Rabbis arrested demanding climate action by Wall Street giant’s Jewish CEO

Three rabbis and six Jewish teenagers were among those arrested Monday at a climate protest at the Manhattan headquarters of BlackRock, the largest investment management company in New York.

The demonstration, organized by the Jewish Youth Climate Movement with support from the interfaith organization, GreenFaith, demanded that the firm stop its investments in and cut ties with companies that fund the fossil fuel industry, which include Enbridge, Inc., Formosa Plastics, and Shell.

Rabbis Rachel Timoner and Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, vice president of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, were among those arrested.

A demonstrator kneels in front of the headquarters of BlackRock in Manhattan, demanding the investment firm’s CEO Larry Fink defund the fossil fuel industry, October 18, 2021. (courtesy, Erik McGregor)

“Judaism’s highest priority is saving lives,” Timoner says in a statement. “The Jewish youth who are leading us today understand that we are in a life or death moment, that we must divest from fossil fuels now in order to save lives.”

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