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Click on pictures to view larger images
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| TEMPLE EMANUEL GOES ZERO CARBON: |
Temple Emanuel has partnered with the Carbonfund to help reduce the impact of global warming on our planet and Creation. Carbonfund is a charitable, non-profit organization that works with institutions to reduce their climate impact. The Temple has committed to offset 200,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions by supporting reforestation projects that reduce CO2 emissions, and benefit ecosystems, soil erosion and animal habitats. Individuals can also offset their climate impact in their homes, and the planned Temple Emanuel Environmental Guide will include information on how this can be done. The Temple's Zero Carbon Certificate is displayed in the Social Hall, along with its Creation Care Award from the National Religious Partnership for the Environment.
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| A Brief History |
The roots of Temple Emanuel's award-winning committee go back to Earth Day, 1990 on the Mall. It was the first time that a Jewish group had a presence at our national Earth Day celebration. Many area rabbis and lay leaders helped to write and organize a prayer service, develop and distribute literature, and staff an education booth. Since that day coincided with Yom HaShoah, the planners, including Rabbi Warren Stone, integrated language in the early morning prayer service to commemorate the Shoah. I distributed yellow armbands imprinted with green butterflies for participants to wear. The moving experiences of that day prompted the birth of the synagogue's committee.
Simultaneously, a group calling itself Shomrei Adamah (Keepers of the Earth), had begun work in Philadelphia. Its founder, Ellen Bernstein, encouraged local groups to start up around the country. That's when Shomrei Adamah of the Washington Area was born. (The group really began in Takoma Park when one of our oak trees fell on the home of our neighbor and Shomrei Adamah visionary, Mike Tabor, and his wife Esther Siegel, but that's too long a story for this column.)
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| SEE OUR CREATION CARE AWARD |
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The next time you're at the Temple, be sure to see the magnificent environmental photograph which is part of the 2005 Creation Care Award that Temple Emanuel received from the National Religious Partnership for the Environment "...in recognition of faithful, creative and exemplary efforts in caring for creation." The photograph and information about the award are displayed on the immediate left wall when you enter the Social Hall. The photograph was taken by Clyde Butcher, one of the most eminent wilderness photographers in the United States.
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| TEMPLE PARTNERS WITH GWIPL |
Temple Emanuel has become a partner with Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL), a nonprofit membership organization of diverse congregations and leaders of Washinton's faith community. It is part of Interfaith Power and Light's across the country and offers concrete opportunities for congregations and individuals to protect creation. GWIPL helps congregations use less energy and save money...partners can save 50-80% off retail prices on energy saving devices. GWIPL also helps congregations in the Washington, D.C. area to purchase clean, renewable energy easily and cheaply. Finally, GWIPL provides education materials about energy use and golbal warming, and worship materials, including prayers, scripture readings, and sermonic materials from many traditions. For more information, visit www.gwipl.org
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| Israel and the Environment |
College Students: The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is an ideal place for college students looking to integrate their interests in Israel and the environment. Arava offers Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, Palestinian and overseas students, including Americans, an intensive hands-on academic program focusing on their joint environment. The program is conducted in English, situated on the grounds of Kibbutz Ketura, adjacent to the Jordanian and Egyptian borders.
The Institute serves as a regional center for conservation andenvironmental protection activities where university students and environmental practitioners from the Middle East and across the globe develop ties that later serve as nuclei for environmental cooperation. The program features unique ecosystems and human habitats: the arid Arava (Araba) Valley, the rich coral reefs of the Red Sea, kibbutz communal life and arid sustainable agriculture. Together, its diverse student body and faculty participate in lectures, field trips, and group and individual studies. The program provides a balanced scientific, political and social understanding of complex environmental issues.
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| Online Reading |
Green Shalom Action Guide
This 22-page booklet includes dozens of suggestions for ways to conserve energy and reduce global warming, from bagging groceries in a reusable tote to using compact fluorescent light bulbs to making one's diet "earth friendly." Each suggestion is accompanied by a Web site link, so that readers can explore those topics that interest them in additional depth.
"Our goal ... is to give each temple member fairly straightforward information" on how to do "sustainable things" and "get involved in environmental stewardship," -- Al Grant, co-chair Green Shalom
Environmental Policy Statement
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| GREEN SHALOM NEEDS YOU! |
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Temple Emanuel has earned national recognition as a leader in promoting environmental stewardship in the Jewish community. The growing challenge of global warming and its impact on both current and future generations makes it imperative that we all gain a broader and deeper understanding of these impacts, and how we, as Temple members, can take steps to address them in our own lives.
Our major goal this year is to increase participation of Temple members in the environmental activities and programs of the Temple and the Green Shalom Committee, and WE NEED YOUR HELP AND PARTICIPATION to meet this goal.
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| GREEN SHALOM ASKS: "DID YOU KNOW?" |
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Temple Emanuel is an Official Partner of the Energy Star Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)? We have been so designated by the EPA Energy Star Buildings for Congregations Service, in recognition of ourTemple Environmental Policy and our active programs and interests in environmental stewardship.
Despite tight budget constraints, in our Temple renovation program, architect Bob Schwartz, of Schwartz and Peoples Architects, incorporated a number of "green" improvements. These improvements include:
- The Temple addition is primarily oriented facing north and south, minimizing the extreme HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) loads of east and west
- The Administration wing is half below grade, creating less HVAC load in this area
- The insulation in the existing building was upgraded and the new work was well insulated.
- Disturbance of the site was minimized. Only one tree of size was removed and the drainage stayed the same
- The windows are double glazed low e glass
- Wheatboard is used as the countertop material in the library
- The lobby floor is linoleum.
- The floor of the alternate worship space is bamboo.
- The floor in the classroom wing is made of 80% recycled material.
- Fresh air requirements are modulated in the social hall so that outside air does not have to be conditioned when usage of the space is low.
- Flourescent lights are used extensively throughout, minimizing electric usage
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We are a member of The Union for Reform Judaism (formely the Union of American Hebrew Congregations)
ADA Compliant - The facilities of Temple Emanuel are fully accessible in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act