Ellen Bernstein

Ellen Sue Bernstein (July 22, 1953 – February 27, 2024) was an American rabbi, author, and educator. She has been called the "birthmother of Jewish environmentalism" and a prominent figure in the world of religion and ecology. Bernstein's work focused on how the Bible and Judaism provide a guide for connecting with and healing the Earth.

Early life and education Bernstein was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, to Etta (Feigenbaum) Bernstein and Fred Bernstein, and was raised in Haverhill alongside her sister and brother. She became interested in environmental science in high school. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied at one of the first environmental science programs in the country. She also worked across religious denominations, writing that "religious and spiritual communities can be vitally important in organizing, inspiring, and sustaining individuals in the repair of the world." Bernstein emphasized that science alone would not inspire people to care for the world, but believed that people would save what they love. During the last twenty years of her life she worked on animating the ecological dimensions of the Bible.

In 1988, Bernstein founded Shomrei Adamah, a Jewish environmentalist organization. In 2023, she spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on the role of women in responding to climate change. which guides Seder attendees to feel more connected to the Earth and its well-being, and Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis (2024), an ecological analysis of the Song of Songs, with a foreword by Bill McKibben.

Books

Selected articles

Personal life and death

In 2005, Bernstein married Steven Tenenbaum, and the couple moved to Amherst, Massachusetts.

Bernstein entered hospice care in Philadelphia in February 2024 following a diagnosis of colon cancer. She died on February 27, at the age of 70. Per her wishes, she was given a green burial at Laurel Hill Cemetery West in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.