Partner Profile

Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
Location	New York, NY
Organization Type	Religious
Percentage Green Power	100%
Organization-wide Purchase	Yes
Environmental Web Page
Partner Profile Congregation Beth Simchat Torah is New York City’s synagogue serving gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people, and their family and friends. Jewish tradition teaches to wisely shepherd and preserve the earth, and to protect the health of all. For that reason, the Congregation chose to use green power, which creates no greenhouse gases, no acid rain, and none of the emissions that cause health problems such as asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, birth defects and heart disease. The world’s largest GLBT synagogue, Beth Simchat Torah serves as a model for its community. It ran a campaign to encourage members to sign up for green power for their homes at the same time that the synagogue switched its facilities over to green power, and congregants were very receptive to the idea. Says Office Manager Chet Rojice, “Green power enables us to help make Jewish tradition meaningful in the lives of our congregants.”