I’m dreaming of a green Hanukkah

c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Every December, the Sadeh family tries to bring Hanukkah back to its roots: a Jewish festival of lights that, technically, celebrates conservation. While others dream of a white Christmas, the Sadehs and other environmentally-conscious Jews strive for a green Hanukkah. It’s natural to turn a holiday about a one-day […]

c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Every December, the Sadeh family tries to bring Hanukkah back to its roots: a Jewish festival of lights that, technically, celebrates conservation. While others dream of a white Christmas, the Sadehs and other environmentally-conscious Jews strive for a green Hanukkah. It’s natural to turn a holiday about a one-day supply of oil miraculously lasting eight days into a parable of energy efficiency, said Shamu Fenyvesi Sadeh, head of the Adamah Jewish Environmental Fellowship in Connecticut. “Hanukkah is a good time to think about petroleum and oil and resources and scarcity and miracles,” he said. “It’s a good new focus for this time of year.” Hanukkah, which begins at sundown Dec. 21 this year, celebrates Jews’ reclamation of the Temple of Jerusalem from their Syrian oppressors nearly 2,200 years ago. The small amount of oil they had to light the rededicated temple’s menorah lasted eight days, prompting the holiday tradition of lighting one candle on an eight-branch menorah during each night of Hanukkah. For the Sadehs, who drive a car that runs off vegetable oil and replaced their standard light bulbs with compact fluorescents years ago, observing a greener Hanukkah means lighting beeswax candles, exchanging simple, unwrapped gifts and discussing kosher and organic trends at the national Hazon Food Conference. But for Jews less familiar with such concepts, synagogues and faith-based environmental groups offer dozens of holiday tips, including using locally grown potatoes to make traditional latkes and giving charitable donations or carbon offsets as presents. During each night’s candle-lighting ceremony, families can also replace a household light bulb with a compact fluorescent model. The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life’s “A Light Among Nations” program has sold more than 80,000 bulbs since 2006, a carbon-emissions savings comparable to taking several thousand cars off the road, said spokesperson Liore Milgrom-Elcott. At Web sites like Fair Trade Judaica, Jews can also track down menorahs and gelt _ gold-wrapped chocolate coins _ made in ethical work environments. Synagogues that have made significant environmental improvements can vie for the Green Menorah Award, given by the Philadelphia-based Shalom Center. The Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Illinois, which uses solar energy and provides bike racks and showers for congregants who cycle instead of drive to services, will be honored on Tu B’Shevat, a Jewish holiday that honors trees, observed this Feb. 9. As another environmental tie-in to the December holiday, the Shalom Center has drafted the Green Menorah Covenant, eight actions that urges Jews to incorporate into each night of Hanukkah as part of a campaign to help Americans get down to one-eight of their oil consumption by 2020. Cumulative actions like carpooling and urging synagogues and municipal buildings to consider wind-powered electricity, can make a big difference, said Rabbi Arthur Waskow, the center’s founder and director. While helping to save the natural world, the use of solar or wind power in synagogues and homes can also add a more spiritual element to Jewish rituals, said Rabbi Charles Simon, head of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, which has begun promoting the use of soy-based candles for the Sabbath, as an eco-friendly alternative to the petroleum-based versions commonly used. “Being `green’ is a Jewish imperative,” he said, adding that the federation may develop a thinner candle for use with Hanukkah menorahs next year. The economic downturn has also prompted Jews and non-Jews to consider ways to create less commercialized, more “back to basics” holiday experiences, said Barbara Lerman-Golomb, spokesperson for Hazon, a Jewish sustainable development organization that holds its food conference during Hannukah each year. “It’s natural that the faith community would respond to issues about the environment, and there’s been a backlash to some of the over-the-top extravagance associated with holidays,” she said. At Hazon’s food conference, held in Monterey, Calif. this year, the Sadeh family will be among 500 people participating in a candle-lighting ceremonies during the fifth, sixth and seventh nights of Hanukkah. As usual, they will shun petroleum-based candles in favor of beeswax, which the family had once harvested from their own hives, but will have to be purchased this year. “The bees got eaten by a bear,” Sadeh said. “That’s nature.” DSB/DEA END NEROULIAS A photo of the Sadeh family lighting candles is available via https://religionnews.com

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!