A Jewish environmental group is urging local synagogues to switch light bulbs in the interest of energy conservation.

Inevitably titled “A Light Among the Nations: How Many Jews Does It Take To Change a Light Bulb,” the campaign by the Coalition for the Environment in Jewish Life is promoting energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs in place of regular incandescent lighting.

COEJL is urging synagogues to host installation ceremonies, suggesting Dec. 11 as the date, and even to recite a prayer when switching to the new lighting.

The goal is to raise consciousness about countering the effects of greenhouse gases on the environment, said COEJL executive director Barbara Lerman-Golumb. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, use up to 75 percent less energy than incandescent light bulbs. 

Bnai Keshet in Montclair is among the 30 or so synagogues in New Jersey taking part in the campaign. It’s in line with the Reconstructionist synagogue’s “greening” program, said Kevin Fried, who chairs the effort to bring sound environmental practices to the building and its activities.

Fried already purchases CFLs for the synagogue and has begun switching over in his Montclair home, too.

“We’re trying to make our synagogue more energy-efficient, so it was a natural process,” he said. “We’re doing our part to help the environment. A couple of weeks ago we held a screening of An Inconvenient Truth [Al Gore’s documentary on global warming] and had CFLs” on hand for people to see and purchase.

Bnai Keshet is asking its members to replace one incandescent light bulb with a CFL each night they light a candle during Hanukka, Fried said. Since many candles are made with petroleum, the congregation also is urging members to switch to beeswax candles.

“We’re all very concerned about global warming and we think, what can we do as individuals?” Fried said. “This is something I can do personally to make a difference. It’s an easy action step that we can all take. You have to start in your home — you can’t just be critical of large companies.”

Most qualified scientists attribute the past century’s rise in global temperatures to the accumulation of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. The light bulb effort is part of COEJL’s overall mission to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by offsetting individuals’ energy usage.

“It’s cleaner for the air and healthier for the planet,” said Lerman-Golumb. “It’s been a wonderful symbol in Judaism. We have so many connections to light.

“This is a first step. We want people to be more conscious of their homes and synagogues — to be more green. It’s an awareness and action campaign.”

The campaign is run in connection with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

So far 250 are on board across the nation. Since the campaign began in June, COEJL has sold 2,219 bulbs, which translates into approximately $115,800 saved by new owners over the life of the bulb and 775 tons of carbon dioxide kept out of the atmosphere.

The Hanukka tie-in is a natural, Lerman-Golumb said.

The holiday is a time when we think about the Maccabees, “a small group of people affecting a larger group,” Lerman-Golumb said. In advocating the switching to CFLs, she said, “we want to encourage people to take a small act of tikun olam,” repairing the world.

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