Science, Religion & Society: An Online Series 
Inaugural Sessions that started during summer of 2020

For 65 years, The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) has held summer Conferences on Star Island, off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Due to the pandemic, we had to postpone our 2020 Star Island conference until the summer of 2021. In order to continue to engage with IRAS themes and the IRAS community, with Star Island’s generous support, we launched a live webinar series: Science, Religion, & Society. Below are the collected session videos.

Next Session:

Eco-Judaism: Why and How
We Should Care for Creation
with Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
October 22​, 2024, at
4 PM Central time
5 PM Eastern time
​
This IRAS webinar is FREE but
​registration is required.
​Please register using the link below.
If you have questions, contact
​CJ Love: [email protected]​
About the October 22, 2024 webinar: 
Eco-Judaism: Why and How We Should
Care for Creation
Presentation Overview:  
WHOSE EARTH IS IT, ANYWAY? “IN THE BEGINNING... Rabbi Fred will start off with (a) an explication of some of Judaism’s key teachings around Creation care, which have cognates and applications within other faith contexts as well; (b) and then take us on a deeper dive into virtue ethics (via Torah, Benjamin Franklin, and the 19th century rabbis of the Mussar movement!) as a promising resource for both goading and guiding our religious-ecological commitments; finally, we will see a sample of how one faith leader educates around climate justice and sustainability, en route to a discussion among us all about effective environmental education.  And with whatever time remains, the conversation will flow from there, wherever our IRAS audience may wish to take it. ​
​About the October 22 presenter:
Long active in Jewish and multi-faith environmental efforts, Rabbi Fred Dobb, D.Min, served as principal rabbi for 25 years at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland. He currently serves as Rabbinic Advisor to the National Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, and is a former board member of both the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and Interfaith Power and Light (The Regeneration Project). Fred has also been deeply engaged in social and racial justice (including Jews United for Justice), multi-faith (a past board member of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington), and Israeli-progressive (J Street and more) efforts. He has previously served as President of the Washington Board of Rabbis, Chairperson of Maryland / Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, Co-Chair of Religious Witness for the Earth, and on the boards of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Shalom Center. For a decade now, Fred has served as a summer faculty member for Camp Havaya (JRF). He writes and teaches widely on eco-Judaism, and contributes regularly to Moment Magazine among other publications. Recent communal highlights include working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington for seven years now in hosting a dynamic pluralistic young Israeli shaliach or shlicha (emissary/educator); spearheading our recent long-range planning process and the crafting of our thoughtful and allusive mission statement; and turning shmita, the biblically-ordained sabbatical year (with its deep spiritual, social, and ecological teachings), into a vernacular English word and concept.

​Upcoming Sessions:

September
TBD

Find past sessions in the Webinar Archive