CHANUKAH AND GLOBAL WARMING

See if this story line sounds familiar:  A group of people realizes they have only enough oil to last short while, and that their future depends upon conserving their limited resources.  Facing an impending catastrophe, they achieve energy efficiency in order to secure their future.  Is this story the miraculous tale of Chanukah , or could this be us in the 21st century, creatively reaching a solution to our own global warming crisis?

Amazingly, this year the themes of conservation, energy efficiency and miracles apply to both Chanukah and our global environmental crisis today.  This Chanukah , we could consider ourselves a little like the Maccabees.  Like them, we must face an unavoidable, “inconvenient” truth:  Only if we conserve our energy resources will we be able to save our planet from global warming and preserve the future for our children. 

Chanukah is the holiday of light.  During Chanukah this year, Reform Jews nationwide are being asked to take action in one specific concrete way to work toward energy efficiency.  Reform congregations across the country are asked to replace our standard inefficient light bulbs with CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs) during this holiday this month.  CFLs are greatly more efficient than standard bulbs.  They use 75% less energy, last eight times longer (yes, eight times longer, just like the miraculous oil on Chanukah !), save consumers money in the long run, and are better for the environment.  According to COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Living, if every U.S. household replaced one bulb with a CFL, it would have the same impact as removing 1.3 million cars from the road. 

As part of a national Reform initiative this Chanukah , called “How Many Jews Does It Take to Change A Light Bulb,” I specifically encourage you to replace at least eight standard light bulbs with CFLs during the eight nights of Chanukah , which we observe beginning on Friday night, December 15.   Doing so would mean not only living out a new interpretation of the Chanukah story (the theme of energy conservation), fulfilling a core Jewish value, but also doing what we can to protect the environment.

The ancient rabbis taught that the whole earth belongs not to us, but to God.  We are merely custodians of the earth, and we do not have the right to waste the resources that God created.  Conservation is a value specified in Jewish tradition, and it is considered part of the mitzvah of “Do not destroy,” a commandment found in the book of Deutereronomy that reminds us that we do not have infinite resources.  According to the Talmud, Rav Zutra said: “Whoever covers an oil lamp or uncovers a gas lamp [so that they burn less efficiently], transgresses the mitzvah of ‘Do not destroy.’”  (Talmud, Shabbat 67b)  Even in the Talmud, energy efficiency was considered a mitzvah that helps us appreciate how all of God’s Creation is holy.  We must do what we can to preserve it.

Chanukah is the holiday of light.  Replacing our light bulbs with CFLs is an act we can perform during this holiday to take small step to make our energy use more efficient.  But we need to do more to stop global warming.

As part of our commitment to the environment, we also have to become more aware of our use of resources.  I encourage you to come learn more about how to protect our environment by coming to see Al Gore’s powerful film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” on Sunday evening, December 17 at 7:30 p.m. 

There is one way we are unlike the Maccabees:  We can’t rely upon a heaven-sent miracle to stop global warming. As Israel’s first president, Chaim Weitzman, is reputed to have said: “Miracles sometimes happen, but one has to work very hard to make them happen.”  Let us take the first steps to make the miracle of Chanukah real in our own time, too.

Rabbi Andy Vogel