GREENING SYNAGOGUES Compiled by Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb for COEJL 2004- with Some Updates in 2012

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life 116 East 27th Street, 10th FL New York, NY 10016 www.coejl.org

GREENING SYNAGOGUES Compiled by Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb for COEJL 2004- With Some Updates in 2012

Below are links to seven different areas where we can make a difference in our synagogue – one meaningful ‗sample‘ action is listed here for each area, but dozens more will appear at the click of a hyperlink. Each of the seven sections begins with a short description of what we can do and how and why to do it.

Introductory Information on Greening Synagogues

1. Buildings……………………………………………………………………………...………..3 Get Energy Star programmable thermostats, divided by zones, so you‘re not heating or cooling the building beyond what‘s necessary. Cutting back on the heat or A/C by just 1 degree saves an average of 3% on your utility bill -- and on your greenhouse emissions.

2. Grounds……………………………………………………………………………………….30 Plant native species around your building, which provide much-needed habitat for local birds and other creatures while also needing less water, and no chemicals.

3. Purchasing……………………………………………………………………………………41 Reduce, reuse, and recycle in the office: print fewer copies than needed and let people share them; keep a pile of clean-on-one-side paper for use in printers & copy machines; recycle used paper; and purchase paper with high post-consumer recycled content.

4. Programs …………………………………………………………………………………….50 With your social action committee or other group within the synagogue, plan events that are social, educational, and tikkuning-the-olam all at once – like Torah-nature hikes while picking up trash, or pulling non-native weeds from nearby woods.

5. Youth Education………………………..…………………………………………………64 Implement at least one of the many great curricula that teach our young people about nature and Judaism together – kids are ripe for it, and the materials are out there.

6. Adult Education………………………………………………………………...…………68 Teach a timely topic that conveys Creation care together with Torah teachings -- such as the shiurim (text studies) on Jewish responses to global climate change and biodiversity.

7. Rabbinic………………………………………………………………………………………75 For rabbis, take advantage of the sermon-starters and notes on integrating environmental concern into life-cycle events found here. For non-rabbis, feel free to do the same – and to tell your rabbi about these resources!

INTRODUCTION TO COEJL'S GREENING SYNAGOGUES RESOURCES

God‘s circle of concern extends far beyond ‗us.‘ It includes untold future generations of humans, who face a doubtful future due to our actions. It includes billions of God‘s children, alive and suffering even today from poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, and other social ills. And it includes tens of millions of species, many under threat today, all of which are part of the intricate and sacred and ―very good‖ (Gen. 1:31) web of Creation.

Judaism has specific sacred language for all these concerns, which are not only God‘s, but ours as well. We speak of transmitting that which matters l‟dor vador, from generation to generation. We promise to follow tzedek tzedek tirdof, the commandment to pursue justice (Deut. 16:20). And we claim to be enlightened stewards of the seder and ma‟aseh beresheet, the Divine order and the integrity of the works of Creation.

Synagogue life is about many things. We come to our batei knesset to create community, praise God, educate adults and children, celebrate simchas and mourn sorrows, heal ourselves, heal the world, connect with Israel and with Jews around the world, observe holidays, and much more (including the volunteer and financial infrastructure which enables all the rest to take place). Within that larger context, ―the environment‖ may seem like one small piece of one piece.

But in fact, ecological concern is not something we can opt out of. Minimizing our environmental footprint is a communal, a Jewish, a civic, and a theological imperative. All streams of American Jewish religious life acknowledge this, through their involvement in COEJL (Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, including URJ, USCJ, JRF, and UOJC). As Martin Buber wrote (On Judaism, p. 209), ―real relationship to God cannot be achieved on earth if real relationships to the world and to [hu]mankind are lacking. Both love of the Creator and love of that which [God] has created are finally one and the same.‖ And a popular new saying puts it succinctly: ―no planet, no Torah.‖

On the pages within this website that follow, you will find numerous resources to help synagogues, as key centers of Jewish life, become ever greener (though many of the same resources work for homes, schools, offices, and other facilities, too). On the main page, there are seven different areas where we can make a difference – one meaningful ‗sample‘ action is listed here for each area, but dozens more will appear at the click of a hyperlink. Each of the seven sections begins with a short description of what we can do through our building / program / education / etc., and how and why to do it; much more detail is found in numerous specific webpages under each category.

May we all be shomrei adamah, guardians of God‘s good Earth. And may we all help our synagogues and other sacred communities to better care for Creation.

BUILDINGS

. Buildings . General Resources . Reduce, Reuse and Recycle . Conducting an Institutional Environmental Audit

―Unless God builds the house, its workers toil in vain‖ – Psalm 127:1. And if indeed ‗God has no hands but ours,‘ then it‘s up to us to build the Godliest houses of worship we can! As filmmaker and Jewish environmental activist Judith Helfand says: ―don‘t just build a synagogue; build a just synagogue.‖

By every measure – their numbers, how big they are, how much time we spend in them – synagogue buildings are central in the life of our Jewish community. From an environmental perspective, perhaps the most helpful and important thing we can do is to green the synagogue building itself. Ideas and resources for doing just that follow. Though our focus is on shuls, most of this material applies just as easily to other Jewish communal structures (JCC‘s, Hillels, schools, camps, Federation and agency buildings, etc.), and much of it applies to our homes and offices as well. There are so many reasons why we should green our facilities:

If it was only the right thing to do for Creation – dayenu (that would be enough for us!) If it was only the right thing to do for other people, now and in the future – dayenu If it was only going to help our institutions save on their energy bills – dayenu If it was only simple to do – dayenu If it would only help stop global warming – dayenu If it was only to leave a positive legacy – dayenu If it was only how we lived out our Jewish values – dayenu

This section of the COEJL website will help you and your congregation figure out how to build green. The resources contained here are designed for synagogues now contemplating, planning, or involved in any kind of serious work on their buildings – new construction, expansion, renovation or retrofits. If your shul is not about to make any changes to its facility, you might go directly to other sections of the website. Likewise, if your congregation does not own its own facility, then the remainder of ―Greening Synagogues‖ on this website (purchasing, program, education, rabbinic resources, etc.) may be more helpful than what‘s contained in this section. Even so, you may want to look over these resources -- for long-range planning; to figure out how to be an informed tenant; or to suggest to your facility‘s owners easy ways they can make a difference.

Numerous synagogues – across movements, regions, demographics, and sizes – have already made a meaningful difference for the Earth through their buildings. To learn about what‘s been done in congregations like yours, and how the experiences of these other communities can help inform your own choices, click here to view a document

3 presentation on green buildings that includes a case study of one New Jersey synagogue which paid off its initial environmental investment in less than two years, saving money as well the Earth every moment thereafter.

Below you will find numerous resources to help your congregation to build green. Make good use of them! And please let us know what you‘ve done, and how COEJL can help further.

Click here to offer feedback: tell us what you were looking for, if you found what you needed, and what you‘ve done with the information – this helps us make the site more useful for others, and helps our partners and supporters know how helpful these resources are. Please help us by letting us know!

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

(Adapted from the COEJL Resource:Recycling and Waste Reduction Program)

We say ―reduce, reuse, recycle‖ for a reason!

To live lightly on Earth, we must first reduce the sheer amount of stuff we use -- burn less gas, produce less trash, buy fewer things, seek less packaging, etc. This leaves more for others, which thouches o Jewish values of justice. It fits with Jewish medieval "sumptuary laws," by which the rabbis of old cautioned use to live as simply as we appropriately can. It also dovetails with today's "voluntary simplicity" movement.

Even after we‘ve minimized how much we bring in, we can get creative about reusing what we already have. Paper that's clean on one side can be kept in a special pile, used in our copy machines and printers for drafts or internal memos. Jars can be used for storage. All these objects and many more can be used for art projects. And so on. Such a thrifty sensibility -- for our pocketbooks, for our society, and for Creation -- is encouraged in the writings of Maimonides and many other Jewish thinkers.

Finally -- only after reducing as much as possible, and reusing everything we can -- we should recycle what's left. Food scraps become compost; old cans become new cans; plastic jugs become park benches and playground equiptment; glass becomes glass; paper becomes paper. Logically, it should cost us less to separate our trash and have it be reused. Unfortunately, all too often, we have to go out of our way to establish a strong recycling program in our synagogues and other institutions. But doing seems like a Jewish mandate under the law of bal tashchit/ 'do not waste,' which Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch called "the first and more general call of God."

Read on for helpful facts, suggestions, and activities, so that your synagogue can follow the ―eco-halacha" of reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Some recycling facts from Earth Day, Inc.:

. all forms of recycling save energy, thus reducing air pollution and global warming . recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than producing aluminum from raw materials; . through recycling, it is possible to reduce our waste stream by 80%; . for every ton of 100% recycled paper used in place of non-recycled paper, 17 trees are saved, 64% less energy is used, and air pollution is cut by 74%; . only 35% of newspapers in the US are recycled, even though a single Sunday edition of a major paper, such as the New York Times, typically uses 75,000 trees in its production; . recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100 watt bulb for four hours

Recycling and Waste Reduction Program

1. Recycling in the synagogue and home In a growing number of localities, there are already government-sponsored recycling programs. Even in such cases, the synagogue can take a useful role in promoting recycling; in areas without such programs, the synagogue's role can be even more critical. Recycling in the synagogue may proceed in one of two fashions. A. The first involves encouraging members to undertake this project individually, by disseminating information to all congregants about what items from their homes they may recycle, along with a list of collection services and/or locations that will accept different materials. Congregants would then be responsible for bringing their own materials to the recycling locations. Other congregants could be organized to carry the synagogue's recyclables to the appropriate locations. If there are city or countywide recycling programs already in existence, this information could serve to publicize those recycling efforts and to encourage fuller participation by congregants. Projects of this sort can be coordinated by an adult committee, a youth group, or an older grade in religious school. B. The second method for creating a recycling program is for the synagogue itself to have bins for recyclable materials. The synagogue would recycle its own paper, cans, and so on in these bins, and, if there is no citywide or countywide program in effect, congregants could also drop their recyclables off into the synagogue bins. In order for a program of this type to run smoothly you will need to: . Have the children in your school or youth group survey all the congregants in the synagogue as to whether or not they recycle and approximately how much they recycle of different products each week. The students, using facts such as those provided at the beginning of this program, can then calculate how many trees and how much energy is being saved, as well as how much

pollution is being prevented, by the recycling efforts of the synagogue community. Voluntary goals of increased recycling could be set for each new year. . Decide how extensive the recycling program is going to be. Although many different items can be recycled, we recommend starting with office paper, newsprint, aluminum, and glass. Depending on your local market for recyclables, you may then be able to expand into items such as plastic containers and so on. . Identify government agencies or commercial recycling businesses in your area that pick up recyclable material. Check the Yellow Pages or call the waste disposal department of your local government to find this information. If those resources are not helpful, contact the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. . Once you have identified possible recycling partners, contact them to work out pickup arrangements. In most cases, in exchange for the materials themselves, they will pick up the recyclables at little to no cost and may even let you use their large bins. (Note: If your synagogue has a trash pickup contract based on estimated tonnage, the contract should be renegotiated once the recycling program is under way. The money the synagogue saves from reducing its garbage costs can be used to offset any costs of recycling). . If the company doing the pickup does not lend you bins, purchase or have donated large lidded trash containers into which the synagogue and congregants can place their items to be recycled. A parking lot is often the best location for these containers. . Inside the synagogue, place extra wastebaskets for recyclables in offices and classrooms. Remember: in your synagogue, community center, school, or home, the easier you make it to recycle, the more successful the program will be. . Publicize the recycling project in your synagogue bulletin. Preschool, religious school, and day school students can also learn about the project in their classrooms. . If there is no citywide recycling program in your town, use the success of the synagogue's effort to advocate for the establishment of such a program. 2. Reducing the amount of waste generated A. Purchase recycled paper and other recycled products. Already, many recycled products are little or no more expensive than similar nonrecycled goods. (See "Audit" program.) By purchasing such products, you not only help the environment, but you also ensure that there will be a steady market for recycled materials - lowering your costs and promoting environmentally sound business enterprises. B. Reduce or avoid use of items, such as Styrofoam, that cannot be recycled. C. Reduce use of paper products and disposable plastic silverware. Instead, use regular reusable plates, cups, and utensils. Have office staff and volunteers bring mugs to the synagogue to be used instead of disposable cups. D. Wherever possible, reduce or combine synagogue mailings, which allows the synagogue to save money as it reduces waste. E. See the "Audit" program .

3. ACTIVITY: Making your own "recycled paper" Time: 1 and ¾ hours (including soaking and drying times) As a kickoff to your recycling project at a school or in a home, you can teach your students or children how to make their own "recycled paper." A. Gather the following: Scrap paper, a piece of screening (approximately 10" x 10") with the edges taped over to prevent wounds (duct tape works best), wash basin, blender or food processor, old towels, rolling pin B. Tear scrap paper into small pieces. Soak it in hot water for one-half hour. Take a handful of the paper, put it into a blender or food processor, and add water until half-full. Blend until you no longer see pieces of paper. C. Pour mixture over the screen (with basin to catch water). Shake the screen bake and forth to get an even layer of fibers on the screen. It may be necessary to lower the screen into the water in the basin in order to even out the layer. Lift the screen carefully out of the water. D. Lay the screening between old towels. Roll with a rolling pin to get fibers flat and even. Let dry for at least an hour. E. Gently remove the paper from the screen by turning the screen upside down and peeling the paper away from the edges. The rest of the paper should fall away from the screen.

ENERGY

Energy, according to many theologians, is like divinity - you know it‘s there, and it lights up your life, but you can‘t usually see or even describe it. And how we use energy is truly a theological concern. Most of our electricity comes from fossil fuels like coal which produce tremendous air pollution when burned, along with carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The next most common source of electricity is nuclear - though our society has no idea what to do with millions of tons of radioactive wastes, deadly for 250,000 years after giving us electricity for just 40 years. If only because of issues of intergenerational justice, energy is a profoundly religious issue.

Jewish sacred texts have much to say about the matter: the Talmud insists on energy efficiency; Shabbat is an ecologically sustainable day; the rest of Creation counts alongside humans; and Judaism teaches that when in doubt, we should take all reasonable precautions. See these texts and values laid out for you on the webpage (also suitable for study with your building committee or board, or in an adult education setting), "Why Energy is a Jewish Issue."

Looking for basic things your synagogue can do to save energy?

If your synagogue isn‘t about to do major work on its facility, but is willing to do something in order to save a lot of energy (and ultimately money!), the best thing you can do is take an energy audit. Here are some resources which offer on-line, do-it- yourself energy audits for your home, business, or any location! We hope you‘ll get much use out of them, and save much energy!

Learn more about the EPA Energy Star Congregations Program, an important resource and ally in our greening-congregations efforts.

Not only can you save electricity and money through energy efficiency, you can also make a huge difference by going green with the electricity you do consume. Renewable electricity – from windpower, solar installations, landfill gas, and other sustainable sources – is an option in more and more areas.

Along with our partners Hazon and the EPA Energy Star Congregations program, click here for a one-page download with great statistics on the difference we can make when we work together to conserve electricity.

Of course, some of the best resources aren‘t religious at all, though our impulse for using them may be. Take advantage of the following ‗secular‘ links, and you can enjoy their technical and scientific expertise alongside the ethical and Jewish values found here on the COEJL site:

Resources for Energy-Saving Ideas

 Carbon Footprint Calculator  COEJL‘s Covenant Campaign Tools and Publicity Resources  American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy  Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse (U.S. Dept. of Energy)  U.S. Climate Action Network  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)  National Environmental Trust- energy section  Union of Concerned Scientists - energy section  World Resources Institute

Sources for Alternative Energy Products

 Real Goods / Gaiam  Sunelco - The Sun Electric Company  Energy User News - Look up specifications of all the latest energy-efficient products here.

Energy Audit

Conduct an energy conservation evaluation (a great youth group project). Most shuls, schools, community centers and other buildings use more energy than necessary, making it easy to both reduce carbon emissions and save money. Start by conducting

8 a thorough energy evaluation, measuring how much energy and money is wasted by your building and learning how much you can save by retrofitting the lighting, heating, insulation, etc.

 Home Energy Saver - a web-based, do-it-yourself energy audit tool.  Pacific Gas & Electric Company- do-it-yourself energy audit.  Energy Guide - smart energy choices which offers a business energy use analysis.

A comprehensive energy evaluation process for 7-10th graders can be found in Environmental Action: Energy Conservation.

And your local power company probably provides assistance to customers trying to reduce their use of electricity and gas.

EPA Energy Star Congregations Program

Consider becoming an Energy Star Congregation! At least two synagogues -- Beth El - Kesser Israel in New Haven CT, and Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda MD -- have received the EPA Energy Star Congregation Award. Numerous others have availed themselves of the useful resources offered through the Energy Star Congregations program. Go to the Energy Star Website to find out more. To nominate your synagogue for an award, click here.

CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, BUILDING MATERIALS

So we should build a just synagogue - but how? In this section, you'll find numerous suggestions and ideas for how to design, specify materials for, and build your new (or expanded, or retrofitted) shul.

Know the resources which are available, and aim high. Consider pursuing LEED (Leadership Excellence in Environmental Design) certification, and learn cutting-edge environmental approaches and analyses at the U.S. Green Building Council website.

No matter how ―green‖ you intend your synagogue to become, the first agenda item is always to convince key stakeholders and decision-makers that justice and sustainability must be central in your synagogue‘s building efforts.

Learn about synagogues that have built comparatively green structures, and see which elements of their designs your shul might emulate – or surpass! A few examples come from Bethesda MD (including ‗lessons learned‘).

Choosing materials is a key step in the design process, one you can influence even once the contractor has begun ordering them. Most every building uses a lot of wood; make

9 sure that as much of it is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as possible. And every building has a floor! Do all that you can to avoid PVC or vinyl; explore alternatives here, along with Jewish educational materials explaining why this matters, and a website for a remarkable movie that makes a great educational tool in synagogues (and elsewhere).

The kitchen – an ever-popular room in the synagogue, (for obvious reasons!), is also an important place for possible energy savings.

And no choice made during the design process has as much impact on the building‘s future energy usage – and bills – as the HVAC (heat-vent-air-conditioning) system. The one possible exception to that rule is when you can site the synagogue building in such a way as to take advantage of what is called "passive solar energy."

Good luck building a just synagogue! And again, please let COEJL know about commitments you make, and milestones you reach.

Talking Points, Strategies, Texts and Values (Or How To Convince Folks)

Ultimately, it all comes down to organizational culture. How do you convince key stakeholders and decision-makers that justice and sustainability should be central in your synagogue‘s building efforts?

First, it‘s vital to understand what kind of institutional culture exists, and who are the ―gatekeepers.‖ Often, of course, it‘s the rabbi/s. Sometimes it may be the executive director. In larger congregations, it may be the synagogue president or the board member whose portfolio would be most affected by a particular initiative (finance, buildings and grounds, treasurer, etc). In many small and mid-size synagogues, the informal authority actually rests with just one or two old-timers, whose years of service and leadership led to such great respect that little gets done without their explicit or implicit approval. So the first step is to figure out who you need to reach.

Second, establish what data and ‗talking points‘ you may need to bring to the stakeholders. You‘ll want to mix Jewish / moral values with practical and financial arguments, but in what ratio? For some communities, if you can successfully ground your proposal in halacha (Jewish law) or Jewish values, that is pretty much all you need. For other congregations, the discussion starts and ends with cost projections. Along with what you want to do, always be ready to explain both why and how -- i.e., do your research (much of which can be done right here on the COEJL website)!

And third, figure out who are your natural allies within congregational life. Often it will include people who are active with the social action committee or other such efforts. Ideally the list will feature multiple members of the congregational board, or even

10 officers, who can advocate for your proposal from within the leadership. And in nearly all communities, even if the rabbi(s) isn‘t going to ‗go to bat‘ for your initiative, make sure that he/she/they are apprised of your efforts, and have at least heard you present the Jewish values and texts which reinforce the plan. Don‘t forget younger members as well -- not only might the twenty-and-thirty-somethings be natural allies, but so may be members of the youth group or senior religious school classes, those who will be growing up in a world affected by decisions being made today.

In many cases -- where synagogues enjoy forward-thinking leadership, decent finances, and effective advocates for the cause (like you!) -- after taking these steps and making your presentation, success is all but guaranteed. Yet without these attributes, success becomes that much harder. So two further pieces of advice are: be creative in considering all possible options; and be open to compromise.

You may have wanted mostly FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified sustainable wood, but found that the right shingles and shakes and columns are hard to procure; settling for 20% is still admirable, and will serve to educate local suppliers along with your contractor. You may have hoped that the synagogue would pay the premium for all-renewable electricity, but budgetary realities preclude that; be ready to start with as much wind-power as $500 extra can purchase, and then try to ratchet up that line in the budget in successive years. And so on. Rabbi Tarfon‘s exhortation in Pirkei Avot (2:21) is always worth repeating: ―It‘s not upon you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from it.‖

Finally, even if you encounter challenges or opposition from synagogue leadership, remember that ultimately it‘s about creating common cause. Given the multiple purposes that synagogues serve, and the centrality of relationships within sacred communities, we recommend knowing when to step back from the conflict. Over time, the key to success lies in proving the ecologically sound choice to be the moral, interpersonal, and communal best path. You must ―win the hearts and minds‖ of members and leaders, along with mustering the appropriate arguments. Expect setbacks, but be in it for the long haul.

In conclusion, we have already suggested:

. Evaluating the congregational culture, and determining key stakeholders / gatekeepers . Amassing appropriate data and ‗talking points‘ which might sway such key individuals . Cultivating allies within the congregation, especially those in synagogue leadership . Being flexible, creative, patient, and open to compromise as needed

A few additional suggestions:

. Start early -- the more lead time you have, the better off your chances

. Do solid research -- reviewing alternatives (time) cuts synagogue costs (& opposition) . Deputize other members of the community to help with research, phone calls, etc . Consider educating members and vendors, and partial eco-enhancements, to be success

Best of luck! And know that you are doing avodat kodesh, sacred, Jewish-rooted work, in trying to make your synagogue as sustainable as possible.

Green Architecture Resources

Hiddur Mishkan – Construction Choices, Energy Use & Audits Assembled by Nathan Martin and Fred Scherlinder Dobb for JRF, 11/02

Redesigning and retrofitting an existing building to reduce its energy and environmental impact is both a challenging and rewarding process. Greener buildings are a good long- term investment. They are healthier places to spend time in, cost less to operate, and represent the translation of our values into concrete actions. We are including some initial resources that could be useful getting technical support and learning about what opportunities exist when thinking about improving the building.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Buildings Site & Energy Star Congregations -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designed a program to help houses of worship become highly energy efficient. The Energy Star Congregations program offers technical and consulting support, information on opportunities, and links synagogues into a national network of religious organizations working on improving their buildings. In addition, the EPA provides general information on green buildings in a single portal website designed to give convenient general information on the topic.

Green Buildings Council-- a Canadian non-profit that disseminates information about energy and environmental issues in the building sector. GBIC is itself small, but has extensive international links; through this Web Site comes broad range of information from other sources and organizations around the world, all separately identified.

Green Building Concepts -- a source of reports and guides for building an energy and resource efficient home, and knowing why sustainable building, or green architecture, is important to ameliorate greenhouse gas emissions.

Oikos: Green Construction Source-- Oikos offers solid information on energy efficiency and sustainable building construction. The site offers architects, designers, building contractors, consultants and consumers detailed information on products and techniques.

U.S. Green Buildings Council -- The USGBC provides services to its membership and constituents, including building owners and managers, product manufacturers, architects/engineers and others interested in the greening of buildings and the communities in which they reside. The Council provides membership services to these organizations to enhance their businesses, including information sharing, networking opportunities, business leads, and publicity.

Using Green Building Consultants -- Find them in your area (they‘re there!). In PA for example, Scot Horst of Pennsylvania Power and Light audits synagogues and churches. There is a qualified network of consultants who work in various areas.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy-- Energy efficiency clearing-house offers information and assistance to a broad audience (builders, consumers, educators and students, businesses, government agencies, entrepreneurs) on a wide range of topics by providing publications, customized responses, and referrals to energy organizations.

Environmental Building News Magazine -- EBN is an international publication on environmentally sustainable design and construction. The website features news, a calendar of events, an annotated "green links" page, and highlights from past issues, including many detailed product reviews.

Green Building Resource Guide -- In this guide, mainly for homebuilders, each of the nearly 600 product listings includes a brief product description, icons representing categories of environmental benefit, contact information for the manufacturer, and a cost comparison with its most likely conventional alternative. Icons identify nontoxic, recycled-content, resource efficient, long life-cycle and environmentally conscious products. You can order the Green Building Resource Guide in two forms: a reference manual or a CD-ROM database.

Energy Crossroads -- a general database on energy and environmental information including green buildings.

Existing Green Structures: Green Built Shuls

More and more synagogues are building green. COEJL will keep adding materials to this section of our website as we learn of shuls which have made such a commitment (and if yours is one of them, please let us know). Shir Hadash in Los Gatos, CA, put solar panels on its roof. A number of shuls -- including Temple Israel of Northern Westchester (NY), the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston IL, and Temple Beth Israel of Eugene OR -- are now designing what should become model sustainable synagogue buildings. Beth El - Kesser Israel of New Haven CT, and Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation of Bethesda MD, both received the EPA Energy Star Congregations Award for their efforts. And the list goes on. Contact your movement for more information on synagogues which have done notably well in this area; no doubt the staff and lay-

13 leadership of those communities will be happy to share their experience and expertise with you.

Below are some ‗lessons learned‘ from one such experience. And on the webpages which follow you‘ll be able to see specific materials from communities like yours which have taken the plunge toward sustainability. Best of luck, and keep us posted! See helpful materials from Bethesda MD and the list is growing… your shul could be next! Eco-Building Lessons Learned (Adat Shalom, 2001):

1. Start early. Make environmental issues and energy conservation clear priorities from the get-go of the design and fund-raising processes. Make the community aware that these are not just choices, they are moral and spiritual imperatives: as a house devoted to God, we must zealously strive to minimize the ways in which its construction and operation might adversely impact God's creation and God's children. 2. Be ready to engage and educate everyone involved -- from congregants to contractors -- on environmental and energy issues. Plan to do the legwork required to research options, in which case you needn‘t be put off by dismissive messages from an architect or contractor. Get ready to pitch slightly-more-expensive-but-far- more-sustainable design elements to the board or congregation or funders. Know how much work it will be, and know how sacred that work is. 3. Keep sustainability in mind throughout the process. Use the theme of sustainability to remind people of the ethical and religious commitments for which we stand; use it to goad donors into giving more (and feeling good about doing so!); use it as a rallying point for efforts to fund and build your communal home. 4. Get information from wherever you can, as early as you can. Learn about your architects, general contractors and sub-contractors' environmental awareness before hiring them. And then plan to work closely with them along the way, both to support and to monitor. Unfortunately "green building" is still new, and we have the chance to educate the professionals about it if we take our responsibilities seriously. Simply asking the questions raises consciousness. 5. Know that unless you have infinite resources, it won't all get done at once. Do the best you can with what's available, and keep a 'wish list' in mind for future expansions or retrofits. Don't despair because you can't have every energy-saving device or construction technique; since you can't do everything, it's still better to do what you can. Know that every CFL, every LED exit sign, every double-glazed window, every square foot of recycled carpet, every programmable thermostat makes a difference, and is sacred. As Rabbi Tarfon wrote almost 2000 years ago in the Mishnah (Avot 2:21), "it is not upon you to complete the task -- but neither are you free to desist from it."

Construction - Adat Shalom

Adat Shalom’s (Bethesda, MD) Green Building Process, 1997-2001

Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation is the second synagogue in the US to receive the EPA Energy Star Congregation award. A minimal description is under "Lech Lecha" at its website; this might give you ideas. The Center for a New American Dreamalso briefly featured it in a video, ―More Fun, Less Stuff‖. In short, to get others thinking about how the Adat Shalom experience could prove instructive, a few of its major environmental "victories" were:

. passive solar heating through clerestory windows and dark floor in social hall . ner tamid (eternal light) hooked up to a photovoltaic (solar energy) cell on the roof . a designated percentage of wood came from certified sustainable forestry operations . good zone-by-zone heating and lighting system implemented, with many settings & options . CFL's, LED exit signs, and other low-energy fixtures installed throughout the building . much material from the existing building saved or kept in place for new construction . mostly local materials were used; limited Jerusalem stone shipped from Israel for symbolism . maximum number of trees on-site before construction saved by careful planning . low-water use (xeriscaping), low-maintenance, low-chemical, native landscaping . low-impact cork flooring used in lobby areas; recycled carpet used in sanctuary & offices . mostly-recycled-or-limestone composite "vinyl alternative" tile flooring in social hall & classrooms . permeable driveway and parking lot for groundwater recharge (gravel, then alternative paving) . wide buy-in sought from congregation on environment as key priority during building process

Adat Shalom‘s Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb adds: ―We did well! It wasn't all rosy, however; we "lost" on a few issues – there‘s less certified wood than we'd have liked; the design prioritized natural light over denser construction, making it less energy efficient; linoleum would've been better than the composite flooring we ended up with, which still contained 12% new vinyl (which is awful stuff -- to know more about it, see Jewish activist filmmaker Judith Helfand and her award-winning documentary Blue Vinyl); and so on. Still, our experience shows that with some thought and dedication, you can do OK on a limited budget...‖

Construction - JRC

DRAFT JRC Environmental Task Force – 2-23-04 Responses to BTF Questionnaire In Preparation for Design & Building Process Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, Evanston, Illinois

CURRENT BUILDING USE

Committee meets out of building – no room there

High Holiday Discussion Groups - classrooms OK

Tu B‘Shvat Tisch – we use the Sanctuary and the Kitchen (We use the Sanctuary because this is a religious service and because it is accessible)

Sanctuary - We are filled up – more space or adjacent social hall for food would help (could also be held in the social hall)

Kitchen – No dishwasher/dishes. (We had folks bring their own dishes in order not to use disposables – this is mostly symbolic as it only happens once a year). No facilities to wash and reuse table linens and dish towels. Common serving pieces are often dirty or sticky and unappealing. Need to be hand washed before and after. The kitchen is far from the sanctuary, which makes logistics harder.

PHYSICAL NEEDS IN NEW BUILDING

Kitchen – Well designed with dishwasher for large events as well as weekday/school/preschool/staff use. The dishwasher should be easy to use and easy to train folks to use. Kitchen should be centrally located and easily accessible from all levels of Synagogue. (Possibly 1st floor?)

Possible clothes washer/dryer for tablecloths/aprons/dishtowels/rags etc. (check codes re: high enough temperature.

Use all Energy Star Appliances

Staff training and compensation in use of HVAC zoning, recycling, buying non toxic cleaning supplies, and kitchen upkeep

DREAMS FOR A NEW BUILDING

Goal

We see Tikkun Olam – Healing the Earth as a clear spiritual and moral imperative of Reconstructionist Judaism. We see JRC‘s new home as our spiritual ―living room,‖ as a special place – a refuge – that exemplifies our highest ideals. To this end we envision a new home built on principles and practices that model respect for the earth rather than excessive consumption of the world‘s finite resources. We want a building that is beautiful, designed to inspire and facilitate individual spirituality and positive communal interactions: A Holy place.

By making ―sustainable‖ and ―green‖ decisions in our building process we hope to inspire both JRC members and the broader community to make similar environmentally aware decisions in their own lives.

To this end we would like to target LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification at the Gold or Platinum level.

Our sense from discussions with Sharon Feigon at the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) is that this can be attained within a normal construction budget if, and only if, it is part of the initial concept and design and follow through and part of our contract with the architects.

We would include a LEED consultant in the earliest phases of the design concept, to plan with him/her how to attain this goal. They would be able to evaluate the probable cost and payback of various ―LEED point‖ options and decide on the level of certification to go for – Gold? Platinum? -- and which ―LEEDs points‖ we can realistically expect to receive.

Include LEED/Green plans in the contract with the architect/engineer and designate the JRC project manager/owners‘ rep as liaison to follow up and be sure these items stay in the plan. During the construction phase, delegate a person to keep all the documentation and paperwork current as LEED point criteria are met.

The following are some ideas of features which we hope will be considered to meet LEED criteria for our beautiful new home:

Sustainable Site:

1. Minimum site disturbance during construction. Preservation of existing landscaping if possible, especially trees planted in memory of loved ones. 2. Roof: highly reflective to avoid a ―heat island‖ – consider a green roof or photovoltaic roof.

3. Bike racks and stroller parking to encourage an alternative to driving. 4. Parking – priority spots for car-pools. 5. Public transportation – if considering a new site be sure that we are accessible to public transportation. 6. Landscaping with deciduous trees or vines for shading in summer. 7. Landscaping with natural plantings to avoid the need for pesticides, chemical fertilizers and watering as well as providing habitat for animals.

Water Efficiency:

1. Lo-flow plumbing fixtures. 2. Roof runoff into rain garden or special closed barrels for garden use. 3. Pervious material in parking lot and water-absorbing side plantings.

Minimize energy consumption by:

1. Energy-Star appliances throughout (kitchen, offices, HVAC). 2. Zoned Heating/AC with high performance controls and operable windows – a compact 3 story building has inherent efficiencies in HVAC. 3. Reduce heating and cooling loads by: Top level insulation siting windows and skylights for maximum natural lighting designed for maximum winter sunlight and awnings or overhangs for summer shading and winter sunshine. Possible dark flooring for passive solar heating. 4. Energy efficient lighting systems – at a minimum fluorescents and compact fluorescents – possible LED lighting available by the time we are building (LED lights use 1/80 the power of incandescent bulbs). 5. Consider alternative energy sources such as solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, geothermal and wind. Minimum – a symbolic photovoltaic Ner Tamid.

Materials and Resources:

1. Minimize waste and landfill during demolition by seeking out organizations or companies who will reuse or recycle as much as possible from the old building, e.g.: there is a carpeting company who will take and recycle our old carpeting if we spec their recycled carpeting for the new building. There may be other architectural specialty companies. 2. Have separate dumpsters for recyclables, reusables and landfill. 3. Use materials that are as sustainable as possible: . Wood from certified sustainable forests . Furnishings made from recycled materials – carpeting, flooring, parking stops, playground equipment, decking . Furnishing made from rapidly renewable sources such as bamboo or cork flooring, sunflower seed or wheat board for furniture. 4. Use materials that are produced as locally as possible, limiting transportation costs.

Indoor environment/air quality:

1. Have a non-smoking environment. 2. Avoid toxic emissions from paints (Non VOC or Low VOC), adhesives, carpeting, office furniture (wheat board not pressboard). 3. Outdoor air ventilation (again operable windows) in conjunction with high efficiency HVAC. 4. Possibly a separate room for printing and duplicating, to keep fumes from staff and kids. 5. Interior green plants and natural spaces for aesthetics and air purifying 6. Washable floor mats to wipe shoes to avoid tracking in pollutants

Innovation and Design:

1. Explore innovative technologies such as solar and wind power, the frozen ball cooling system a la CNT. 2. Recycling bins attractively designed into public spaces (foyer?, social hall?, classroom corridor?) to facilitate community leadership in special recycling programs (we already collect batteries and eyeglasses). 3. Community leadership as an ―entrance to Evanston.‖ We have a high profile site with an opportunity to showcase green architecture as a way to live our values.

Many JRC members have come forward with skills, energy and resources to contribute to this effort. We are eager to support this process in any way that we can.

3/10/04, notes from COEJL Rabbinic Fellow Fred Scherlinder Dobb to JRC environmental committee leaders: Julie, Jerry, Sybil, et al–

…Remember that there is a value in partial steps -- shoot for gold or platinum LEED certification, absolutely, but be aware along the way that even silver would be remarkable, and probably a first in synagogue history. Depending on the nature of the board, it might be easier to get approval of this document if it defines success in analog terms, not just digital...

As for money, I wish I had sources! …for now, nada. Again, however, there are ways to craft the Capital Campaign that (a) use the green agenda as a source of pride and purpose which helps the larger building effort, and in turn reinforces commitment for eco-enhancements, and (b) might enable a dedicated stream, or at least trickle, of funds raised specifically for or in the name of such eco-enhancements.

…I‘m looking forward to happy updates, to more collaboration, and to someday visiting your new facility that'll be the talk of the movement... Thanks again! l'shalom, Fred

Wood For Synagogues

Eitz chayim hi l‟machazikim ba -- ―It (Torah, or wisdom) is a tree of life to those who hold onto it‖ -- Proverbs 3:18, incorporated into the end of the Torah service liturgy

Few environmental issues elicit such gut-level Jewish support as saving trees. Trees are elemental in the biblical and rabbinic imagination. Righteous people (Psalm 92), as well as Torah itself, are repeatedly made analogous to trees. Planting trees became a core element of early Zionism (see the efforts of the Jewish National Fund); trees become the basis for much contemporary Jewish-environmental scholarship (see Trees, Eath, and Torah: A Tu B'Shvat Anthology, edited by Arthur Waskow, Ari Elon, and Naomi Mara Hyman, JPS, 2000). And COEJL's own activist efforts have been nowhere so successful as with defending forests and the endangered species that dwell within them.

In architecture, trees are vital for their wood, commonly accounting for a huge percentage of the total building materials employed: heavy beams as structural elements, two-by-fours for framing, pulp for drywall, planks for flooring, columns for porticos, shingles and shakes for exteriors, and specialty woods for the ark and other interior design elements. Any alternative design elements you can choose (like component trusses or stressed-skin panels) -- and especially, any percentage of that vast quantity of wood which can be taken from sustainably managed forests or from reclaimed wood -- translates into trees saved and habitats preserved.

Creativity, and research, will be called for. Far too few contractors are even aware of many existing alternatives; and far too few lumber and hardware stores stock much certified wood, if any. But with a bit of work, and sometimes only a small (if any) cost premium, you can find ways to reduce the amount of wood in your synagogue, and can locate wood of all shapes and sizes and types which bears a ―hekhsher‖, a stamp of approval by the people who certify wood as sustainable -- as kosher, if you will. (Start your search at the Forest Stewardship Council; remember that distance from the forest or mill is a major environmental factor alongside the source of the wood itself).

Leading organizations working on this include the Forest Stewardship Council and SmartWood (a project of the Rainforest Action Network). A summary of their approaches follows:

Forest Stewardship Council Endorsed:

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) endorsed and certified products include forest products that were harvested from a forest certified by an FSC-accredited certifier. Under this program forest products are harvested from forests that are managed under compliance with the principles and criteria of the FSC.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, not for profit, non- government organization that provides standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services for companies and organizations interested in responsible forestry.

Founded in 1993, FSC‘s mission is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world‘s forests. FSC forest management standards are based on FSC's 10 Principles and Criteria of responsible forest management.

FSC‘s governance structure ensures that FSC is independent of any one interest group by requiring an equal balance in power between its environmental, social and economic chambers as well as a balance between interests from the economic north and south.

The distinctive FSC trademark - the check and tree symbol - as well as the letters FSC and words 'Forest Stewardship Council' enable customers to recognize responsible forestry products in stores around the world.

Over the past 10 years, 42 million hectares in more than 60 countries have been certified according to FSC standards while several thousand products are produced using FSC certified wood and carrying the FSC trademark. FSC operates through its network of National Initiatives in more than 30 countries.

SmartWood Rediscovered Wood Certified

The SmartWoodCM Program of the Rainforest Alliance has developed the "SmartWood Rediscovered Wood Program" for certification of reused, reclaimed, recycled and salvaged wood products.

Please Note: The Rediscovered Wood Program of the Rainforest Alliance is not formally endorsed by the FSC. However, Rediscovered Wood certified products, may qualify as neutral material under the FSC percentage based claims policy. This means that Rediscovered Wood products may be used together with FSC endorsed products to make a final FSC endorsed product with a percentage based claim in some cases. The SmartWood Program seeks to encourage and reward the reuse of wood by awarding the "SmartWood - Rediscovered Wood" seal of approval to acceptable reclaimed wood products. Sources of Rediscovered Wood may include:

1. demolition projects for antiquated buildings 2. dead, fallen, diseased or nuisance trees from (sub)urban private and government properties 3. orchards where unproductive trees are cut for replacement 4. fallen trees carefully reclaimed from rivers and lakes 5. usable wood safely reclaimed from demolition landfills

6. wood by-products from secondary manufacturers

Source:www.fsc.org/fsc/about

Another helpful resource should be forthcoming from the Natural Resources Defense Council - their site now says that ―in Fall 2004 we will introduce an online green building guide for building decision-makers.‖

PVC/Vinyl and Alternatives

Among the most pervasive, persistent, and problematic building materials is PVC, polyvinyl chloride, or just ―vinyl.‖ It is toxic in its production, deadly if burned in fire or incinerated, and a near-permanent contribution to landfills if ultimately dumped. Avoiding vinyl should be a primary concern for all ethical building initiatives, and vinyl‘s marriage of social and environmental justice concerns make it a natural area in which to focus green synagogue efforts.

Jewish groups have a powerful and vital educational tool in activist filmmaker Judith Helfand‘s award-winning documentary, Blue Vinyl. The educational campaign in which she and her partners engaged often included COEJL, leading to the creation of source- sheets on why vinyl is a Jewish issue. And the website they created -- myhouseisyourhouse.org -- is an incredibly helpful repository of information and ideas for combating this pervasive pollutant. (One of the pictures at that website shows ―Rabbinic students at the Reconstructionist Rabbinic College in Philadelphia, PA, after BLUE VINYL screening and discussion about 'building in good faith'. After their discussion about building just institutions out of non-toxic materials, they posed with their BLUE VINYL 'tchotchkies' in front of the Torah.‖)

Alternatives to vinyl do exist! And they come in all forms and all price-ranges. Sometimes they may be more expensive than vinyl; as an example, linoleum can be much pricier than PVC tile flooring (though the former is also more durable, and is made from renewable linseed oil rather than from oil and chemicals). But sometimes the alternatives look entirely different -- recycled carpet, cork, or other flooring, for instance. And sometimes it involves going back to tried and true approaches -- wood rather than vinyl-clad windows; sheetrock and drywall rather than PVC wallboard; and so forth. All it takes is a bit of research and persistence to find alternatives which aren‘t responsible for cancer in Louisiana, increased casualties in fires, and perma-pollution in our solid waste.

The most vexing alternative issue has usually been windows, but there's a new and more accurate life cycle analysis from GreenSpec in England that says it all -- read, and show your architect and contractor, the information found here.

COEJL has long collaborated (through Working Films, involving Judith Helfand, Daniel Gold, and others) with the Healthy Building Network, which is a key resource for learning about PVC and the alternatives to it.

Click here for the Healthy Building Network's PVC Fact Sheet online.

Click here for the HBN's alternatives to vinyl online resource.

The Kitchen

Just behind or perhaps tied with the office, the kitchen is the most resource-intensive room in most synagogues. Many of the choices to be made concern procurement of various materials, which are dealt with in the following sub-section, ―2. Purchasing.‖ Yet in the design phase of a building or renovation project, choices about the layout of the kitchen will either enhance or limit your ability to save energy and materials.

The top issue at this phase concerns storage areas, as well as dishwasher(s) choice and location. Will you have reusable plates, cups, and silverware for kiddush or oneg which will be used weekly, or will the kitchen only be used for catered simcha events? Installing an industrial-strength diswashing, along with plentiful storage areas for the reusable ware, will at least give you the option of more eco-friendly practices.

Of course kashrut is a key concern here as well -- how many sets of dishes are needed, and which posek (halachic decisor) do you hold by in figuring out what degree of separation is required in dishwashers, refrigerators, countertops, etc? Remember the ecological as well as financial cost involved in the production and installation of extra appliances or counters; the creation and transporting of extra sets of dishes; and the construction and heating and cooling of ever-larger spaces to accommodate same.

More decisions will follow, but much thought about the kitchen and its future uses should attend this phase of the design process.Click here for a document by long-time Shomrei Adamah of Greater Washington, DC leader (prepared for the Green Faith Guide of the DC Energy Office, 2004), for some ideas. On her list of things to consider are disposable ware; plastic table coverings; soft drinks; local purchasing; containers for food and beverage; composting; educating congregants; and advocacy.

HVAC (heat-vent-air-conditioning) system

The heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is often a building‘s single biggest user of energy. That also makes it the single best place to start trimming utility bills, energy use, and environmental impact. This is obviously an issue of financial and ecological importance; it is also eminently a Jewish concern, as explained here. Most helpful actions fall under three basic categories:

. Turn it off, when not needed; . Run it less, employing more efficient settings via a programmable thermostat; . Make it more efficient in the first place.

The first category is simple -- avoid using the system altogether, whenever possible. Often the desired temperature can be reached by opening windows, using shades or blinds, or other simple, non-energy-consuming approaches. When the weather is nicer outside than in, use the vent rather than the heat or air conditioning; it‘s far more efficient. Ceiling fans are an efficient, economical way to distribute heat in the winter, and provide a cooling breeze in the summer. If you do have a manual thermostat, turn it to its overnight setting a half-hour or hour before the last person leaves, to take advantage of the residual heat or coolness. But on/off is too simple of a choice for your HVAC system, given today‘s remarkable opportunities.

Running it less involves programmable thermostats, the best of which bear the Energy Star seal. Most single-unit thermostats cost under $100, though building-wide arrays across various zones will cost much more. In either case, they quickly pay for themselves in reduced energy bills, and after the short initial payback period, they save the synagogue money, month in and month out. Just reminding staff and volunteers to switch the settings on a typical old manual thermostat is inefficient and often ineffective. This is one upgrade you‘ll never regret.

Of course, simply installing such a thermostat will do nothing; the challenge is to program it well. When it‘s cold outside, be unafraid to let the building cool off overnight (or for days on end in the case of a social hall or education wing which may be mostly unused except on weekends), down to just the point where you protect the pipes from freezing. When it‘s warm out, let the unoccupied building (or wing/s) heat up a bit. Set the thermostat to move to a desired temperature just a few hours before folks get there. Then educate the community to wear seasonally-appropriate dress. There‘s nothing wrong with praying at 75 degrees in the summer, or 67 degrees in the winter -- every degree by which you tell the thermostat not to run the system saves an average of three percent on utility bills, and concomitant greenhouse gas emissions.

So it‘s important to use your HVAC system for the fewest possible amount of time. But the efficiency of the system itself is just as important. New technologies enable the same amount of heating or cooling with the input of much less energy, but you have to look carefully (on the ubiquitous yellow EnergyGuide label) at each component of the system, to ensure that you are getting one of the most efficient units for its class and size. Round down the amount of square footage that a particular unit will cover, and get the smallest possible unit for the area. Consider heat pumps and other supporting systems which can further reduce your energy use (and electric bills). And no matter what, be sure your system is well-maintained -- filters changed often, coils and blowers cleaned, duct leaks plugged, registers adjusted, thermometers calibrated, and so on.

All these steps will make an enormous difference. Of course, there are other vital steps that work in tandem with the HVAC system. Incandescent bulbs waste electricity as

24 heat, so it‘s a two-in-one savings during warmer months (or year-round in warmer climes) to switch them to compact fluorescents or other more efficient bulbs. And no step is more basic than simply sealing up leaks around doors and windows, and insulating well. You can get more energy-saving ideas -- and perhaps even rebates, peak- hour pricing arrangements, or other incentives -- from your local electric utility (parts of this webpage were based on How to Reduce Your Energy Costs, a booklet produced and distributed by a consortium of utilities).

A few further tips follow:

10 Ways to Save Energy

1. Turn off lights when not needed. 2. Remove unneeded light bulbs. 3. When replacing bulbs, use lower watt- age or more efficient ones. 4. Lower your heating settings. 5. Raise your air conditioning settings. 6. Reduce heating and air conditioning during unoccupied hours. 7. Turn off heating and air conditioning somewhat before the end of your operating hours. 8. Have your heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems serviced and adjusted. 9. Turn off machines and equipment when not needed. 10. Make sure all automatic controls are in good working condition and are set properly.

3 Ways to Save Lighting Energy

1. Reduce light levels whenever there is more light than needed. 2. Install more efficient lighting or controls. 3. Do proper maintenance to minimize

2 Ways to Waste Lighting Energy

1. Transmission losses- when dirt or some other obstruction blocks some of the light; or when the light source is too far away from what you want illuminated. 2. Over lighting- when more light is used than is needed or when a "free" light source such as daylight is not used.

Some Recommended Lighting Levels (in footcandles)

. 1-5 Outdoor walkways . 5-10 Cafeteria dining areas . 10-20 Reception areas, lightly used office areas . 20-50 Typical office work

. 50-100 More demanding visual tasks (office or shop) . 100-200 Especially difficult visual tasks - low contrast

Tips for Operating your HVAC Efficiently

. For heating, set thermostats lower and higher for cooling. . Eliminate unnecessary use of your HVAC system during unoccupied hours. . Have someone test, clean, and adjust your boiler or furnace. . Have your air conditioner, heat pump, and chiller properly maintained. . Reduce fan speeds.

Hot Water: Major Ways to Save

. Reduce the heat loss in the system. . Reduce the temperature of the hot water; it is often much hotter than necessary. . Reduce the amount of hot water used. . Reduce the time the water heater operates. . Maintenance.

Maintenance of your Envelope System

1. Seal cracks with caulking or other materials. 2. Tighten up window and door frames. 3. Replace broken glass. 4. Fix doors and windows to operate properly. 5. Adjust, replace, or install automatic door closers. 6. Cover window air conditioners in cold weather.

Envelope your building properly by stopping infiltration, reducing heat transfer, controlling the humidity in the building and controlling the amount of sunlight in the building.

12 Basic Rules for Reducing Energy Consumption by Machines

1. Turn it off whenever possible. 2. Don't forget the "hidden" machines and equipment, such as computers and photocopiers. 3. Adjust controls to a temperature, speed, or other setting that uses less energy by still does the job properly. 4. Use your equipment more efficiently. 5. Clean, tune and adjust, lubricate, replace worn parts, and otherwise maintain the equipment. 6. Don't create unnecessary problems. 7. Manage your electricity use to avoid high demand charges.

8. When equipment that is worn out must be replaced, choose the most energy- efficient replacement. 9. If cost-justified, do a major overhaul to make equipment more energy efficient. 10. If cost justified, replace equipment that still operates, with more energy-efficient equipment. 11. Install new automatic controls. 12. Consider using waste heat to advantage.

Electric motors account for about three quarters of total electricity use in industry and half of the electricity use in commercial and institutional buildings.

Passive Solar Energy

It‘s no accident that the US Green Building Council‘s LEED (Leadership Excellence in Environmental Design) program gives a good number of points for sustainable siting. Better even than efficient cooling or heating mechanisms is to locate the building in such a way that the sun does the heating or cooling for you. This concept -- ―passive solar‖ -- basically involves using extensive glass on the south face of a building and appropriately dark and heat-retaining flooring to turn the building into a solar collector, a heat storehouse, and a heat trap during cooler times; and using eaves and shades and other design elements to prevent the entry of solar radiation during hotter times. The thickness and materials used in the walls (including alternative approaches like straw bale construction), and how much of the building lies underground (which moderates temperatures year round), are vital parts of the same equation.

This ―passive solar‖ approach works at any latitude by adjusting for the angle of the sun, and designing in ways appropriate to that locale. Much of America lies within a few degrees of north latitude 40, which appears as a line running right through the center of the country (including Philadelphia, Columbus, Denver, and a point just north of San Francisco Bay -- the vast majority of U.S. and Canadian population lies between 30 and 50 degrees). At the summer solstice, the sun shines directly down on north latitude 23, meaning that the sun gets more than four-fifths up the summer sky for middle America -- it heats buildings from the east in the late morning, south at midday, and west in the afternoon. Yet people at that latitude only see the sun make it below 1/3 of the way up the southern sky, during the short days near the winter solstice.

We must respect the power of the sun, and harness it for our use in sustainable ways. Solar panels (photovoltaic cells) are a brilliant way of doing so, but are not yet fully cost- competitive as a source of electricity. But since the sun shines on nearly every building, allowing or preventing it from heating the place must be our starting point.

For more information on passive solar technologies and siting in general, consult the Department of Energy.

For colder climates, click here for an Alaska example, click here for Nova Scotia, and click here for Wisconsin.

And for warmer climates, click here for Southern California, and click here for the Department of Energy, for shading and other cooling strategies through siting.

Existing Green Structures: Green Built Shuls

Eco-Building Lessons Learned (Adat Shalom, 2001):

A. Start early. Make environmental issues and energy conservation clear priorities from the get-go of the design and fund-raising processes. Make the community aware that these are not just choices, they are moral and spiritual imperatives: as a house devoted to God, we must zealously strive to minimize the ways in which its construction and operation might adversely impact God's creation and God's children. B. Be ready to engage and educate everyone involved -- from congregants to contractors -- on environmental and energy issues. Plan to do the legwork required to research options, in which case you needn‘t be put off by dismissive messages from an architect or contractor. Get ready to pitch slightly-more- expensive-but-far-more-sustainable design elements to the board or congregation or funders. Know how much work it will be, and know how sacred that work is. C. Keep sustainability in mind throughout the process. Use the theme of sustainability to remind people of the ethical and religious commitments for which we stand; use it to goad donors into giving more (and feeling good about

doing so!); use it as a rallying point for efforts to fund and build your communal home. D. Get information from wherever you can, as early as you can. Learn about your architects, general contractors and sub-contractors' environmental awareness before hiring them. And then plan to work closely with them along the way, both to support and to monitor. Unfortunately "green building" is still new, and we have the chance to educate the professionals about it if we take our responsibilities seriously. Simply asking the questions raises consciousness.

. Know that unless you have infinite resources, it won't all get done at once. Do the best you can with what's available, and keep a 'wish list' in mind for future expansions or retrofits. Don't despair because you can't have every energy-saving device or construction technique; since you can't do everything, it's still better to do what you can. Know that every CFL, every LED exit sign, every double-glazed window, every square foot of recycled carpet, every programmable thermostat makes a difference, and is sacred. As Rabbi Tarfon wrote almost 2000 years ago in the Mishnah (Avot 2:21), "it is not upon you to complete the task -- but neither are you free to desist from it."

SYNAGOGUE GROUNDS

. Grounds . Pesticides . Native Plants . Creating a Habitat . Parking . Compost . Gardens . Lawn Equipment

“When you come into the land, plant all manner of trees…” -- Leviticus 19:23

“The Holy Blessed One said to the people of Israel: „Even though you will find the land bountiful, do not decide to sit and not sow. Rather, be very diligent in planting. Just as you found planting done by others when you arrived, so, too, you are to plant for future generations.‟” -- Midrash Tanchuma, Kedoshim 8

Most of the land that synagogues and other Jewish communities hold in trust, besides a few dense urban areas where buildings fill entire plots, is not built upon – but our synagogue grounds are walked upon, paved and driven over, played on, planted, and admired, reviled, or ignored. Are we being good stewards of this gift of good land?

The choices that synagogues make about landscaping carry many serious implications:

Budgetary: native plantings need less water, maintenance, and artificial treatments to thrive, and are better for the local environment. Creative use of topography, building site, drainage, etc. can save on water bills, and potentially displace other expenditures on retention ponds, re-grading, basement repairs, and more.

Health: the fewer chemicals put on the grounds – pesticides and herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and the like – the more comfortable we can be about letting our children play there.

Environmental: as more and more of our metropolitan areas get made over in people‘s image, we can use synagogue grounds to create pockets of native habitat for the grasses and trees, flowers and ferns, birds and butterflies which once were all over our area.

Educational: mini-gardens are great places to teach about the Jewish agricultural laws and traditions, which are at the core of our tradition; they can also showcase biblical species, or be used for season- and holiday-specific planting projects. Composting can be an object lesson in the life cycle. And choices made by synagogues are always

30 educational, since they model what members can do in their homes, offices, schools, and lives.

Aesthetic: ―Wild‖ landscaping, with just a bit of creative human intervention, can be breathtakingly beautiful! We need sacrifice nothing to be good stewards of the land.

Pesticides, Herbicides, etc.: Don‘t poison your land! Learn how to avoid the worst chemicals here.

Native Plants: Make sure your landscaping plan takes into account what naturally grows best in your region – and what‘s most needed. While you‘re at it, turn your synagogue grounds into a real refuge using the resources of the National Wildlife Foundation – where your synagogue grounds can even get accredited as a sustainable backyard habitat!

Parking Lot, and Parking Alternatives: Many synagogues cover more land with asphalt for driveways and parking, than with the building itself. Learn strategies for minimizing the environmental impact of your parking lot – along with ideas for carpooling, ridesharing, - and other alternatives to driving to shul in the first place (not to mention good old walking!).

Composting: The cycles of life and death, decay and rebirth, are nowhere clearer than in a compost heap. Prevent hundreds of pounds of yard waste, trimmings, and food leftovers from wasting away in a landfill; instead, turn that into the richest, sweetest, healthiest soil you can imagine. It‘s much easier than you think; kids will really get into it; and if you‘re ambitious, members can ―contribute‖ to the heap as well!

Mishnah Gardens: Since so much of our tradition is agricultural, and the entire first of six orders of the Mishnah is called Z‘ra‘im (Seeds), use a chunk of your land to practice sustainable agriculture! Feed yourselves, and those in need, while learning learning hands-on about vital aspects of our tradition. While you‘re at it, check out some exciting new initiatives in Jewish sustainable agriculture, like the Adamah– program at Connecticut‘s Isabella Freedman Retreat Center, or Farmer D‘s Atlanta-based Gan Chaim project.

Lawn Equipment: Few things pollute as much as a typical lawnmower, weed- whacker, or other gas-powered lawn implement. The short answer is to avoid two-stroke motors or any other small gas engine, and to use electric or rechargeable equipment wherever possible. Find out more here.

Pesticides: The fewer chemicals, the better. That‘s the bottom line of lawns. Only a handful of common pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers have been fully tested for human safety (even fewer for children‘s safety), and studies simply can‘t be done on all the possible multiple interactions and cross-effects of the some 130,000 synthetic compounds now in commercial use. And humans, as a relatively large organism, have a somewhat higher tolerance for chemicals than do our smaller friends -- frogs, birds, insects, butterflies, and other visitors or residents on our synagogue grounds. So for our safety and for that of our mini-ecosystem, drop the chemicals.

Luckily, alternatives are in place. We recommend Beyond Pesticides (formerly the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) for information on challenges and alternatives, along with the Pesticide Action Network, Washington Toxics Coalition, and other fine groups. Beyond Pesticides says this about lawn care:

Lawn Care: Pesticide Hazards and Alternatives: Public concern over the potential hazards associated with chemical lawn care products and services has been on a steady rise. And with good reason. Annually, 67 million pounds of lawn pesticides are used in and around homes and gardens, and in industrial, commercial and government settings. Alarmingly, suburban lawns and gardens receive far heavier pesticide applications per acre than most other land areas in the U.S., including agricultural areas.

Worse yet, these hazardous chemicals that are continually applied to our lawns and gardens have been found tracked into our homes. One recent study found residues of the toxic herbicide 2,4-D contaminating indoor air and surfaces, exposing children at levels ten times higher than preapplication levels.

Such widespread use and exposure is alarming considering that of the 36 most commonly used lawn pesticides, 14 are probable or possible carcinogens. Additionally, 15 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 24 with neurotoxicity, 22 with liver or kidney damage, and 34 are sensitizers and/or irritants.

Beyond Pesticides is working to halt such senseless exposure and encourage use of least toxic and non-toxic lawn care practices. Activists play an extremely important role in lawn pesticide reform, and Beyond Pesticides continually provides resources to educate the public on the hazards of these chemicals and on existing alternatives to them. These resources include testimony, fact sheets, studies and GAO reports.

For consumers, in addition to the wealth of information on alternatives, Beyond Pesticides has put together a growing directory of companies that are interested in

32 providing the least-toxic services that are currently in demand. The Safety Source for Pest Management can be used for pest problems in homes, commercial sites, schools, parks, golf courses, and more. This is our free service to people interested in managing their pests without poisoning themselves, their families or environment, and to the pest management companies that give them this option.

Another idea comes from the COEJL Program Bank: Return to Eden: Lawn and Garden Care - The Low-Impact Way

Native Plants: Whether or not your synagogue seeks certification as ―backyard habitat,‖ for more information on planting native species on your grounds, start with the National Wildlife Federation. They, and other secular organizations, have all the information you‘ll need to make your synagogue grounds as sustainable as possible. Just remember that what you‘re doing as rooted in Jewish values -- the propagation of species ―after their kind‖ (Gen. 1:11ff), the law of not wasting (bal tashchit), and the preservation of the "order of creation" (seder beresheet).

Whatever you do, avoid the one-species carpet of ―ChemLawn‖ grass, which depends entirely on chemical inputs -- such lawns can be as bad for children's health and for synagogue finances as they are for the water, soil, plants, and animals near the synagogue. One COEJL-connected activist, Dena Wild, wrote the following on the COEJL Kol-Chai list-serv (June 2004):

"…consider reducing the size of the lawn or removing it entirely. Trying to achieve or maintain the ideal lush green lawn requires abundance of water, multiple applications of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides, not to mention all the hard work. Much has already been discussed about the precious commodity of water which becomes even more precious during the summer drought conditions. Chemical run off from lawns affecting water quality is a well documented problem.

There are alternatives to the lush green weed-less lawns. Use native ground covers in lieu of grass. Be more tolerant of weeds; they are green too and many of them are eatable herbs.

If you must have a lawn, the at least learn the proper grass species for your locale and correct installation and maintenance procedures by contacting your local County Extension Office. Correct installation and maintenance will save money and the environment. As a Master Gardener in Boulder County, Colorado and now in Orange County, Florida, I have seen too often the costly effects of the wrong type of grass, poor installation too much water, etc.

Removing or reducing the size of your lawn is a small step, but the impact on the local environment can be significant.‖

Parking

Automobiles: Internal combustion engines, while helping us get from point A to point B in reasonable time, nonetheless emit carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, benzene, and other pollutants which are toxic to humans and other creatures. These are the primary source of urban smog, and a major contribution to such public health and 'environmental justice' challenges as childhood asthma and respiratory problems among the elderly. Renewable or 'alternative' fuels, such as methanol / ethanol (either of which offsets just a fraction of the total pollutant load) and water (which, when energy is applied to it via electrolysis, can be the source of portable hydrogen which burns cleanly in small engines), may one day provide the energy necessary to propel modern society. But for now, progress is measured in small yet meaningful increments, with hybrid vehicles marking a good start…

Walking and Biking: Walking and biking improve the health of our environment as well as the individual. Installing bike racks, storage lockers, and showers can help considerably. Be creative with funding by involving local bike shops and other small businesses. For example, the public bike racks in Princeton, New Jersey, were donated by a local bike shop.

Mass Transit: Most metropolitan areas have the benefit of a broad bus system, and often of a well-developed light-rail system as well. Your institution can be a resource for people interested in using these systems, as well as an advocate for their expansion and their affordability (often through interfaith coalitions such as the Industrial Areas Foundation, Gamaliel, DART, and PICO). Meanwhile, learn what subway / light rail / Metro station and bus routes are closest to your facility and to your population centers -- and always have bus schedules available for callers and visitors. Most mass transit systems offer additional services for citizens with disabilities, or the elderly; familiarize yourself with the local options. Increasingly, various locations in the U.S. offer FlexCar and ZipCar programs for short term (hourly use) driving needs, often connected to the bus / subway system.

Carpooling: High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes were developed to encourage people to carpool, with employers adding other incentives such as reduced-rate parking and "up-front" spaces for carpool vehicles. Other benefits of carpooling include less driving (work) per person, monetary savings from using less fuel, less damage to air quality, and the joy of a more social experience on the way to work or school. Religious institutions can encourage carpooling to share trips to the place of worship and religious school. Those synagogues and other facilities located in denser neighborhoods, or where overflow parking is a sore spot with neighbors, might consider "HOP" -- High Occupancy Parking -- where the nearest few rows of spots are "reserved for vehicles carrying two (three?!) or more people."

Vehicle Maintenance: This applies directly to any vans or cars the synagogue might own, but is also here as the basis for projects the youth group, sisterhood, men's club, or

34 social action committee might sponsor, along the lines of "clean it up, all the way from home to shul and back." First, read your owner's manual. It outlines recommended maintenance intervals, product specifications, and operating procedures, and also explains the emission control system's warranty. Contact the manufacturer or a local dealer to obtain a copy of the manual if you do not have one. Some items need regular checkups and periodic replacement: air filter, vacuum and coolant hoses, oil, oil filter, fluids, belts, etc. Keep tires inflated to the recommended pressure to minimize tire wear and maximize fuel economy (this alone can make a difference of one to three miles per gallon). To find out about the savings associated with fuel-efficient vehicle use, visit the Fuel Cost Calculator.

New Resources: Texas Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Study National Transit Database Annual Report EPA Small Engine Emission Standards EPA Green Vehicles Guide EPA Transportation and Fuels DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration EPA/DOT Best Workplaces for Commuters

Greener Transportation: U.S. transportation sector emissions are one of the most significant contributors to the growth of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere (the cause of global warming) as well as local air pollution. Lessening our driving can be an important component of a synagogue greening strategy. Options include:

Carpooling: Carpooling sites include AlterNet rides and Carpool World. Also a new group called Space Share has begun working with synagogues on carpooling for the High Holy Days and other high-traffic times.

Car cooperatives: Use of more efficient vehicles: hybrid vehicles, and other innovations. Write to the automakers telling them that as a matter of conscience and of faith, you want to be able to choose more fuel-efficient vehicles than are now on the lot.

Alternative Transportation: bicycle, walking, mass transit – you can even advocate as a shul for better bus service in the neighborhood near the synagogue, and elsewhere.

Compost: Adapted from resources assembled for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, November 2002:

Composting / Gardening: Composting is a vital part of sustainability – it diverts organic waste from the waste-stream (landfills or incineration), and converts it into healthy soil. Composting can be incorporated into the synagogue setting fairly easily. The Germantown Jewish Center in Philadelphia uses the dirt produced by their

35 composting to plant an Israel garden on the grounds of the synagogue. Gardening can also be an important way to connect the synagogue to its environment. Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Pittsburgh has one of the country‘s most extensive Biblical gardens. Additional resources for composting include:

The U.S. Composting Council, a trade and professional organization promoting compost. Earth 911, an organization dedicated to providing information on backyard composting Mastercomposter, a web site that gives information on bins, tools and many other issues. It can connect you to the master compost program nearest you and answer your questions via its message board. EPA‘s composting web page provides additional background information on regulations, educational web sites, and publications. Adapted from COEJL Program Bank, “To There It Returns: Compost” (a 45-minute interactive, educational program for all ages)

1) Collecting “trash” ---15 minutes

Take the children outdoors. With gloves or small plastic bags on their hands for safety reasons, have them collect items that have been used before (candy wrappers, leaves, apple cores, "garbage"). Ask them to also collect some soil and leaves or grass clippings. When you return to class, have the children talk about what they have collected and how these things have been used by people, plants, or animals in the past, before becoming "garbage."

2) Studying cycles --- 15 minutes

Read the following verse from Ecclesiastes:

"All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place from which the water flows, there it returns." (Ecclesiastes 1:7)

Ask participants to discuss briefly what it means for the water, or for other organic material, to return from where it came. Take a look at the recycling symbol; why was it chosen?

Discuss some of the following points:

What is "garbage?" Is it good for anything?

Discuss what "biodegradable" and "compost" mean. (Biodegradable: human-made material that can break down into small, organic parts with the aid of natural weathering processes and bacteria. Compost [noun]: the rich organic material created when materials such as leaves grasses, manure, and food, are broken down by bacteria;

36 can be used as garden fertilizer; [verb]: to prepare material so that it will become compost)

What parts of our garbage could be "naturally recycled" (composted) and returned directly to the soil (leftover food, clippings, other organic materials)? What parts need to be sorted out and recycled in other ways (aluminum, glass, plastic, paper)?

What happens to garbage that doesn‘t decompose and isn't or can't be recycled? (It can remain garbage for millions of years!)

3) Making the compost --- 15 minutes

Cut the tops off the plastic bottles and punch a few holes in the sides to let the contents breathe. Make two sorts of bottles. In one, layer the bottle with the soil, the food, leaves, and more soil. In the second, put non-biodegradable trash, such as candy wrappers, metal, etc. Stir the contents of each bottle, and set the bottle on a tray to catch the water that drains out. Date the bottles and place them in a warm place. Label which bottle has what type of "garbage" in it. You can have the children draw the recycled symbol and place it on the bottle.

Ask the children what they think will happen in the bottles. Check the bottles periodically over the next weeks and months. After about two months, the contents of the bottle with food should turn into a rich compost that can be used as fertilizer in a garden.

4) Next steps --- ongoing

This composting experiment can be used to start an ongoing composting and recycling program in the synagogue, or to kick-off the planting of a synagogue garden. See the other programs in this section for more details. Most gardening stores and many local nature centers will be glad to help you learn how to compost on a larger scale. Vermiculture (worm keeping) is another option. Worms are clean, don‘t smell, easy to contain and highly portable.

Gardens: Adapted from the COEJL Program Bank: “Starting an Urban Garden: Peah Gardens / Corner Plots”

The two parts to this program -- (1) the actual setting up of a synagogue garden and (2) advocating, through the synagogue, for urban gardening in your area -- are basically independent of each other, although a synagogue with its own garden tends to be a more effective advocate for urban gardening. (Note: A nearby church or other institution might be interested in doing this project cooperatively, thus easing the burden on both groups.)

In either case, the tradition, from Leviticus (19:9-10), of leaving the corners of fields unharvested to that the poor can gather fresh food in dignity is in important underlying motivation for a synagogue‘s involvement in gardening. You may wish to study this text, or Mishnah Peah, before starting on a gardening project, and a sign with a quote from Leviticus designating your gaden as a "Peah Garden" is a wonderful way to publicize your garden.

1) Starting a Synagogue Garden

If your synagogue owns any unpaved land, you have all you need to start a synagogue garden. Before planting, you should plan on how food harvested from the garden will be distributed. Will synagogue members carry the harvest to a local food pantry? Is the synagogue located centrally enough so that you can invite poorer members of your community to harvest what they need directly? Does the synagogue run its own food pantry or have plans for starting one in the near future?

Next, access your human power resources. Will students from your schools be involved in a regular basis? (Make sure they study the text from Leviticus!) Is there any teacher or other staff person willing to supervise the students‘ gardening efforts? Do you have any gardening experts in your congregation?

Finally, draw up a realistic budget. How much will you be able to spend on seed? Soil? Fertilizer? Mulch? Garden equipment? Water? A representative from a local gardening store will most likely be happy to come out and speak with your gardening committee to recommend appropriate plants and equipment.

Once your planning is complete, you should have a reasonable idea of the size of garden you want to start with and the difficulty of crops you want to grow. (Remember that you can always expand next year if your garden is a success!) Try to emphasize organic pest control (e.g., using ladybugs) and, whenever possible, tie the garden into synagogue composting efforts (see ‖Compost‖ program).

When you are ready to harvest and distribute the food from your garden, you might think about contacting the local Jewish and secular press – synagogue gardens typically receive very positive coverage. Assess your successes and failures.

2) Promoting Urban Gardening

As satisfying as a synagogue garden can be, it is sometimes even more satisfying to be part of an effort to promote urban gardening in your area. In an urban garden, a city, some other governmental entity, or a private donor lets interested people, typically poor residents, use a plot in a designated piece of land to garden. Urban gardens typically turn the eyesores of vacant lots into sources of neighborhood pride, even as they help poor families improve their nutrition and save money.

To promote urban gardening in your area, first find out what efforts are already under way. If an effective coalition of civic groups and local government representatives is already in place, you may simply want to join in. If no such coalition exists, you may want to find allies, such as churches in predominantly poor African-American or Hispanic-American neighborhoods. Environmental Justice groups also may join your cause.

To be truly effective, the designated piece of land must first of all be easily accessible to its target audience. It must be large enough to give small plots to all, or at least many, interested people. The land should be appropriate for gardening; it should receive proper amounts of sun and shade, and the soil itself needs to be relatively free of toxins found in some urban soils. Finally, there must be some relatively easy way to water the plots.

Some urban gardens have faced theft problems. Again, the Levitical tradition can help. Many gardens put up a fence around the plots of the gardeners. Some land lies outside the fence; everyone who has a plot has to donate some time to working this communal land. A sign is posted on the communal land explaining the tradition of leaving the corners unharvested and inviting all who are in need to take what they need from the communal land.

Lawn Equipment: Believe it or not, one conventional gas-powered lawnmower pollutes as much in an hour as forty late-model cars. Though we use them far less, it turns out that lawn care equipment accounts for as much as five percent of American air pollution. Among these pollutants are high levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds -- all implicated in human as well as environmental health. (And to top it off, lawn and garden equipment users inadvertently add to the problem by spilling 17 million gallons of fuel each year while refilling their outdoor power equipment -- more petroleum than spilled by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska.)

As of 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency had implemented a regulation that establishes emission standards for small spark-ignition engines of 25 horsepower (19 kW) or less. These newer engines will cut emissions by two-thirds or more -- but that‘s still not enough. If your synagogue grounds absolutely require gas-powered equipment, make sure it‘s a four-stroke motor, rather than the woefully inefficient two-stroke (which mixes gas for power with oil for lubricant, burning neither one well or cleanly).

Best of all, you can employ electric alternatives, both cordless-rechargeable and corded (electricity coming through the grid, though still causing considerable pollution, is vastly more efficient than trying to power portable equipment through a tiny motor). This is an absolute must for leaf-blowers, trimmers, and other light equipment. Electric push- mowers are both cost-competitive and effective for smaller lawns; for larger lawns, new golf-course style riding-mowers are pricier, but worth it.

Make your synagogue a good neighbor, and a good citizen of Earth, by going electric for all your lawn care needs.

A conventional lawn mower pollutes as much in an hour as 40 late model cars. -- source: Air Quality Management Division, Los Angeles & Orange Counties, CA

―On the links, zero-emission riding mowers are making it possible for some Southland golfers to tee off earlier. Ransomes Cushman Ryan, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based manufacturer, has developed an emission-free, battery-powered riding mower to trim golf course greens. The electric mower runs for up to three hours on one charge, enough to trim 18 greens. Because they are quiet like electric cars, course operators can run them before dawn without disturbing neighbors. This allows avid golfers to begin play at sunrise and local golf course business owners to improve their bottom line with additional greens fees for that early morning use.‖ -- Air Quality Management Division, Los Angeles & Orange Counties, CA

PURCHASING & PROCUREMENT

. Purchasing . Paper . Light Bulbs . Cleaning Supplies . Appliances . Coffee . Kitchen

“You are what you buy…”

Every synagogue uses paper … nearly every synagogue has computers, printers, phones … and most synagogues have kitchens and offices and whole buildings which go through supplies on a weekly basis. These choices may seem small, or far removed from any ethical impact or relevance to Jewish teachings. But in fact, such daily choices as these are where our environmental impact can be most pronounced.

Paper is a fine place to start – what kind do you use, for what task? Does the paper you buy have a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content? Have you figured out how to reduce the amount of paper you use, reuse what you can, and recycle the rest?

The easiest thing to do, yielding the greatest financial and energy savings, is to replace old incandescent lightbulbs with ultra-efficient alternatives, like compact fluorescents and LED‘s. If your facility hasn‘t done this yet, do it now!

And what about cleaning supplies? What lurks in the janitor‘s closet has a direct bearing on the health of your indoor air, as well as that of the larger ecosystem. Learn about alternatives -- just as effective, often less expensive, and far less toxic.

Among the most important choices that synagogues make concern appliances. Always look for the Energy Star label! Learn why, and how much of a difference it can make, here.

And social justice meets environmental sustainability in that most common caffeinated commodity, coffee – never buy anything but Fair-Trade, shade-grown, organic beans! It may be the only ―kosher‖ alternative.

Depending on how your synagogue handles the oneg or kiddush, the kitchen is a place where many resources come in, and much trash goes out. How can you reduce the environmental impact of what goes on in the shul‘s kitchen and social hall? Explore ideas here, including some which have been tried and tested in synagogues like yours.

FORESTS

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to save forests

By reducing paper consumption, and recycling the paper that we do use in our synagogues -- as well as our schools and workplaces and homes -- we can follow the law of bal tashchit (which is derived from a biblical verse about saving trees), save money and resources, and limit further depletion of creation.

Reduce

. Use e-mail instead of paper memos; reduce the number of messages that you print out. . Set the default switch on your photocopier to double-sided or attach a friendly reminder on the machine. . Avoid making a habit of using disposable plates and utensils.

Reuse

. Reuse paper that is clean on one side for in-house drafts, notes and photocopies. Reuse cardboard boxes of the right size to keep a stack of such reused paper, clean side up, near printers and copiers. . Conduct research online and at libraries rather than ordering lots of written materials. . Share periodicals with associates instead of receiving multiple copies; make newspapers available in common areas.

Recycle and Buy Recycled

. Recycle office paper, newspapers, cardboard, magazines, colored paper and scrap wood. Make sure you‘ve done the research to know what goes where. . Buy copier paper, paper towels, tissues, and toilet paper with at least 50% "post- consumer recycled content." The higher the post-consumer content, the greater the amount of materials that have been through the entire recycling process - and the greater the savings of precious natural resources and energy. This, called ‗closing the loop,‘ is the most important part of recycling.

Background information and resources for recycling include:

. Coop America's WoodWise Program: everyday forest friendly tips . Global Recycling Network: recycled-content product information . National Recycling Coalition

What's the state of recycling in your area? Call your state waste management agency (usually ‗Department of Environmental

Protection‘ or ‗Department of Natural Resources‘). Local or statewide environmental groups can also help with this: most areas have Audubon and Sierra Club chapters, as well as unique groups like ―1000 Friends of…‖ Even the information pages of your local phone book may have recycling information. It‘s worth spending a little time to find out what works, so that literally tons of materials can be taken out of the waste stream.

Even More Ways to Save Paper

1. Take your name off direct mail lists. 2. Use both sides of paper - for writing, copying and printing. 3. Buy recycled paper processed without the use of chlorine: Neenah Paper (recycled paper - environment section), Conservatree - Paper for the Environment. 4. Recycle used paper. 5. Make smaller documents – print two on each sheet of paper and cut it in half. 6. Use old envelopes, brochures & mailers that are printed on a single side for scrap paper. 7. Reuse wrapping paper. 8. Unused envelopes that are glued together can be separated! They will open right up once they come under a hair dryer or simply place them in a microwave for a minute. 9. Use handkerchiefs/cloth napkins/cloth towels instead of tissue paper/paper napkins/paper towels. 10. If you must use paper napkins or towels, use only one at a time instead of grabbing a handful. 11. Use a canvas bag for lunches and shopping. 12. Buy used books – Advanced Book Exchange, Half.com. 13. Use telecommunications and computer media whenever possible. 14. In Microsoft Word, go to File/Print. In the lower right-hand corner, find the Zoom box. Change the Pages per Sheet selection to 2 or 4 pages. 15. Send e-cards – Care2.com, Blue Mountain.

Lightbulbs

***Start here!*** If there‘s one simple act that every facility can and should take, it‘s switching over its light sources. Incandescent bulbs, which have hardly changed in design since Thomas Edison invented them well over a century ago, dissipate the vast majority of the electricity flowing into them as heat rather than light. Halogen lights are only marginally more efficient, but burn hotter (and more dangerously) still. But compact fluorescent bulbs shine on the horizon like so many points in a Seurat sustainability scene. Call them bal tashchit bulbs, for how they help us follow the Jewish law prohibiting unnecessary waste!

In one fell swoop, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL‘s for short) cut electric use by fully 75% -- that‘s halfway toward the Maccabean efficiency ideal, where one unit of oil went eight times longer than expected in the classic Hanukkah story. And if you‘ve previously had or heard of bad experiences with CFL‘s, know that they‘ve come a long way in recent

43 years. Some things to look for are T-8 ballasts (over the older and generally less favorable T-12‘s), full-spectrum light, and true compactness to fit into most fixtures. CFL‘s cost a fair bit more than incandescent bulbs -- often about $5 each -- but pay for themselves over and over again in the form of lower electric bills, greater longevity (up to 10 times longer), less maintenance time and costs to switch the bulbs, and even lower air conditioning bills, since the A/C has to run that much harder to compensate for the incandescent bulbs‘ heat. Source: US Department of Energy

New developments are taking place all the time. LED (light emitting diode) bulbs are already on the market, and constantly improving in the quality of their light; they make compact fluorescents look like electricity guzzlers by contrast. But here‘s the one thing that every synagogue and communal structure simply must do: install LED exit signs. These standard-issue red or green light ―exit‖ boxes, by law, have to be on 24/7. But the inefficient incandescents in most of them will burn out every few months, creating a safety issue not to mention a constant janitorial concern -- and a constant stream of fossil fuel emissions and high utility bills. The LED signs only use about ten percent as much energy, saving dozens of dollars annually. They pay for themselves within about a year, and continue to generate environmental and financial savings for a decade or more. Click here for more information.

Cleaning Supplies

This is a simple section. The ―cleaners‖ we often purchase are actually quite ‗dirty‘ in terms of their impact on human and ecological health, yet non-toxic alternatives are everywhere. The health risks are greatest for the janitorial staff who breathe and touch the cleaners repeatedly each day, but they can linger to affect the children and adults of the congregation, as well. And once they go down the drain -- or worse yet, once the bottles and leftovers are discarded into a landfill or dumped into a sewer -- they can have dreadful effects on everything and everyone downstream.

Non-toxic alternatives can be found in any number of places, but start in your house. Basic items like vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, hot water, and elbow grease will go a long way in a lot of situations. Other substances like bleach or borax, when used in small quantities, are still a lot less harmful -- and often more effective! -- than the ammonia- and-other-chemical-based products that we buy on the shelf. A good place to start for this and other daily environmental alternatives is Care2.com, which offers a list of options to choose from. Clean up the clean way!

Appliances

U.S. and Canadian environmental agencies have long cooperated to make our appliance shopping easy. Prominent on every major appliance is the ―EnergyGuide‖, a big yellow sticker with a spectrum showing the range of electricity consumption (measured in kilowatt-hours or KwH) for similar products. You want to buy something at the low end of the spectrum -- it‘s that simple. And the US EPA‘s Energy Star program makes it even

44 easier by putting its trademark blue Energy Star label on anything at the top of its class. Think of it as a ―hekhsher,‖ a seal which says that the appliance in question has been studied, and is fit or ‗kosher‘ for you to use.

A typical home can save as much as 30% on its energy bills by switching to Energy Star- certified products. Synagogue savings are rarely so dramatic (numbers like that can only be attained through the HVAC system, and sometimes the lighting), but making sure that all appliances are Energy Star will definitely help. The technology for most of these is about the same as for their less efficient competitors, which means that the prices are about equal, too. That means, sadly, that many consumers are not yet prioritizing energy efficiency when choosing a product. But for us it means that we can get incredibly efficient appliances from the get-go at no premium, and still enjoy serious savings every month on a lowered electric bill!

Nearly every category of appliance now has Energy Star products in it. Refrigerators are perhaps the most important place to start, since they account for so much electric use; in synagogues, often computers and their accessories are the next-biggest source of potential savings (be sure that monitors, especially, bear the label).

Coffee

If there‘s a clear ―eco-kashrut‖ emerging for food and drink, it starts with coffee. This ubiquitous substance -- by some calculations the world‘s second-most commonly traded commodity -- is produced by millions of people throughout the equatorial and tropical world, and consumed by millions more across the globe, but especially in affluent societies like North America. The wages, working conditions, and quality of life of these millions of workers is on the line; so is the ecological health of large swaths of land in some of the planet‘s richest ecosystems. ―Fair Trade‖ is where social and environmental concerns meet head-on, and intertwine thoroughly.

Quite simply, bearing the fair trade label means that the pickers received a fair wage for their efforts; most fair trade coffee is also ―shade grown,‖ meaning that the coffee beans grew on indigenous plants beneath the intact canopy of the native rainforest (rather than coming from the new engineered strains of open-sun coffee plants which grow on huge clearcuts of former forest), as well as ―organic.‖ Look for all three labels in choosing your brew, or it might be ‗treif‟ (unkosher, at least ethically speaking).

Because it‘s better for workers and the environment, fair trade coffee will cost more than the standard drip-grind stuff you buy in huge tins, which tastes ‗fair‘ at best. The good news, however, is that organic shade-grown fair-trade joe -- which is almost always quality coffee -- costs about the same as any other good gourmet coffee. Vendors like Trader Joe‘s or Starbucks offer various blends, some fair trade and some not, all at the exact same price. And in bulk, when purchased directly from national distributors who specialize in supplying churches and synagogues, the price can go down to $5/pound or

45 less. It tastes much better than the ‗standard‘ stuff for not much more, but avoiding the bitter ethical aftertaste of the ‗unfair trade‘ brews is priceless.

Coffee is a good place to start, but not to end up. TransfairUSA, the leading certifier of fair trade coffee, already covers tea and cocoa as well. And environmental and social concerns conjoin on all kinds of consumable goods; following the fair trade logic to its end might suggest purchasing locally-grown organic produce and the like. However far you can or choose to go with it, think about what‘s fair for Creation and what‘s fair for God‘s children when deciding what to brew.

See www.transfairusa.org for more, including the following overview:

Fair Trade Overview Fair Trade is an innovative, market-based approach to sustainable development. Fair Trade helps family farmers in developing countries to gain direct access to international markets, as well as to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. By learning how to market their own harvests, Fair Trade farmers are able to bootstrap their own businesses and receive a fair price for their products. This leads to higher family living standards, thriving communities and more sustainable farming practices. Fair Trade empowers farming families to take care of themselves - without developing dependency on foreign aid.

The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees: A fair price The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that farmers and workers received a fair price for their product. The Fair Trade price means that farmers can feed their families and that their children can go to school instead of working in the fields.

Quality products By receiving a fair price, Fair Trade producers can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality. The Fair Trade producers' traditional artisanal farming methods result in exceptional products.

Care for the environment Most Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea and chocolate in the US is certified organic and shade grown. This means that the products you buy maintain biodiversity, provide shelter for migratory birds and help reduce global warming.

Kitchen Styrofoam has become something of a symbol of everything wrong with modernity. A Styrofoam cup is made from refined oil shipped over from the Persian Gulf or from under some wilderness area, used for just 5 or 10 minutes, and then hauled away to a landfill where it will sit for 1000 years or more. Eco-kashrut practitioners ask ―what‘s kosher about that?!‖ And indeed, the mere presence of Styrofoam at shul is enough to make many folks turn away, writing off the community as one which ―doesn‘t get it.‖

The truth is actually somewhat more complex; neither paper nor plastic cups are much better, and depending on how and where it‘s set up, a system for washing reusable cups can waste a lot of energy, water, detergent, and other resources. But the point remains: what goes on in our kitchens and social halls is a reflection of our values, and needs to be taken seriously as such.

Some key decisions about kitchens have to be made when the shul is designed -- if there‘s no room for an industrial-strength dishwasher or for the storage of many dishes, then there may be no way to trim a synagogue‘s paper or plastic profligacy. But a huge number of choices lie ahead of every synagogue, even those who rent their facilities. A few ways to cut down on the amount of disposable ware used at shul include:

. Buy simple, reusable plates -- believe it or not, 3-for-$1 heavy plastic plates may be a top choice, not only because of price but because they‘re unbreakable, and re- washable hundreds of times over. Simple glass plates may be preferred by communities which follow traditional kashrut. . How to wash those plates? (1) a heavy-duty dishwasher, just like the caterers would use, but staffed either by janitors or by volunteers. (2) do-it-yourself: less formal communities might set out four pails of water (rinse/scrape, warm soapy, warm rinse, rinse) along with sponges and dishtowels, and ask everyone to wash their own plates, cups, and cutlery. This can be a great community-building exercise, too! . Or, make your own. Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation has long been known for its onegs, a full vegetarian lunch every Saturday for every shul-goer. When it rented from a JCC with minimal access to a kitchen and no dishwasher, they found a company which made reusable picnic plates with lids -- and had hundreds of them made, stamped with the synagogue logo and the line, "Adat Shalom Eats Well." These (which cost only $2 or $4 each to make) were sold as a fundraiser for environmental enhancements for their under-construction building. Folks would bring them from home, along with their talit and other prayer accessories, and take them home to wash themselves. You can do it too, with any local supplier or even with store-bought picnic plates and your own computer- generated stickers or lables. . Encourage people to bring their own plates, cups, and cutlery, if kashrut standards allow for it. Make sure that your mashgiach (kashrut certifier) is sensitive to environmental concerns, which are a value rooted in halacha no less than the details of meat and milk.... At the very least, put up signs encouraging folks to take just one cup, and refill it as necessary... . Other impacts need to be considered, as well. Make sure that you have easy-to- follow recycling set up for the many glass jars, metal cans, and plastic bottles that come through the kitchen. Think carefully about paper towels -- are they necessary at all, and if so, can you use the 100% recycled ones which are now readily available? And perhaps above all, think about where food leftovers go -- these can be ―recycled‖ in a harmonious marriage of environmental and social responsibility by establishing a relationship with a local food pantry or shelter, and donating leftovers on a regular basis. See groups like ―America‘s Second Harvest‖ for more information about this.

Finally, consider the impact of what‘s on the menu. Given the environmental impact of food production and transport, what we eat is ultimately more important than how or where or on what we eat it. Organic food, wherever possible, is decidedly preferred. And a 6/30/04 COEJL e-bulletin entry summarizes the huge implications of choosing a milchig / dairy / vegetarian over a fleischig / meat menu:

GO GREEN: The Jewish Case for Going Veggie Jewish teachings are filled with lessons of compassionate treatment of animals. Moses and King David were deemed suitable for leadership by showing respect to their sheep; Rebecca was chosen as Isaac's wife because of her kindness in watering Eliezer's ten camels; and according to the Ten Commandments, animals as well as people are to rest on the Sabbath day (Ex. 20:8-10, Deut. 5:12-14; the Talmud places relieving an animal from pain or danger above rabbinic ordinances about the Sabbath). In contrast to this traditional compassion for animals (tsa'ar ba'alei chayim), most conditions under which animals are raised for food today and quite different from any the Torah might have endorsed. Moreover, the meat industry wastes enormous amounts of resources: one pound of hamberger meat requires hundreds of gallons of water, and ten to sixteen pounds of grain (along with pesticides, erosion, etc). And some of 3.25 acres of land are needed to produce a one-year food supply for a meat-eater. Food for thought! See www.jewishveg.com for more info. If you aren't about to go 'cold turkey‘ vegetarian, consider at least buying Kosher organic meats. But either way, consider these environmental facts -- and these Jewish values -- when choosing what's for lunch. Some additional resources for greening the synagogue kitchen follow, including the details of how one Philadelphia community weaned itself from using disposable kiddush cups:

Organic Food Organic Consumers Association promotes food safety, organic farming and sustainable agricultural practices in the U.S. and internationally Alternative Farming Systems Information Center -- a general web resource on organic agriculture, community supported agriculture. Fair Trade, Shade-Grown Organic Coffee -- non-certified coffees come with exploited workers, denuded ecosystems, and toxic legacies; only fair trade is, perhaps, ―kosher.‖ ECO – KIDDISH at Germantown Jewish Center, Philadelphia from Betsy Platkin Teutsch, Fall 2003

How did synagogues serve kiddush before the creation of cheap, disposable plastics? This is a question like "what did folks do before photocopying?". There is a simple answer: we washed dishes. (And the answer to the xerox mystery is: we used carbon paper and mimeograph machines). Once labor became more expensive than using disposable plastic and paper eating utensils (because the environmental costs of resource consumption is not born by the producer or consumer of the product, but by the whole planet), it has become increasingly rare for food and drink at any event to be served on real plates, with real cups, and actual silverware.

Minyan Dorshei Derekh in Mount Airy, part of the Germantown Jewish Centre (Philadelphia, PA), decided to look into reviving the ancient ways of plates and glasses. We found 2 oz glass cups at IKEA for 37 cents a piece - they are designed to hold tea lights, but are ideal individual kiddush cups. They have flat bottoms and stack, so they are easy to transport and run through the dishwasher. We also bought heavy plastic (dishwasher safe) small plates and cups. The entire purchase, for a typical setup for around 50 people, was about $75.00. We also purchased a plastic tote bag and a plastic bin to collect and transport them.

We put out the plastic bin and people place their soiled cups and plates directly in it. Our challenge is that our space has no sink or dishwasher. We have established a system of toranut (rotating service) whereby a volunteer (we have six, so it only requires doing this chore once every six weeks) takes responsibility for bringing the dishes home and returning them by the next week. The dishes typically constitute one full load on the dishwasher's shortest cycle. For a community with an adjacent dishwasher, the logistics would be far simpler. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. We initiated this in order to be less wasteful, but in fact this "Kiddushware" is much more aesthetically pleasing. People experience it as a significant Shabbat upgrade.

Think of how many tens of thousands of plastic kiddush cups are thrown away each shabbat by congregations all across America! This is a simple way to make not just an environmental statement, but have an environmental impact.

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PROGRAMS

. Programs . Israel . Program Bank . Social Action Committee . Holidays . Global Climate Change . Water Issues . Biodiversity

" Lishmor v'la'asot u'lkayem, to guard and to do and to uphold..." - Ahavah Rabbah prayer in the Shacarit/ morning liturgy.

The Talmud argues as to which is more important, study or action. The final answer incorporates both halves of the equation: ―study, because it leads to action.‖ This can also be translated as conditional: ―study, when [and only when!] it leads to action.‖ The section of the COEJL website you are now looking at is all about action.

At or near the top of most synagogues‘ agendas is Israel. Just as COEJL’s national program has recently expanded to include a more direct focus on Israel – , so can your congregation’s Israel program or committee incorporate environmental themes into its education about and support of our ancestral land, people, and nation.

Programs of all sorts, naturally, can be found at the COEJL Resources Page, which contains hundreds of programs within it. Many of these are purely educational (addressed in the next sections of this website), but some touch upon every aspect of synagogue life. Search using keywords like ―social action‖ or ―fundraising‖ or ―Sukkot‖, and you‘ll find plenty of ready-to-go programs as well as ideas, texts, and activities which you can incorporate into your own programming.

In most synagogues, the group with direct responsibility for environmental programming would be the Social Action Committee. We strongly encourage that ecological concern should not be limited to one committee alone! Eco-Judaism should pervade every aspect of congregational life. Still, the social action committee is a logical locus of certain environmental programs, examples of which are given here.

HOLIDAYS! So much of congregational life centers around the cycle of the year and the seasons. While some festivals have obvious ecological significance (Sukkot, Tu B‘Shvat), others might at first seem to have no environmental meaning whatsoever (Purim, Tisha B‘Av). But in fact, every special day on the Jewish calendar is somehow connected to Earth and Earth-keeping. Look up sermons and text studies of the holidays in COEJL's resources page.

Finally, around various environmental issues you can find a whole series of special programs which integrate adult and child activities, education for all levels, sermonic or liturgical elements, social action initiatives, and more. These bundles of programs-and- more are available around Global Climate Change, Water Issues, and Biodiversitty.

Israel

Libi b‟mizrach, v‟ani b‟sof ma‟arav -- ―my heart is in the East, yet I am in the uttermost West,‖ lamented medieval poet Yehuda HaLevi. To a greater or lesser extent, this describes all of American Jewry today -- even as we go about our lives with our own community‘s challenges to face, we also face east, looking toward our ancestral homeland which continues to tug at our heartstrings. Wherever we may fall along the Zionist spectrum, American Jews cannot turn away from the reality of, the challenges with, and the connection to Israel.

This is true for Jewish environmentalists in at least equal measure. In fact, given the centrality of Israel to Jewish conceptions about the sacredness of land -- it was, after all, in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) where the Jewish ‗land ethic‘ first took root -- environmentalists are if anything more likely to feel the connection. So how do we act on it? As a posting on the COEJL website offers:

Top 5 actions you can take to help protect Israel's environment

1. Educate yourself and your community about the challenges facing Israel's environment. 2. Host a fundraiser. Grassroots Israeli environmental organizations need your support. 3. Organize a synagogue or youth group environmental mission to Israel. Visit sites of environmental interest and concern, meet activists and learn about their campaigns. Brainstorm ways that you can join and support local programs. 4. Volunteer your time. Before a visit to Israel, inquire about volunteer opportunities and internships. Or ask environmental groups how you can help from a distance. 5. If you are a student, consider attending a semester or year at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies

That‘s a great start, and the list only continues to expand. Work with the folks on the Israel committee (if there is one; otherwise, with anyone who is interested in the subject) to incorporate environmental themes into your synagogue‘s Israel programming, including the adult education component. Learn about the draining of the swamps, the planting of inappropriate species, and the overuse of water when studying Israel‘s challenges and shortcomings; balance that with lessons on 1950‘s successes in protecting wildflowers, and current successes in curbing pollution through legislative and judicial activism. When you study Jewish connections to Israel, start with the Eretz/ land itself; there's a year's worth or more of Talmud Torah curriculom on this subject alone. And once familiar with Israel and the environment in classical and

51 modern times, get active! A whole host of Israeli environmental groups -- and a new raft of trains-continental initiatives spanning both sides of the Atlantic -- could use your involvement and support.

Some helpful resources include: The Flip Side of Zionism's Success: Israel's Environmental Woes. This article by movement-builder (and American immigrant) Alon Tal summarizes the ecological history of the Zionist enterprise; written a few years ago, it now also summarizes his important 2002 book on the subject, Pollution in a Promised Land: An Environmental History of Israel, which is required reading for all eco-Zionists.

A huge number of links to Israeli environmental organizations can also be found on the COEJL website.

ISRAEL

The Flip Side of Zionism's Success: Israel's Environmental Woes by Alon Tal Dr. Alon Tal is the director of the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura and the board chair of Adam Teva V'Din: The Israel Union for Environmental Defense.

Naomi Shemer's 1967 song Jerusalem of Gold spoke of "mountain air as pure as wine." Today, a thick haze hovers over the Holy City. Scientists predict that Jerusalem's air will soon be as polluted as that of Mexico City.

Zionist farmers have made the desert bloom, and Israel has become an exporter of world-class produce. Yet pesticides now contaminate groundwater, taking a serious toll on the health of both wildlife and Israeli farmers.

The State of Israel has enabled the ingathering of millions of Jewish exiles. Yet urban sprawl threatens to pave over much of the promised "land of milk and honey."

And when the bridge over the Yarkon River collapsed during last summer's Maccabiah games, one athlete drowned - and three died of toxic poisoning. Today, many of the nation's rivers are full of sewage and its wells draw upon a legacy of industrial pollution and excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides.

To understand Israel's present environmental reality, one must dig even deeper than its 50 years of political independence. Israelis were the players who acted out the rebirth of a Third Jewish Commonwealth in the land of the patriarchs. One hundred years of unyielding Zionist determination and achievement unwittingly wrote an ecological script that is, unfortunately, in many ways a tragedy.

The story goes back to the days in which the modern Jewish state was envisioned by Theodore Herzl, who brought the inclinations and aesthetics of a lifetime in Vienna to his only visit to Palestine in 1900. After witnessing "the barrenness of the land" firsthand, Herzl called for the planting of 10 million trees in Palestine.

The "green" shades of Herzl's vision were, however, overshadowed by other more pressing tasks of nationhood. He wrote of enormous water development projects that would tap the sources of the Jordan River, mining operations around the Dead Sea, and a "high-tech" industrial economy that would rival Switzerland's watch trade. All of these predictions came to be. But even the prophetic Dr. Herzl did not grasp that the Zionist movement he spawned would also produce a severe environmental crisis.

Israel's ecological reality reflects a curious hybrid of "third world" geometric population growth with "first world" industrial technologies. The country is small and, for geo- political reasons, will only grow smaller. Yet its citizens already live in one of the most crowded nations on Earth. Resource scarcity, in particular water, has always been a salient issue; massive pollution only makes it more acute. As development spills out of Israel's major cities into the countryside, farmland and scenic vistas are supplanted by suburban neighborhoods and malls. Open space, perhaps the most valuable natural resource, is rapidly being destroyed.

Israel's environmental crisis is particularly ironic because Zionism was born with an unusually strong naturalist inclination. Poets and pioneers waxed romantic about the new relationship between Jews and the natural world. Zionism began as a quest to redeem a land that showed the cumulative impact of two thousand years of foreign domination and neglect. Deforestation, erosion, and unregulated hunting left a landscape that was typically described as desolate.

European Jewish settlers brought with them a commitment to afforestation that made trees an integral part of national aspirations. The Jewish National Fund's afforestation projects took on astonishing dimensions after independence. Today, ecologists are critical about the type of pine trees selected as well as the dense patterns of planting. But the ten percent of Israel's territory designated as forests reflects a uniquely Zionist commitment to land reclamation and to "greening" the Jewish homeland.

Ironically, another JNF project, the draining of the Hula swamp, set the stage for Israel's powerful conservation movement. Protests by a group of scientists and naturalists could not stop the draining of the remarkable wetlands and preserve its ecosystem. But the efforts led to the creation of a tiny Hula Nature Reserve (Israel's first) and in 1953 galvanized the group to form the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI).

Israel's 2,600 plant species (including 130 which are endemic to Israel) and almost 700 vertebrates (including 454 bird species) prompted Herbert Samuel, the first Commissioner of the British Mandate, to praise "the diversity of a continent within the

53 area of a province." The richness in flora and fauna reflects a unique biological juncture where Africa meets Europe and Asia.

By the 1960s, trends suggested that precious little would be left of Israel's biodiversity. When the SPNI successfully lobbied the Knesset to establish a Nature Reserves Authority, its members were uncharacteristically pessimistic about successfully preserving the tiny nation's diverse ecosystems.

Yet, through a far reaching effort, almost all extinctions have been stalled and some species are recovering. The Nature Reserves Authority's first director, Avraham Yaffe, was a retired general. His "war" to save Israel's wildlife became an extension of his previous battles to defend Israel's borders. The Israeli public was highly supportive. They flocked to the nature reserves and heeded the calls to stop picking the wild flowers that had once blanketed the country's meadows each spring. The flowers made an astonishing comeback as did several animals, such as the fallow deer and the oryx, which were reintroduced into a reserve system that now covers over twenty percent of the country's land.

Alongside this success in creating nature reserves, Israel's rapid population growth and industrialization led to severe ecological degradation. The millions of Jews who heeded the Zionist call to settle in Israel needed jobs, and the industrial infrastructure that met this challenge was given a carte blanche by government decision makers. Indeed, the largest (and often, most polluting) industries were government-owned, such as the electric company or oil refineries.

Despite obvious environmental problems, it would take until 1989 for Israel to establish a Ministry of Environment. Even then, it suffered from a paltry budget and inadequate statutory authority. While many of the larger polluters eventually began to ratchet down their emissions, the growing range of small sources was much more difficult to regulate. And as the economy became more privatized, it created powerful incentives that continue to drive ecologically destructive development.

Both grassroots and national organizations began to spring up during the 1990s to fight the scourge of urban pollution. Organizations like Adam Teva V'Din: The Israel Union for Environmental Defense, a public interest law group, sued polluters and lethargic government agencies with some success. But it will take more radical change in regulatory orientation, greater commitment of resources, and creative policies to reverse Israel's unsustainable trends.

Zionism's basic impulse to resettle the land of Israel and open it up to Jews everywhere was successful. It is time, therefore, for Zionism to face its ecological legacy. And just as international Jewry has been a partner in establishing the State, it too needs to play a part in the next stage of Zionist evolution.

Israel holds its valleys, seashores, mountains, and towns in trust, not only for Jews, but also Christians, Moslems, Bahai'i - indeed, for all humanity. The River Jordan, the hills and valleys of the Galilee, the Judean Desert and Jerusalem resonate with spiritual meaning for people around the world. While much of this landscape remains today, it faces increasing and unprecedented threats from rapid population growth, economic interests, and even development spurred by the peace process.

Jews around the world have always had a unique bond with the environment in the "Holy Land." During the first half of this century, it was manifested in the "blue box" of the JNF. Planting trees was as much a vehicle for expressing solidarity with Zionist aspirations of stewardship as it was for the ingathering of exiles. Today, the same impulse endures. It should be expressed as solidarity for Israeli environmental efforts.

Just as Zionism is actively striving for a more mature, symmetrical relationship between Israel and the Diaspora, so too Zionism must also redefine its approach to the environment. Jewish individuals and communities throughout the world need to be part of this process-for they and their children are among the most important stakeholders in the Zionist dream and experiment to bring security, peace, and health to the Land of Israel and all of the people and creatures that dwell therein.

Program Bank

Whatever you may be looking for among Jewish environmental resources, the COEJL resources page is the best place to start. Here you will find literally hundreds of useful resources.

Since it's all about programs, we can't break it down any further here. We invite you to peruse the program bank, searching for what interests you by any of the means available.

Social Action Committees

Though we speak of social action committees, we mean social action programs -- only some shuls have the former, but every synagogue with the interest and resources to do sustain tikkun olam will have the latter. Here we address how folks within your congregation might band together around environmental protection as a particular form of tikkun olam. within But first, a definition and an aside. "Tikkun Olam" was a techincal phrase for most of Jewish life, meaning "peaceful coexistence with other peoples" in the talmudic era, when a form of it was enshrined in the third paragraph of the Aleinu prayer in the daily liturgy: "l'taken olam b'malkhut Shabbai," that we pray for the time of fixing the world, under Divince sovereignty. In Isaac Luria's imaginative 1570's reconstruction of Kabbalah, tikkun olam came to symbolize human power and responsibility within the

55 cosmos -- the world is broken, and even Godself is in exile; it's up to us, through right action and belief, to re-unify God, and in doing so perfect the world. Only in the latter part of the 20th century did the phrase come to be synonymous, in some circles at least, with social action -- i.e., Jewish efforts to make the secular world a better place. This is background worth knowing, so that we can understand and explore the nuances and the authentic Jewish roots of our commitments. But it also helps us better appreciate that there is no more indigenous or oblivious implication of "tikkun olam" than literally "helping to fix/save the world." Ecological consciousness and action flow naturally from a connection with this powerful, resonant strand of Jewish tradition.

So today, our social action or tikkun olam committees become one logical place for congregation-based environmental programs. But as with so much else in the social action arena, it is vitally important to try to root this commitment in the larger congregational culture and program, and not let it be 'ghettoized' as just a social action concern. Suggestion Number One for social action leaders is to work closely with other congregational committees and initiatives, and to present them with the relevant information to make meaningful action in their own departments (starting with the resources in this very section of the COEJL website for adult and younth education, Israel programs, rabbinic resources, finance perspectives, buildings-and-grounds concerns, etc). That does not at all rule out the Social Action Committee taking bold steps on its own, or even the creation of an Environment or "Green Shalon" (sub- )committee, but it does suggest a clear direction for your efforts.

This related to our second suggestion -- pursue co-sponsorship of events, and joint programming, to help ge the message across. Make it easy for those whose hearts are in the right place, but who simply don't have the time or inclination to do the research on their own. As was said in 1992 when the first Jewish-community-wide statement on the environment was issued, "Our agenda is already overflowing. Israel's safety, the resettlement of Soviet Jewry, anti-Semitism, the welfare of our people in many nations, the continuing problems of poverty, unemployment, hunger, health care and education, as well as assimilation and intermarriage--all these and more have engaged us and engage us still. But the ecological crisis hovers over all Jewish concerns, for the threat is global, advancing, and ultimately jeopardizes ecological balance and the quality of life. It is imperative, then, that environmental issues also become and immediate, ongoing and pressing concern for our community." So bring a speaker on the environment in the middle east to the Israel committee. Line up the Rabbi or a lay leader to teach a course for Adult Education on Judaism & Ecology. Show an eco-Jewish curriculum to the director of the Religious School. And so on...

Third, try to navigate the frequent division between direct service and social change, by doing both. Environmental programs are "safe" when it's in the gemilut hasadim or 'good deeds' category: a bunch of congregants doing a park or streambank cleanup, or adopting a stretch of local highway and occasionally picking up litter, or going for a Jewish-themed hike (everything you'd need is in Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, by Matt Biers- Ariel, Deborah Newburn, and Michal Fox Smart; NY: Behrman House, 2000), or perhaps joining the local "weed

56 warriors" through nearby parks or environmental groups, yanking out invasive non- native vegetation from local ecosystems. Such programs are important, and worthy, and may well constitute the majority of your environmental portfolio-- but they do not address root causes, or lifestyle choices, which are creating our huge environmental problems in the first place.

"Intermediate" programs might include selling compact fluorescent bulbs at Hanukkah-time; creating a Tu B'Shvat "environmental pledge card" for members to commit to particular actions; or establishing a hazardous waste drop-off site or a "trade-in-your-toxic-mercury-thermometer" campaign at the shul before Pesach, while folks are busy with their spring cleaning and hametz-eliminating. And of course, there's the realm of advocacy -- getting involved as a shul or a committee therof in local issues (life better mass transit in the neighborhood of the shul, or siting of local industries or pollution sources); holding letter-writing or petition campaigns (perhaps to corporate leaders, asking for more environmentally sound options to choose from); and so on. While sometimes fraught, such actions can strenghten a community's sense of purpose even as they represent a positive step toward environmental protection. All the major religious movements are on record supporting both general and specific environmental positions; consider getting involved in COEJL (and/or URJ, JRF, USCJ, and UOJC) initiatives around particular national concerns, as well.

Fourth, be unafraid to join in coalitions. Since so much of religious environmentalism happens on an interfaith basis, ecology can be the springboard for the coming together of congregations across the faith spectrum -- visit the National Religious Partnership for the Environment among many other resources, for examples of such rich and rewarding work. This is also a good place to engage the larger secular and civic world -- without becoming just the "Sierra Club at prayer," we can work closely with local environmental groups and initiatives, offering our uniquely Jewish and spiritual and ethical approach even as each lends the other additional credibility in our joint efforts.

Finally, be patient. Whether true or not, many of a typical synagogue's more cynically inclined members will see the "Social Action-niks" as the outside-oriented fringe of the congregation, or as liberal do-gooders, or other such stereotypes. Stay involved in all facets of synagogue life; be active in shul leadership; prove by example that you're in this for all the right reasons. You may begin slowly, but once you have the confidence of key leaders within the community, the sky is the limit.

Holidays

The holiday cycle presents a nearly infinite number of entry-points for Jewish environmental programming. In most synagogues, it is precisely the communical celebration of holiday where most ecologically-oriented programs find their hook. Among the most popular are taking up themes of sustainable (local, organic) agriculture at Sukkot; energy conservation at Hanukkah; general environmental concerns and

57 awareness at Tu B'Shvat; and consumption issues (as well as hazardous materials, as a sort of eco-hametz) at Pesach. But in fact, all the Jewish holidays -- and the Jewish calendar itself -- have strong environmental connections, and could be the springboard for all kinds of eco-programs.

Resources abound; references to specific holdiays are found throughout the COEJL website, and far beyond. The COEJL resources page, contains a huge number of holiday- specific programs. Click HERE to view holiday-specific resources.

What you can do: In the Synagogue/School:

Programs and Projects for Congregations, Schools and other Jewish Institutions

Torah - Education

Study Jewish texts. This text study can be copied and used in the following settings:

. Shabbat Torah study. . Youth group educational programs. . Tu B'Shvat seder or programs. . Religious school classes. . Social action or environment committee meetings. . Board Meetings before considering a plan to reduce an institution's energy use.

Avodah - Jewish Observances

Hold a Tu B'Shvat seder. Click here to find a model Tu B'Shvat seder.

Organize a field trip to a local nature center, protected wildlife area, or threatened ecological site. Include study of texts and your favorite Jewish ecological readings.

Launch a new project at a Tu B'Shvat event, such as an Operation Noah project to protect a local habitat, a tree planting project, or an environmental evaluation of your synagogue or school.

Organize an Eco-Shabbat. Select a particular Shabbat in the Spring to make an "eco- Shabbat" with speakers, text study, meals with local organic produce, walks, and outdoor services.

Gemilut Chasadim - Taking Action

Become an ENERGY STAR CONGREGATION: The Environmental Protection Agency has created a program to help religious institutions become more energy efficient, reducing operating costs while helping to protect the environment. They can provide all of the information and technical assistance you need to become an energy- friendly place. 1-888-STAR-YES

Conduct an energy conservation evaluation (a great youth group project). Most synagogues, schools, community centers and other buildings use far more energy than necessary, providing numerous opportunities to both reduce carbon emissions and save money. The first step is to conduct a thorough energy evaluation, measuring the amount of energy and money wasted by your building and researching how much you can save by retrofitting the lighting, heating, insulation, etc. Contact the Interfaith Coalition on Energy for resources directed at religious institutions.

A comprehensive energy evaluation process for 7-10th graders can be found in Environmental Action: Energy Conservation (to order: 800.872.1100). And your local power company probably provides assistance to customers trying to reduce their use of electricity and gas.

Also helpful is The Green Shalom Guide: A How-To Manual for Greening Local Synagogues, Schools, and Offices produced by Shomrei Adamah of Greater Washington.

Plant trees on synagogue or school grounds, along city streets, and in other appropriate areas. Use native species. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, provide habitat for animals, and provide shade to keep buildings cool. Contact your local parks department and TreePeople, which offers resources for tree-planting programs, including The Simple Act of Planting a Tree: Healing Your Neighborhood, Your City, and Your World.

Advocate for change. Involve your city in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign.

Mayim Chayim: The Living Waters

Programs and Projects for Congregations, Schools, Other Jewish Institutions, and Families

Torah - Education

Study the texts listed under ―water‖ in Garden of Choice Fruit and other Jewish environmental sources.

Explore your habitat. Organize a tour to a local river, stream, or wetland. Invite your rabbi to lead a text study before, during, or after the hike.

Avodah - Jewish Observances

Tashlich/Rosh Hashanah: On the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah many Jews participate in a Tashlich service, when we cast bread crumbs, representing our sins, into a flowing body of water. As the crumbs are washed downstream, we imagine that so too are our sins. Use Tashlich as an opportunity to reflect as a community on "environmental sins" and renew commitments to ensuring that only wastes as benign as break crumbs are cast into our waters.

Write your own prayers for Tashlich, Sukkot, or any other occasion. Express your connection to God through creation, your hopes for ecological healing, and/or your intentions to help heal the world.

Organize a Sukkot program on organic agriculture. Educate your community about the ecological and health effects of conventional agriculture and introduce local organic farmers to your community. Consult with your county agricultural extension office.

Have a party modeled on the ancient custom of Simchat Beit ha'Soei'vah (literally, "the rejoicing at the place of the water-drawing") at a lake, river, or reservoir. Include singing, dancing, eating, and learning about how to protect your local water resources.

You can even do the well-known dance to ―Mayim,‖ from the Prophet Isaiah (12:3), which translates as ―and you shall draw water in joy from the wells of salvation – hey, water, joyfully.‖

U-shavtem mayim b‟sasson, mi‟ma‟ayan‟ei ha-yeshuah (x2) Mayim mayim mayim mayim – hey mayim b‟sasson (x2) hey hey hey hey – mayim mayim mayim mayim mayim mayim b‟sasson (x2)

Gemilut Chasadim - Taking Action

Adopt a river, lake, or stream. Organize regular clean-up opportunities and monitor water quality. Contact your local watershed association (or state department of environmental conservation).

Organize a "clean sweep" operation to rid homes, schools, and synagogues of toxic chemicals. Pick a convenient Sunday in the Spring or Fall when people are involved in cleanup projects. Provide information about non-toxic alternatives. Contact your local wastewater treatment facility, department of public works, sanitation district or the Water Environment Federation.

Organize a group letter writing effort on a specific water issue. Set up a permanent "advocacy center" in your synagogue or organizational headquarters which includes materials needed for letters, fact sheets on the issues you wish people to address, important contacts, and letter-writing tips. Contact COEJL's Washington Representative for help.

Organize coalitions with local conservation groups and other congregations to address water pollution, wetlands protection, or drinking water issues. Support wetlands and watershed conservation by participating in local land use decisions and advocating for the maintenance of wetlands as open space. Contact the National Wildlife Federation to get started.

BIODIVERSITY

Operation Noah Program Ideas

Endangered Species are God's creatures. Millions of Species are in danger of becoming extinct in the next half century. Noah was a righteous person in his generation. Shouldn't we be in ours?

COEJL INVITES EVERY JEWISH INSTITUTION TO

"And of every living being of all flesh, two of every sort shall you bring into the ark, to keep them alive with you..." --Genesis 6:19

JOIN OPERATION NOAH

Jewish tradition teaches us that as humans we are part of the created world, inextricably joined to the myriad other creatures which God created and called good. And the tradition also teaches us that we are unique among the creatures, created in the Divine image. The Jewish people has for millennia understood itself to be responsible for healing the fractures of our imperfect world, that we as Jews are called to serve as "partners in creation."

What does it mean in this generation for us to be partners in creation? What fractures in the integrity of the world are we compelled to heal?

In this generation, the ecological integrity of God's world is at risk. Wetlands, forests, rivers, lakes, coral reefs and many other whole ecosystems are threatened by pollution,

61 human encroachment, and resource extraction. Such destruction threatens human health and well-being. And many species that depend upon these systems are in danger of being extinguished forever from the face of the earth. Unless we change our course, humankind will destroy millions of species in the next half-century.

The Torah tells us that when God inundated the earth with a flood, Noah and his family protected at least two of every animal species, enabling all of God's creatures to make safe passage from one era to the next. In this generation, we too must ensure safe passage of God's creatures from one era to the next by protecting their habitats. The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) invites every Jewish institution to join Operation Noah. Let it not be said of the generation of the late Twentieth Century that we allowed Creation to unravel. Join us in serving as God's partners in the fulfillment of the first covenant::

Behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you, of the birds, of the cattle, and of every wild animal of the earth with you... Genesis 9:9

TAKING ACTION: TORAH, AVODAH, GEMILUT CHASADIM

Upon three things the world stands: on Torah, on Avodah (Divine Service), and on Gemilut Chasadim (Deeds of Lovingkindness). Pirke Avot 1:

TORAH: LEARNING LEARNING TORAH AND THE WAYS OF CREATION

. Study the story of Noah and the lessons we might learn from it about our responsibility to all creatures, particularly endangered species. . Study Genesis chapters 1 and 2, Job chapters 38-40, and/or Psalms 104, 105, 147, and 148, focusing on what the Bible teaches us about Creation, the relationship between creatures, and the role of humanity in creation. . Study the Torah portions of Bereshit, Noah, Beshallah/Shabbat Shira, Mishpatim, Shmini, and Behar considering what these Torah portions teach us about our relationships to and responsibility for other creatures and ecosystems. . Get acquainted with your habitat! Organize field trips for your synagogue and/or school to local nature centers and museums to learn about local ecosystems and species. . Learn about which animals, plants, and ecosystems in your area are endangered.

AVODAH: SPIRITUALITY AND PRAYER CELEBRATING THE CREATOR AND GOD'S CREATION

. Dedicate one Shabbat or holiday to the theme of endangered species and habitat (Parshat Noah, another Parshah, Tu B'Shvat or Passover). . Hold a Tu B'Shvat seder during which you learn about endangered species, especially those that live in forests. . Include readings in your Passover seder on the plagues human action is now bringing to creatures and habitats around the world. . Hold services outdoors. Study Psalms 104, 105, 147, and 148. Experience the songs of creation.

GEMILUT CHASADIM: TAKING ACTION BUILDING AN ARK

. Adopt an endangered habitat, such as a local forest, wetland, or river. Volunteer as a youth group, synagogue, social action committee, etc. to clean up an impacted area, plant native species, and restore habitat for birds or other native creatures. Make an annual contribution to a nature reserve or a habitat conservation organization. . Adopt a threatened or endangered species. Educate your members and the larger community about the species. Take actions to protect the species, such as changing institutional practices, protecting habitat, and engaging in advocacy to protect the species' habitat. . Educate members about what they can do at home to protect habitats (e.g. products to avoid and alternatives which don't harm lakes, rivers, and other habitats.) . Create habitat. Plant native plants on the grounds of your synagogue, school, JCC, or your own home. . Make a commitment as a synagogue, youth group, classroom, sister/brotherhood, etc. to make the week of Passover a "Week of Simple Living." Take on one thing during that week that will enable you to "take up less space" in the world and leave more space for other creatures. . Join or create local coalitions to protect endangered habitats by getting involved in local, state, and national planning which affects habitat protection. For information on local churches involved in environmental efforts, contact the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE).

YOUTH EDUCATION

. Youth Education . Program Bank . Teva Resource Center . Secular Enviro Resources . Youth Groups . CFL Sales

“V‟shinantam l‟vanecha, and you shall teach / rehearse these [words] to your children‖ – Deuteronomy 6:6, also appearing in the V'Ahavta paragraph of the Sh'ma.

Tradition teaches that immediately after establishing a cemetery and a mikvah - necessary for life cycle events on any given day - Jewish moving into a new area would establish a school right away. School before shul - since a future generation of shul-goers has to be trained, that education must begin right away.

Kids, much more than adults, tend to have an innate bond with other creatures, and with the environment. We can tap into their sense of wonder, their steep learning curves and insatiable curiosity, and their love of nature. In doing so, we not only further these noble attributes (and help them continue into adulthood!), we also deepen their Jewish identities by linking ‗Judaics‘ with what they already know and love about the world around them.

While we encourage you to build whole curricula around Judaism and ecology, we also know the value of integrating ecological concerns into other topics. Hebrew classes can go outdoors, and spend extra time learning teva/ nature vocabulary. When teaching Bible or Talmud, illustrate your points by looking at key environmental texts from our sacred literature (e.g. Lev. 25, Deut. 19, etc.) - so that even as students are focused on classic texts, they also learn about the environment. In Israel education, be sure to dwell on the concept and reality of Eretz Yisrael, the land itself, and the challenges that the land (and air and water and people and animals and plants) face. If you do a "Jewish views on current events" program or course, contrast environmental news with Jewish ecological texts and teachings. And so on...

In addition to the areas listed below, many other educational resources are scattered throughout the COEJL website -- some are cross-listed here, but you‘ll find even more by searching the whole site. Meanwhile, think about how you can integrate visuals, snippets from radio interviews, texts, questions, exercises, art projects, and more into your lessons, making them interesting as well as relevant. And here, you should find plenty of starting-points:

Without a doubt, begin with the COEJL Resource page, which contains over a hundred programs or curricular elements for children of all grades. Search using keywords from

―6th grade‖ to ―water‖ to ―Talmud‖, and you‘ll find plenty of ready-to-go programs as well as ideas, texts, and activities which you can incorporate into your own lesson plan.

Numerous Jewish-environmental curricula are floating around out there, though far too few are easily findable or searchable on the web. The first organization‘s site to check out is the Teva Learning Center , where you’ll find a whole host of useful resources. Register for Teva‘s Teachers‘ Resource Center and find dozens of ready-to-print-and-use activities. Teva also inherited Shomrei Adamah‘s excellent publications, including the full-length curriculum book, Let the Earth Teach You Torah.

Some of Teva‘s suggested resources are secular in nature, and are found on environmental organizations‘ websites. In fact, many Jewish environmental educational programs draw heavily from the works of Joseph Cornell and other nature educators, and from the models pioneered in Nature‘s Classroom and other such secular initiatives. Some secular resources can be easily spiced up with a few Jewish texts; most experienced Judaics teachers can find the authentic Jewish language with which to express common ecological-Judaic values.

Another helpful resource is the Jewish Nature Center, - where you can find a whole host of hands-on activities, perfect for informal education or to jazz up learning in a classroom setting.

Resources specific to Jewish Youth Groups are harder to come by. Obviously materials for grades 7-12 found in the formal education resources above can be used in youth groups, especially the interactive activities they contain. One program from our Christian brethren (literally – it started with the Church of the Brethren, and then extended to all Protestant groups, with other faiths encouraged to join as well) is both a fundraiser, a consciousness-raiser, and a difference-maker: selling compact fluorescent bulbs. And of course, each youth movement (Young Judaea, Habonim, BBYO, NFTY, USY, NCSY, Noar Hadash, etc) has its own programmatic resources; look in archives for ‗tikkun olam,‘ ‗ecology,‘ and so on.

As the field of Jewish environmental education and action grows, educators and activists are on the lookout for new and creative programs to bring to their communities. We are pleased to provide a virtual gathering place for Jewish environmentalists to share successful programs and helpful resources.

Browse through the program bank and see the range of curricular materials, programmatic resources, sermon ideas, and action initiatives that have been implemented by leading Jewish environmental activists and educators around the world. Adapt programs to your needs, and submit your own programs so that others can learn from your successes!

US Environmental Organizations

. Audubon http://www.audubon.org/ . Beyond Pesticides http://www.beyondpesticides.org/ . Clean Water Action http://www.cleanwateraction.org/ . Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://birds.cornell.edu/ . Defenders of Wildlife http://www.defenders.org/ . Earthday Network http://www.earthday.net/ . Earthjustice http://www.earthjustice.org/ . Eco-Home Network http://www.ecohome.org/ . EnviroLink (on-line listing of environmental organizations) http://www.envirolink.org/ . Environmental Defense http://www.edf.org/ . Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) http://www.epa.gov/ . Environmental Working Group http://www.ewg.org/ . Evangelical Environmental Network http://www.creationcare.org/ . Friends of the Earth http://www.foei.org/ . Green Restaurant Association http://www.dinegreen.com . Greenpeace http://www.greenpeace.org/ . Healthy Schools Network http://www.healthyschools.org/ . Inside Passages (spiritual Alaska retreats) http://insidepassages.com/ . League of Conservation Voters http://www.lcv.org/ . National Geographic Society http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ . National Library for the Environment http://www.cnie.org/nle/ . National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/ . National Religious Partnership for the Environment http://www.nrpe.org/ . National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) http://www.nrdc.org/ . The Nature Conservancy http://www.nature.org/ . Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) http://www.pesticide.org . Physicians for Social Responsibility http://www.psr.org/ . Rainforest Action Network http://www.ran.org/ . Scorecard (pollutants in your community) http://www.scorecard.org/ . Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org/ . solcomhouse http://www.solcomhouse.com/ . Sustainable USA http://www.sustainableusa.org/ . United Nations Environment Programme http://www.unep.org . U.S. Public Interest Research Group http://www.uspirg.org/ . Web of Creation (faith and environmental site) http://www.webofcreation.org/ . Wilderness Society http://wilderness.org/ . World Resources Institute http://www.wri.org/ . World Wildlife Fund http://www.worldwildlife.org/

Youth Groups

Whether you‘re a youth group participant, an adult who sits on the synagogue‘s youth committee, an adviser or clergyperson, or just an interested observer, know that youth groups are a great place for environmental consciousness and action. If anything, previous generations have messed up the planet and risked the functioning of its systems, and it‘s up to today‘s younger folks to clean it up and restore its integrity. This is no small feat, but with the energy and optimism and idealism found in most Jewish youth groups, "im tirtzu, ein zo agadah" -- if you will it, it is no dream (Theodor Herzl).

Most major youth movements -- NFTY, USY, NCSY, Noar Hadash, Young Judaea, Habonim-Dror, BBYO, and so on -- have booklets, program banks, and extensive web resources; search each other‘s, as well as your own, for good ideas. A few basic ideas might include:

. Lead eco-themed services/tefillot, just for your youth group or led by you for the whole congregation. . Go on a field trip to a local nature center, park, wetland, forest, etc. . Take a Torah Hike! Have different people prepare and share by looking up ―trees‖ or ―birds‖ or ―weather‖ in Jewish thought. One great resource is Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, by Matt Beirs-Ariel, Deborah Newbrun, and Michal Fox Smart (NY: Behrman House, 2000). . Staff a "l'dor vador - protect future generations" booth with environmental information, at a synagogue program fair, or other activitiy (even a Purim carnival!). . Lead an activity that raises consciousness and funds at the same time -- a bake sale is the old-fashioned equivalent, but for a great example of an edgier and more relevant program: selling compact fluorescent bulbs!

Youth Group CFL Bulb Sale

Tired of bake sales to support the youth group? Try a bulb sale! Our friends at the Church of the Brethren came up with a great program, easily adapted for synagogue use, where you purchase energy-efficient bulbs in bulk, and then sell them at synagogue on a busy Sunday. Members will be happy to pay your mark-up, which becomes youth group profit, while getting something that‘s not only useful but deeply rooted in Jewish values.

This might be especially effective around Hanukkah time, by linking ―Maccabean energy efficiency‖ (where one cruse of oil lasted eight miraculous days) with contemporary parallels such as compact fluorescent bulbs (which use only one-quarter of the energy of regular bulbs to produce just as much light). Play up what great gifts bulbs can make!

Remember the educational component of this program, for the youth and for the membership at large. Many people don‘t know the secular basics about energy use and pollution, and most have probably never fully considered the Jewish view on this (see

Why is Energy A Jewish Issue?), so be sure to raise consciousness along with raising funds.

ADULT EDUCATION

. Adult Education . Adult Ed Models . Study and Action Guide . Shiurim

―Lilmod u'l'lamed, to learn and to teach" - Ahavah Rabbat, Shacarit liturgy

Adult education – one of the most important aspects of any congregational program – is a vital place for synagogue-goers to engage with environmental matters. One approach is to simply offer a series (ala ―Judaism and Ecology‖ or ―Intro to Eco-Judaism‖) of sessions on various environmental themes in Jewish texts and values -- for that, feel free to use or adapt the many shiurim / lessons that you can download here. Another approach would be to develop one theme well, such as ―the Environment in Israel‖ or ―nature in Jewish thought‖; some of the examples of what other shuls have done, found below, may be helpful here.

While we encourage you to plan as many environmentally-themed adult education classes as you can, we also know the value in integrating ecological concerns into other topics. A class on Bible or Talmud can illustrate its points by elaborating on key environmental texts in our sacred literature (e.g. Leviticus 25, or Bava Kama 80a) – so even as participants come to learn classic texts, they also learn about the environment. A class on Israel can, and arguably should, dwell on the concept and reality of Eretz Yisrael, the land itself, and its challenges. A class on rituals around death and dying can use ―returning to nature‖ and ―simplicity‖ as leitmotifs. And so on…

In addition to the areas listed below, many other resources for adult education are scattered throughout the COEJL website; some are cross-listed here, but some are not. Think about how you can integrate visuals, snippets from radio interviews, texts, questions, exercises, and more into your lessons. And here, you should find plenty of starting-points:

Perhaps the best place to start is the COEJL resources page, which contains dozens of various programs geared toward adults, plus hundreds more geared toward children (which, though less relevant, might offer useful insights or gleanings).

Perhaps you will find models of synagogue environmental adult education programs helpful. Here are various approaches taken by synagogues doing eco-adult education – not all are easily replicable in every shul, but each may offer a useful template to consider. Among them is one movement‘s draft attempt at combining study materials, texts, policies, and resources into one statement.

Finally, and perhaps most usefully, we offer here a series of Ready-To-Go Shiurim (Lessons/Classes), listed below – make the most out of them; make them your own; make them real in the life of your community. Zil ul'mad - go and learn, and go and teach!

VALUES Responding to the Environmental Crisis as a Community Celebrate a Lo-Watt Shabbat

TEXTS Basic Sources and Values Genesis 1 Bal Tashchit

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN JEWISH THOUGHT Why Energy is a Jewish Issue Relating to Resources Sustainably Judaism and Energy Passing the Test of Wealth Jewish Resources on Climate Change Biodiversity in Jewish Thought

Program Bank - Adult

Many of the adult education resources you‘re looking for are right here, at the COEJL Resources Page! Here you will find literally hundreds of useful resources. If you search by category, and enter ―adult‖ in the box for ―audience,‖ you will find over 100 programs. Just typing in the keyword ―adult‖ yielded the following couple dozen adult education resources (as of June 2004, that is -- new materials are going up, and old ones are being edited, at any given moment). And should these tremendous resources not be sufficient, even more programs on the Program Bank are geared toward school-aged children; you may find ideas or texts or exercises there which would work with adults, as well.

A Congregational Approach to Greening the Holidays Utilize the Jewish tradition's rich teachings to cultivate a cleaner, healthier, and more inspiring environment.

Advocating for Environmental Legislation To empower congregants to write letters to their elected officials concerning environmental legislation and to connect them with the Jewish community‘s advocacy efforts.

Discover Spring A nature walk to learn all aspects of spring including early wildflowers, foliage, increased bird activity and emerging insects.

Enviro-Sukkoth Program: Part 1 of 5 - Introduction This program combines traditional teachings about the holiday (including rituals) with contemporary environmental/agricultural themes (such as organic food and genetically- modified organisms).

Enviro-Sukkoth Program: Part 3 of 5 - Children's Module This is the children's module for Enviro-Sukkoth. The goal is to provide the children with an entertaining experience that teaches about Sukkot and contemporary agricultural theme.

Enviro-Sukkoth Program: Part 4 of 5 - Discussion Papers This includes the discussion papers for the Organics discussion and for Genetically Engineered Food discussions

Environmental Prayer Service The following is the service that we performed with Native Americans at Haskell Indian Nations University, in honor of the neighboring wetlands that was threatened by development.

Hanukkah Energy Scavenger Hunt For grades 5-8, learn and play about conserving energy!

Omer for the Earth An exercise to realign our thinking a little: an environmentalist's guide to counting the Omer - an Omer for the Earth.

Omer for the Earth Day: A Family Program This programme was created to remind us of our reliance on and responsibility to our natural environment. This program is written for families but can also be adapted for classrooms.

Recycling and Waste Reduction Program To involve the synagogue in recycling, either through joining with an established program or through its own efforts, and to use the synagogue as a ―role model‖ to encourage congregants to recycle at home.

Roots and Branches: Section 4 - Ticket to Ride Cutting down on your driving is a mitzvah in more ways than one.

Small Steps Toward Environmental Tikkun For Home & Synagogue Some simple environmental acts that you can do at home and the synagogue.

Suggested Tu B'Shevat Events Inspired by Traditional Sources 4 Activites for Tu B'Shevat inspired by the Bible

The Lorax - by Dr. Seuss It is never too early and never too late to learn about ecology. The book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is a great tool to use for all age groups.

Tree History Make connections between the social and natural world by conducting an interview about trees. Use that information to create a mishpaha atz, a family tree!

Adult Education Models

Examples of Adult Education on eco-Judaism abound. For sustained courses, we offer here two examples. One, a six-part series on Israel, Judaism, and the Environment, took advantage of local individuals (in the DC area) with knowledge about specific parts of this question, and wove their presentations together so that participants ended up with a fairly full picture of the topic. The other, a ground-breaking initiative marrying sustainable agriculture with urban Jewish life and education, has Manhattan Jews picking up organic produce from a Long Island farm while learning about Judaism and the Earth:

II. Community Supported Agriculture at Ansche Chesed, with Hazon, NYC, 2004

Article from The Jewish Week, New York, May 8, 2004 (see sections we've put in bold, highlighting the educational elements of the project):

(05/28/2004) The Greening Of Ansche Chesed Upper West Side shul, Hazon to pioneer ‘eco-kashrut’ cooperative so Jews can go organic. Julie Wiener - Staff Writer

This summer, when Bruce Kahn heads out to pick up organic fruits and vegetables, he won‘t end up in a grocery store or farmer‘s market. He‘ll go to synagogue.

Kahn and approximately 50 other Upper West Side residents — mostly Jews — will be participating in what is believed to be the first synagogue-based ―community supported agriculture‖ program, or CSA.

Organized by Congregation Ansche Chesed, which is Conservative, and Hazon, a Jewish environmental group best known for its bike-athons, the CSA forges a partnership between eco-conscious Manhattanites and a young Jewish farmer on Long Island.

The new CSA is part of a small ―eco-kashrut‖ movement of Jews who see sustainable agriculture and compassionate treatment of farm animals as natural, modern-day extensions to traditional Jewish dietary laws. Consider the following developments in recent years:

. Two North American businesses now distribute kosher free-range organic poultry. Wise Kosher Poultry, based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and run by a Satmar mother of 11, is planning to expand to offer kosher free-range organic beef as well. . Twelve Jews in their 20s will spend this summer as ―fellows‖ on a new organic farm under the auspices of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. Fellows will combine working in the fields with Jewish learning. . A group of Chabadniks living in Amherst, Mass., founded Eretz Ha‘Chaim, a Torah- observant organic farm and co-housing community. The farm sponsors an annual festival and plans to create an educational center for children and adults. . Organic foods are becoming increasingly visible at Kosherfest, the annual kosher foods trade show. ―I‘ve heard from many [kosher foods] retailers that consumers are asking for organic products,‖ said Menachem Lubinsky, who runs Kosherfest. ―Many large retailers like Shop-Rite put their organic and kosher aisles close together with the thought that there‘s crossover.‖

Of course, not all consumers of kosher and organic foods have even heard the term ―eco- kashrut,‖ or are committed to either Judaism or the environment. The organic market has grown tremendously in recent years, aided by USDA certification and the growth of the organic-promoting supermarket chain Whole Foods.

Independent of that, kosher foods are also increasingly popular even among non-Jews. Both markets have benefited from a widespread perception that their foods are healthier.

Called ―Tuv Ha‘aretz,‖ Hebrew for ―the good of the land,‖ the Hazon-Ansche Chesed CSA is open to the public.

―This is being created within, by and for the Jewish community using Jewish institutions, Jewish language and relating to the Jewish calendar, and yet at the same time it‘s a world issue, a human issue where our food comes from,‖ said Nigel Savage, executive director of Hazon.

Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Ansche Chesed said one of the reasons he wanted to bring the project to his congregation was to foster “consciousness of the sanctity of these things I take into my body to make me alive and whole.”

―I love kashrut. It‘s terrific and important, but also can be a little obsessive and insular in contemporary life,‖ Rabbi Kalmanofsky said, noting that the CSA project may make kashrut observance more meaningful to people.

The rabbi is also hoping the project will attract those not normally interested in synagogues.

―For someone who may not associate these kinds of projects with a Jewish institution, I hope they‘ll see that people are thinking about these things in a Jewish context as well,‖ he said. ―Someone may be alienated by synagogues but think, ‗Hey, good things are going on here.‘‖

CSA members buy shares in Garden of Eve, a certified organic farm in Aquebogue, N.Y., run by 31-year-old Eve Kaplan.

From Shavuot until Sukkot, shareholders pick up packages of seasonal produce every Wednesday at Ansche Chesed. Any leftover food will be donated to local homeless shelters.

The group will host several activities at the farm, including a fall harvest festival during the week of Sukkot.

Rabbi Kalmanofsky said the CSA will heighten awareness of Judaism’s agricultural roots.

―So many of our holidays and practices are agriculturally related,‖ he said. ―We‘re not going to all go become farmers now. Obviously we‘re very urban people, but the prospect of bringing a sharper awareness of agriculture back into Jewish practice is a very positive thing for New York Jews.‖

Ansche Chesed also plans to offer text-study classes on topics relevant to the farm, and people there are also exploring ways to involve the Hebrew school and youth activities in the project.

―It‘s going to be a great role model for kids going out there in the summer,‖ Savage said. ―Not only will they be picking and planting their own food, but also seeing a Jewish farmer who‘s doing this.‖

Kaplan, a New Jersey native who holds a master‘s degree in conservation biology and sustainable development from the University of Wisconsin, started the farm two years ago with her fiancé, Chris Walbrecht.

As one who has always ―connected more strongly to the spirituality of the outdoors and nature than traditional ritual,‖ Kaplan said she is ―excited to be part of helping to bring that kind of spirituality back into modern Judaism, to bring the country to people who live in the city.‖

Rabbi Kalmanofsky emphasized that while he is encouraging congregants to join the CSA, he is not saying that conventional produce is treif, or unkosher.

―People shouldn‘t get the feeling that if they don‘t totally revolutionize their lives they‘re not doing a mitzvah,‖ he said. ―The fact that you may not be the ultimate environmentalist doesn‘t mean you shouldn‘t do the best you can. This is an opportunity for people who participate to do a little bit better, to be a little more responsible, healthier and richer in that respect.‖

But why join a CSA when organic produce is readily available at city green markets, Fairway and the new flagship Whole Foods store just 40 blocks south of Ansche Chesed?

Proponents claim that eliminating the middleman is cheaper for consumers and provides more financial stability for small farmers.

―People who join it will spend a lot less on organic produce than if they bought it at Fairway,‖ said Savage. ―And nothing goes to waste. Any food that doesn‘t get picked up on a Wednesday we‘ll take to a homeless shelter.‖

Kaplan said CSA members help preserve open space.

―Any rural area within 100 miles of a large city, particularly New York City, is under tremendous pressure to develop open land,‖ she said. ―There is a lot of pressure on farmers to sell their farms to developers. Programs like CSA‘s help to preserve farmland by providing more markets for local goods.‖

For Bruce Kahn, who works in finance developing an environmental investment fund for Smith Barney Citigroup, CSAs are a way to make friends and ―give people a connection to the farm.‖

―You almost belong to the farm,‖ he said, noting that he belonged to a CSA as a graduate student in the Midwest. ―If you want to spend a weekend doing some farm work and getting your fingers dirty, you can.‖

For more information about the CSA, go to www.hazon.org.

RABBINIC & CONGREGATIONAL PROFESSIONALS

. Rabbinic . D'var Torah Resources . Eco-liturgy . Sh'ma . Outdoor Eco-shacharit . Life Cycle Celebrations . Eco-counseling . Synagogue Administrators

―Without a vision, the people perish…‖ --Proverbs 29:18 (and see the excellent work of our NY- based bike-riding visionary partner Hazon.)

Rabbis – and cantors, program directors, para-chaplains, and others who toil in the congregational vineyards (all welcome to partake of the resources in this section of the COEJL website) – have a unique and irreplaceable role to play in the Jewish- environmental movement. Often, only you can make meaningful change possible – you‘re the people who know the most folks, who command (usually!) the most respect, and who are trusted to expound on the meaning and contemporary relevance of our classical texts and values. May you use that influence for the good of all, and for the good of Creation.

Clearly, everything that happens in synagogue life touches on the role of the rabbi or synagogue professional. We recommend that you peruse the entire ‗green shuls‘ section of the COEJL website, as even choices about building materials or heating zones or lightbulbs can be grounded in Jewish thought and values – rabbinic leadership is often best exercised here, using moral and spiritual suasion to help committees and other congregational groups make Jewishly informed choices about day-to-day matters.

Beyond those ideas and programs, here are some additional resources to aid in the most ―rabbinic‖ or ―staff-specific‖ areas of congregational life:

Sermon starters are an obvious place to start – every parasha or haftarah has some opening for environmental themes, though sometimes those themes are more apparent than others. Bereshit, Noach, Behar, and Ki Tetze are the obvious "big four," but what about the rest of the year? Here, in a resource still being assembled by rabbis and others connected with COEJL (feel free to send in your ideas!), you'll find short ideas and commentaries for numerous parshiyot, so that "every Shabbos can be Earth Shabbos." Obviously we don't reccomend giving 52 ec0-themed divrei Torah in a year -- but itsn't it nice to know you could?!

Most Jews spend most of their time in shul hearing or participating in the liturgy. Our matbay'ah tefillah / order of service happens to include within it numerous ecological themes, which can be introduced or followed up with various kavanot (intentions); many such kavanot, along with ways to elucidate the environmental themes within the liturgy, are found here. You can also go to a specific text study and resource just on the 2nd paragraph of the Sh‘ma, a.k.a. Deuteronomy 11:13-21; or employ an outdoor eco- shacharit.

Moments across the life cycle including baby namings & britot milah, bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies - are a great time to incorpoate ecological concern into the Jewish lives of our community's members. As the introduction to COEJL's "Caring for the Cycle of Life" states: "This guide will demonstate how your life-cycle celebration or simchah (joyous occasion) can provide an opportunity for you both to think about your connection with the larger web of life adn to act on behalf of all Creation. Through the planning of our ceremonies and rituals, through quiet contemplation and thoughtful conversation, and through striving to make our celebrations and observances as environmentally caring as possible, we can affirm our connection to the living world around us." ”

Another new area of religious-environmental thought is ‗eco-counseling‘ – how might environmental themes come up in the one-on-one work which is so central to clergy‘s roles? How might environmental references or images actually aid in a person‘s healing process, or their spiritual journey? This exploratory, still-under-development resource outlines a few places where personal/spiritual meets ecological/social/Jewish.

Finally, you never know when you need the beginning of an outline for a presentation – perhaps to fellow members of your own congregational staff, or perhaps for a local Board of Rabbis or Federation or JCRC or movement-based meeting. You‘ll find just that in basics for synagogue professionals ; feel free to modify it, and make it yours – just make sure you mention COEJL prominently in your talk!

Dvar Torah Resources

Every parasha -- weekly Torah portion, of which there are 54, plus special readings for the holidays -- has a potential environmental connection. While we wouldn't want to subject our co-congregants to an environmental drash (interpretation of the text) every single week of the year, isn't it nice to know that we could? A few "top parshiyot" follow, but first, to show that it can be done, we take it from the top:

Bereshit -- contrary to Rav Soloveichik‘s Lonely Man of Faith, Chapter 1 of the classic creation story does not prescribe domination of the Earth but rather englightened stewardship (see 1:31), while Chapter 2 (especially 2:15) yields a yet more radical environmental awareness.

Noah -- he was a righteous and blameless person in his generation -- and his major contribution was to protect examples of all life on Earth, so they could re-establish themselves after the natural catastrophe that human wickedness brought on -- shouldn‘t we be the same in our day, working to protect endangered species?

Lech Lecha -- kum hitalekh ba'aretz, get up and walk yourself around the land, God tells Abraham after giving him spiritual title to it. We can only truly know what is ours, and appreciate (and protect) it, when we study the land carefully, and slowly, at pedestrian rather than automobile or airplane speed.

Vayera -- the frightening ‗close call‘ of Hagar and Ishmael in Chapter 21 reminds us of the severity of natural systems such as the desert, and of the importance of clean, potable water.

Chayei Sarah -- it‘s all about intergenerationality, ledor vador, as Abraham's servant's travels in Chapter 24 to find a wife for Isaac demonstrate; what are we doing to ensure the healthy appearance of a new generations, into a healthy world?

Toledot -- again, water, which in this parasha (as in our time) becomes the occasion for strife in the land of Israel; in Chapter 26, Isaac has to re-dig the wells of his father Abraham, and contest each with the other occupants of the land.

Vayetze -- Jacob‘s classic dream is followed by the all-important awareness, which can be spoken of every spot on God‘s good Earth, as well as the site of holy dreams: ―Surely God is present in this place, and I did not know it!‖ (28:16).

And so on… the point is, there‘s an ecological ‗hook‘ most anywhere, should you want to link any given parasha to ecological concerns.

An aside: exegesis is when we read out of the text what seems to truly be there; eisegesis is when we read into the text what we wish to see in it. It's a fine line, but Judaism demands that we limit ourselves to the former. The Torah, insofar as we can speak about "framer's intent" or "historical context" is not in any modern sense an environmental book. We must tread carefully when identifying contemporary concerns within timeless text. Still, precisely because these words are holy and eternal, they should speak to the heart of each generation and each situation. Proceed with caution in eco-drashing, but do proceed.

Over time, COEJL hopes to provide ―sermon starters‖ for every parasha. These will not be full divrei Torah (sermons), but simply an annotated text or a linkage of two ideas which can get a rabbi -- or a bat or bar mitzvah student, or a lay-leader, or anyone else -- going with ways to offer an environmental observation about something in the Torah portion. That said, even thought it can be done for almost every parasha, a few stand out. Bereshit and Noah are certainly on the short list, but so are the following:

Vaera and Bo -- the plagues can be understood as nature gone awry, poisoned by human injustice and short-sightedness

Yitro -- most of the ten dibrot have an environmental angle, especially Shabbat; see also the intergenerational remission of hesed and avon (again in Ki Tisa, 34: 6-7).

Shemini -- kashrut, applying to food here, can quickly become a way of looking at the world and at patterns of consumption of all manner of things.

Kedoshim -- everything in it! Including peah, and the eco-justice connection of not standing idly by the blood of your neighbor (works for Re'eh, Deut. 15, as well).

Behar -- Leviticus 25 is perhaps Tanach‘s most ecological chapter, commanding us to practice sustainable agriculture, and linking social and environmental justice

Beha’alot’kha -- the incident at Kivrot Ha- Ta'a'vah begs a discussion of Jewish views on animal consumption and vegetarianism, and consumption in general.

Ekev -- the second paragraph of the Sh‘ma, a.k.a. Deut. 11:13-21, is among the most powerful warnings of ecological doom in all of literature

Shoftim -- the law of bal tashchit. at 20:19, becomes the basis of much of Jewish- environmental thought; S.R. Hirsch calls it "the first and most general call of God."

Ki Tetze -- the precautionary principle is learned from the law of the parapet (22:8), just one of many dicta with ecological application or significance

Nitzavim -- free will, life-and-death stakes, and intergenerational impacts all are contained within Deut. 30:19: choose life, that you and your offspring may live. .

Go and learn, and teach…

Life Cycle

Click here for information on ―Caring for the Cycle of Life.‖ While by no means comprehensive, this booklet does help us begin to envision the possibilities for transforming ceremonies and celebrations into Creation-continuing events. After reading it, you can go directly to section segments most relevant to you at the moment: baby namings & britot milah, bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies, and weddings & commitment ceremonies.