Join us for our September Sunday service as Victoria Moran speaks with Rabbi David Rosen. In addition to his decades of work in improving relations between those of different faiths, Rabbi Rosen also advocates for improved relations between humans and animals, as well as nurturing and protecting the planet we share. As an Orthodox rabbi, a committed Jew and a committed vegan, Rabbi Rosen believes that compassion should not be reserved for one isolated segment of society. He believes it should reach across the lines of species to express a universal and expansive action of caring for the entire world. 

Rabbi David Rosen has been advancing understanding between religious communities for more than forty years—from the time he served as rabbi of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in South Africa, during his tenure as Chief Rabbi of Ireland; and throughout the last more than thirty years based in Jerusalem. He is currently serving as Special Advisor to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi.

In addition to interreligious representation and education, his work involves mediation and peace building and he is heavily involved in multi-religious engagement on ecological issues. Among the various awards and recognition he has received, Rabbi Rosen was granted a papal Knighthood in 2005 for his contribution to Jewish-Catholic reconciliation and in 2010 he was made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II for his work promoting interfaith understanding and cooperation.

In his message to the Faith for the Environment Coalition of the United Nations Environment Program, he said the imperative to care for our environment is of course, enlightened self-interest of all, for everything else can be compared to rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic as we head for a massive disaster.

He went on to say that those of us who believe that our world is a creation, “the environment is the manifestation of the Divine Presence and the degree to which we care for it is the degree to which we care for it is the degree to which we demonstrate our love of God. Its degradation and our failure to care for it, is in fact our failure to live up to religious imperative. So care for the environment must be of paramount religious duty of all people of faith and it is as I say, the imperative for all human beings for the well-being of society, of humanity, and of nature as a whole.”

Learn more about Rabbi Rosen and his lifetime of work at his website,  https://www.rabbidavidrosen.net/

Watch Rabbi David Rosen speaking with Victoria for the  Main Street Vegan Academy.