GREENING SYNAGOGUES RESOURCES

Social Action Committees

Though we speak of social action committees, we mean social action programs -- only some shuls have the former, but every synagogue with the interest and resources to do sustained tikkun olam will have the latter. Here we address how folks within your congregation might band together around environmental protection as a particular form of tikkun olam.

But first, a definition and an aside. “Tikkun Olam” was a technical phrase for most of Jewish life, meaning “peaceful coexistence with other peoples” in the talmudic era, when a form of it was enshrined in the third paragraph of the Aleinu prayer in the daily liturgy: “l’taken olam b’malkhut Shaddai,” that we pray for the time of fixing the world, under Divine sovereignty. In Isaac Luria’s imaginative 1570’s reconstruction of kabbalah, tikkun olam came to symbolize human power and responsibility within the cosmos -- the world is broken, and even Godself is in exile; it’s up to us, through right action and belief, to re-unify God, and in so doing perfect the world. Only in the latter part of the 20th century did the phrase come to be synonymous, in some circles at least, with social action -- i.e., Jewish efforts to make the secular world a better place. This is background worth knowing, so that we can understand and explore the nuances and the authentic Jewish roots of our commitments. But it also helps us better appreciate that there is no more indigenous or obvious implication of “tikkun olam” than literally “helping to fix/save the world.” Ecological consciousness and action flow naturally from a connection with this powerful, resonant strand of Jewish tradition.

So today, our social action or tikkun olam committees become one logical place for congregation-based environmental programs. But as with so much else in the social action arena, it is vitally important to try to root this commitment in the larger congregational culture and program, and not let it be ‘ghettoized’ as just a social action concern. Suggestion Number One for social action leaders is to work closely with other congregational committees and initiatives, and to present them with the relevant information to take meaningful action in their own departments (starting with the resources in this very section of the COEJL website for adult and youth education, Israel programs, rabbinic resources, finance perspectives, buildings-and-grounds concerns, etc). That does not at all rule out the Social Action Committee taking bold steps on its own, or even the creation of an Environment or “Green Shalom” (sub-)committee, but it does suggest a clear direction for your efforts.

This relates to our second suggestion -- pursue co-sponsorships of events, and joint programming, to help get the message across. Make it easy for those whose hearts are in the right place, but who simply don’t have the time or inclination to do the research on their own. As was said in 1992 when the first Jewish-community-wide statement on the environment was issued, “Our agenda is already overflowing. Israel's safety, the resettlement of Soviet Jewry, anti-Semitism, the welfare of our people in many nations, the continuing problems of poverty, unemployment, hunger, health care and education, as well as assimilation and intermarriage--all these and more have engaged us and engage us still. But the ecological crisis hovers over all Jewish concerns, for the threat is global, advancing, and ultimately jeopardizes ecological balance and the quality of life. It is imperative, then, that environmental issues also become and immediate, ongoing and pressing concern for our community.” (Consultation on the Environment and Jewish Life) So, bring a speaker on the environment in the middle east to the Israel Committee. Line up the rabbi or a lay leader to teach a course for Adult Education on Judaism & Ecology. Show an eco-Jewish curriculum to the director of the Religious School. And so on….

Third, try to navigate the frequent division between between direct service and social change, by doing both. Environmental programs are “safe” when it’s in the gemilut hasadim or ‘good deeds’ category: a bunch of congregants doing a park or streambank cleanup, or adopting a stretch of local highway and occasionally picking up litter, or going for a Jewishly-themed hike (everything you’d need is in Spirit in Nature: Teaching Judaism and Ecology on the Trail, by Matt Biers-Ariel, Deborah Newbrun, and Michal Fox Smart; NY: Behrman House, 2000), or perhaps joining the local “weed warriors” through nearby parks or environmental groups, yanking out invasive non-native vegetation from local ecosystems. Such programs are important, and worthy, and may well constitute the majority of your environmental portfolio -- but they do not address root causes, or lifestyle choices, which are creating our huge environmental problems in the first place.

“Intermediate” programs might include selling compact fluorescent bulbs at Hanukkah-time; creating a Tu B’Shvat “environmental pledge card” for members to commit to particular actions (see one example here); or establishing a hazardous waste drop-off site or a “trade-in-your-toxic-mercury-thermometer” campaign at the shul before Pesach, while folks are busy with their spring cleaning and hametz-eliminating. And of course, there’s the realm of advocacy -- getting involved as a shul or a committee thereof in local issues (like better mass transit in the neighborhood of the shul, or siting of local industries or pollution sources); holding letter-writing or petition campaigns (perhaps to corporate leaders, asking for more environmentally sound options to choose from); and so on. While sometimes fraught, such actions can strengthen a community’s sense of purpose even as they represent a positive step toward environmental protection. All the major religious movements are on record supporting both general and specific environmental positions; consider getting involved in COEJL (and/or URJ, JRF, USCJ, and UOJC) initiatives around particular national concerns, as well.

Fourth, be unafraid to join in coalitions. Since so much of religious environmentalism happens on an interfaith basis, ecology can be the springboard for the coming together of congregations across the faith spectrum -- visit the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, among many other resources, for examples of such rich and rewarding work. This is also a good place to engage the larger secular and civic world -- without becoming just “the Sierra Club at prayer,” we can work closely with local environmental groups and initiatives, offering our uniquely Jewish and spiritual and ethical approach even as each lends the other additional credibility in our joint efforts.

Finally, be patient. Whether true or not, many of a typical synagogue’s more cynically inclined members will see the “Social Action-niks” as the outside-oriented fringe of the congregation, or as liberal do-gooders, or other such stereotypes. Stay involved in all facets of synagogue life; be active in shul leadership; prove by example that you’re in this for all the right reasons. You may begin slowly, but once you have the confidence of key leaders within the community, the sky is the limit (click here for convincing strategies).