(RNS) — Religious leaders known for speaking, writing and, sometimes, scandals were among those whose deaths were noted in 2024.
Across faiths and across the globe, prominent individuals whose legacies are likely to continue to shape their ministries and missions were remembered by people within and beyond the world of religion.
They included progressives shaped by the University of California, Berkeley and educators who influenced other institutions with their perspectives on scriptural teachings. Some overcame challenges ranging from critics of their theological interpretations to segregationists who shunned them in the U.S. South. And others, once known for transforming their religious institutions, faced allegations that revised their legacies or found that their leadership responsibilities involved addressing wrongdoing in their organizations.
Here are some religious figures who died this year:
Rabbi Ellen Bernstein
Bernstein was the founder of the first national Jewish environmental organization, Shomrei Adamah: Keepers of the Earth.
She died on Feb. 27 at the age of 70.
Rabbi Ellen Bernstein in 2023. (Photo by Steven Tenenbaum)
Described by The New York Times as “a river guide turned rabbi who blazed a spiritual trail in the environmental movement by undergirding it with the Hebrew Bible’s veneration of nature,” Bernstein’s other inspirations included a high school ecology course and a cutting-edge environmental science program at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2020, to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a Jewish publisher issued an ecologically focused new Passover Haggadah created by Bernstein to guide Jews at the Passover Seder. It sold out rapidly, prompting a second printing, and inspired many to plan “Earth Seders” — outdoors or featuring organic food grown locally.
“I have long thought that the climate crisis was a spiritual crisis, a crisis in how we think about the world and what we value,” Bernstein wrote in a 2023 RNS commentary.
“When we dig more deeply into our religious roots, we find ancient wisdom that can draw us closer to God’s green Earth, cultivate in us a generosity toward all beings and steer us on paths of justice and righteousness that will ensure a healthy future for the Earth and all of us.”
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