Needed: Eight More Votes for the Earth
Last October, we asked you to contact your U.S. Senators to express your support for the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act (S. 139). Your letters and calls made a difference and helped convince 43 Senators to vote yes on the bill - the first serious legislative effort to address global warming. Although the final vote count was 43-55 against the bill, it still represented a step forward for our environment. Passing major legislation is often a long process, and that vote showed that many Senators are ready to confront the climate change problem. The bill will be voted on again in June, and now we are just eight votes away from winning a Senate majority. Our efforts received a boost on May 19 when religious leaders and scientists, including representatives from COEJL, issued a letter in support of the McCain-Lieberman bill:

"We are people of religious life and people of science who travel diverse, individual paths in our search for truth," they wrote. "At this critical moment in history, however, many of us share a deep conviction that global climate change presents an unprecedented threat to the integrity of life on Earth and a challenge to universal values that bind us as human beings. ...Religion and Science may not always agree on the sources of these ideas. But such principles of stewardship, justice, protection of the weak, inter-generational duty, and prudence are universal values when responsible scientific study has identified grave risk. Global warming is a universal moral challenge. ...What is most required is moral vision and leadership."

Please call, email, or fax your Senators and urge them to vote YES on the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act (S. 139).

Click here to Take Action!
Click here for The Wall Street Journal article on COEJL's web site.

Shavuot: On our almost-completed journey from liberation (Pesach) to revelation (Shavuot), we stop to enjoy the flowers -- literally.
Passover celebrates the early spring harvest festival as well as the Exodus, and Shavuot celebrates the late spring harvest along with the giving of the Torah. During the seven weeks between them, with the barley already harvested, the wheat is popping up. Each day of this period, called the "Omer" (sheaf), is counted along with the emerging sheaves of wheat. That is why the biblical story of Ruth, which reaches its dramatic climax on Boaz's threshing floor during harvest season, is read and discussed every Shavuot. Shavuot this year comes Wednesday, May 26. We hope you already celebrated outdoors for Lag B'Omer - the break we take from the anxiety of this period - on the 33rd day of counting. But the real bash is yet to come. Shavuot, traditionally celebrated with late-night Torah study and with dairy (lacto-ovo-vegetarian, lower-on-the-food-chain, and less resource-intensive) foods like blintzes, is ripe for environmental thought. The midrash teaches that the Torah was given on Shavuot in 70 languages. Our most meaningful teachings - ecology among them - transcend national, ethnic, or religious borders. As we study Torah this Shavuot, let us highlight those universal teachings of responsibility and hope which point the way to a sustainable future for all. Hag sameach!

Counting the Omer
Psalm 90:12 is a popular counting-of-the-Omer verse. Limnot yameinu ken hoda, v'navi l'vav chochmah - "teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart" (JPS), or "oh, let us know how to assess our days, how we may bring the heart some wisdom" (RRA). With Psalm 90 speaking of mortality and death, limnot yameinu is ripe with ecological significance. (1) Acknowledging our own finitude, and counting our days both forwards and backwards, reminds us of what is really important: people and values, not things. Sustainability and meaning in our lives, not consumerism. (2) Counting our days while counting the Omer links us with the cycles of nature that are all around us, upon which we depend. (3) Death itself, sad as it is, is within that seder bereshit - the "order of creation" which the Holy Blessed One ordained. As biologist Lewis Thomas wrote (Lives of a Cell, 1974, p.116): "We send off for flowers, grieve, make ceremonies, scatter bones, unaware of the rest of the [6+] billion on the same schedule. ... We will have to give up the notion that death is catastrophe, or detestable, or avoidable, or even strange. We will need to learn more about the cycling of life in the rest of the system, and about our connection to the process... There might be some comfort in the recognition of synchrony, in the formation that we all go down together, in the best of company." As we count our days and acquire wisdom, may we appreciate our connection with the All.

Staying Green Under the Chuppah and Beyond
Getting married in the upcoming months? Planning a wedding and a life together is a wonderful opportunity to infuse ecologically responsible values with Jewish spirituality and meaning. You can start with including earth-friendly, Jewish values in the ceremony by reciting Psalms, blessings, or prayers about nature and the earth. For example: Psalm 104:24-25 "How many are the things you have made, O Lord! You have made them all with wisdom, the Earth is full of your creations. There is the sea, vast and wide, with its creatures beyond number, living things both great and small." At the reception, consider using organically grown flowers from local growers who do not use pesticides. This way, you reduce pollution and support eco-friendly farmers. Use the same flowers for the ceremony and reception and then donate them to a hospital or nursing home afterward. If using candles, use 100% beeswax, hemp oil, or vegetable oil candles with lead-free wicks. Give away packets of flower seeds as favors or make donations to an environmental organization in your guests names. Lastly, plan an eco-tour-honeymoon. As you consider the values that will permeate your family life, think about Shabbat observance as a way to remember that the Earth needs a rest as much as we do. Use less or no electricity for 24 hours (including your computer and television!) and let restful reflection enrich and recharge you, your home, and the Earth.

Mazal Tov to COEJL Southern California's President Lee Wallach!
Lee was honored by the Coalition for Clean Air for his community leadership in encouraging environmental responsibility for individuals as well as for religious organizations. The Coalition for Clean Air's annual awards luncheon took place on April 30 and honored three individuals and one business for their clean air leadership and/or practices: Hon. Alan Lowenthal, Lee Wallach, Dr. Arthur Winer, and Honda Motor Co., Power Equipment Division.

by Rivka Gevurtz
During the past 10 years, many congregations have been restoring the land, honoring creation through their worship and architecture, conserving resources and tackling pollution in their communities. Help us grow more green congregations by sharing the story of your successful tikkun olam project.

The National Religious Partnership for the Environment invites you to submit your congregation's accomplishment for recognition in the Creation Care Awards. The awards will honor the most outstanding achievements by religious communities engaging in celebrating, protecting, and restoring creation. By describing your journey, you will help the movement provide models of action and inspiration to other communities which have not yet taken the first step.

To obtain an award application or further information, contact Rivka Gevurtz at tgevurtz@teleport.com or (503) 819-7101. The application can also be found at http://www.nrpe.org