A Pledge to Green for Massachusetts Synagogues (continued)

If approved, the proposals become official positions of the MBR. With the statement’s passage, the MBR commits to supporting activities that protect and preserve the environment in the areas of advocacy, education and action, as it calls upon its members and their communities to do the same. The document cites ancient Jewish texts pertaining to the relationship between human beings and the earth, passages that protect animals and trees, and the concepts of tikkun olam (repair of the world) and of bal tashchit, which warns against wanton destruction and waste of resources. MBR leadership has signed on to the Massachusetts Interfaith Pledge for Climate Action, which urges Massachusetts elected officials to support legislation that fights climate change. In the 1970s, the MBR supported the farm worker boycott of non-union lettuce and grapes.

Rabbi Eric Gurvis, president of the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, stated, “This is an important step for the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis. Our 120 members represent a broad spectrum of the Jewish community. Through the leadership of our Public Policy Committee, we have organized ourselves to speak out on important issues that face our world, using our rich Jewish heritage as a prism through which to see our world as it is, and as we might wish it to be.  We see this statement on the environment as the first of many steps in engaging as a Board of Rabbis in some of the important issues of our day.”

In addition to the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis and the Synagogue Council, Boston COEJL is allied locally with the Jewish organizations Gesher City and Moishe House Boston, Kavod Jewish Social Justice House, as well as with the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, Clean Water Action, the Interfaith Alliance of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light.

“We view signing the Pledge and interacting further with COEJL members as a way that local synagogues can increase environmental awareness as they implement more earth-friendly practices,” said Davidson, who is a correspondent for the Jewish Advocate and an Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow board member. “The Green Guide will clearly and concisely detail financially efficacious ‘green’ steps that synagogue staff can adapt and incorporate into their building and landscape structure, their energy operations, and their educational and other programming.”

Information on Boston COEJL and contacts can be viewed at the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts’ website, http://www.SynagogueCouncil.org, or at http://www.BostonCOEJL.org.