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Read COEJL’s 2010 Report on Jewish Energy

Read it Here

COEJL Greenfait Initiative

NTRODUCTORY INFORMATION ON GREENING SYNAGOGUES 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 ...

About COEJL

About COEJL COEJL is the leading Jewish environmental organization in the United States. Since its founding in 1993, COEJL has helped tens of thousands of Jews make a connection between Judaism and the environment. COEJL has put environmental protection on the agenda of the organized Jewish community and made the case to elected officials and decision-makers that protecting the environment is a moral and religious obligation. Today, COEJL represents 29 national Jewish organizations spanning the full spectrum of Jewish religious and communal life and serves as the voice of the organized Jewish community on environmental issues in Washington, ...

The Paradox of Personal Climate Responsibility – Discussion & Worksheet

Audience: Ages 11 and up Duration: 15 - 25 minutes Goals: To explore our personal repsonsibility for climate change and it's solutions. To explore jewish textsrelated to responsibility Materials: Worksheet (attached) - 1 per group of participants Pencils & pens Procedure: 1) Define what is a paradox "A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth" 2) Divide students into small groups (2-4) and distribute a worksheet and pencil or pen to each group 3) In small groups or all together, read and discuss 'the paradox...

Celebrating Shabbat Through Energy Conservation

Audience: Ages 11 and up Duration: 15 minutes Goals: To explore shabbat as a weekly environmental holiday To calculate how much energy is saved by observing shabbat Materials: Worksheet (attached) - 1 per pair of students Pencils & pens Calculators - 1 per pair of students Procedure: 1) Discuss the values and practices of shabbat. 2) Divide students into pairs and distribute worksheets on per pair 3) Read and discuss the quote at the top of the page. Discuss the value of shabbat as a day of not using resources. 4) Distribute pencils and calculators 5) Instruct students to compete the ...

Beyond Bal Taschit & the 3 Rs – Discussion and worksheets

Audience: Ages 10 and up Duration: 20 - 40 minutes Goals: To learn the jewish law of Bal taschit. To learn about the 3 Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle To explore Jewish teachings and values related to the 3 Rs. To introduce Rethink, the 4th R Materials: Worksheet (attached) 1 per participant pencils of pens Procedure: 1) Distribute the worksheet to participants. 2) With your direction, proceed through the document. a) When questions are asked, have the students fill in their answers and share a few with the class. b) When text appears. Read aloud or have a participant read aloud. Summerize ...

School Posters – Energy & Waste Conservation

Below are two example of Jewish themed posters for hanging around a Jewish Day School to encourage reduction in waste production and energy use. These posters are specific to the Ontario Canada Eco-schools program, but can be used as models for other posters, stickers, etc.

How Am I Like the Animals and Plants? – Worksheet

Ages: 4 - 7 Goals: To learn about our similarities to and relationship with animals and plants To explore the story of Creation Duration: 20 - 35 Minutes Materials: Worksheet (attached) Pens, pencils and markers Procedure: 1) Tell the story of humanities Creation from Genesis 1: 26 with a focus on the line “Let Us make humankind in Our image, after Our likeness.” 2) Discuss what this means (at an age appropriate level) to be made in the image of other animals, plants and God. 3) Direct participants to complete the worksheet 4) When complete, share answers Note: Many young ...

Our Homelands – Our connection to land in Israel vs the Diaspora

Currently, most of the world’s Jews still live in Diaspora, even though the State of Israel has been in existence for more than 60 years. Jewish prayer and spirituality is focused on Jerusalem and Israel, yet most Jews choose not to move to our ancestral homeland. Use these sources and questions below to help explore our relationship to land and answer the following overarching questions: 1) What is our connection/responsibility as Jews to land? 2) Does our connection/responsibility to land end at the borders of Israel or do we have a spiritual, moral or legal obligation to the lands on which we live as well? How do these ...

Balak: The Nature of Bilaam’s Prophecy

By Ilana Stein View a Printable Version | View a Source Sheet In the portion of Balak, the prophet Bilaam, hired by King Balak of Moab, sets out to curse the children of Israel, only to find himself proclaiming four blessings instead. Each blessing builds on the one before it, becoming more sophisticated and exalted. Bilaam begins with introducing his theme and mission in the first, replies to Balak’s anger at not cursing the people as he promised in the second, and by the third launches into a praise song of Israel that is considered “...

Trees in the Torah and Texts – Sources

Materials developed by Noam Dolgin, www.noamdolgin.com. All content is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (Ie. Tell other where you got it from and don't sell it)

Communal Tu B’Shvat Tree Jigsaw

Goals: To think about a question related to Tu B'shvat To create a communal peice of art that reflects our community and it's Tu B'shvat experience To have fun with arts &crafts and puzzle building Audience: All ages. Can be adapted for fanilies by having them decorate one peice together Materials: Carboard tree cut into jigsaw peices as described below. Markers, Crayons, etc. Packing tape Preperations: 1) Find a very large peice of cardboard. The bigger the group the bigger the cardboard needed. Refrigerator boxes are ideal. 2) One side of the Cardboard should ...

Brachot for Tu B’Shvat

Attached you will find all the brachot you should need for a Tu B'shvat event. Good luck!

Tu B’Shvat Family Feud – An Activity for All Ages

Goals: To explore the various values, themes, and riutals of Tu B'Shvat. To learn in a fun and creative way. To encourage participants to work together in solving questions Audience: Ages 8 and up, adaptable for younger with different questions. Good for intergenerational and adult program as well. Duration: Flexible, 15 - 30 minutes. Materials: Questions Sheet (attached) 2 Dry Erase Board & markers Procedure: 1) Divide the Group into teams of approx 5 - 7 people. (traditionally, family fued is played with two teams. If your group is small enough, use this model) 2) ...

Sukkot Family Feud – Activity for all ages

Goals: To explore the various values, themes, and riutals of sukkot. To learn in a fun and creative way. To encourage participants to work together in solving questions Audience: Ages 8 and up, adaptable for younger with different questions. Good for intergenerational and adult program as well. Duration: Flexible, 15 - 30 minutes. Materials: Questions Sheet (attached) 2 Dry Erase Board & markers Procedure: 1) Divide the Group into teams of approx 5 - 7 people. (traditionally, family fued is played with two teams. If your group is small enough, use this model) 2) Direct ...

Greening our Jewish Ritual Practice – Worksheet

This is a 'responsibility', 'greening' activity. Use this worksheet near the completion of a program, after participants have already explored why they should be more environmentally friendly. This sheet is a great jumping off point for 'greening' your personal practice or your communities' practices. Materials developed by Noam Dolgin, www.noamdolgin.com. All content is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. (Ie. Tell other where you got it from and don't sell it)

A Tu B’Shvat Prayer for Creation

A Tu B'Shvat Prayer for Creation By Rabbi Warren G. Stone Source of Creation and Life of the Universe, we gather together on Tu B'Shvat, as Jews of conscience, with a deep spiritual bond to your natural wonders, to affirm and preserve creation. We are grateful for creation in all its majesty: the ever-flowing waters, the azure blue skies, the complex life of Earth's forests, the myriad of life forms--amoebae and falcon, black footed ferret and wild turkey, human being and soaring eagle. The life of all creatures and our own lives are One, profoundly dependent upon each other. We call our ancient scroll of wisdom, the ...

Heksher Tzedek Guidelines – Environmental Impact

The mission of the Hekhsher Tzedek Commission is to bring the Jewish commitment to ethics and social justice directly into the marketplace…and the home. The Commission’s seal of approval, the Magen Tzedek, will help assure consumers that kosher food products were produced in keeping with the highest possible Jewish ethical values and ideals for social justice in the area of labor concerns, animal welfare, environmental impact, consumer issues and corporate integrity. The Magen Tzedek, the world’s first Jewish ethical certification seal, synthesizes the aspirations of a burgeoning international movement for sustainable, ...

Solar Ner Tamid – Build Your Own

Created by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs (Conservative)

Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative) Position on the Environment

Updated July 23rd, 2008