Yosef I. Abramowitz, at The Blogs

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Mar 12, 2024, 12:14 AM

Amalek & Purim, reconsidered

No group is more responsible for the collective historical trauma of the Jewish people than Amalek -- an evil people who first snuck up to attack the weakest of the Israelites 3,700 years ago, reappeared in the Book of...

Jan 3, 2022, 11:47 PM

Tu B’Shvat and Shemitah during the Climate Crisis

A quarter of a billion trees have been planted in the land of Israel since Herzl established the Jewish National Fund, and since the educator Zeev Yavetz began the custom of planting trees for Tu B'Shvat at the school...

May 13, 2021, 6:42 PM

Cleaning up our toxic politics

We all know, deep in our hearts, that this wave of violence—from within and from outside our borders — was not inevitable and completely preventable. So was the tragedy at Miron and so many other casualties of our broken...

Apr 19, 2021, 11:57 PM

Theodor Herzl, environmentalist

Theodor Herzl on the balcony of the Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel, Switzerland, 1897. (CC-PD-Mark, by Wikigamad, Wikimedia Commons)

With Earth Day falling on Herzl Day, it's worth noting that the father of political Zionism envisioned a green land with electric trains, trams and tractors

Jan 7, 2021, 2:18 PM

Broken Democracies and Hearts

As an American-Israeli, my heart broke twice during the assault on democracy in Washington, DC. The riots on Capitol Hill are a direct result of four years of Trump’s willing enablers in the Republican Party and their various related media...

Oct 15, 2020, 4:19 PM

Needed at the World Zionist Congress: A last-minute rebellion of decency

Will Reform and Conservative factions really vote, along with Blue and White, to retain a failed and corrupt leader of the Jewish National Fund?

Sep 7, 2020, 2:12 PM

My date with history… and hope

The seed of Hannah and Methuselah. September 2020 (Courtesy Yosef Abramowitz)

Scientists on a desert kibbutz coaxed fruit out of 2,000-year-old seeds found at Masada. It tastes like honey mixed with inspiration

Aug 13, 2020, 11:49 AM

Shabbat dinner with Kamala and Doug

(courtesy)

At dessert, the now-US VP contender told us her goal was to hold the center together on Israel in the Democratic Party

Oct 24, 2017, 4:41 PM

Israel and Africa need each other

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeting Liberians upon arriving at the airport in Monrovia, June 4, 2017. (Prime Ministry of Israel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The government should train African refugees as emissaries and appoint MK Neguise as foreign minister

May 25, 2017, 7:48 AM

To save the climate, decarbonize Shabbat

Several ways world Jewry can take global environmental responsibility -- it's literally tikkun olam!

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About Me

Israel’s solar pioneer, Yosef Israel Abramowitz has been nominated by 12 African countries for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize and is named by CNN as one of the planet's top six Green Pioneers. Yossi serves as a leader of President Herzog's Climate Forum, co-chair of the Bedouin climate justice NGO Shamsuna, on the advisory board of DemocraTV, Hillel Israel and other groups. The winner of the Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, Yossi served on the Israeli negotiating team at the Paris Climate Conference and can be followed @Kaptainsunshine and @Officialkaptainsunshine. He is a member of the Jewish Funders Network and the Toniic Impact Investment network.

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