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Three local congregations recently signed up with the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network to become “green” synagogues.
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation was the first to sign, followed by Temples Oheb Shalom and Emanuel, according to Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, who directs BJEN, a consortium of synagogues and environmental activities.
“The goal is to engage the congregation and its congregants in behavior and understanding of sustainability,” said Rabbi Cardin, who last month held an introductory meeting on the concept. Almost a dozen synagogues and temples sent representatives, and Rabbi Cardin said she expects other congregations will agree to become green shuls eventually.
Rabbi Cardin said there are three elements to BJEN’s “Green Synagogue” program, to which congregations commit. After completing the three elements, the congregations are officially designated a “green synagogue.”
“All three are absolutely doable,” said Rabbi Cardin.
First, a congregation must have an energy audit of its facility, to get a handle on its energy output, and then take steps to decrease its “footprint,” such as changing light bulbs and repairing leaks in the building.
“This is an easy step,” said Rabbi Cardin, and one that often winds up saving the congregation money on its electric bill.
Second, there is an educational component in which individuals and the congregation as a whole educate themselves and others about the environment and the Jewish responsibility to ecological concerns.
Third, the congregation comes up with and performs an environmental project. “They can pick something that reflects their particular interest, something that’s exciting to them,” said Rabbi Cardin.
Ruth Crystal is co-chair of the project with Dr. Joseph Adams of BHC’s environmental initiative. Working with BHC’s Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen, Mrs. Crystal said that the congregation two years ago conducted an energy audit of its Park Heights Avenue building. Dr. Adams is on the board of BJEN, so the congregation’s environmental steps and BJEN’s program seemed a natural fit.
For its educational initiative, Mrs. Crystal said BHC is partnering with the Day School at Baltimore Hebrew to plant a “sustainable” garden in the spring.
BHC members Larry and Vicky Kloze are master gardeners who will help organize the garden. Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim Congregation, which is located near BHC, will let Baltimore Hebrew use its water in return for giving it some of the produce.
“We’ll plant pumpkins and gourds, to harvest in the fall and for use in our congregational sukkah,” said Mrs. Crystal. “We’re still figuring out what roles for the day school and the congregation” in the garden.
Mrs. Crystal said BHC now has 25 congregants on its green team initiative and as part of the BJEN commitment plans to attend “Environment Day” at the 2009 Maryland General Assembly. “That will be our way of educating the congregants. We’ll bring them to Annapolis for a day of advocacy,” she said.
Rabbi Cardin founded BJEN last year. It is part of a national Jewish environmental movement with groups like the Teva Learning Center, a Jewish environmental education institute in Connecticut, and the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life leading the way. The movement has been gathering steam, and nowadays there hardly seems to be a local Jewish organization, congregation and youth group that is not doing something for the environment.
Rabbi Cardin said she was unaware of any other community-wide networks like BJEN. Boston is starting a similar network, she said, “and there are individual congregations around the country” that have their own environmental projects.
The response to BJEN, she said, “has been fabulous. Time is running out, and people are beginning to understand that.”