To Forever Inhabit This Earth: An Ethic of Enoughness

Monday, November 10, 2025
7pm Eastern | 4pm Pacific

Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin will discuss how human beings need to redefine their relationship to the earth, and how the wisdom found in our Jewish texts obligates us to the mitzvah of Yishuv Ha’Olam (Habilitability of the World). She will also discuss a new paradigm for reading Genesis, and how the ancient Jewish concepts of Ba’al Taschit (Do not waste) and Shmita (Rest for the land) inform us how we must treat the land and each other.

Nina Beth Cardin is a rabbi, author, and environmental activist. In 1978, she founded the Jewish Women’s Resource Center. In 1988, Cardin was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, after which she held seminary jobs including Assistant to the Vice Chancellor, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, and Visiting Lecturer in Theology. In 1994, she became the founding associate director of the National Center for Jewish Healing. In 2006, she founded the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network. From 2007 until 2009 she was general consultant to COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life. In 2011, she founded the Baltimore Orchard Project, which grows and distributes fruit to the poor in Baltimore. Jewish Woman Magazine named her one of 10 Women to Watch in 2011.

About Rabbi Cardin’s new book:
“To Forever Inhabit This Earth: An Ethic of Enoughness”

Wise and empathetic, this inspires.”—Publishers Weekly

“Rig­or­ous, yet lyri­cal, lofty yet prac­ti­cal, To For­ev­er Inhab­it This Earth belongs on the book­shelves of those who cher­ish Jew­ish texts and the envi­ron­ment around us.” —Jewish Book Council

The great work of today’s generations is nothing short of saving the earth. We know enough, are capable enough. The question is: do we care enough? Will we work hard enough? Do we even recognize when we have enough?
Now noted environmentalist Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin challenges us to develop the individual and collective will needed to create change and offers spiritual and practical guidance to invigorate that effort.

To Forever Inhabit This Earth is a powerful must-read for anybody interested in the intersection of environmentalism and spirituality.
Cardin implores us to envision the world, not as a commodity but as a fragile, improbable, extraordinary gift whose well-being and future now depend on us, and using meticulously researched Jewish texts and the teachings of other faith traditions, she makes the case that environmental sustainability is a fundamental religious principle—and something we can address, if we have the will to do so.

“Despite the harms we as humanity have caused, if we dare to act boldly (which we can), based on the best guidance of our advisors (which we have), and recruit willing hearts (which we possess), we can heal the wounds, remedy our mistakes, and remake a safe and vibrant world for ourselves and all the generations to come. It is up to us.”

Cardin asks us to consider spiritual questions, technical questions, and ethical questions about how we live in the world, and provides both spiritual and practical guidance on ways to rethink that, including:

• A contemplation of our spiritual connection to ‘the land’ and the call upon humanity to establish, preserve, and maintain a habitable world here on earth
• The biblical framework that urges us to see that life is awe inspiring and order is its essential ingredient, providing the stable environment that brings forth and sustains life
• A close look at texts from Genesis to consider two ways humans inhabit our world
• A daily meditation for preserving a habitable world
• Eight guidelines for ethical consumption
• A chart for a one-week self-assessment of our buying, consumption, and discarding practices

To purchase Rabbi Cardin’s book, go to Bookshop.org or through Berhman House.