More than Changing Lightbulbs: A Community Call to a Greener Columbus

On Thursday, October 22, 2009 the Columbus Board of Rabbis will host the first Jewish communal call to environmental action with a program entitled: “Changing More Than Lightbulbs—A Community Call to Action”.  The event will be held from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Northeast Jewish Community Campus, 150 E. Granville Road in New Albany. 

The program’s featured speaker is Carol Caplan, the past president of Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, IL.  Ms. Caplan led the process through which JRC became the first synagogue to earn the Platinum-Level LEED certification.

The evening will begin with a choice of three Jewish text-based learning sessions led by Rabbis Mitchell Levine of the Columbus Jewish Day School, Naftali Weisz of Beth Jacob Congregation, and Melissa Crespy of Congregation Agudas Achim.  Following the learning, Ms. Caplan will share the story of her community’s efforts to transform their institution into an exemplar of Jewish environmental practice. 

Members of synagogues as well as lay leaders of the variety of Jewish institutions are encouraged to attend and bring the message of the program back to their congregations or organizations.  “Changing lightbulbs is a reasonable first-step for individuals or families,” said Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson, program co-coordinator and Vice President of The Wexner Foundation, “but for a serious impact we need to think more deeply about the serious behavioral changes that will be required of us and our institutions as well.”

The Columbus Board of Rabbis is an independent, multi-denominational group of rabbis who serve congregations and institutions in Columbus and central Ohio. 

Further information about Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation and their green building process is available at http://www.jrc-evanston.org/green_synagogue/index.php.