Jewcology Community at the White House!

Yesterday, members of the Jewcology community attended “Greening America’s Congregations: The Faith Community and Energy Efficiency,” organized and hosted by White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The event brought together more than 100 faith leaders to talk about how we as the faith community can make a different in saving energy, saving money, and reducing emissions.

We are proud to share that our very own Evonne Marzouk spoke at this White House event, on the panel about Stewardship in Our Faith Tradition, representing Judaism. Evonne will be teaching based on the Torah and environment materials created for our Year of Jewish Learning on the Environment! Sarah Levinson, Assistant Director of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), also spoke at this event about COEJL’s Jewish Energy Covenant Campaign. Other Jewcology community participants included David Krantz of the Green Zionist Alliance.

During this event, senior administration officials will called on faith-based organizations across the country to save energy and strengthen stewardship of the environment by improving the energy efficiency of their houses of worship with help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program.

The event also featured discussions among Administration officials and leaders of the faith community about how congregations across America are already achieving significant carbon emission reductions by incorporating energy efficiency into their broader mission. The first worship facilities that have achieved ENERGY STAR certification will be recognized and special attention will be paid to interfaith, state, and local initiatives, and the role of stewardship in faith traditions.

Here are some pictures!