December 2013

How Your Chanukah Choices Can Help Save Tigers!

Every year, when I ask the 7th graders what issues they are most concerned about in the world, two of the most popular answers are “caring for animals” and “saving the planet.” So, this newsletter article is dedicated to all my current and past 7th graders, who remind us all to care for our furry friends.

This year, as we celebrate Chanukah and we remember the story of the miraculous oil, it’s worth taking a moment to ask – what kind of oil are we talking about?

The Talmud (the great compendium of Jewish law) states that the Menorah, at the center of the Chanukah story, can only be lit with pure, pressed olive oil. We honor that miracle of one day’s worth of oil lasting for eight by making foods and candles with all sorts of oils. Unfortunately, some of these oils are far from miraculous.

Some of the oil used in our favorite Chanukah foods comes from palm oil. Palm oil cultivation is leading to the rapid destruction of rainforests across Southeast Asia, encroaching on the habitat of some of G-d’s most beautiful creatures: Sumatran tigers, orangutans, elephants and rhinos.

If you buy your sufganiyot (doughnuts) at Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme, there’s a good chance it’s being cooked in or with palm oil that comes from destroyed forests. It’s a real crisis: the palm oil industry has already destroyed more than 30,000 square miles of land, leaving behind only 400 Sumatran tigers in the wild. The burning of these forests is also sending billions of tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, making it one of the world’s largest drivers of climate change.

What’s really tragic here is that palm oil can be grown without deforestation, but Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme (both of which I love) lack basic practices that could ensure that they’re getting it from responsible sources. On the other hand, Nestlé has adopted stronger standards that eliminate deforestation from their supply chain.

Here are three main ways you can make a difference this Chanukah season:

1. Buy doughnuts, gelt, and other Chanukah foods that don’t have palm oil from destroyed rainforests. How will you know? Just ask! Either way, it will help send the message that we care about endangered animals.

2. Burn candles, not rainforests, by using candles made of beeswax or paraffin rather than palm oil.

3. Ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme to adopt responsible palm oil sourcing policies by signing the petition at www.forestheroes.org. Additionally, if you buy from a local Kosher bakery, ask them to make sure they aren’t using deforestation-based palm oil.

If one day’s worth of oil can last for eight days, then perhaps with our help, these threatened species can thrive once more.

This year, may the flames of the Chanukah candles ignite within us a passion to care ever-more deeply for each other, our planet, and all living beings.

Chag Sameach,

Rabbi Margie