By Robert Gluck, JNS.org
The miracle of Hanukkah is an epic story of conservation, as one day’s worth of oil lasted for eight days in the Jewish Temple. Now, in some circles, energy conservation and energy independence are increasing hallmarks of modern-day Hanukkah.
One of the first organizations to emphasize this concept was the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), a leading American Jewish environmental group and a program of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. For Hanukkah in 2003, COEJL asked its members to consider ecological concerns alongside the role of enjoyment and aesthetics.
“We had a light-bulb campaign to get folks to change their bulbs to CFLs [compact fluorescent lights],” said Jared Feldman, COEJL’s vice president and Washington, D.C. director. “We came up with the idea of Hanukkah as both a holiday of liberation, but also a holiday of resource scarcity. We built off the idea of the limited amount of oil for eight days and how conservation plays in.”
Today, COEJL is working on more actively engaging Jewish community relations councils around the country on these issues, according to Feldman.
“We’re thinking about how to use some of the Jewish holidays as a platform to also discuss environmental issues,” he said. “This has happened before and it is included in our long-term plans.”
This Hanukkah, Feldman suggests buying more fuel-efficient cars like hybrids or electric vehicles, buying Energy Star-compliant appliances for homes, and thinking about energy usage at Jewish communal facilities.
“Make sure your communal facilities are built in a way that is energy efficient, because that not only reduces the amount of energy but lowers the energy bill,” Feldman said. “We’d all rather put the money into Jewish community education or JCCs or having Shabbat dinners with our friends than huge energy bills. A lot of synagogues and Jewish communal institutions have set up environmental and sustainability committees to look at their facilities. They are now installing green roofs and solar power. This makes a big difference.”
According to David Krantz, president and chairperson of Aytzim: Ecological Judaism, which runs the Green Zionist Alliance, Jewcology.org, and Shomrei Breishit: Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth projects, Hanukkah is the original holiday of energy conservation.
“Think about it. One day’s worth of oil lasted for eight days,” Krantz said. “Imagine if we conserved energy like we did during the first Hanukkah and only used one eighth as much energy as we do today.”
Like Passover, Hanukkah should remind us to challenge the status quo, Krantz said. “Today, we need to fight for what our ancestors took for granted: Clean air, clean water, and clean land. We need freedom from fossil fuels. Learning about the environmental lessons of Hanukkah can help light the way.”
Krantz recommends unplugging appliances and chargers when they aren’t in use; turning off lights when you leave the room; using fans instead of air conditioning when possible; walking or taking public transit instead of driving when possible; and using timers rather than leaving lights on for the duration of Shabbat and Yom Tov.
Solar power pioneer Yosef Abramowitz, cofounder of the Arava Power Company and CEO of Energiya Global Capital, uses a Hanukkah menorah shaped like a bicycle. It was a gift from Nigel Savage, head of the environmentally focused Jewish non-profit Hazon, after Abramowitz’s wife and daughter rode in Hazon’s annual bike-a-thon. “This year the festival of lights is about trying to make Israel a renewable light unto the nations, especially as we get solar energy into underprivileged parts of the world,” Abramowitz said.