Armed with a serious moral compass, plus a degree in social studies from Harvard University, Joelle Novey is the director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL, http://www.gwipl.org). Propelling her is a sense of social responsibility coming from a deep understanding of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and a belief in its place at the core of Judaism.

Judaism and service have had an intimate relationship for thousands of years: from contributions to the mishkan in the desert to the recent participation of Jewish community members in everything from advocating the cease of genocide in Darfur to supporting workers’ rights in California. In this issue’s Rules of Engagement, PresenTense asked two experts in the field of service to tell us, “What is Jewish about service, anyway?”

"When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: ‘Look at my works! See how beautiful they are—how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it’.” (Midrash Kohelet Rabbah, 1 on Ecclesiastes 7:13). With a start like this, one cannot help but believe that the Jewish community must be at the forefront of the green revolution—but are we? Here are thoughts about the Jewish environmental movement, and what all Jewish institutions can do if they wish to go from lagging to leading in this global endeavor, from three people leading the green charge.