Jessica Weinberg gives a free CFL bulb to a community member.

In time for Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network at Pearlstone is asking the Jewish community to add a modern-day environmental twist to their holiday celebrations by switching from regular incandescent and halogen light bulbs to energy-efficient, cost-effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. This contemporary Chanukah celebration is part of a national climate change campaign, “A Light Among the Nations,” launched in 2006 by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). The campaign encourages each household to change one light bulb each night of Chanukah.

From Iowa to Florida, New Hampshire to New Mexico, congregations and Jewish institutions numbering nearly 500 throughout the country and representing all denominations (Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal and Chabad) have participated in the COEJL campaign. Some examples include: the lighting of a public chanukiah with CFL bulbs at the Chicago Jewish Federation offices; engagement of local legislators and political conversations as part of a Hanukkah celebration in Minneapolis; and the installation of a CFL bulb in the ner tamid in Atlanta.

COEJL’s campaign, also known as  “How Many Jews Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?,” seeks to engage American Jewry in awareness, advocacy and concrete action to help stop global warming, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and conserve energy.

According to Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network (BJEN), 10 local synagogues have signed on to become "green,” by exploring ways to reduce their environmental impact on the earth. Changing over to CFLs is a big step in this effort.

Judaism teaches us that while G-d created the world, humanity has been charged with tending to its care. "We are God's partners on this earth," says Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, director of the BJEN. "We are the stewards who must protect, nurture and improve G-d's creation, both for our generation and the generations to come." 

Without immediate action, global greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase average Earth temperatures by 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit in this century, bringing rising seas, major weather and agricultural disruptions, environmental refugees, migrating diseases, and many uncertainties.   

If every U.S. household changed just one light to a CFL bulb, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would be the same as taking 1.3 million cars off the road. CFLs use about 1/5 the energy of incandescent bulbs, save money on electricity costs, and last up to eight times longer than regular incandescent.

The Baltimore “Greenlight Chanukah” campaign is inspiring bright ideas to enhance holiday celebrations in terms of awareness of the issue of energy conservation. In addition to BGE’s FREE LIGHTBULB DAY at the JCC’s on November 28th, many synagogues will be handing out bulbs as part of their Chanukah celebrations. Chanukah begins Tuesday evening, December 4 and continues for eight nights.

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