We take light for granted. But in the Torah’s opening chapter of Bereshit, it was God’s first gift. It seems fitting, then, that when a local synagogue committed itself to helping an impoverished village in rural Uganda, the first gift would be to turn on the lights — to give the gift of solar-powered electricity.
Yosef Abramowitz is running out of time. With only minutes to go until he has to speak to a group of donors at the Jewish National Fund (JNF), Abramowitz looks like he just finished a workout. He’s wearing sneakers, shorts and a white T-shirt featuring an outline of David Ben-Gurion’s head superimposed on the picture of a sun.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) owes more than $170 million to the Israel Electric Company, and Israel is threatening to cut off the flow unless the debt is paid. Palestinian officials say that could cause widespread blackouts throughout the West Bank.
Yosef Abramowitz is running out of time. With only minutes to go until he has to speak to a group of donors at the Jewish National Fund, Abramowitz looks like he just finished a workout. He\’s wearing sneakers, shorts and a white T-shirt featuring an outline of David Ben-Gurion\’s head superimposed on the picture of a sun.
Israel\’s Cabinet ignored a suggestion by the environmental protection minister to cut the electricity supply to Gaza rather than have rolling blackouts in Israel.
Egypt\’s energy companies have terminated a long-term deal to supply Israel with gas after the cross-border pipeline sustained months of sabotage since a revolt last year, a stakeholder in the deal said on Sunday.
Visitors to the tomb of Jewish scholar and philosopher Moses Maimonides have been left in the dark. That\’s because the rabbis who manage the site in the Israeli city of Tiberias neglected to pay the electric bills over a long period of time.
In the face of unceasing rocket attacks on Israeli towns, cities and kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip, Israeli leaders approved the new policy to reduce fuel and electricity to the territory as the most humane way of trying to persuade Gaza\’s terrorist Hamas leadership to keep the peace.
How many trees does it take to absorb the emissions from your car\’s commute? How much land does it take to feed and raise the beef you eat for dinner? How much space on earth does your trash take up?
The city of Santa Monica has taken up the task of answering those questions in \”Santa Monica\’s Ecological Footprint, 1990-2000,\” released in March. The report measures the amount of land used to produce everyday products and services like electricity, transportation, garbage disposal and housing. That land use is called the ecological footprint, and it can be measured individually or citywide.
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