Reason #47355 Why I Will Never Rejoin the Reform Movement: "Green Spaces" in Synagogue Parking Lots

Here’s a real WTF moment I had earlier this week:

As I went to park in a synagogue parking lot I noticed the two closest spots to the building (other than the handicap spots) had been newly designated with green line paint and a sign. According to this sign, provided by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the spots were reserved for flex-fuel or hybrid cars that get 30+ MPG. It then said in smaller letters at the bottom: “Reduce America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil.”

Sure enough, when I got home later that day, I did a search on-line and lo and behold: This NJ Jewish News has this story on the Green Spaces campaign.

I was actually surprised to find out the article was dated June 29 of this year. That means for a good three months it passed under the radar; I do not recall anyone speaking of this on the news sites or blogosphere.

The piece reads in part:

Drive a hybrid? Shuls may have a space for you
by Robert Wiener
NJJN Staff Writer

June 29, 2011

The American Jewish Committee is asking houses of worship to reserve one or more spaces in their parking lots for fuel-efficient vehicles.

The Green Spaces initiative seeks to promote hybrid, flexfuel, electric, or any other cars that log 30 or more miles per gallon of gasoline.

“We want to reward people who drive cars that use less gas. We want to continue to keep this issue on everybody’s mind,” said Allyson Gall, director of the AJC’s New Jersey Area.

The program, launched last year at the AJC chapter in Cleveland, dispenses Green Space signs for parking lots and places explanatory brochures in building lobbies.

Great, it started in Cleveland. That means no matter where you live, look for this at a house of worship near you.

The initiative, said Gall, “educates people about the issue of our dependence on foreign oil, which affects national security, Israel, human rights, and the environment. Someone might come to a church event or a synagogue event and see that not just the handicapped get a good parking spot.”

It doesn’t educate people about anything. It takes a specific position on a far-from-settled political issue and then imposes it on everyone else by enacting policies that affect people’s behavior.

OK, I’m sorry, what kind of business does a house of worship have designating preferred parking spaces for “green” vehicles? What kind of political B.S. is this? Oh, don’t give that “saving the planet” and “keeping the earth clean” and “reducing our dependence on foreign oil” are not political issue but purely religious-moral concepts. That sound you hear is my Bravo–Sierra alarm going off.

Gall talked about the program when she appeared along with several hundred other activists at the Environmental Lobby Day rally in Trenton on June 20. …

Oh yeah, I’m sure that was an apolitical all-sides-represented kind of a gathering. Puh-leeease.

Let’s enumerate some of the problems with designating “green spaces” at a synagogue, shall we:

First and foremost, synagogues that have these parking spaces have made a value judgment on behalf of the entire congregation. That is undemocratic and exclusionary. As of this writing the synagogues listed at the NJJN article are mostly Reform. The key concept distinguishing Reform Judaism from other denominations is that it respects the individuality of its adherents and respects their ability to make informed choices about which Jewish rituals and practices reflect their lifestyle and worldview.

For this reason, I would surmise that to this day no synagogue has ever designated preferred parking spaces for congregants who keep kosher laws (you know, an actual Jewish practice). Or for congregants who donated the most tzedakah that week? Or for those who plan on observing the Sabbath by not using electric or other power (O.K., that one might be difficult logistically because even if you’re driving to synagogue, you’ve already broken that rule. But you get the jist). What kind of odd precedent does it set that of all the truly religious/moral reasons a synagogue could reward its congregants, it’s for driving a hybrid car???

Second, consider the unfairness of this policy. Hybrid cars and the like are only within reach of people whose lifestyle and budget (not to mention mere personal taste) allows them to have one. A carpooling parent transporting a half-dozen kids in their SUV or minivan can actually benefit from a close parking space, but are not going to be able to.

Finally, let’s look at this “reducing our dependence on foreign oil.” Yours truly deliberately buys gas only from stations that sell only or mostly American oil, like Sunoco and Hess. (I also use BP, which is British and not from the Middle East.) So why can’t I park there, even if my car gets less than 30 mpg. I’ve been reducing my dependence on foreign oil for years.

Let’s not delude ourselves: This is just the latest example of a synagogue pushing left-wing policy preferences as Judaism. And I’m not alone in that assessment. Here are the comments of people who as of this writing also responded to the NJJN artice:

“Patti” (June 29, 2011):

Is the New Jersey News funded by or affiliated with the Hard Left AJC? Just wondering as it seems as though the point of view week after week is quite monolithic.

Does the New Jersey Jewish community get a chance to hear the other side? If not, why not? As you can see here, there are different points of view within the Democrat Party.

I understand that Conservative Jews like myself don’t seem welcome in your paper. but it would be nice if once in awhile your paper didn’t read like a series of press releases for the Hard Left Jewish organizations.

“Morris” (June 29, 2011):

So you would penalize the young family with 3 or more children or the soccer mom that carpools her children and their friends to after school activities requiring a larger vehicle? You would give parking preferences to the yuppy couple with 2 incomes at the expense of the family where there is one working parent supporting the family while mom takes care of the extracurricular activities of her family. Another short sighted liberal attempt to push an agenda at the expense of intelligence and logic.

“Phil” (July 6, 2011):

“We want to reward people who drive cars that use less gas. We want to continue to keep this issue on everybody’s mind,” said Allyson Gall,”

If rewards and reminders are key, how about adding a parking space in front of the synagogue that is too small for a car? That way, people will try to walk to services on Sabbath. (The reward might be of an Otherworldly variety.)

And this, my friends, is reason #47355 why I will never rejoin the Reform movement (although, I should note, some Conservative congregations can be just as environ-mental-ly active).