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Adult and Adolescent Programming
Created by Barbara Lerman-Golomb

Field trip: From where does our energy come?
How can we learn to appreciate energy in our lives if we don't know how it is generated?
Organize a class or synagogue-wide trip to a local landfill, recycling plant, power plant, hydroelectric plant, wind farm or solar plant. Combine the fieldtrip with an energy audit in your temple or prepare materials for individual home energy audits. If you live in a town where there is a community of scientists, such as near a university, take advantage of their knowledge and book speakers for Shabbat services or a Sunday breakfast to supplement the community trip.

Simulation/Activity: Creating an Energy-Efficient Community
Goal: To create an energy-efficient community that reflects Jewish and environmental values.

Part I: Trigger- The Ideal Community
Brainstorm together (this means there are no wrong answers) practices and infrastructures that you would want to see in an ideal, energy-efficient community. (Do not limit yourselves to established systems!) Use the following categories to guide you. Try to address the many issues that are involved with each one, and assume that you have unlimited funds/resources:

• Transportation (e.g. Will there be public transportation?)
• Waste management/disposal (e.g. Recycling?)
• Heating/Cooling
• Industry (e.g. Is the work place located near residential areas?)
• Water System
• Energy Sources (e.g. Will you use fossil fuels? Renewable sources?)
• Agriculture (e.g. How much energy is needed to grow crops and provide for livestock?
• Food

Part II: Reading/Discussion
(Based on an exercise from Let the Earth Teach You Torah, Shomrei Adamah, Ellen Bernstein & Dan Fink)
Put aside the pile temporarily and have the participants read aloud Moses Maimonides' reading. The leader should then facilitate a short discussion about the excerpt. Use the questions below as a guide, but encourage people to share their reactions & interpretations.

• Can you guess when this was written? (Sometime between 1190 and 1200 C.E.)
• What was Maimonides' message? How did he address the issue? (It seems that Maimonides was writing to urge people to protect themselves from urban pollution; he was not addressing the causes of and solutions to the problem.)
• Is this good advice? How does it apply to our current environmental and living conditions? (Living "upwind" of a foul-smelling city may help or prevent health problems, but it does not stop the pollution. If those who can, move to more desirable locations ("upwind"), those left will most likely be without the financial resources to move. In fact, pollutants more often affect poor people than the wealthy for this very reason. Maimonides is correct in his belief that open spaces with good air circulation can improve air quality, but today's pollutants, like acid rain, are carried so far by winds that they often settle in other countries.)

Part III: Planning
After a brief discussion about the reading, have the participants return to their pile of slips and add any items that they may have thought of during your discussion. (There may be none.)

Next, divide the slips into two piles:
1. Items/Issues for individuals to determine in their own homes
2. Community Issues/Decisions

After you have finished dividing them up, read aloud all of the slips that you put in pile #1 (the individuals).

• Were there more or less items/issues in this pile than in pile #2?
• Is that surprising?
• How does it change your perspective on energy issues in your own community?
• Do you feel empowered to know that so many items are actually in your own hands?

Now, turn to pile #2. Read through these items/issues together.

• How many of the "ideal" community items does your real community have?
• Which ones does it not yet have?

Choose the 3 items that you feel are most important for you community to have (that you don't already).

• Why are these your priorities?
• Are there any resources or legislation already in place to help you work towards acquiring them?

TAKE ACTION:

• What can you do together to make these changes and realize your "ideal" community?

Energy policies such as deregulation are decided on a statewide level. Find out if your state has deregulated and what alternative energy sources are available for you. Land and road use as well as transportation are decided on local levels. Concerned citizens or groups may attend planning meetings to voice their opinions and participate in the decision-making process, or they may write letters to the council, state representatives and members of Congress. Some towns also have a citizens' advisory board, which makes recommendations to the zoning board. Are there relevant energy issues currently under discussion in your town? Consider a letter writing campaign to local officials, senators or the President regarding energy issues.

Put together a plan of action for your community to mark it's rededication to energy-efficiency this Hanukkah. (For more resources and help, visit COEJL's website at www.coejl.org)

*** Before everyone leaves, set up your next meeting date and determine what should be accomplished by then in order to help your model community materialize.

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