Resources

What will it take to engage Jewish communities in bold action in the face of urgent challenges?  The Jewish community’s collective commitment to fundamental change on energy and sustainability will emerge from exploration of the rich resources of Jewish tradition and contemporary life.  COEJL develops and disseminates materials to enable Jewish organizations and communities to inspire, educate and mobilize communities.

Use the search engine on the right-hand side of this page to find resources for:

  • Advocacy and Policy Issues: Statements, action alerts and background material on key environmental issues
  • Jewish Thought and Texts: Weekly Torah portions, critical thought around Jewish text, and other thoughts that help form the basis for Jewish environmentalism today
  • Jewish Life and Programs: Programs, Greening Communities, Holidays, and other tools that help weave the fabric of our lives as Jews
  • Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign: Tools for COEJL’s current effort to mobilize leaders from all walks of Jewish life to bring communal inspiration to the global struggle of addressing today’s energy and environmental challenges
  • Partner Organizations: Material by and for COEJL’s partners organizations

Many of the programs herein originally hail from COEJL’s Interactive Source for Environmental Education, Discourse and Study Jewish Environmental Program Bank (SEEDS) and are marked as such. Along with countless others, many of who are attributed directly in the resource material itself, we wish to thank the following people for their contributions to SEEDS: Vivienne Cato, Noam Dolgin, Rivka Gevurtz, Terry Gips, Jeremy Goldberg, Susanna Haas, Kirsten S. Kleinman, Josh Lake, Barbara Lerman-Golomb, Solomon Poretsky, Margaret Presley, Chad Rosenthal, Nili Simhai, Rachel Singer, Lori Yadin, Stefanie Zelkind.

See below for most recent resources.

Making Your Synagogue a Green Holy Place

Jewish Energy Guide:

One of Judaism’s most important concepts is that of kedusha — holiness. Kedusha is inherent in God, but also can be created by people in their actions. These actions are usually found in three categories — … Read more »

Shavuot: Cheesecake, Temptation and Conservation

Jewish Energy Guide:

During the 2011 riots here in London, teachers and social workers were said to have been among the looters. British Prime Minister David Cameron called them opportunistic criminals. Perhaps temptation simply got the best of them. … Read more »

The Rainbow Connection: Rainbow Day and Creation

“I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the Earth.”  (Genesis 9:13) Millennia before Kermit the Frog sang about the Rainbow Connection, the very … Read more »

The Importance of Jewish Climate Change Advocacy

Jewish Energy Guide:

I’m writing to tell you how excited I am by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life’s plans for the Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign, how ready I am to help, and how much I encourage all … Read more »

Energy’s Answer is Blowing in the Wind

Jewish Energy Guide:

For hundreds of years, humans have used wind to pump water and grind grain, mostly with small windmills. Large, modern wind turbines are used to generate electricity for individual use and to feed into the electric grid. … Read more »