In the midst of a summer bringing ever more intense heat and extreme weather events, Dayenu is releasing new resources to provide meaningful spiritual care to the countless communities experiencing the sharp edge of the crisis.
Dayenu has created three guides that provide Jewish Spiritual Care After Extreme Weather.
- The Guide for Jewish Clergy & Communal Leaders is for clergy people and communal leaders looking to offer Jewish spiritual sustenance, Torah, and ritual frameworks to support their communities in the wake of climate disasters.
- Jewish Spiritual Care After Floods & Storms is for individuals seeking spiritual support after floods and storms.
- Jewish Spiritual Care After Heatwaves & Fires is for individuals seeking spiritual support after heatwaves and fire.
“We developed these resources because we know how disasters leave people devastated – not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. They may move through waves of shock, abandonment, anger, or fear,” says Rabbi Laura Bellows, Dayenu’s Director of Spiritual Activism & Education.
In the immediate wake of disasters, people tend to basic needs: checking in with members of their community and ensuring everyone has a place to stay, food, transport, and the ability to reconnect with loved ones. But many survivors and others impacted by climate disasters face a long road to emotional and spiritual recovery – needs which often emerge after the news cameras have left.
“We are caught in a terrifying moment. Just as the climate crisis accelerates and exacerbates extreme weather events, the current administration is doubling down on actions that intensify the crisis and dismantle the very tools that enable people to recover from disasters,” says Bellows.
“People need reassurance that they are not alone, that there is a long history of recovery and reinvention after disasters. We can and must build resilient community care and mutual aid for communities in the wake of disasters today, and in the future, to do what we can to reduce the harm of disasters exacerbated by the climate crisis. These guides provide meaningful spiritual resources and wisdom from Jewish tradition, liturgy, and history – a history of both disasters and displacement, and of reinvention, resilience, and recovery.”
Rabbi Bellows notes that the Jewish population in the United States has a particular need for these resources, as many Jewish communities are located in areas that are exposed to a high risk of climate disasters.
“From fires in Los Angeles to smoke in New York City to hurricanes in Florida, many geographies which have been and will be hit by climate disasters feature dense concentrations of Jewish communities,” she notes. “We are providing these resources in the hope that they provide clergy and individuals with Jewish teachings, resources, and rituals that can offer comfort and support in the wake of extreme weather disasters.”
These resources are released on the occasion of the solemn holiday of Tisha B’Av, a day of collective mourning that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as many other tragedies throughout Jewish history. According to Jewish tradition, it is also the day on which the possibility of a redeemed and more whole world is born.