12. APPENDIX B: GREENING CONGREGATIONS DOCUMENTS

Chapter Summary

This appendix comprises many of the “greatest hits” culled from the resources that I and others have assembled at coejl.org/greensyn; it also includes other written materials that I have prepared for others to read or to hear. These are literally ‘prosaic,’ i.e., stand-alone documents, fully fleshed-out and comprehensible. That differentiates these from the text study documents / shiurim in Appendix C, which are meant as handouts for study and discussion within a live, ‘real-time’ conversation.

Introduction

Much of my time in 2003-04 went into putting together just these sorts of resources –

webpages, thought-pieces, flyers, handouts, and other resource materials which should be broad

enough to be of wide interest, yet specific enough to be helpful for individuals and congregations

who were already along the eco-Jewish path and who stumbled upon www.coejl.org/greensyn --

where many of these resources can still be accessed today. Only a handful of the 84 web memos that

I wrote or assembled are included here, along with some other pieces that I generated before or after

that year on COEJL staff; the first few are key resources which reflect the experiences of

communities like Adat Shalom and JRC.

The ethos in the field seems to be ‘share and share alike,’ and I’m delighted that some (and

now, all) of these materials are available in the public domain for other folks of faith to learn from,

add to, utilize, and ultimately supplant with their own newer compilations. Again, the memos

included here in Appendix B each carry enough explanation and context-setting to stand alone as

sources of learning; by contrast, Appendix C is made up of handouts which compile texts without

much context, and are likely to only make full sense when studied with others in a facilitated

discussion or classroom setting.271

Collection of Ready-To-Use Eco-Jewish Text Study Handouts

ENTRY TITLE DESCRIPTION

B-1 Adat Shalom’s Lessons Learned

This one-page handout summarizes a few of our key ecological enhancements, as well as our ‘lessons learned.’

We have since shared this widely; JRC’s past president recently showed me her heavily-marked-up copy from ‘04,

which informed their process.

B-2Adat Shalom’s 2002 U.S.

EPA’s Energy Star Congregation Application

Source of our “Lessons Learned,” this write-up (by committee, including member Louise Milkman, Executive Director Sheila Feldman, and myself) summarized the green commitments

embodied in our building, and won us the Energy Star Award.

B-3 Adat Shalom’s “Green” Activities as of January 2008

One member solicited myself and others (via our active list-serv) to name our current eco-activities, what we do as a

community that’s identifiably ‘green.’ This partial anecdotal list speaks to the programmatic, not architectural, realm.

B-4 JRC Green Building Policies, January 2008

Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston IL wisely got that it was not enough to occupy the greenest house of

worship in history; stringent guidelines to ensure eco-friendly practices were needed also. These are from the very month they moved into their first-ever LEED-Platinum congregation.

B-5Temple Emanuel,

Kensington MD, 2003, Enviro. Policy Statement

Another leading synagogue in the Jewish-environmental arena, a Reform synagogue near ours, created their green

policy statement years earlier; from my year on COEJL staff until JRC in 2008 (B-4), it was the best example around.

B-6Why Be a Jewish

Environmentalist, and 6-Minute J-E Intro (2 pages)

Some version of the words on these two pages has comprised my “stump speech” on the subject for literally half my life, since

early 1990 when I began the Global Walk and concomitant extended speaking tour. Here they are for all to see, my basic

internal argument for passionate Jewish environmentalism.

B-7COEJL “Greening

Synagogues” Opening Webpage

The first (as accessed, not as written) webpage of the 84 that I generated (2004) for the COEJL “Greening Synagogues” web resource, it offers a broad outline of the site, and identifies the seven major areas of congregational life on which we focus.

B-8Talking Points on Judaism and Energy, and COEJL

Greensyn “Energy” webpage

The talking points were drafted initially for internal COEJL use, but seemed so broadly applicable that they wound up on the

Greening Synagogues (‘greensyn’) site too; after that, the master “Energy” page from that site outlines individual entries.

B-9COEJL & Energy Star

“Synagogue Stewardship Action List”

A proud joint sponsorship with the EPA’s Energy Star for Congregations program, from the COEJL Greening

Synagogues website (mostly their memo plus the COEJL logo), a great summary guide to ‘low-hanging fruit’ eco-actions.

B-10 “Green Space,” An Eco-Reflection from 37,000 Feet

My personal favorite of the many pieces I’ve written, this is an original (no footnotes – that’s so unlike me!) meditation, out an

airplane window, on land-use patterns and sustainability

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concerns visible only when we consider the big picture.

B-11Environmental Justice

Reflections for www.jrf.org, Spring 2006 (3 pages)

Props to Rabbi Shawn Zevit and the under-funded national JRF (Recon. movement) office for their great springtime ‘omer’

tikkun olam initiative; through it I generated this, my only sustained eco-justice meditation, as well as “Green Space.”

B-12 Ecological Talking Points for High Holy Days, 2003

An early memo from my year on COEJL staff – nothing earth-shatteringly original, or that the scores of rabbis already

engaged in this work haven’t shared already from their pulpits, but an overview of eco-High-Holy-Day themes nonetheless.

B-13NPR “Living on Earth” 2001 radio spot on Hannukah and

Energy Efficiency

Many have connected the supposed Hannukah miracle (one day’s jar of Temple-worthy oil lasting all 8 days of rededication) with the needed cuts in our carbon & energy profile today; this

under-3-minute version made the national airwaves.

B-14 “If A Tree Falls in the Forest on Tu B’Shvat”

This brief thought-piece for the COEJL site (written as a civilian again in 2006, board member not staff-person) builds a whole eco-ethic from a classical rabbinic text about trees screaming.

B-15 “Freedom, Pharaoh, & the Plagues of Tomorrow”

This brief Passover-oriented thought-piece was written for the COEJL site before I was on staff, and I quite like it – especially the ‘edgy’ first version, untouched by then-Executive-Director Mark Jacob’s good but ‘safe’ edits for the ‘public’ (2nd) version.

B-16 “Ecology, Messiah, and Trees”

A prose-version of “Messianism and Ecology” text studies (see C-15-16), shared in ’03 with the leadership of Hillel (the Jewish

campus organization)’s “Tzedek” social justice initiative

B-17 Text (selections) from A Sacred Duty, 2007

I’ve been interviewed for various religious-environmental films, my favorite being Renewal (Marty Ostrow & Terry Kay Rocke-feller, 2008), though I loved Danny Glover saying my name in

More Fun, Less Stuff (Center for a New American Dream, 2001). Here is what I said in Richard Schwartz and Lionel

Friedberg’s 2007 polemic-with-nice-features, A Sacred Duty.

B-18 2008 NHTSA Testimony on CAFE Standards & Climate

COEJL, Religious Witness, & Sierra Club staffers all asked me to make a public comment last summer on a bit of regulatory arcana – should the government set auto mileage standards

with climate concerns in mind? – to which my summary response drawn from sacred literature was, essentially, “duh.”

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APPENDIX B-1: Adat Shalom’s Lessons Learned (drafted 2002, posted to coejl.org ‘03)

COEJL RESOURCES FOR SYNAGOGUES BUILDING GREEN:Adat Shalom (Bethesda, MD)’s 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, www.adatshalom.net; this might give you ideas. The Center for a New American Dream also briefly featured it in a video, “More Fun, Less Stuff” (www.newdream.org). 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...”

Lessons Learned: 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, 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." 

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APPENDIX B-2: Adat Shalom’s Successful 2002 Applicationfor the US EPA’s Energy Star Congregation Award (3 pages)

Contact: Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb 301-767-3333

ADAT SHALOM RECONSTRUCTIONIST CONGREGATIONBETHESDA, MARYLAND

INTRODUCTION

Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation was started in 1988, with just 19 families; the congregation has grown over the years and currently has 400 member families. After gathering in churches and other public spaces for several years, the community decided it was time for a home of our own. The Adat Shalom synagogue building was completed in April 2001, following a seven-year labor of love. Our building embodies our communal, aesthetic, ethical and spiritual values, among them our belief in our sacred obligation to preserve God’s earth.

HOW HAVE YOU REDUCED YOUR COSTS THROUGH ENERGY EFFICIENCY?

Heating and Air Conditioning

The building is subdivided into seven heating/ventilating/air conditioning zones so we can use one part of the building and leave the others unused. All zones are controlled by overridable Energy Star programmed thermostats

The rabbi's and cantor's offices have their own small HVAC units, since so often they're the only ones in the building. The rabbi at least almost never uses his, instead using passive solar heat (or avoiding it) by controlling the insulated blinds to vary the amount of sun that enters the room.

The social hall, which is the second-largest space in the building, is a passive solar space. High windows face south with an outside overhang, so on sunny days it stays warm in winter but not too hot in summer. The social hall floor is concrete with dark tiles to absorb heat.

All spaces have operable windows, used commonly throughout two to three seasons, to further minimize HVAC usage. The Social Hall and Sanctuary, the two largest spaces, have both high and low windows to create a chimney effect for natural ventilation when windows are employed.

Front doors have foyers with doors on each end, allowing less heat or cold to escape.

Lighting and other Electricity Savings

Our building's washing machine, computers, and many other appliances are Energy Star products, with commitments to purchasing only Energy Star appliances in the future as we replace any that were mistakenly not specified in the building contract.

Large amounts of (low-E, of course!) glass bring abundant daylight into the space. This was an aesthetic and spiritual decision, but also an environmental one -- while having more windows (except south-facing ones which we strategically utilize) marginally increases our energy needs, we also utilize the natural daylight such that we often don't need lights at all.

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All lights in every wing of the building except for the Sanctuary and Social Hall (and most of the lights there as well) are fluorescent, many of those being CFLs. The few incandescent lights in the Sanctuary and Social Hall are for spotlighting and effect, but are fully controlled. The lights in those areas and the lobby have twenty-four pre-programmed combinations and settings, so that we can choose the least energy-intensive program to suit a given moment's needs, amount of natural daylight available, etc.

Exterior and parking lot lights are on timers, thus minimizing their usage. These lights are fully shielded from above so that they project only downward, thus minimizing light pollution or light lost in unneeded directions.

Symbolically, but importantly, the low-wattage Eternal Light (Ner Tamid) is solar powered, connected directly to a PV cell on the roof.

Construction Materials

Many construction materials were chosen because they take less energy to produce (such as our gypsum board) or to transport. Much stone and slate was re-used onsite from the previously existing house, rather than requiring new materials to be trucked in. Local stone and wood was preferred, even to the point of only employing a thin veneer of imported symbolic Jerusalem stone on the bimah (stage).

Less specific to energy, but equally important from an overall environmental standpoint, construction materials were chosen to be as sustainable as possible. Much of the wood throughout the building came from certified sustainable forests; the rest was chosen with an eye to regions and industries and species, avoiding tropical hardwoods altogether. We employed cork flooring rather than vinyl throughout much of the building, to avoid the toxins associated with PVC production and disposal; in the social hall and kitchen, we used recycled VCT flooring, more than 80% of which is from limestone and other natural materials.

Outside facilities

We have installed a partial drip irrigation system to water the trees.

A rain sensor is attached to the irrigation timer so that the system does not come on if the soil is adequately moist. The system is timed to come on during the early morning, the best time of day to minimize evaporation of water.

During building construction, we left as many of the trees on the site as possible; today, these trees provide shade on at least two sides of the building.

HOW HAS YOUR CONGREGATION BENEFITTED FROM THE UPGRADES? FOR EXAMPLE, HAS YOUR CONGREGATION EXPERIENCED COST SAVINGS, INCREASED COMFORT, OR LOCAL MEDIA COVERAGE?

Since this is new construction rather than a retrofit or rehab, we have no way of gauging exactly what our energy savings are. Needless to say, based on the above factors, they are significant. A simple calculation suggests that our costs for lighting are less than one-third of what it would be if equal lumens were produced by incandescent or halogen bulbs, pointing to a matching reduction in carbon emissions of some 70%. Energy savings through efficient heating and air conditioning are harder to quantify, but substantial nonetheless. And in some cases, such as the selection of construction and furnishing materials, the energy savings rested with the producer or supplier rather than with the synagogue.

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Visitors to the synagogue are encouraged to take a booklet that provides a brief overview of the community's history and values, and a description of the building itself. Environmental factors are prominently featured therein, and have become a major source of pride among members when reflecting upon or describing our new home. Many new members are attracted to our community because of our values and commitments, including the way that our environmental (and related social justice) values were actualized in the building process.

The natural aesthetic of the building -- including cork floors, natural light, and much sustainable softwood paneling -- further enhances the spiritual and communal purposes of the building. People enjoy congregating in the building, which further enhances the bonds among members that are a central goal of all religious life, and are particularly emphasized in the ideology of the Reconstructionist branch of Judaism.

In addition to other media mention of our synagogue building's environmental emphasis, it is most prominently featured in a newly released film by the Center for a New American Dream called "More Fun, Less Stuff," narrated by actor Danny Glover. Our rabbi, Fred Scherlinder Dobb (himself a board member of the national umbrella Jewish group working on ecological issues, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life), takes the viewer through elements of the building's construction, highlighting CFLs and other easy-to-replicate energy saving techniques. He concludes with an emphasis on how the environmental sustainability seen in the building matches the synagogue's spiritual and communal sustainability, goals which are central in the creation and modeling of a less consumptive yet more meaningful lifestyle.

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT ANY OBSTACLES OR SUCCESSES YOU MAY HAVE HAD ALONG THE WAY.

The first and most important success we had dates back a half a decade before moving into the building. Our entire community was surveyed (in 1996) to determine the most important criteria in choosing the architect, and ultimately the design. A clear consensus emerged around three interlocking, albeit occassionally conflicting, concerns: environmental sustainability and 'minimum impact'; simplicity and minimal cost; and an aesthetic and design that would facilitate the creation and strenghtening of communal and interpersonal bonds.

Employing these criteria in our architect selection process, we were blessed to find the creative, environmentally aware, communally-minded services of Robert Schwartz and Keith Peoples. Through a multi-year iterative process involving the majority of members, the architects helped guide the community through the design process, ever mindful of our initial goals. This laid the groundwork for success by ensuring that we had access to energy-saving ideas, knowledge of sensitive contractors (and the ability to educate those who proved to be less aware of these issues!), and the communal will to prioritize environmental concerns when trade-offs and tough decisions had to be made.

The primary obstacles we faced had to do with those same trade-offs and tough decisions. We knew that our financial resources would be limited, and that the goals of minimum impact and minimum cost would frequently clash with each other. We did the best we could given the scant resources available to us, but would have liked to have done even better on the environmental front.

For instance: Triple-pane windows would have been far preferable, but were outside our budget. We desired all-natural linoleum flooring in the social hall and kitchen, but had to settle for the 87% recycled PCT flooring (thus countenancing a small amount of newly-and-toxically- produced vinyl for our communal home). More photovoltaic cells on the roof were and remain a possibility, but were prohibitively expensive at the time. Certain wood suppliers began with a very limited knowledge of forestry practices, and never even thought of the environmental impact of shipping

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heavy materials across thousands of miles -- so while we "won" some issues there by procuring sustainably produced and harvested wood products, we also "lost" some (though we educated the suppliers and distributors in the process!). And so the list continues.

The building contract specified that large wood columns supporting exterior porticos would came from old telephone poles, or logs dredged out of lakes and rivers from 19th century logging operations, rather than virgin timber from older hardwoods. We discovered at the eleventh hour, however, that these materials were not recycled as we had specified.

One final obstacle we faced was the limited knowledge base of those with whom we were in contact, and the limited avenues of support and information that we could find. We did not know at the time about the Energy Star Congregations program, the publicity for which had not yet reached all of its potential constituency. The religious movement of which we are a part, and the umbrella Jewish-environmental group (COEJL) of which it is a co-sponsor, had no resources to offer beyond the basic messages of "buy CFLs" and "insulate your water heater" -- an important start, but hardly enough. So we did the best we could, but know that we could have done better if we had access to more timely, focused, and well-distributed information.

In that spirit our rabbi and others in our community have been working with COEJL and with individual religious environmental educators and activists to create a database of "best practices," which is only in the idea stage right now but should be moving along in the year ahead. We have also repeatedly made ourselves available to synagogues and churches and other religious institutions around the country who have heard of our efforts, and sought information about how to replicate some of our successes, and overcome some of our common challenges.

ANY LESSONS LEARNED? WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD YOU MAKE TO OTHER CONGREGATIONS?

How many they are! Here are just a few: [since updated slightly, above, as Appendix B-1]

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 choices, but 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, pitch slightly-more-expensive-but-more-sustainable elements to the board or congregation or funders, and so on. Know how much work it will be, and know how sacred that work is.

3. Keep sustainability in mind throughout the process. Use it 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 it; 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. Find out what you can about your architects, general contractors and sub-contractors' environmental awareness before hiring them. And then plan to work closely with them, 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.

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 is making 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."

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APPENDIX B-3: Adat Shalom’s “Green” Activities as of January 2008, as Described by Members via the List-Serve (edited by member Tim Bartol, in private email, 1/14/08)

   *   Oneg Shabbat lunches served on permanent foodware.

   *   The "ner tamid" (eternal light) is solar powered.

   *   We built a shower so the rabbi can bike to work.

   *   We tried hard to avoid paving the parking lot (and succeeded in our overflow areas) – but the need to do snow removal eventually forced us to a conventional surface.

   *   We have shifted our monthly newsletter to mostly electronic, and paper part of the time.

   *   Signups and notices for most activities are handled online and so we send out mailings less than . . .  15 times per year? (a guess)

   *   Lots about the building design -- zone-by-zone HVAC with programmable thermostats, passive solar siting with social hall clerestory windows with awnings above a dark floor, recycled carpet or sustainable cork flooring in much of the building, some FSC-certified 'new' wood beyond the reclaimed wood, Energy Star appliances, CFL's and other low-impact lights, retention of existing structure to minimize construction waste and hauling of new materials, natural light in the sanctuary & hallways & some other areas to offset daytime artificial lighting needs, motion-sensitive light switches in the bathrooms, and lots more...

   *   Grounds:  native plantings, low-water use, low-to-no pesticide or herbicide or fertilizer use, parking lot design to save pre-existing trees, forthcoming organic garden and marked nature trail, bike rack, forthcoming High-Occupancy-Parking area and compact-car-only parking areas to incentivize carpooling and efficiency, etc...

   *   Green purchasing:  use of non-toxic cleaning materials, 100% recycled bathroom paper, organic fair-trade shade-grown coffee, 30% minimum post-consumer recycled content in our office paper along with stack of clean-on-one-side reused paper for memos, etc.

   *   Programming and Education:  regular from-the-bimah and in-the-newsletter connections to sustainability; various programs by our Environment group (including CFL sales, mercury-thermometer trade-ins, holiday-specific consciousness-raisers, Tu BShvat eco-seders, etc); much much more...

   *   Vegetarian/Fish/Dairy onegs!  as well as the constant use of reusable dishes and servingware rather than disposables...

   *   Keeping the building 'dark' on Thursday nights, to further reduce our heating & AC needs

  *   Having our rabbi and others regularly give tours of, and speak about, our green innovations in both physical plant and programming

-- Tim Bartol, private email, 1/14/08, building on Fred Scherlinder Dobb’s and others’ lists

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APPENDIX B-4: JRC Green Building Policies January 2008 (5 pages)Main Policy & Simcha Guide in their Entirety; Purchasing Plan, Excerpts

http://www.jrc-evanston.org/green_synagogue/resources.php?page=16836

[1] Green Building Policies

Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (January 2008)

God showed Adam all the trees in the Garden of Eden and said, "See my handiwork, my creation, how beautiful and balanced it is. Be careful not to ruin or destroy it, for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you." Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13

Attaining the blessing in Genesis, we have been fruitful, multiplied and filled the earth (Gen. 1:28). At the same time, we have subdued it and we have tilled it (Gen. 1:28, 2:15) and done that, while sometimes for survival, also too often for comfort. Our planet needs repair.

At JRC, we have always put Tikkun Olam (repair of the world) front and center. Yet for the most part we have considered Tikkun Olam a call to gemilut chasidim (acts of kindness), tzedaka (acts of charity and generosity), social action for social justice, and the pursuit of a peaceful coexistence among people and nations. The pursuit of a sustainable coexistence between human beings and the environment, by contrast, has not generally engaged us as a congregation in the same way. That is changing.

Most notably, we have ourselves built a new environmentally responsible home – for prayer, education, celebration and all the things we do as a congregation. We used sustainable and recycled building materials, minimized our reliance on depletable resources, maximized natural light and air and innovated to make our building operations water and energy efficient. We have been through a review process in which the U.S. Green Building Council measured our new synagogue building against internationally recognized benchmarks in six areas:

1. site sustainability, 2. water efficiency, 3. energy and atmosphere, 4. materials and resources, 5. indoor environmental quality, and 6. innovation and design process.

We anticipate being LEED certified at the Platinum level by the US Green Building Council, the first house of worship ever to achieve this distinction.

Now, with the same dedication, it is time to commit ourselves to instituting environmentally responsible practices for the use of our new home. To that end, we therefore adopt the following as policies of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston:

Reducing JRC’s use of depletable energy resources, Increasing JRC’s use of recycled and recyclable materials and supporting recycling markets, Reducing JRC’s contributions to landfills, Making environmental factors routine considerations in JRC’s purchase of products and

services (including, among others, supplies and services for the JRC office, JRC events, the

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religious school, the Early Childhood Center, building cleaning and maintenance, the kitchens, and landscaping),

Supporting environmentally preferable products by preferring contractors who use them, Conserving water, Reducing or eliminating JRC’s use of toxic substances and increasing JRC’s use of

biodegradable cleaning supplies, Reducing JRC’s emissions of greenhouse gases, and Auditing and reviewing, on at least an annual basis, our compliance with these policies.

To implement these policies, JRC’s Board has created and approved two companion documents:1. A guidebook to environmentally responsible practices, including a plan for environmentally

preferable purchasing of products and services (EPP Plan); and 2. A shorter guide specifically for planners of religious, educational and social events in our new

building (Simcha Plan).

We do not pretend to have all the answers – or even a fully operational set – for using our building and conducting our congregational activities in environmentally responsible ways. But we believe that JRC’s environmental footprint can and should be reduced and that we must therefore learn more both about the ecological consequences of our choices and the spectrum of environmentally responsible alternatives available to us. This will be a journey.

[2] Green Procedures Manual and Plan for Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (January 2008) 

IntroductionThis manual is a work in progress. It should always be a work in progress. As we gain experience, as technologies

change and as green services and products become more available and more affordable, this manual will become outdated unless continually updated….

This document is not short, and over time we hope it will become longer. Part of its purpose is to emphasize the breadth of choices we make that carry environmental consequences. It is also intended as a resource guide for further learning. We also hope that over time this manual will contain more requirements and fewer guidelines.

This document is divided into ten sections. The first 7 sections address different areas of environmental concern:1. Energy Efficiency 2. Waste Created by Paper and Office 3. Food and Food Service Procedures, 4. Transportation, 5. Waste Disposal, 6. Cleaning and Maintenance Supplies and Services, and 7. Landscaping 8. Cost-Benefit Considerations 9. Immediate Implementation 10. Glossary of Terms …..

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing & Procedures

1. Energy Efficiency

Our building has been designed with a systems approach towards energy management. We have a very tight and well insulated building envelope. Our heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system is carefully zoned and digitally programmed so that only areas in use are heated and cooled. Individual rooms have thermostats to

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temporarily raise or lower temperatures by 2°, but the system is designed to be centrally controlled and monitored.

Certain practices will help us take full advantage of that design. They will minimize both our consumption of energy resources and the environmental effects attributable to their use. These practices include: …

1.4 Turning on power-save modes on equipment and appliances and choosing ENERGYSTAR equipment and appliances.1.5 Turning off equipment during nights and weekends and attaching TVs, radios, computers, copy machines, microwaves, telephones etc. to power strips for ease in turning them off at the end of the day….1.9 Exploring the availability and affordability of renewable energy sources and carbon offsets. …

3.0 Food and Food Service Procedures In the area of food service, we can minimize harms to the environment by:

3.1 Reducing the use of packaging that must be landfilled by buying in bulk, avoiding sugar and powder creamer in individual packets, and storing food in reusable glass containers.3.2 Using re-usable spoons for coffee and tea rather than plastic stirs.3.3 Reducing the use of single-use plates & cutlery, and, when using single-use plates or cutlery, purchasing plates, bowls and cutlery made from recyclable and/or compostable content (& encouraging their recycling). 3.4 Banning styrofoam products. 3.5 Purchasing washable, dark napkins and table linens for community use and laundering them, when appropriate, in our new washer and dryer.3.6 Reducing the use of paper napkins, table cloths and decorations and, when paper is used, choosing paper goods made with recyled content.3.7 Using cloth rather than paper towels in the kitchen. 3.8 Making reusable service items and decorations the primary choice.3.9 Purchasing and providing storage for up to 100 re-usable service settings (china, glassware and cutlery) for community use. 3.10 Washing dishes and utensils and, when possible, pots and pans in the dishwasher rather than by hand to conserve water.3.11 Purchasing fair-trade organic coffee, and encouraging the purchase of organic or preservative/chemical free, healthier food wherever food is served.

4.0 Transportation

We can reduce our use of fossil fuels and emissions by: 4.1 Establishing and encouraging carpools for transportation to and from JRC events. 4.2 Instituting a non-idling policy for cars waiting for, picking up & dropping off passengers at our building. 4.3 Encouraging people to walk or bike to JRC, reminding them of the availability of showers and safe bike storage. 4.4 Encouraging the use of public transportation by making train and bus schedules and routes available….

8.0 Environmentally Preferred Purchasing: Performance, Price and Availability

Nothing contained in this manual requires or should be construed as requiring JRC or its members to purchase or use products or services that do not that do not perform adequately for their intended use or are not available at a reasonable price and in a reasonable time frame.

This manual contains only two absolute requirements:

1. Environmental considerations shall be taken into account, where practical, as a factor in decision making in as many areas as possible, including but not limited to supplies and services use for the JRC office,

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JRC events, the religious school, the Early Childhood Center, building cleaning and maintenance, the kitchens, and landscaping.

2. Compliance with environmental policies and the suitability of these guidelines as means of implementing them shall be audited and reviewed on at least an annual basis, at the Board level. …

9.0 Implementation

This manual is intended as guidance for implementing the following policies of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation:

Reducing JRC’s use of depletable energy resources, Increasing JRC’s use of recycled and recyclable materials and supporting recycling markets, Reducing JRC’s contributions to landfills, Making environmental factors routine considerations in JRC’s purchase of products and services

(including, among others, supplies and services for the JRC office, JRC events, the religious school, the Early Childhood Center, building cleaning and maintenance, the kitchens, and landscaping),

Supporting environmentally preferable products by preferring contractors who use them, Conserving water, Reducing or eliminating JRC’s use of toxic substances and increasing JRC’s use of biodegradable

cleaning supplies, Reducing JRC’s emissions of greenhouse gases, and Auditing and reviewing, on at least an annual basis, our compliance with these policies.

Implementation of these policies, with use of this manual for guidance, is to begin immediately, including through the education of clergy, staff and community members, and by considering how lesson plans consistent with these policies might be incorporated into the Sunday school curriculum.

[3] Greening Your Simcha

JRC’s Environmentally Preferred Simcha Plan

In consideration of the values-based decision making that led to the LEED certification of our new building, the attached Green Simcha Plan serves to inform and guide decision-making as it relates to events held in the building.

Importantly, we view these guidelines as an opportunity to educate and inspire staff, congregants and guests as to the Jewish values that are at the heart of our JRC community, and to empower all to make conscious decisions in the life of the congregation. In doing so, may we be inspired to bring these values out into our work and home environments as well and truly live as stewards of the earth.

Areas to Consider Greening and Steps to Get You There

INVITATIONS Print invitations on recycled paper with the maximum amount of post-consumer waste content available.

Encourage guests to recycle invitations. Avoid lined envelopes. consider post-card style invitations. Ask for replies to phone or email account rather than including a separate reply card. Print with low-toxic dyes or soy ink, double-sided where possible. Consider eliminating paper invitations altogether and using and on-line invitation program such as Evite;

or consider Evite for events surrounding the main event or as a "Save-the-Date."

B'NAI MITZVAH BOOKLET

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Consider eliminating printed booklet and prepare a poster-size display of photos, quotes, poems, etc. to be available for viewing at oneg.

If preparing a service supplement, print on recycled paper with the maximum amount of post-consumer waste content available. Print with low-toxic dyes or soy ink, double-sided as possible. Recycle following event.

ROOM/TABLE DECORATIONS

Consider centerpieces which can be donated or re-used. Consider re-usable table linens first; paper next. Avoid plastic where possible, or choose plastic made with recycled content. If using balloons, consider latex first; make sure balloons are responsibly discarded after use.

FOOD/FOOD SERVICE

Supply fair-trade organic coffee Consider the use of organic or preservative/chemical free, healthier food where possible. Consider the use of locally grown food, and/or food that is minimally processed and packaged. Choose service items including serving pieces, plates, napkins, cups, silverware with these

considerations:

1. Consider first using reusable service items wherever it is practical and cost effective to do so. JRC can provide service for 100 guests; members are responsible for coordinating washing and restacking of service items used. Consider cloth napkin rental.

2. If choosing paper, choose goods made with recycled paper content first. 3. If choosing plastic, choose plastic goods made with recycled plastic content, and consider the

recyclability of the product following the event. 4. Avoid Styrofoam.

WASTE MANAGEMENT Recycle as much of the event waste as possible. Consider donation of left-over food/supplies where a suitable donor can be identified.

GIVE-AWAYS Consider an environmental alternative with a message: ie: reusable water bottles filled with treats;

environmental message t-shirts, etc. Make a donation in guests' name to a personally meaningful cause.

SERVICE PROJECTS

Living in a green building provides a doorway into the exploration of many important environmental topics. Please contact the JRC Environmental Task Force for ideas!

 TRANSPORTATION/TRAVEL

Encourage carpooling of guests to the event. Encourage guests to consider public transportation and provide them with information needed to do so.

Consider the purchase of carbon offsets for travel needed to bring in guests.

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APPENDIX B-5: Temple Emanuel, Kensington MD, 2003, Env. Policy Statement

TEMPLE EMANUEL, Kensington, Maryland, Greater Washington, D.C. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY STATEMENT

Adopted by the Board of Trustees, December 19, 2003

INTRODUCTION

In 1992, the Temple Emanuel Board of Trustees adopted an environmental policy statement which contained a number of environmental goals and reflected the Temple's strong commitment to the ecological principles of Judaism.

Since that time, a number of goals have been implemented, including the installation of a solar collector for operating the eternal light, an energy audit by PEPCO, and investigation of several recycling activities and environmentally-friendly products. The Temple's Green Shalom Committee has continually promoted environmental stewardship during this period. The Temple has been recognized nationally for its environmental activities.

In early 2003, the Temple completed an extensive renovation and expansion of its physical facilities, using environmentally sound planning principles and products wherever feasible. The Temple has been designated as an Official Partner of the Energy Star Buildings for Congregations Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

POLICY GOALS

To continue and expand the scope of the Temple's environmental stewardship and education programs, the Temple Emanuel Board of Trustees adopts the following action-oriented goals:

1. Schedule an updated PEPCO audit of the Temple's new facilities, seek regular audits every five years, and implement further energy conservation recommendations where feasible.

2. Develop and implement a comprehensive landscaping plan for the Temple that takes advantage of native plant materials, avoids harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides, conserves water, and provides aesthetic and environmental benefits.

3. Complete and maintain the small biblically-inspired garden on the Temple grounds, and develop an educational experience relating the plantings to major Jewish holidays. Use native plants as substitutes wherever possible.

4. Work with the Chevy Chase/Kensington Ministerium, Washington's Shomrei Adamah, and the Coalition on Jewish Life and the Environment (COEJL) to promote environmental stewardship at the local, regional, and national levels.

5. Review and evaluate Temple recycling programs and improve/expand recycling where feasible, including the use of high recycled content paper in the Temple Offices and Religious School.

6. Inventory and evaluate the cleaning products being used by the Temple, eliminate toxic cleaners, and substitute environmentally-friendly products where practical.

7.Explore the possibility of using "greening" strategies in the selection of food and the disposal of waste.

8. Working with the Rabbi and the Green Shalom Committee, promote environmental awareness and education for all Temple members by:

a. Conducting an annual Shabbat service with an environmental theme, and a Tu B'Shevat service with a focus on environmental appreciation and healthful foods. b. Arranging periodic service-related environmental readings at Shabbat services. c. Providing environmental study opportunities through adult education courses, coffeehouse programs, book reviews, speakers, etc. d. Incorporating the Jewish dimension of environmental stewardship into the religious school curricula, including lectures, field trips, readings, discussion, etc. e. Conducting a periodic workshop on Judaism and the environment for religious school teachers. f. Promoting carpooling and other transportation alternatives that improve air quality and reduce congestion and parking problems. g. Working with the Rabbi & the Social Justice Task Force, pursue opportunities for environmental advocacy.

APPENDIX B-6: Why Be a Jewish Environmentalist, and 6-Minute J-E Intro (2 pages)

Why Be a Jewish Environmentalist?285

Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb’s Communal ‘Stump Speech,’ updated Jan. 2009see www.adatshalom.net & www.coejl.org for more

"Both love of the Creator and love of that which [God] has created are finally one and the same.”  So wrote Martin Buber (On Judaism, p. 209), one of many giants of the Jewish tradition who each said in their way that concern for the environment -- for Creation -- is a profoundly "Jewish issue."  Here are at least four major reasons why the Jewish community should take a lead on ecological issues: First, the state of Creation affects all of us; particulates and pollutants don't discriminate.  All our good work on Jewish continuity and security, on Israel and world Jewry, on justice and democracy, threatens to be (literally) washed away by the threat of climate change, among other looming ecological disasters.  It's in our own long-term interest to work on these issues, just as it's in everyone's long-term interest. Second, community relations experience suggests that our community needs to cultivate allies in the larger society, and to establish our relevance and our credibility.  Others are likelier to support our particular agenda – strong aid for Israel, fuller separation of church and state, funding of local initiatives -- if we have proven ourselves as solid coalition partners who are genuinely concerned with the common good.  Ecological issues are clearly that, and moreover they carry special weight for younger generations, folks with whom we need to build and maintain strong ties. Environmental justice is a special concern, and a vital arena for ongoing connections between the Jewish community and other demographic groups.  Third, our passion for Jewish continuity points us toward environmental protection.  Increasingly Jews -- especially the younger and less-affiliated among us -- are part of a growing societal consensus behind ecological preservation.  Our community and its institutions must develop greener thought and greener action, in order to remain relevant and resonant to this and subsequent generations.  There are under-affiliated Jews of all ages who deeply ‘get’ the ecological crisis and its urgency, and who simply tune out (or walk out) of any Jewish teaching or institution that isn’t actively making green connections. We owe it to them, and to the cause of continuity, to reach out in the sustainable ways that will keep them ‘in.’  Finally, and perhaps foremost, ecology is "a Jewish issue" -- for the depth of Jewish values, sacred text, and communal experience which all point us toward an ethic of Creation care.  Our holidays track nature’s seasonal cycles, rooting us in the outdoors and in the larger world.  Our holy books bid us to preserve and protect God's good world, both halachically and aggadically (via law & lore): Jewish law teaches us to avoid waste (bal tashchit), even stipulating in the Talmud (Shabbat 67b) that in doing a particular task we must use the available technology which burns the least oil.  Our observance of Shabbat is widely cited as an environmental ethic unto itself, a bulwark against those contemporary norms which can so easily led to despoilation.  These are just a few of the countless examples of why environmental efforts are an authentic, "organic" outgrowth of Jewish values and tradition. To say that we care for Creation, of course, does not automatically imply support for any particular initiative or strategy or piece of legislation.  Our tradition's respect for all of humanity (and the special status of humans who are uniquely created b’tzelem Elohim, in the Divine image) leads to a Jewish environmental outlook which evinces real concern for every person, with a special focus on those who are least advantaged -- a value which manifests itself at times by emphasizing the human and economic as well as ecological costs of a given proposal, and often by applying an "environmental justice" mindset.   Still, we bear the image (Gen. 1:27) of One whose concern is not measured in quarterly earnings reports or biannual electoral cycles, but in eras – concern to the third and fourth and even the thousandth genera-tion (Ex. 34:7).  In representing the Jewish community and its values, we must bring this kind of long-term thinking into contemporary ecological discussion.  Doing so is indeed a life-and-death matter, for us and for those who come after us (“choose life, that you and your descendants may live,” teaches Deut. 30:19).

L'dor vador, from generation to generation, may we be among those who defend Creation. See www.coejl.org, among other stellar resources, for more on how to be a ‘Jewish environmentalist.’

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Six-Minute Summary of Jewish-Environmental EthicsFrom Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb -- see Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (www.coejl.org) for more

 Jewish texts and values rarely point entirely in one direction -- ours is a gloriously wide-ranging tradition, shaped in different eras and in different cultural environments, and it's more art than science to apply those texts and values to contemporary conditions.  Still, many who've studied the relevant material strongly believe, the overwhelming weight of our sacred tradition points us toward an environmental ethic far more intense than what our society now practices.  A few quick examples:     *  In Genesis 1, we're told to "fill the Earth and subdue it;" tradition understands this as conditional -- Rashi quotes a midrash saying "if we merit it [by our right actions] then we rule, but if we don't merit it, we fall: -- and as a statement rather than an order. Maimonides [Guide 3:13] says "the Earth was not created for our sake"... and that "Genesis 1:28 comes merely to inform us about the human nature with which the Holy Blessed One has created us," as if to say: “yes humans, you are uniquely able to reshape the Earth in your image, so I'm saying that right at the beginning, so we can be clear about who's really the boss!"

     *  God as the owner or boss, rather than us, is a recurrent theme -- in Leviticus 25 (Sabbatical and Jubilee), in Deuteronomy 11 (the second paragraph of the Sh’ma in our daily liturgy), and in Psalm 24 ("the Earth is God's and the fullness thereof," a rallying cry for social justice and environmental movements alike.  These and other important texts remind us to be humble in the face of Creation (in contrast to the hubris with which we now spew our carbon, sprawl our settlements, and slice through what remains of the wilderness and jungle and reefs where Creation is most diverse and glorious...).

     *  The legal tradition frames an environmental ethic around a law in Deut. 20, "bal tashchit" or "thou shall not waste."  German 19th Century Orthodox Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch called this "the first and most general call of God."  The medieval pietistic text Sefer HaChinuch sees in this the core difference between righteous and wicked folks, for "righteous people of good deeds are aghast at any wanton waste, and do all in their power to stop it," while "the wicked are not thus; they delight in destroying the world even as they destroy themselves."  The Talmud (Shabbat 67b) even has Rav Zutra taking a stance on the carbon emissions of his day (oil vs naptha fuel for lamps), holding that if you don't use the best available techno-logy and knowledge to burn fuel as efficiently as possible, you are in violation of the law of Bal Tashchit!

     *  Many other commandments point in this direction:  tza'ar ba'alei chayim (compassion for animals), yishuv Eretz Yisrael (making 'The Land' as habitable and sustainable as possible), & agrarian laws that include crop rotation and letting the land lie fallow (in tandem with social justice concerns like letting the poor and the stranger partake of the gleanings and of the corners of the fields).  Plus my favorite, Deuteronomy 22:8, "when you build a house, put a parapet [low railing] around the roof" -- the basis of what ecologists call "the Precautionary Principle," which puts public safety and health ahead of profits.

     *  Our liturgy, from Psalms and elsewhere, reminds us consistently that we experience God through Creation -- suggesting that we need to protect the glories of Creation in order to fully relate to God!  Martin Buber wrote, "finally, love of the Creator and love of that which God has created are one and the same."  Our holiday cycle too points us back to nature, to the sacred cycles of rain and sun and moon and life.  And above all, Shabbat -- the most special day, on which we neither produce nor consume but rather appreciate and enjoy -- is an antidote to all that is wrong about today's society and economy and polity, and a call for sacred sustainability. Much more could be said, but this outlines a few of the key principles and references which ground a strong environmental ethic deeply in Jewish tradition -- and which point us toward doing much more to protect what's left of Creation, and to inject humility and sustainability into what our one species is doing to the rest of the world.  And, many initiatives in the Jewish world are moving in just this direction:

Reconstructionism has a strong sustainable synagogues program (www.jrf.org/climate); the Reform Religious Action Center has long been a leader here (www.rac.org); the Conservative Hekhsher Tzedek initiative is most exciting (www.hekhshertzedek.org); Orthodox Canfei Nesharim is a great text-community resource (www.canfeinesharim.org). See www.hazon.org & www.tevacenter.org for key Jewish environmental initiatives, www.iued.org.il for Israel, & www.coejl.org for all Jewish-enviro needs!

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APPENDIX B-7: COEJL “Greening Synagogues” Opening Webpage (6/04; 2 pages)

Opening page of COEJL Green Congregations sub-websiteRabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, draft, 6/04

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 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). Below are links to 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.

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1. Buildings 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 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 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. Program 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. Child Ed 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 Ed 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 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!

GREEN SYNAGOGUE DETAIL

(ideally in parallel column with #s 1-7 on the left, featuring one ‘tip’ per topic):

1. BUILDINGS

General Resources {1-0-0-general-building-resources.doc}:

Reducing and Re-using {1-0-1-reduce-reuse}Recycling {1-0-2-recycling.doc}Full-facility-and-program synagogue audit {1-0-1-

full-facility-and-program-audit.doc}

Energy Savings {1-1-energy.doc}:

Why Energy is a Jewish Issue {1-2a-intro-why-energy-is-a-jewish-issue.doc}

EPA’s & COEJL’s best ideas {1-2b-intro-all-buildings-epa-coejl.doc}

energy audit {1-2c-energy-audit.doc}EPA Energy Star Congregations program {1-

2d-en-star-link-now-on-coejl-site.doc}green power {1-2e-renewable-energy.doc} …

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APPENDIX B-8: Talking Points on Judaism and Energy, for COEJL, July 2003; and, “Energy” webpage for COEJL’s Green Synagogue Resources, June 2004 (3 pages total)

Talking Points on Judaism & EnergyRabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb for COEJL’s Congregational Initiative 7/03

I. ENERGY CONSERVATION IS AN ANCIENT MITZVAH, NOT A POST-1973 CHOICE!

A. Mitzvat Bal Tashchit (“don’t waste”) is from Deut. 20:19 – in war, don’t cut down enemy’s treesB. Sages extended it to include all kinds of unnecessary waste – smashing things in anger, etcC. Talmud Shabbat 67b: “Rav Zutra says, “whoever covers an oil lamp or uncovers a naphtha lamp

violates the law of bal tashchit” – i.e., halacha requires us to use the most efficient available technology!D. Try the “mustard seed test”, from the 13th century German pietistic text, Sefer HaChinuch (529):

“Tzadikim / righteous people of good deeds…do not waste in this world even a mustard seed. They become sorrowful with every wasteful and destructive act that they see, and if they can they use all their strength to save everything possible from destruction. But the rasha’im / wicked are not thus; they are like demons. They rejoice in the destruction of the world, just as they destroy themselves.”

Does an SUV (or any inefficient auto) use more than a mustard seed’s worth of extra gas when you pick up the kids? Does leaving your 100-watt bulb burning when you leave the room consume more than a mustard seed’s worth of coal, and produce more than a mustard seed’s worth of the greenhouse gas CO2? Given what we know today, what decisions make us a tzadik or a rasha?

II. SHABBAT PUTS THE WEEKLY BRAKES ON CONSUMPTION

A. However observant we each are, Shabbat is central – it’s the weekly celebration of the completion of Creation. How can we best care for Creation on that day, or on any day?

B. Traditional observance includes withdrawing from production & consumption. See below:1. Samson Raphael Hirsch, 19th century Germany, founder of ‘modern Orthodoxy’

(Judaism Eternal 2:30): “’Sabbath in our time! To cease for a whole day from all business, from all work, in the frenzied hurry-scurry of our age! To close the exchanges, the workshops and the factories, to stop all railway services – great heavens! The pulse of life would stop beating and the world perish!’ The world perish? On the contrary, it would be saved.”

2. Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath (1951), p. 28: “To set apart one day a week for freedom … a day on which we stop worshipping the idols of technical civilization, a day on which we use no money, a day of armistice in the economic struggle with our [fellows] and the forces of nature – is there any institution that holds out a greater hope for [our] progress than the Sabbath?”

C. Shabbat suggests that there’s something more important than producing and consuming, more sacred than “economic growth” as the end-all-and-be-all, since these things take at least some energy, and produce at least some pollution. Instead, Shabbat holds out community, learning, prayer, food, rest, music, love, and friendship as the ideal. These things are infinitely sustainable and grow-able, whereas the cars and chemicals and day-trading of the workaday week are not.

D. It goes further – we withdraw from the economic & energy-consuming rat-race not just one day a week, but also one year every seven, through the Sabbatical. And that’s not counting festivals, or the jubilee every 50 years. So more than two-sevenths of our lives, at least, should be spent away from an obsessive focus on production, consumption, and growth.

III. OUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION LEAVES TOO LITTLE FOR THE REST OF CREATION

A. Though created in the Divine Image, humans are not the purpose of creation. See Maimonides (12 th

C Egypt, Guide to the Perplexed, 3:13): “It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of humanity’s existence … [rather] all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes.”

B. For instance, all of nature is animate in the Psalms (also part of the daily liturgy). See Psalm 104: “The Earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your works … the trees of God are satisfied; the cedars of Lebanon, which God has planted – there birds make their nests; the house of the stork is in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats; the rocks are a hiding-place for the badgers…”

C. Emissions from our fossil-fuel based energy consumption (coal and oil provide the vast majority of our energy, and potentially catastrophic nuclear power about 15%; renewables are only about 6% of our energy) – air and water pollution like sulfur dioxide (‘acid rain’), poisonous mercury, smog-forming ozone, and greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide -- endanger all of Creation, and threaten to push overstressed species over the brink. Yet “even those creatures you deem superfluous in this world – like flies, fleas, and gnats – nevertheless have their allotted task in the scheme of Creation” (Midrash, from about the 8 th century – Exodus Rabbah 10:1).

D. But not all of humanity is endangering the rest of Creation; just the wealthiest, most privileged among us. America has only 4.5% of the world’s population, but produces over 25% of its greenhouse gases. This is an issue of justice, as in “justice, justice, you shall pursue, in order that you may live” (Deut. 16:20). Rising seas from global warming will affect Tuvalu and Bangladesh more quickly than New York or LA; new vectors for tropical disease will hurt those who can’t afford health care; and so on. “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor … love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:16, 19:18).

IV. ISRAELI SECURITY, AND AMERICAN SECURITY

Oil – the #1 contributor to global warming, staple of our transportation industry, and major fuel for electricity and heating as well – is the cause of much global instability. Many of Israel’s implacable enemies sit atop huge reserves of oil, so the world’s oil addiction affects geo-politics, and with it Israel’s safety and future. Similarly, recent U.S. military interventions have had at least a subtext of ensuring stable oil markets – a factor not only in two recent wars in Iraq, but also in the ongoing American presence in countries like Saudi Arabia, which produced most of the Al-Qaeda leadership. Weaning ourselves from oil will bring not only cleaner air and a cooler Earth, but greater peace, to both countries.

IV. THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

A. There’s a “robust consensus” among scientists -- including the 2000-member Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the National Academy of Sciences -- that “anthropogenic” (human-caused) climate change is a dangerous reality. Mostly, only industry-funded or partisan scientists differ.

B. Even if questions remain, Judaism (like logic!) teaches us to act warily. No law and no societal good is more important than Pikuach Nefesh, the saving of a life. In Deut. 22:8, we’re told that “when you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof” – we submit to the extra construction expense not because someone will fall off the roof otherwise, but because someone might.

C. In conclusion, consider this well-known ancient midrash (Qohelet Rabbah 7:13, circa 8th Century): “God said to Adam, ‘See My works, how good and praiseworthy they are?! And all that I have created, I made for you. [But,] be mindful then that you do not spoil and destroy My world – for if you spoil it, there is no one after you to repair it.’”

ENERGY – first of two major sub-pages under section 1, ‘buildings, at www.coejl.org/greensyn

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 {1-2a-intro-why-energy-is-a-jewish-issue.doc}.”

Looking for basic things your synagogue can do to save energy? Click here for COEJL’s and the EPA’s best ideas {1-2b-intro-all-buildings-epa-coejl.doc}, geared specifically for Jewish congregations.

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 {1-2c-energy-audit.doc} – start with our checklist, put together by the former associate director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, Rabbi Dan Swartz. This outline for an energy audit is among the many resources here that will work at home, in the office, or elsewhere just as well as they do in the synagogue – we hope you’ll get much use out of it, and save much energy!

Learn more about the EPA Energy Star Congregations program {1-2d-energy-star-link-now-on-coejl-

site.doc}, an important resource and ally in our greening-congregations efforts; check out their website (www.energystar.gov/congregations) for more great ideas.

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. Learn more about green power {1-2e-renewable-energy.doc} here.

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 {1-2f-great-energy-stats-on-hazon-coejl-

epa-memo.doc} 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… (includes American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the US Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse, the US Climate Action Network, US EPA, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, National Environmental Trust, Union of Concerned Scientists, World Resources Institute, and many more).

APPENDIX B-9: COEJL & Energy Star Congregations Network“Synagogue Stewardship Action List,” for COEJL website, June 2004

Stewardship of the Earth. Like most faiths, Judaism has a tradition of ethical concern for both the natural resources that support life, and the financial resources that support religious and educational projects. Both are called “stewardship,” and both imply conserva- tion. Wasted energy is not only poor stewardship of funds, but wasted natural resources, causing un- necessary pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

ENERGY STAR Congregations Network is a free service of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, offering technical support and public recognition for voluntary congregational energy efficiency. More detailed information is available in ENERGY STAR’s free 100-page Guidebook, “Putting Energy into Stewardship.” To learn more, please visit www.energystar.gov/congregations.

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) is a multi-denominational effort to deepen the Jewish community’s commitment to the stewardship of creation, and to mobilize the resources of Jewish life and learning to protect the Earth and all its inhabitants. Its website, www.coejl.org, is a primary resource for Jewish environmentalism.

COEJL’s Greening Synagogues initiative exists to help your congregation and community learn how to lessen its environmental impact -- see www.coejl.org. In addition to a growing community consultation program, COEJL offers these and other written resources for synagogues:

How, and why, to ‘green’ every part of your synagogue’s building and grounds

Ideas for purchasing in eco-friendly ways, including paper, lightbulbs, cleaning supplies, and more

Program suggestions, from holiday observance to social action ideas to the environment in Israel

Adult and youth educational materials Resources for Rabbis

More detail is available on the COEJL web site, including follow-up to many of the energy-saving tips outlined here. COEJL and ENERGY STAR are happy to collaborate on this document, which sum- marizes many ways that you and your synagogue can cut energy use, pollution, global warming emissions, and utility bills all at once. Please join us as we protect creation, from generation to generation.

LIGHTING Turn off lights (and other equipment) when not in

use. High utility costs, and pollution, begin with paying for energy that is completely wasted.

Install occupancy sensors in proper locations to automatically turn off lighting when no one is present, and back on when people return. Remember not to install the sensor behind a coat rack, door, or bookcase; it works whenever it can “see” an approaching person’s motion to turn on the light, before or as they enter an unlit area.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), wherever appropriate. CFLs cost about 75% less to operate, and last about 10 times longer. If there’s one easy place to start saving money and energy, this is it.

Adjust lighting to your actual needs. Use free ‘daylighting’ -- turn off or dim your lights when daylight is adequate, or use automatic “daylight-dimming” ballasts/controls to do this for you.

To prevent glare, eyestrain, and headaches, don’t ‘over-light.’ Too much light may be as bad for vision as too little light -- but costs a lot more.

Install brighter, safer, long-lasting light-emitting diode (LED) exit signs. These drastically reduce maintenance costs by making lamp replacement infrequent. Each sign more than pays for itself within 1-2 years, saving some $24 dollars in annual electricity costs while preventing up to 500 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

Consider upgrading to T-8 (1" diameter) fluorescent lamp tubes with solid-state electronic ballasts -- these are more efficient than older T-12 (1.5" diameter) tubes with magnetic ballasts, and provide steadier, better light as well.

OFFICE AND KITCHEN EQUIPMENT Consider buying ENERGY STAR qualified

equipment for your congregation, business and home. The ENERGY STAR mark indicates the most efficient computers, printers, copiers, refrigerators, televisions, windows, thermostats, ceiling fans, and other appliances and equipment in their class. Find ENERGY STAR qualified products online at www.energystar.gov.

Clean refrigerator coils twice a year. Replace door gaskets if a dollar bill easily slips out when closed between the door’s seals.

Turn off computers overnight. If it’s from a power strip, then unused monitors, printers, and other peripheral devices won’t drain electricity.

WATER - HOT AND COLD Fix leaks. Small leaks add up to many gallons and

dollars wasted each month. Water conservation saves energy and money.

Use sink aerators and water-efficient showerheads and toilets to save water.

Install an insulation blanket on older water heaters, and insulate the first 3 feet of the heated water “out” pipe on both old and new units.

If buying a new water heater, buy ENERGY STAR qualified equipment. In areas of infrequent use, consider “tankless” water heaters to reduce “standby” storage costs and waste.

Set water temperature only as hot as absolutely needed (usually just 110-120 degrees) to prevent scalds, and save energy and money.

When landscaping, use plants native to your climate that require minimal watering and provide better pest resistance -- saving both water and costs, while providing needed habitat. If possible, divert “gray water” for irrigation.

HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING “Tune-up” your heating, ventilating and air-

conditioning (HVAC) system with an annual maintenance contract. Even new ENERGY STAR HVAC systems, like new cars, decline in performance without regular maintenance. A yearly maintenance contract costs as little as $100 (depending on the building and HVAC system), but can save much more. A contract should ensure ‘pre-season’ tune-ups before each cooling and heating season. You save energy and money, and your system may last years longer.

Change (or clean, if reusable) your HVAC filters every month during peak cooling or heating season. New filters usually cost only $2 to $5 each. Dirty filters cost more to use, overwork the equipment, and result in lower indoor air quality.

Install a programmable thermostat to automate your HVAC system. This device optimizes HVAC operation “24/7” based on your schedule, and can be “overridden” as needed for off-schedule events. So that members always enter a comfortable building, this “smart thermostat” can turn on the HVAC one hour before arrival instead of heating or cooling unoccupied space. These thermostats cost just $25 to $150, and proper use cuts HVAC costs considerably.

Control how much direct sunlight comes through your windows, based on the season and the local climate, to minimize heat & A/C use. During heating season, with the sun low in the southern sky, unobstructed south-facing windows can contribute ‘free’ solar heat gain during the day.

During cooling season, block direct heat gain from sunlight, especially on the south side of the building. Options like ‘solar screens’ and ‘solar film,’ awnings, and vines might help. Over time, trees (planted near the southwest corner) can

shade the building, clean the air, provide habitat and beauty, and lower your bills. Interior curtains or drapes help, but it’s best to prevent summer sun and heat from getting past the glass at all.

Use fans. Comfort is a function of temperature, humidity, and air movement. Moving air can make a somewhat higher temperature and/or humidity feel comfortable. Fans delay or reduce the need for air conditioning -- setting the A/C at 3 to 5 degrees higher can feel just as comfortable with fans. And each degree can save about 3% on cooling costs. When the temperature outside is more comfortable than inside, a “box fan” in the window or large “whole building” fan in the attic can push air out of the building, and pull in comfortable outside air. Fans can improve comfort and save energy year round.

Plug leaks with weatherstripping and caulking. Caulking and weatherstripping let you manage your ventilation (the deliberate, controlled exchange of stuffy inside air for fresher outdoor air), while cutting your energy use and bills dramatically. To learn more about indoor air quality in your building visit www.epa.gov/iaq.

CLEAN ENERGY Where available, consider buying some or all

electricity from a clean, renewable source such as solar or wind power certified by Green-e. Visit www.green-e.org for information.

Where not available, consider purchasing ‘green tags,’ offsetting your energy use elsewhere.

RELATED LINKSCoalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL): http://www.coejl.org

ENERGY STAR® Congregations Network (U.S. EPA): http://www.energystar.gov/congregations

National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE): http://www.nrpe.org

EPA Green Power Partnership: http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/EPA Global Warming: http://yosemite.eps.gov/ oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/index.htmlThe Regeneration Project: http://www.theregenerationproject.org/Interfaith Power & Light: http://www.interfaithpower.org

APPENDIX B-10: “Green Space,” An Eco-Reflection for www.jrf.org/omer, 2007 (2 pages)

Green Space: A Jewishly-Informed View from a High WindowRabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Adat Shalom, for JRF’s 2007 Omer Initiative

Green Views. Join me at 37,000 feet. You take the window seat (but with a rabbi next to you, expect some Judaic commentary on the scenery). Land-use issues are clearest from up here. If you’ve gotta contribute all that carbon through flying, you might as well enjoy the free and educational ‘movie’ unfolding below. We see out the cabin window, surrounding what little is left of what we’ve been given, what we as a society have chosen. We see the land, patterned after our own likeness.

Green Planning. Looking down after takeoff, city maps become real, and zoning choices are tangible. Forward-thinking municipalities treasure and protect their open space. My own place, Washington DC, boasts not only the airy National Mall but the protected wilds of Rock Creek Park, and much more. For my family in Minneapolis, lakes and parks are a matter of civic pride. “Scholars should not live in a town without greenery” (Talmud Sanhedrin 17b) – and neither should children, or anyone. How verdant are our surroundings, and how much time do we take to appreciate them?

Green Lungs. That’s what parks and open space are for cities. Frederick Law Olmsted and his City Beautiful movement were onto something when they created parks as oases in, and ‘emerald necklaces’ around, the great centers. But they didn’t coin the idea: Numbers 35:4-5 insists on an open space or migrash of 1000 cubits (half a kilometer) on all sides around the towns of the Levites; tradition extends this to all cities. The migrash cannot be rezoned for agricultural use, nor can fields be used to accommodate urban sprawl (MT Shmittah 13:2), ever. How would the view differ if we still followed this advice?

Green Lawns. Scores of miles beyond the airport and downtown, still we cross suburbs and exurbs. In theory they unite the best of rural openness with urban access. Yet once lot sizes exceed a fifth or tenth of an acre, density falls, and mass transit becomes impractical. Our tradition that favors the public realm over the private (i.e. parks over lawns; c.f. Talmud Bava Kama 50b) – in contrast, most suburban greenery is in small monocultural fiefdoms of chemicalized nonnative grass. A “well-manicured” lawn, despite the species it hosts and rainwater it filters, has as much ecologically in common with the asphalt over it, as with the field or forest it replaced. Where do we make our homes, and how do we steward our little slice of Creation?

Green Fields. The flight-path from Minneapolis to DC affords great views of Chicagoland, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. But mostly it’s mid-sized and small towns scattered throughout, with roads aplenty between cultivated fields: cropland, all the way to the horizon. Parks, wildlands, and protected riparian zones are immediately recognizable, sadly, because there are so few of them – the forested Blue Ridges especially stand out, long bumpy green waves on a sea of agriculture and settlement. We have remade most of the land in our image, after the needs and desires of our one species. Where will the rock-badger make its nest, or the wild birds rest (c.f. Psalm 104)?

Green Diets. We ourselves don’t eat most of the soy and corn and alfalfa which dominate the view out the left side of the aircraft. Rather we feed the majority to livestock, getting back less than a tenth of it in the form of meat. A new U.N. study suggests that

fully 18% of the human contribution to climate change is through the animal industry – mostly from these land-use changes, plus methane in their digestive tracts, nitrous oxides from their waste, transport of all that feed and product, and power to the slaughterhouses. Jewish tradition at least limits our consumption of animals through kashrut, and many Jewish values point toward a vegetarian ideal. What’s on our plate?

Green Cities. Downtowns, and individual tall buildings, are recognizable from the air. They’re among the most sustainable elements of the view – density is good for land-use (and culture, and democracy…). On descent into our final destination, the suburbs look flat and wasteful by comparison, cookie-cut. The Talmud was prescient – Bava Batra (75a) explains that as Jerusalem grows, thirty houses would be built atop one another, with people ‘flying’ up and down – and the open space around it would remain. How dense or efficient is the land use in our neighborhood?

Green Outlook. Isaiah (5:8-9) prophesied to the Kingdom of Israel over 2700 years ago: “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field, until no space is left and you live alone on the land. The Lord Almighty has declared in my hearing: ‘Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants’…” Will that be our fate, or can we do better? I think we can. This Omer season, let’s commit to each other, to Creation, and to the Creator, with specific ways to lighten our footprint on this good Earth.

Discussion Questions:

1. What specific actions will we take to lighten our footprint on this good Earth? Many suggestions are embedded above, and elsewhere in this JRF Omer series. Others abound at places like www.care2.com, www.sierraclub.org, and www.lcv.org.

2. For the first time, the US Congress is taking on climate change as a real concern (Canada is way ahead on this, but can do more too). Do you know about the historic “80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050” bills introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer and Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Henry Waxman? What are you doing to support these and similar efforts?

3. Wind turbines are a zero-carbon answer to climate change and oil dependence. But some folks oppose specific wind projects, saying that they’ll mar the view. How do we reconcile NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) concerns with larger values? What zoning issues are hot in your area?

4. How are our synagogues and havurot doing? What programmatic and educational offerings address these concerns? How energy efficient are our houses of worship? Find many resources at www.coejl.org/greensyn; find your local “Interfaith Power & Light” at www.regenerationproject.org; and look to our own JRC in Evanston IL for inspiration.

5. Frequent flyers may be responsible for more greenhouse gases through air miles than through any (or every!) other part of life. We can effectively offset the carbon these aircraft spew on our behalf, for just a few dollars per flight leg, at places like Native Energy or Sustainable Travel International. Get the lowdown at www.coopamerica.org/pubs/realmoney/articles/carbonoffsets.cfm.

-- For www.jrf.org/omer, 2007. Fred Scherlinder Dobb is Rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation (www.adatshalom.net) in Bethesda MD. President of the Washington Board of Rabbis, and the Reconstructionist representative to the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (www.coejl.org) board, he is a long-time Jewish-environmental educator and activist.

APPENDIX B-11: Environmental Justice Reflections for www.jrf.org, Spring 2006 (3 pages)

Justice and Sustainability – Protecting Creation by Feeding People, & Vice VersaPrepared by Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Rabbi, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Bethesda MD

“…When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a Sabbath of God. Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather in the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, a Sabbath of God: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard… you shall hallow the fiftieth year. You shall proclaim release throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you: each of you shall return to their holding each of you shall return to their family…. Do not wrong one another, but fear your God… the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me. Throughout the land that you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land…”

-- Leviticus 25, Parshat Behar, linking justice and sustainability

"...there are also important intermediate steps between hand outs and legislative reform.  For example, low income renters and homeowners might be given incentives to exchange incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient ones.  Landlords should be given incentives to put heating and cooling thermostats in their units that allow for turning down the heat when no ones home and up when they are and so forth.  Obviously this not only provides cost benefits but also is good for the environment.  Communities need to do a better job of organizing the recycling of used furniture so that we can reduce both waste in our landfills and the production of low quality and cheap (but not in the longer cost effective) furniture.  We can also do more with making healthier foods more affordable...."

-- Rabbi Howard Cohen, response to JRF Omer Study, Week I, on the question of balancing our advocacy efforts with direct service

There will always be hungry people in our midst (per Deut. 15) – unless and until, anyway, we tackle its root causes, and prevent the feedback mechanisms which exacerbate the problem. So far our Omer study has addressed many of these reasons why so many still go hungry, and these explorations are valuable, but incomplete. We still need to more thoroughly investigate the linkage between environmental destruction and human hunger, poverty, and suffering.

That linkage goes way back. The first sixth of the Talmud is Seder Z’ra’im, the Order of Seeds, pointing toward sustainable agriculture and tzedakah alike. Sustainable agriculture – respecting the land enough to keep feeding people generation after generation – resonates from Leviticus to Tractate Peah to Israeli drip irrigation innovations. That environment-hunger linkage is also important to consider precisely so we can learn how to feed people and spare ecosystems. The connection between human hunger and environmental devastation is a fact of history, a challenge for today, and a key to our survival tomorrow.

In the Past: Societies that don’t plan for the long-term, and don’t fastidiously protect their environment, collapse, with often disastrous results. Easter Island cut down forests to build up cities and monuments, and once treeless and soil-less, imploded. Ancient Mesopotamia supported a huge population through irrigation, but the growing salinity of the soil led millions to starve. Rome’s downfall may well have involved heavy metal contamination in the populace. How different are we?!

In the Present: Poor and hungry people, understandably, denude their local environment. What good is a wildlife preserve next door when your own family is malnourished? When residents need subsistence firewood to stay warm and heat food, what chance do the last nearby trees have? No environmental solution can work without also meeting the basic needs of the human population --

true in the savannah or in Savannah, in Tell Afar or Tel Aviv, locally and globally. And the reverse is true too: stripping vegetation creates new drier microclimates, leading to lower crop yields. Deforestation leads to soil erosion and loss of farmland. Toxins spewed into the air bioaccumulate in the plants and animals we eat. Polluted water sources compromise agriculture across the board. The environment must be protected in order to feed people; people must be fed in order to protect the environment.

In the Future: The impact of environmental destruction is always felt heaviest those already poorest and hungriest. “Environmental justice” advocates, including religious environmentalists, have long noted the undue environmental burden of the poor (the field began in a sense with a United Church of Christ study in 1985; the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, www.coejl.org, has in recent years been a key player in this movement). The worst however is yet to come: the rising sea levels and adverse weather changes that global warming are bringing will first and most seriously affect poor hungry people in developing nations, clustered along coastlines, already experiencing horrific food insecurity. Indigenous knowledge of agriculture and nature will be lost as the same crops no longer grow where they have for millennia. To keep people fed, global climate change and other environmental catastrophes must be mitigated.

What can we do for environmental justice? Three examples from Adat Shalom in Bethesda, MD. We designed our own synagogue building to be as energy efficient and as possible, using alternative materials (like cork instead of vinyl flooring) to be conscious of human health impacts. We sponsored a drive to replace potentially toxic mercury thermometers with digital ones, safely disposing of the hazardous older models. And we partnered with our local “Interfaith Power and Light” group (www.theregenerationproject.org) to buy a good percentage of the energy our synagogue uses from wind and other renewable sources, to do something to lessen the global warming now upon us.

In each of our communities there are so many things we can do. One of the texts above, from Rabbi Howard Cohen in Vermont, lists a host of possible actions. A number of our JRF affiliates are now designing synagogue buildings and expansions with environmental concerns in mind, led by JRC in Evanston IL -- breaking new ground by striving for high LEED certification (see www.usgbc.org for more on LEED green building). Through Hazon (www.hazon.org) and on their own, numerous synagogues are starting organic gardens on their grounds, stewarding the land and feeding people at the same time.

And as individuals, acting on our most deeply held Jewish values, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. But first we must realize that we cannot choose either to feed the hungry or to protect Creation. As Jews and as people, we simply must do both.

Questions for Thought and Discussion:

1. What’s the best term for what we seek – social justice, or social-economic-environmental sustainability? Is justice possible without sustainability; and even if so, how helpful is it?

2. What (or what else) can / should you and your congregation do, to ensure both environmental and social/economic justice?

3. If you’re up for this tough one: what’s the role of Population in sustainability and justice? Advances in technology, agriculture, and ethics all mitigate the ill effects of population growth, but at 6.3 billion and counting, by some definitions Earth is well past its “carrying capacity” – especially if we could and would bring everyone up to the average upper-middle-class North American standard of living. Women’s rights, the role of education and government, and many other issues must be included in any discussion of population; for us, a Jewish population decline (thanks to first genocide, now demography) further complicates matters. But the question remains: Do we live our lifestyles, and

freely choose our family size, on the backs of the world’s poor and backs of our own great-grandchildren? Two resources follow this question [online at www.jrf.org/omer/2006/6/justice-and-sustainability]: lyrics from folk-singer-turned-UU-Minister Fred Small’s fabulous “Too Many People” (1994, Everything Possible), followed by excerpts from P Zohav’s provocative but important post earlier in this year’s Omer study:

Adam and Eve, time on their hands,hyperactive glands, room to expand –when they began begetting, they begatted to excess,eschewing tactics prophylactic: now we’re in a mess…

Some say no, no no, it’s not the population,it’s consumption, pollution, unequal distribution –I say that’s so, but it’s a simple equation:population times pollution, equals no solutionwhen there’s too many people having too many babies…

-- Fred Small, 1994, Everything Possible

Shalom all,    At the risk of supporting Malthus, I wonder if the current and often passionate discussions and suggestions may be glossing over something essential to the conversation. Population growth and the environment.    Raising minimum wages, working for and with the homeless - often seems to me to be akin to putting our fingers in a diminishing dike.    Not that taking measures such as these ought be avoided, but maybe taking another look at population growth may provide an expanded context.  When people and their environments are under stress they will reach for all kinds of notions that support, justify, and rationalize their point of view, support their chosen or inherited traditional ways of being.    Sometimes it looks like religion, sometimes it looks like an ideology….    In my view so long as the Palestinians, Israelis, Hindus, Muslims, Chinese... (one can substitute any other group) keep on making more and more children who will need more and more "stuff" - supported by more and more demands for water, power, roads, buildings, bridges - a lasting peace with ____ (Israel, India, Pakistan, Iraq)  will pretty much remain a dream.    Hungry, deprived peoples do not dance well together.    I do not believe that goodwill towards one another is sufficient. We need to work to reduce the pressures on our societies that inevitably will shove us into conflict, produce poverty, and hunger.

-- P Zohav, in 2006 JRF Omer Study

APPENDIX B-12: Ecological Talking Points for High Holy Days, 2003 From Fred Scherlinder Dobb, for COEJL Congregational Initiative

Eco-Talking Points for the High Holy DaysCOEJL, 2003/5763

1.  Creation:       With each set of shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah we say "hayom harat olam," on this day the world was born.  As the High Holy Days begin, our focus turns to creation -- all the ways we depend on and benefit from it; all the ways we uphold or threaten it, depending on the choices we make in our daily lives.  Let 5764 be a year of defending creation.

2.  Introspection:       The Hebrew month of Elul, which takes us up to the High Holy Days themselves, is a time of introspection.  Tradition bids us to consider our ways, and to begin to make amends.  As the opening notes of the penitential season sound, may we courageously address all that is less than just, sustainable, and holy in our lives.

3.  Justice:       The prophet Isaiah's famous call for a "fast of righteousness" (ch. 57-58) is the haftarah for Yom Kippur morning.  Over 2500 years ago, Isaiah understood that prayers and penitence must be backed up with action.  Nothing is just about a world in which anyone can fall victim to pollution, or where the poorest and least empowered among us suffer the brunt of environmental dislocation.  Addressing climate change now is an issue of justice.  Modernizing our vehicles so fewer kids get asthma is an issue of justice.  Ensuring clean water for all is an issue of justice.  COEJL's agenda takes it cue from Isaiah -- "to let the oppressed go free, to release every yoke" -- doing so in a vital yet under-recognized arena.

4.  The future:       Many synagogues include Deuteronomy 30:19 in their Yom Kippur Torah reading.  Few verses better summarize our reality, in which we have free will but are called to right conduct:  "I have set before you this day life and death, blessing and curse -- therefore, choose life, that you and your children may live."  We often forget those last few words:  the choices we make determine not only the shape of our own lives, but of those who live after us.  Addressing today's environmental concerns is perhaps the most important way in which we choose life for ourselves and our children. 

APPENDIX B-13: “Living on Earth” (national NPR radio program) Spoken Word Recording, December 2001, on Hannukah and Energy Efficiency

Radio Spot on Hannukah and Energy Conservation 2001/5762 NPR’s Living on Earth Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb 301/767-3333 x113

People around the world celebrate light amidst winter¹s darkness. For Jews that’s Hannukah - a fun, if not religiously central holiday.

The history is that in Israel in 163 BCE, a rag-tag bunch called the Macabbees overthrew the mighty Greek Selucids and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem - with lights. The word "Hannukah" actually means ‘dedication.’

Some five hundred years after the Maccabbees, the rabbis – uncomfortable with the ‘military might’ angle – told the now-famous story of lights. In rededicating the Temple, the Macabbees found only one day’s supply of pure oil - yet it lasted eight days: a ‘miraculous’, 700-percent increase in energy efficiency.

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, including most major groups in the Jewish community, has a campaign this Hannukah, titled: "let there be renewable light." Jews around the country are signing Hannukah pledges to "rededicate ourselves to protecting the Earth." We’re studying Jewish responses to global warming. We’re taking one energy-saving actionfor each night of the holiday, from having a candle-light dinner, to running one more errand on public transit, to contacting Congress about energy issues.

Back home, our synagogue is distributing special Hannukah presents - low-cost compact fluorescent bulbs along with energy-saving tips. Compact fluorescents use just one-fourth the energy of standard incandescent bulbs. That’s halfway toward the Maccabee’s eight-fold efficiency goal – and simple steps, like improving our cars’ fuel economy, can take us even closer.

Some people translate the Hebrew imperative "mitzvah" as "good deed." But it actually means commandment. The way I see it, saving energy isn’t just a "good deed" it IS a mitzvah in the true sense of the word, a moral and theological concern. The more energy we save, the less of Creation we destroy.

More than 2000 years ago the rabbis say it took a miracle to make a little bit of energy go a long way. Today all it takes is the everyday miracle of changing our ingrained habits to make Maccabean strides towards energy efficiency. That’s something to think about as you light your menorah – or Christmas tree, or Kwanzaa lights, or solstice candle.

=============== Fred Scherlinder Dobb, a Trustee of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life,

is the rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland.

APPENDIX B-14: Reflection for Tu B’Shvat for COEJL Website, 2006

"If a Tree Falls in the Forest on Tu B'Shvat..."Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb for www.coejl.org, 2006

    It's treated as a riddle, a Western koan, a cliche by now:  "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"  An important question to ask ourselves this Tu B'Shvat season.

    Physics suggests the answer is yes; mass and velocity, angle and density and the like will all affect the volume of the sound made by the falling tree, yet the proximity of human eardrums is utterly irrelevant. 

    Modern ecology critiques the very anthropocentrism (human-centered-ness) inherent in the question.  We share 99% of our DNA with fellow creatures like chimpanzees -- what if the forest in question is in equatorial West Africa, with no humans but plenty of other intelligent bipedal primates there to hear the sound?

    Judaism too offers its own spin on the question, one whose roots go back nearly two millennia.  In Pirkei D'Rebbe Eliezer (chapter 34 -- it's a classical rabbinic text from about 300 CE TKTK), we are told in similar koan-fashion of "six things whose voices resound from one end of the universe to the other, yet are not heard" -- the first of which is:  "In the hour when they/you cut down a tree which bears fruit, its voice goes out from one end of the universe to the other, yet the voice is not heard." 

    (Another of the six things, importantly, is the departure of the soul from a human body at the moment of our own death.  By paralleling the deaths of trees and people, this text also underscores the parallel lives we humans and trees live.  Deuteronomy 20:19, the origin of the law of bal tashchit / not wasting, also points to this: ki ha'adam etz hasadeh, "is the tree of the field human," is read by Midrash Sifrei 203 as teaching that "human life depends on the tree," or literally "there is no life for a person save that which comes from the tree.")

    It's quite an image of trees being cut down that Pirkei D'Rebbe Eliezer offers -- a silent scream of global proportions, resounding across the universe, set at such a spiritually high frequency that the human ear cannot pick up the signal.  Yet we are taught about the scream, nonetheless.  What can we learn from this image?  A few suggestions:

    First, the scream is there.  We must fine-tune our own ethical and spiritual receptors so that we can finally hear what so dismays the cosmos about the felling of trees.  And once we do, it will change what buy and who we vote for and how we live.  Non-recycled paper, or off-the-shelf wood products without the Forest Stewardship Council label, or politics as usual subsidizing more logging on National Forest land, only perpetuate that scream.

    (This is close to what the great Maimonides, in 12th century Spain/Egypt, taught about prophecy -- God doesn't so much single out folks like Rebecca or Jeremiah to receive the divine word; rather these 'prophets' are so morally and religiously inclined that they make the extra effort to discern the divine word, which is always there.  In other words, we all have prophetic potential:  and to add a dash of Dr. Seuss to the Rambam, the trees need a lot more prophetic Loraxes to speak for them!)

    Second, we can't single-handedly stop the scream.  The international economy is so structured that trees become disposable chopsticks, construction-grade lumber, fine string instruments, firewood to heat impoverished homes, reams and reams of paper used and wasted in affluent offices, and so on.  But by getting educated and in turn educating others -- including businesses through our purchasing, and politicians through our voting -- we can lessen the screaming chorus. 

    Third, even when we can't stop the scream, we can offset it.  Our great-grandchildren will still be poorer for every stand of redwoods or sitka spruce cut down today; olive trees near Bethlehem and bristlecone pines near Bryce Canyon take generations to reach maturity.  But every tree we plant, every seed we nurture, every ecosystem we protect, every bit of soil we conserve and every bit of conspicuous consumption we avoid, all play their helpful part.

    Finally, we can learn from the trees' silent scream.  Most life on Earth, including but not limited to people and trees, is under threat from the rapid climate change our one species is now causing.  Turning around the jugger-naut is proving difficult, however, because the 'scream' of scientific consensus and of horrific warning signs goes unheard by corporations and Congress and consumers and citizens, to say nothing of the current U.S. administ-ration.  We prophets, we Loraxes, we who hear the scream, must raise our voices still more, while modulating them so that others can hear it too.  The silent scream can be a metaphor for the great environmental challenges which lie ahead.  For trees, for Earth, for us -- let's make sure the scream goes unheard no more.      

(-- Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda MD, serves on the COEJL Board of Trustees)

APPENDIX B-15: “Freedom, Pharaoh, and the Plagues of Tomorrow” –Twin Versions of Passover Piece for COEJL Website, Spring 2002 (2 pages)

Freedom, Pharaoh, and the Plagues of Tomorrow(Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, for COEJL, 2002 / 5762 – edgy version, 3/23/02)

Let's have some rachmonis (mercy) on Pharaoh. He tried hard -- that's what all his friends said. He stuck to his guns, believed in his enterprise, and did alright by many Egyptians. He even kept Mitzrayim together for a while. The system he stood for may have been flawed, but hey – who isn't impressed by those public works projects? Seems like he did what he thought was right, based on the status quo he'd inherited. Can we blame him for not quite seeing what others in his day called "the big picture?"

After all, "Pharaoh" lives today, inside each of us and in “the system”. Take our energy system –abundant oil, at the center of our energy policy, is great, right? (Great for oil companies, that’s for sure…). OK, we’ve heard about air pollution and sickness and global warming; we’ve heard about alternatives like hybrid vehicles, solar and wind powered homes, and highly efficient appliances. But like most of my fellow Egyptians, I just don’t buy it. Gimme cheap oil for my gas-guzzler (mine is nicknamed “Sphinx”, by the way, ‘cuz I love how it purrs so powerfully), even if flows from anti-democratic and anti-semitic nations, or out of the recently-pristine Arctic.

And then there are these "prophets" out there, screaming about the "plagues" we’ll suffer if we don't change. Yet the Pharaohs in power say that our way of life will be destroyed if we adopt energy conservation measures. I’ve heard that "farmers will have to plow their fields with golf-carts;" "suburban parents won't be able to carpool;" "we’ll all lose our freedom of movement.” I don’t know quite who to believe, but the Pharoahs have done alright by me – and I just don’t know about these Moses, Aaron, and Miriam types…

So let’s not rush to judgment. Really, Pharaoh's not such a bad guy, and under his leadership Egypt has a lot of potential. As the most powerful nation on Earth, isn’t it entitled to consume vast quantities of the Earth's resources?! Plus, giving in to a "special interest group" would set a dangerous precedent. Those Hebrew environmentalists can sure rouse some rabble, but they're a minority. The blessed Mitzrayim way of life is strong – and we’d better not let some fringe group of freedom-fighting radicals get in the way of things. I say we stay the course. Anyway, what’s the worst that could happen?...

[this version continued with the same two lists as below]

Freedom, Pharaoh, and the Plagues of Tomorrow(Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, for COEJL, 2002 / 5762 – polished final version, 3/28/02)

Let's have some rachmonis (mercy) on Pharaoh. He tried hard – that's what all his friends say. He stuck to his guns, believed in his enterprise, and did alright by many Egyptians. Sure, the system he stood for is flawed – but who’s not impressed by those public works projects? Pharoah did what he thought was right, in his day. And if he didn’t act on what others called "the big picture," can we blame him?

Take energy: he kept the status quo limping along, and the people of Mitzrayim still appreciate the cheap oil for our gas-guzzlers. Against him are those so-called "prophets”, screaming about the "plagues" we’ll suffer if we don't change. Yet the Pharaohs in power say that Egypt would go down the tubes if we had to use less energy. I don’t know quite who to believe, but the Pharoahs have done alright by me – and I just don’t know about these Moses, Aaron, and Miriam types…

So let’s not rush to judgment. Really, Pharaoh's not such a bad guy. Under his leadership Mitzrayim has a lot of potential – and as the most powerful nation on Earth, isn’t it entitled to use up lots of the Earth's resources?! Plus, those Hebrew environmentalists are a "special interest group", and you know what happens when you start giving in…

We know that our blessed Mitzrayim way of life is strong – so we’d better not let some fringe group of radical prophets get in the way of things. I say we stay the course. Anyway, what’s the worst that could happen?...

The Worst That Could Happen:Ten Plagues, Coming Soon, If We Fail To Curb Global Climate Change

1. Pollution everywhere, and not a drop to drink (blood in rivers)2. Ecosystems going "out of whack" (affecting frogs, and other living things)3. Huge dislocations in daily life (think lice, but much much worse)4. Species extinction (beasts no more)5. Loss of reliable food supply (cattle plague)6. Spread of tropical diseases (boils and other globalizing ailments)7. Changes in weather patterns (hail being just one example)8. Crop failure (locusts and other agricultural nightmares)9. Rising sea levels pushing whole islands underwater (darkness)10. Millions of environmental refugees fueling unrest (killing of firstborn)

Ten Things You Can Do To Help Avoid These Plagues:

1. Drive less2. Drive smarter (better mileage car, fully-inflated tires, tune-ups)3. Turn your thermostat down (in winter) and up (in summer)4. Turn off lights and appliances when you’re not using them5. Install timers and light-detectors for your lighting needs6. Buy Energy Star, ultra-efficient appliances and electronics7. Switch to green power where possible; install wind & solar units8. Organize!9. Educate!10. Vote your conscience; vote for the future

APPENDIX B-16: “Ecology, Messiah, and Trees” – 2003 Teaching for Leadership of the Social Justice ‘Tzedek Hillel’ Program, Jewish Campus Organization Hillel Int’l, DC

Dvar Torah on Judaism & Ecology, for Tzedek Hillel, 1/03: “Ecology, Messiah, and Trees”

In his bizarrely philosophical and edgy “Jerusalem”, musician Dan Bern sings that “everybody’s waiting for the messiah.” And since “I know how I hate to wait / like even for a bus or somethin’”, he spares us the suspense by revealing himself: “I am the messiah.” Bern may play guitar and write music better than you or I, but this secular Jew is no more messiah than we are -- and no less. We are the messiah, with the power to bring an incremental measure of redemption to the world through our right action. Abraham Joshua Heschel said “an architect of hidden worlds, every pious Jew is, partly, the messiah.” We powerful mini-messiahs, then, must be judicious with our power.

The great first century Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai taught (Avot d’Rebbe Natan 31b), “if you have a sapling in your hand, and someone says to you that the Messiah has come, stay and complete the planting, and then go to greet the Messiah.” Wow! On the one branch, since Jerusalem was in ruins partly due to intransigent ‘messianic’ Judeans, ben Zakkai is saying “messiah shmessiah, let’s focus on the here and now.” Some of us today, frustrated with Chabad’s messianic fervor or with conversionary efforts by “messianic Jews”, might agree. But on the other branch, if we take ben Zakkai literally, then planting a tree – guaranteeing the future of life on Earth, as it were – is the most sacred thing we can do.

Yes! It is! The ancients knew it when they wrote blessings for eating the tree’s fruit, seeing it blossom in spring, witnessing the beauties of nature. We know it when we celebrate trees preventing soil erosion, regulating the global climate, providing habitat and shade and oxygen. “’When you enter the land and plant’ – even if you find the land full of good things, do not say ‘we will sit and not plant;’ rather be industrious in your plantings” (Tanchuma Kedoshim 19:23). And the Talmudic story about Honi, the old man, and the carob tree (Ta’anit 23a) has the punch line: “just as my ancestors planted for me, so I plant for my descendants.” In our own backyards, or in our homeland, we too can plant trees. But our contemporary challenges are deeper and more complex.

Start with the paper you buy – what’s its post-consumer recycled percentage? The lower the number, the more trees are cut down on your behalf. Or consider construction of your house or Hillel or shul – did you help drive the market for sustainable lumber, or are old-growth joists holding up your suburban floor? What about your coffee – unless it’s shade grown and Fair Trade, tropical trees were cut down and “Juan Valdez” was paid a lousy 50 cents to pick a pound of the stuff. Maybe coffee kashrut could look beyond the creamer?! And since life is partisan, look at the politicians you vote or volunteer for, or try to influence – the party in power is pushing to make our National Forests into National Tree Farms, a policy that messiah-wanna-be’s might not countenance.

If Moshiach was a modern poet, I’d vote for Marge Piercy. Her “Seedlings in the Mail” might just be commenting on Honi’s carob tree: “Ah, for people like us, followed / by forwarding addresses and dossiers and limping causes / it takes a crazy despairing faith…/ to plant pine and fir and beech / for somebody else’s grandchildren, / if there are any.”

And in her “For She Is a Tree of Life,” after her mom explains Etz Chayim Hee to her, she concludes about this cosmic Torah-itic tree: “We all flit through her branches or creep / through her bark, skitter over her leaves. / Yet we are the mice that gnaw at her root / who labor ceaselessly to bring her down. / When the tree falls, we will not rise as plastic / butterfly spaceships, but will starve as the skies / weep hot acid and the earth chafes into dust.”

Unless we change our evil ways, Piercy describes our likely fate. Eleazar ben Pedat (3rd century; Pesikta Rabbati 1:4b) said, “Messiah will come in a generation fit for extinction;” we may well be that generation on the brink. But either way, let’s not sit idly by, waiting for some fantastic intervention to rescue us from ourselves. Let’s instead turn the juggernauts of global warming and loss of species and widening human inequalities around, and build the kind of world into which a messiah figure would feel right at home. Franz Kafka said it best in one of his Parables (Greenberg 65): “The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will come only on the day after his arrival.” So ‘Kafkaesquely’, let’s help bring moshiach now, and let’s not wait.

-- Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, MD, serves on the board of COEJL.

APPENDIX B-17: Fred Scherlinder Dobb’s quotes and footage in A Sacred Duty(Documentary/DVD by Lionel Friedberg and Richard Schwartz, 2007)

Rabbi Fred Dobb:The entirety of Torah is described by the rabbis as a blueprint for creation. Creation is another name for environment; In fact, really, the preferred name in many ways. Environment makes it sound as if it’s something other and outside and we are somehow not a part of it, when in fact we are one species among millions and we need to cultivate that humility. In fact, much of the Torah’s teachings about the environment suggest precisely that. It’s about a humble role relative to nature because we are all in it together and because we are all subsidiary to the Divine….

NARRATOR:JUST A FEW MILES AWAY, IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND, ANOTHER CONGREGATION PROUDLY CALLS ITSELF ‘GREEN.’ THIS IS TEMPLE ADAT SHALOM, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF RABBI FRED DOBB. BUT THE VISION AND MESSAGE FROM THIS PULPIT GOES FAR BEYOND LOCAL BOUNDARIES.

Rabbi Fred DobbLeviticus teaches, ‘Don’t stand by the blood of your neighbor.’ [HEBREW] Our neighbor today is every one of the 6.4 billion people including those on low-lying South Sea Islands about to be swamped by rising sea levels. // // We have a responsibility to them, a responsibility to our neighbors who are the non-human creations, who the endangered species that are on the verge of being pushed out of their possible habitat by climate change, and our neighbors also include neighbors in time, future generations. We need to address climate change for the poorest among us, for the rest of creation and perhaps above all for our own future…

NARRATOR:IN 2006, THE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS RELEASED A STARTLING REPORT. IT REVEALED THAT LIVESTOCK AGRICULTURE CONTRIBUTES SIGNIFICANTLY TO GLOBAL WARMING. 18 PERCENT OF GREENHOUSE GASES COME FROM CATTLE AND THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY.

Rabbi Fred DobbI actually gave a Dvar Torah recently on this Bimah that made that connection. //If we take that UN report seriously, if we take what scientists are telling us seriously, if we just look around and see the way that we have made over the world in our image, including the huge quantities of land that are being farmed in non-sustainable ways to simply create the feed to go to the animals to be inefficiently processed so that people can have their beef, it’s kind of crazy and it can’t last. And we need to take the Jewish impulse of limitations on what we eat and take it further.

APPENDIX B-18: Fred Scherlinder Dobb’s testimony to the National Highway Transportation Safety Board, on CAFE Standards and Climate Change, 8/4/2008

Thank you. I’m Fred Scherlinder Dobb, a local Rabbi and leader in many religious-environmental groups – the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, the Shalom Center, Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light, and Religious Witness for the Earth – urging you to prioritize the climate impacts of fuel standards, and to choose the path of conservation over convenience.

You must be overwhelmed by voices and perspectives today, alongside your own proclivities. I hope and pray that you, and all who make this decision, maintain open minds, and open hearts, and are truly open to the evidence and ideas here.

That said, though a man of the cloth, I won’t share theology. I will cite ethical and moral principles, which I derive from the biblical tradition -- principles which compel our accuracy, our courage, and our alacrity in turning around the scourge of climate change.

Credentialed folks have already said what the American people get: anthropogenic climate change is real, its early effects are seen now, worse lies ahead. A robust scientific consensus takes it very seriously. We bear disproportionate historical, quantitative, and moral responsibility for it. And every-thing we do -- as individuals or “national safety administrations” -- makes a real, incremental difference.

Fuel economy is a global concern; in my world, it’s a “Jewish issue” too. Back in the Talmud (Shabbat 67b), the law of ‘not wasting’ (bal tashchit) covers how one best burns different fuels, oil versus naptha. COEJL, for our Jewish community, offers a ‘friend of the court’ brief on California’s clean air challenge to the EPA’s non-waiver: we see urgency in curbing our oil addiction, our dependence – and protecting all that we can.

Like others, I’m really concerned about calculations for the ‘likely’ cost of gas in the future. Spiritually and ethically, we can’t reduce endangered species, flood-and-famine refugees, integrity of Creation to mere pennies in an equation – not that the Draft EIS includes them at all. We can’t stand idly by, while our country proposes to ignore the lion’s share of evidence and logic, lowball the estimated price of gas a decade hence, lower fuel economy, and send aloft hundreds of millions of tons of carbon, needlessly.

It was Mark Twain or Benjamin Disraeli, who coined “Lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Stats can be accurate; they can be harnessed for good – but sometimes they can be beyond damned.  How to best guess the price of gas in 2015 or ‘20: average recent running prices? Use our current price, near $4, or today’s European price range, $6-10? Analyze long-term trends (including rising demand, against likely level production)?  See what futures markets think?  Do all those, and average them?  I’m no statistician, but as a citizen and clergyperson, it seems that whatever method yielded $2.25 or even $2.60 in 2020, is an outlier at best, and a statistic beyond 'damn lies' at worst.

This Yom Kippur I’ll speak on “responsibility to the other,” the subtlety and impact of our choices. I’ll address driving – the miles and hydrocarbons we take for granted, which worsen the world. I’ll ask Adat Shalomers how to explain our profligacy to a Bangladeshi (or New Orleanian) or other resident of low-lying areas, suffering ever-more damaging impacts of rising sea level and stronger storms.

And I ask you the same – as if not in a hearing room but a confessional booth; a place of epiphany and reckoning; a Day of Atonement. When you’ll look back on your personal (how much and what to drive) and your national choices — how efficient, ethical and ‘conservative’ to make our entire fleet – looking back, did you do what was expedient, or what was right? 

Deuteronomy 30:19: “I’ve set before you this day life and death, blessing and curse – choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” Our freely-made choices have life-or-death implications for our great-grandchildren, too. So please, let your and my great-grandchildren enjoy a slightly less denuded world. Please, use reasonable numbers in your calculations. Please, raise average fuel economy as much as possible.

As Rabbi Tarfon wrote (Mishnah Avot 2:21) 1900 years ago: “It’s not upon you to complete the task -- but neither are you free to desist from it.” No, a couple more miles per gallon won’t solve climate change; but it is one of many manageable, meaningful steps we can and must take, and build on. We – today, you of the NHTSA – are not supposed to solve this, alone. But you must do your part, just as each of us must do ours. Please do yours, with special emphasis on “the least among us,” the integrity of Creation, and our own descendants. Thank you.