TAKE ACTION: Support the U.S. - Israel Energy Cooperation Act
CELEBRATE: Recycling Passover Customs
LEARN: The Earth Day/Passover Connection
GO GREEN: Investing in a Sustainable Future
ISRAEL'S ENVIRONMENT: Learn More about Israel's Environment - Online!
SPOTLIGHT ON THE FIELD: Greening Synagogues in New Jersey

Support the U.S. - Israel Energy Cooperation Act
At the COEJL Institute and JCPA Plenum last year, we expressed our concern about the degradation of Israel's environment and the need for the American Jewish community to get involved. Our voices were heard, our community responded, and this week we expect that members of Congress will introduce the United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act. This legislation would establish a grant program to fund joint ventures between American and Israeli businesses, academic institutions, and nonprofit agencies to promote clean alternative fuels and more energy efficient technologies. The bill would bolster the national security, economy, and environment of the U.S. and Israel.

Please email, fax, or call your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support and cosponsor the United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act.

Recycling Passover Customs
Every family has its own customs for the Passover seder. Some of these customs can link Passover's idea of human liberation and environmentalism's idea of reconnecting humanity with the Earth. For instance, many Jews used to (and many still do) save their lulav from Sukkot to use to burn the chametz (leaven) before Passover. In this way, we reuse one ritual object which was used for a mitzvah (commandment) to do another commandment. This custom, which originated in the 12^th century, applies the concept of bal tashchit (do not wantonly waste any part of Creation) - a key principle of Jewish environmental thinking. The custom also spiritually connects two festivals of Creation: one in the fall (Sukkot) and one in the spring (Passover). It reminds us how everything is recycled through the rhythms of life, death, and rebirth. Click here to read about another Passover custom.

The Earth Day/Passover Connection
Earth Day and Passover fall side by side this year. This chance encounter of the calendar allows us to consider the relationship between the two holidays, which at first don't seem connected. Passover is an ancient religious festival described in the Torah and practiced by Jews for thousands of years. Earth Day is a human-created universal celebration started in 1970 as concern for the environment rose to new levels. One connects to sacred history, the other calls for a new relationship with our planet. One is human-centered, the other is earth-centered. Yet there is a deeper and more profound way in which they share a vision..

Investing in a Sustainable Future
April can be a time to reflect on your spending habits and to consider making a greater commitment to your values through socially responsible investing (SRI). To invest in companies that meet your social and environmental criteria, we encourage you to visit Co-op America's Social Investment Forum, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. You may also want to examine mutual funds offered by firms such as Domini Social Investments, and Calvert. Or, you might participate in proxy campaigns to change corporate policies. To learn more, take a look at the Shefa Fund and its shareholder activism education program and As You Sow. Finally, check out Campaign ExxonMobil to see proxy work in action.

Learn More about Israel's Environment - Online!
COEJL works in Israel by participating in the Jewish Global Environmental Network (JGEN), an initiative we co-founded with the Heschel Center for Environmental Leadership and Learning in Tel Aviv. We just expanded the web site for this program to include more environmental news from Israel, information about Israel's environmental groups, and in-depth analysis of critical environmental issues like water. We invite you to sign up to receive regular email updates about JGEN's activities and opportunities for Jewish environmentalists to help protect Israel's environment. For more information, please email Danielle Luttenberg, COEJL's JGEN coordinator.

Greening Synagogues in New Jersey
COEJL's Greening Synagogues pilot project is underway in New Jersey to help congregations conserve energy, use renewable energy, improve the environmental sustainability of their operations and encourage their involvement in environmental advocacy -- all through a Jewish context. Participating congregations include Bnai Keshet (Reconstructionist), Congregation Agudath Israel (Conservative), and Congregation Sharey Tefilo-Israel (Reform). We will select an Orthodox congregation soon. Working together with the New Jersey-based GreenFaith, we are transforming these institutions into centers of environmental awareness, stewardship, and justice. This project will serve as a prototype for synagogues and houses of worship from other faith traditions in New Jersey and beyond. Click here to read a sample of initiatives so far.