Long before the Energizer Bunny kept on going and going and going, there was a lamp that kept on burning and burning and burning, for 8 nights when there seemed to be only enough oil for one night.



This is just one of the conservation lessons of Hanukkah. Another is the restoration of the Temple which had been desecrated by the Greeks—the place was “trashed” with pigs and altars of Zeus, the 2nd century B.C.E. Jewish spiritual equivalent of garbage. But the good guys, the Maccabees, were undaunted. They cleaned, purified and restored the Temple—recycled it and rededicated it. A Temple reused as a Temple, again.

That’s where the lamp oil came in. Back in those days the lamps all ran on biofuels—how soon we forget—made from olive oil, a renewable resource. But the oil had to be ritually pure for use in the Temple. In the rubble, they found only one day’s supply of oil, and it would take 8 days to get more ready. But for reasons either miraculous or divinely efficient, the oil kept the sacred lamps burning for 8 days until more was ready. It was like the LED equivalent of lamp oil—a little went a long way.

“A great miracle happened here” became the rallying cry for the holiday, and it’s observed today by lighting candles each evening—one for the first day, two for the second, and so on...up to eight. The holiday falls in December usually just before or around solstice and New Moon. The Dark of the Moon, Dark of the Sun, time of year. As more candles are lit each night we see the light growing—exactly what is happening or about to happen out in the cosmos as the moon light begins to return and the days begin to lengthen, an annual miracle.

Then we eat—food cooked in oil, like latkes (a potato pancake) and jelly donuts. And play spin the dreidel to win “gelt”, little gold coins with chocolate in the middle.  As the food settles (a process that takes several days with all that fried food) we watch the candles burn, and remember the miracle of conservation and reuse that happened long ago and the renewal and conservation of natural cycles.



Eight Green Hanukkah Tips: One for Each Night!

Some things you can do to green your Hanukkah (you can convert these into Christmas, Kwanza, Festivus or other holiday tips). Here’s an eco tip for each night of Hanukkah:

1. Practice conservation in everything you do. Plan ahead. The time to eliminate waste from food, packaging, excess driving etc. is when you write up the shopping list and plan your trip.

2. Each night, as you light your menorah candles, replace one incandescent bulb in your home with a compact fluorescent or LED bulb. The lamps will burn longer and you’ll l save energy and gelt.

3. Use beeswax candles this year. Like the miraculous lamps, they burn longer, don’t smoke up your indoor air and are made from a renewable resource rather than petroleum. Or use an oil lamp menorah and run it on organic olive oil, just like the Maccabees!

4. Make your own dreidel out of wood or reused materials, and buy Fair Trade chocolate gelt.

5. Get or make a menorah out of recycled materials or clay. A homemade one is cheaper, more ecofriendly, can have more meaning and be just as beautiful.

6. If you give gifts or cards during Hanukkah, make them yourself, or buy organic and natural materials, or donate in someone’s name to a conservation cause, like The Nature Conservancy or Trust for Public Lands.

7. Use one less electric light each night of Hanukkah. By the 8th night, spend the evening lit only by the lovely glow of the candles.

8. Keep going like the lamp oil. Continue the practice of trying to find one small act you can take each day to conserve, reuse, and recycle. You can be the light that’s returning to the world as we restore this Temple of a planet we inhabit.

Happy Hanukkah!