As the holiday of Hanukkah starts tonight, a new campaign is urging Jews to skip burning a candle during this Festival of Lights. The Green Hanukkia campaign (a hanukkia, or menorah, is the 9-branched candleholder) was founded by a couple of Israelis who do environmental and PR consulting. They say that one candle produces 15 grams of CO2 when burned completely, and the effect of millions of households lighting so many candles over the eight nights of Hanukkah would do “significant damage to the atmosphere.”
Liad Ortar, the campaign’s cofounder, says, “The campaign calls for Jews around the world to save the last candle and save the planet, so we won’t need another miracle.” They are encouraging Jews who are not religious to avoid lighting the hanukkiah at all. For observant Jews, lighting the candles each of the eight nights of Hanukkah (adding one to the total lit for each night) is a religious obligation – not negotiable.
What effect will this campaign have beyond alienating those who are already wary of the anti-religious slant of many on the left, or pushing those who are on the fence religiously further away from their heritage? If they are going to suggest pro-environmental behaviors that are related to religious observance, telling people to break millennia-long traditions that are part of their deepest values — and will make an indetectable impact — is not the action to select.
How about encouraging people to observe the sabbath and avoid driving and using electricity one day a week? Many observant Jews live one-seventh of their life following the kind of carbon-free lifestyle many environmentalists only dream of. Why not work with organizations like Chabad or the Union for Reform Judaism to promote the idea of taking off one day each week without cars, televisions, video games, or other things that use power? Show how a green lifestyle can fit into a religious life — not how people should drop their traditions to do what you want them to do.
Next thing you know, those darn social marketers will start distributing recipes for how to make latkes and sufganiyot without oil. 🙂
I wish you all a very happy Hanukkah, full of light and miracles!
Photo Credit: chaim zvi
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
You present a very important point. Why chase after those that deal with important traditions when there are other everyday activities harming the environment? Targeting the candle ritual sounds pretty insignificant, actually. Besides, Hanukkah is not an everyday affair. Why don’t they deal with the more relevant issues instead? Avoid plastic bags… That sort of thing that affects the environment every single day.