Shamati Initiative
Shamati–“I have heard” or “I have listened”–signifies connection, resilience, and whole-hearted Jewish community; it is grounded in the joyful fulfillment of Jewish purpose, applying the inspiration, motivation, and optimism in our tradition to today’s challenges.
The initiative integrates Jewish ancestral wisdom, tradition, text, and ritual to help Jewish professionals invest in the mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of Jewish youth experiencing a range of climate emotions. Across a body of resources, professional development offerings, and field leadership, our project is building the personal and professional resilience of educators in these unprecedented times.
Fall 2026 Virtual Cohorts: Rabbinical Cohort & Campus Professionals
What
The Shamati Initiative program provides Jewish youth educators with the tools to support young people grappling with the destabilizing force of the climate crisis and the emotions arising from it. Shamati offerings integrate traditional Jewish texts and environmental frameworks, recent interventions at the forefront of climate psychology, somatic practices, and social movement liberation theories. Together, these disciplines help educators invest in the mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of youth in these uncertain times.
Who
Designed to train and activate youth engagement staff to support students leading climate work, Shamati connects Adamah’s extensive network of Jewish professionals with Adamah staff and climate anxiety experts. Any Jewish educators, organizers, communal leaders, or other professionals working with youth are encouraged to participate. While this programming is primarily designed for adults, we can also provide or facilitate Shamati-style learning content directly for middle, high school, and college students on an ad hoc basis.
Why
A 2021 international study of 10,000 young people, ages 16-25, concluded that climate change anxiety negatively impacts the daily functioning of young people – roughly 77% reported feeling that the “future was frightening” and that humans have failed to take care of the planet. And just 2% shared their concerns about climate change with others, and of those, nearly half reported being ignored or dismissed. The climate crisis is now demonstrably harming the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of young people, and the Jewish community must respond. We have the power and spirit of our community and its resources to bring to bear in this moment.
How
The Shamati Initiative operates through a variety of educational formats:
Virtual Educators Cohort: A course on climate emotional theories, resilience practices, and strategies for liberatory climate action rooted in Jewish ritual and thought. See below for more information and registration details on the next Educator’s Cohort.
Workshops: Drawing from the Educator’s Cohort curriculum, we offer personalized workshops for synagogues, communities of practice, camps, professional associations, and more. To schedule an in-person or virtual workshop, reach out to liana.rothman@adamah.org
Reading & Processing Group: Join our recurring virtual gatherings to reflect on recent climate events and discuss assigned materials—books, articles, videos, podcasts, and more. Attend once or regularly; all are welcome, whether or not you work with youth or have participated in Shamati programming.
Resources: Consult our resource lists for access to text studies, activities, and teachings. A full resource book will be made publicly available in the coming months. See a taste of the Shamati Initiative’s educational materials with this sample handout from one of our workshops.
How do participants feel about the Shamati Initiative?
• 100% of participants agreed or strongly agreed with feeling more supported in addressing the climate emotional and organizing needs of the students they work with.
• 94% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that environmental stewardship and climate action are Jewish responsibilities.
• 88% of participants agreed or strongly agreed with feeling better equipped to grapple with their own climate emotions and build resilience through Jewishly-rooted collective action.
• 91% agreed or strongly agreed with understanding more about the intersecting issues of climate justice.
“[M]eeting with the large group of teachers and other professionals each week was a highlight of the Shamati Educators Cohort. Though our students vary in ages and we are scattered across the country, one thing brought us together: the need for tools and language to help us and our students through climate anxieties and crisis. The Shamati Educators Cohort introduced us to Jewish texts, thinking frameworks, outside organizations, and a community of people dedicated to understanding our world and our students.” – Chloë B.
“Participating in this cohort was exactly what I didn’t know I needed at this moment in time. The positive energy of every participant, rich discussions around Jewish texts, and supportive facilitators provided me with hope for the future.” – Eve M.
“Shamati provided such a rich space for a diverse array of Jewish North American educators to come together and reflect on climate grief and action through a Jewish lens. There was such a dynamic mix of reflection opportunities, resource sharing, and learning from highly knowledgeable guest speakers. I have so much to bring back to my participants, and this has helped me do deep work that I am constantly looking for intentional avenues to engage with so as to build more knowledge, resiliency and confidence in supporting the young people I work with in navigating really big and important questions about climate justice that they have such a significant stake in.” – Iris B.
“I came away with a lot of resources and tangible ideas for ways to engage in climate conversations in a hopeful and positive way with the young people that I work with. I left feeling empowered to start those conversations and like I had the tools to facilitate and move young people through the fear and anxiety that comes with this in a way that guides us into hope for the future.” – Anonymous
Upcoming Shamati Offerings
Virtual Educators Cohort: Rooted in Jewish ritual and thought, the virtual cohort meets for five 90-minute sessions, with guest expert educators, chevruta study, brief presentations, a learning handbook, and seminar-style discussion. Course sessions contain a mixture of Jewish environmental and general climate resilience texts, resources that participants prepare for student-facing lessons/programming, exercises with field experts, and guided conversations about these times at the intersection of theory and praxis.
The next Educators Cohort for campus professionals will take place virtually this fall.
Shamati Campus Professionals Cohort: Mondays, Oct 12-Nov 9 (5 weeks) 1-2:30pm ET / 10-11:30am PT
Application Deadline is September 30, 2026
Course session topics will cover:
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Introduction to Shamati: Climate Emotions and Jewish Environmentalism
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Shifting the Jewish Environmental Narrative: Toward a New Theology of Resilience
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Collective Conversations & Action in This Time
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Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going: Building Climate & Jewish Futurisms
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Bringing it Back to Your Community: Creating a Shared Community of Practice
The Shamati Educators Cohort
Hillel and Campus Professionals Cohort will meet Mondays Oct 12-Nov 9 @ 1-2:30 PM ET | 10-11:30 AM PT.
Meets virtually (Zoom) for five 90-minute sessions
Not able to join us for the next Cohort?
Complete this form to be notified about upcoming Shamati offerings as soon as dates and details are confirmed.
Upcoming workshops: Topics typically cover an introduction to collective climate emotions, psychological and somatic interventions to anxiety and grief, personal and group processing, text study, youth-facing resource engagement, and strategies for collective liberation and action in Jewish communities. Content occurs in “chevruta” (pair), small group, and full group study and discussion.)
Questions? Please reach out to liana.rothman@adamah.org to discuss more about how we can bring Shamati to your context or otherwise offer support.