Dear JCPA Member Agencies:

December is Energy and Poverty Month in JCPA's anti-poverty campaign, "There Shall Be No Needy Among You."  Jewish scriptures are explicit both about our obligation to be good stewards of God's creation and our mandate for care for the poor and vulnerable. One of the most important intersections between these two sets of obligations is found in our national energy policy.  

December is a particularly meaningful time to recognize the connection between climate change, energy use and poverty. Chanukah celebrates the miracle of energy efficiency, an instance when the Jews had very little oil, and G-d helped us to make the light it produced last for eight days instead of one.  Chanukah also reminds us of the plight of the poor. The holiday occurs at the darkest and coldest time of the year, when we most need energy and light and when America's most vulnerable populations are forced to make decisions between paying for the rising costs of utilities and paying for other basic necessities like food or medicine.  This December, "Energy and Poverty Month" provides us with an opportunity to advocate on behalf of policies that reduce the impacts of climate change on low-income families, and create decent-paying jobs through the transition to a greener economy.  

As part of our national anti-poverty campaign, JCPA is committed to providing you and your community with the information and resources to take action, fulfilling our dual obligations to be good stewards of all of G-d's creation, and to care and uplift vulnerable populations.  This month, in response to feedback from our member agencies, the monthly memo is taking on a different format. Rather than a multiple-page memo, we are providing you with several one-page resources that you can utilize and distribute according to your community's needs and interests. These materials include:

•    A sample D'var Torah that you can use to engage congregations in your community on these issues or present at a board meeting;

•    A one-page toolkit of activities that strengthen the connection between activism and advocacy, and can help you coordinate your anti-poverty activism with other communities across the country.  Some of these are short-term projects that can easily be done immediately (for example a template op-ed); others are longer-term opportunities that can be initiated this month and developed throughout the year.

•    Advocacy: A one page interfaith template letter to your members of Congress, highlighting the connection between poverty and energy, and urging elected officials to take action in the upcoming economic recovery package. You can reach out to local faith partners and urge them to send the letter with your agency.  

This December, we hope you will take a moment to review the resources provided in this letter and incorporate some of the advocacy and programmatic opportunities into your community's celebration of Chanukah.

Sincerely,

Hadar Susskind - Washington Director  

Melissa Boteach - Poverty Campaign Coordinator  

Becky Eisen - Poverty Campaign Field Organizer