Investing in Our Future:
Jewish Values, Financial Choices, Climate Action
An Online Community Event
December 14 2025: 11:00am-12:30pm
How do our financial choices reflect our Jewish values
and our responsibility to protect the earth?
Join Chevrei Tzedek, with co-sponsors Adamah and The Baltimore Environmental Sustainability Network, and the wider Baltimore Jewish community for learning, conversation, and action at the intersection of climate justice and financial responsibility. This program is part of Chevrei Tzedek’s Climate Action Plan, developed in partnership with the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition of Adamah, and focuses on one of the most powerful tools we hold: how we choose to invest.
Highlights include:
Keynote Address by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, a leading voice in Jewish environmental action.
Panel Discussion moderated by Rabbi Jacob Siegel from Adamah, with experts in sustainable finance and investing including Phil Aroneanu, Chief Partnership + Strategy Officer, Climate United and Sarah Friedman Hersh, Sustainable Investing Strategist.
Practical insights on how congregations and individuals can align their investments with climate-conscious, values-driven practices.
Agenda
11:00-11:05AM | Welcome & Opening Blessing
Welcome from Chevrei Tzedek leadership and Rabbi Marci Jacobs
Framing the morning: Jewish values and climate responsibility
11:05 – 11:15 AM | Keynote Address
Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin — Jewish ethics, climate urgency, and why our financial choices matter
11:15 AM – 12:00 noon | Panel Discussion
Moderator: Rabbi Jacob Siegel, Adamah
Panelists include:
Phil Aroneanu, Chief Partnership +Strategy Officer, Climate United
Sarah Friedman Hersh, Sustainable Investing Strategist
Topics:
What does it mean to align our money with our values?
Congregational examples and opportunities
Practical steps for individuals and families
12:00 – 12:25 PM | Audience Q&A
12:25 – 12:30 PM | Next Steps & Closing
Resources for congregations and individuals
Opportunities to get involved with Chevrei Tzedek’s Climate Action Plan
Speakers
Phil Aroneanu is a strategist and communications professional with 20+ years of experience working at the local, state, national and international levels on climate and clean energy policy, advocacy, finance, and democracy. His past roles include serving as a Strategic Advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy, Chief Strategy Officer at Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, and co-founder of 350.org, an international climate advocacy organization. He is currently the Chief Partnership and Strategy Officer at Climate United.
Nina Beth Cardin is a community rabbi who works to promote environmental health and environmental justice. She is the Chair of the Sustainability Committee of the Social Justice Commission of the Masorti Movement and the co-author of the Conservative Movement's teshuvah on sustainability. She also serves as the Chair of the Waterkeepers Chesapeake, the umbrella group of waterkeepers in the Chesapeake Bay area. Rabbi Cardin has worked in the field of environmental advocacy for over twenty years, most recently promoting environmental human rights and intergenerational environmental equity for all. As a community rabbi, she has founded several organizations, including the Baltimore Orchard Project and the Baltimore Environmental Sustainability Network. She has spent the last few years advocating for constitutional protection of environmental human rights.
Sarah Friedman Hersh is a sustainable investing strategist with experience spanning the capital spectrum, from philanthropy to market-rate sustainable investing. She started her career in the Jewish communal world, working in donor development and government & external relations at UJA-Federation of New York. In the last decade she has built, expanded, and led sustainable investing functions at two large financial institutions. Her work has included portfolio management, manager due diligence, proxy voting & engagement, and investment product development. Her career has been driven by a commitment to finding innovative and tailored ways to align financial resources with sustainable and mission-driven outcomes. She serves on the Investment Committee at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia, where she lives with her family.