasized how the climate crisis is as much ecological as it is spiritual, and how in our times, living righteously demands being ecologically responsible. He has stressed the importance of clergy taking a leadership role in helping fatih adherents think long-term, moderate consumption, and rein in greed.

He has written about the importance of cultivating awareness to address problems where we do not see a direct link between our actions and the problem. The more ignorant a person is to how their lifestyle (private car, high consumption of both meat and fossil fuels, global travelling, mass consumption of programmed-obsolescence products) impact their surroundings, the more likely they are to damage it. In order to face this crisis “a critical mass of people need to undergo consciousness change and consumption change”, and to subordinate religious and ideological differences to the urgent need of curbing climate change. Neril quotes the words of the Jewish sage Hillel and states: “ if not now, when”?