Ellen Bernstein

Alum 2002

Ellen Bernstein was the founder of Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization. She was called the “birthmother of the Jewish environmental movement” and “a pioneering thinker who helped define modern Jewish environmentalism.”

She published numerous articles on the topic of Bible and ecology and is author/editor of three books on Judaism and ecology: Let the Earth Teach You Torah, Ecology & the Jewish Spirit, and The Splendor of Creation: A Biblical Ecology.

Ellen wrote the first ecological haggadah for Tu B’Sh’vat, A New Year for the Trees and she popularized Tu B’Sh’vat as an ecological festival through her large-scale inter-spiritual Tu B’Sh’vat arts and music seders. She graduated from UC Berkeley in Conservation of Natural Resources, one of the first environment programs in the U.S., received a MA degree in Biology from Southern Oregon State University, an MA in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College, and a rabbinical ordination from the Academy of Jewish Religion.

Ellen taught graduate level courses in Reading the Bible Ecologically, and presented her work on biblical ecology in universities, synagogues, and churches. She was a featured speaker at the Religions for the Earth conference, at the final ceremony of the 2014 Peoples’ Climate March, and at the 2015 Parliament for World Religions. She consulted with numerous non-profit organizations, coached many young Jewish leaders and served as chairperson of the Adamah Advisory Council. Ellen was named a Women of Distinction by Women’s League of Conservative Judaism.

Ellen passed away in 2024.