Looking north from the roof of the sprawling, Beverly Hills-adjacent Temple Beth Am on a hyper-clear August day, you can see over the palm trees and apartments, past a red-tiled church and bright yellow billboard to the Hollywood Hills in the distance, and the San Gabriel Mountains climbing beyond. If you look down, you notice row upon row of flat black solar panels covering much of the roof, converting the hot summer sun into sustainable energy for the synagogue and its school. These panels — low-profile, unassuming, invisible from the street — were made possible by a grant from the Jewish Solar Challenge (JSC), a new organization founded and funded by Los Angeles-based communications executive Mitchell Schwartz.
Jewish Solar Challenge wants all Jewish nonprofits to go solar — synagogues, schools, Jewish community centers, Holocaust centers and other institutions. And this is just for starters. Through its challenge, it awards matching grants to Jewish nonprofits that own their buildings, and can present well-defined plans for going solar and implementing other measures to increase their overall sustainability. Since its founding in 2022, JSC has given nearly $700,000 to Jewish organizations through seven grants. Previous grantees include Temple Beth Am, Temple Israel of Hollywood, Berkeley Hillel, and Camp Tawonga, a Jewish summer camp outside Yosemite National Park.
Applications opened August 21 for the 2024 challenge, which will award matching grants of up to $50,000 this year. The first deadline for applications is September 20. JSC plans to award more than $300,000 in total for these new solar projects in November.
Schwartz said he didn’t want to make loans or set up financing for solar, which other groups do (including the Interfaith Solar Campaign). Nor was he interested in funding environmental advocacy and education. “I believe in that. It’s huge. But me, personally, I want to see action. It’s enough already. We know what the issues are. It’s time for action. Put solar on the roof from the get-go. Do it.”
Funding action by lowering start-up costs
JSC grew out of Schwartz’s thwarted attempts to get his synagogue, Temple Israel of Hollywood, to put solar panels on its roof. Temple Israel is a big, liberal Reform synagogue with a thriving day school. It serves an educated, largely climate-conscious congregation that includes top TV writers and other creative people in Los Angeles. It’s also located in the super-sunny Hollywood flats, all of which, one would think, make it a perfect location for solar. “But the money guys said no to the upfront costs,” said Schwartz. “Also, they thought that if we raised money for the solar project, it would take away from other places. They didn’t want it to cannibalize other giving.”
During COVID, Schwartz talked to leaders of about 15 other Jewish organizations, including temples, the Museum of Tolerance and Holocaust Museum LA. He wanted to know why they didn’t have solar on their roofs. He got the same answer: The upfront costs were too high, making the payback period too long — more than the typical five-year plan many places use — and the organizations had other pressing fundraising needs.
Thus, JSC was hatched. “We figured if we could reduce the payback period, they’ll have no reason not to do it. If we give you a grant up front, it makes the payback period shorter because it’s less expensive. Going solar immediately reduces the cost of lights, air conditioning and heat, saving organizations money. Combined with the federal IRA money [Inflation Reduction Act of 2022] it’s really great for them,” said Schwartz.
The Inflation Reduction Act has created a new urgency and opportunity for philanthropy to fund sustainability in new ways. As the Rockefeller Foundation put it in a blog post about its solar funding, “Because of the IRA’s Direct Pay provision, nonprofits and state, local, and tribal governments can now access tax credits over 10 years for clean energy projects in underserved communities.” Across the philanthrosphere, as we’ve seen, numerous funders and funder collaboratives have sought to leverage this once-in-a-generation flood of federal dollars to advance climate and infrastructure goals in the communities they serve.
For Schwartz, funding the JSC lets him support his two personal passions: environmentalism and “Jewish stuff.”
“This is a way to help both. I care about the environment and I want these Jewish nonprofits to succeed,” he said.
“Solar is just the tip of the spear”
Schwartz designed the solar challenge as a catalyst for organizations to become more sustainable overall. To this end, the application calls for a description of other ways the organization will use the grant to spark climate-friendly changes. “The solar is crucial. They have to have a good plan,” he said, noting that solar is a mature industry now and pretty easy to implement in many places, particularly in California. “What else are they going to do, what other programming? Recycling, gardening, composting, hosting conferences on going solar? The solar is just the tip of the spear. It’s all of these other things that will really have an impact.”
JSC helps nonprofits to develop a plan for increasing sustainability that they can include in their application, conducting informational sessions and offering guidance. “We want to make it a really great application process and really helpful, so if they don’t get it this year, they can get it next year,” said Schwartz.
Mark Samuel serves as an officer on the board of trustees of Temple Beth Am and was the temple’s president when he first learned about the challenge in 2022. He said that the process absolutely inspired temple leaders to “think outside of the box” about sustainability. “We’d flirted with doing solar for a long time here. The grant got us over the hump. And then there were bonuses and tax credits under the Biden IRA bill. It made it a no-brainer for the institution. Then we asked, ‘What else can we be doing?’ We installed LED lighting, low-flow toilets and faucets and other energy efficiencies, not just to save some money but also for our moral responsibility and what we can do to repair the world.”
Temple Beth Am also incorporated changes into the curriculum at its childhood center, day school and religious school, including talking about solar, recycling and composting. It brought in two composting bins, planted a garden and created electric vehicle charging stations. “All of these measures have been brought into the fabric of the institution. This grant influences people to think differently,” Samuel said.
Pointing to the cup of coffee I was holding, he continued: “We don’t offer too many paper cups anymore. Sustainability is really important, and the fact that we’re actually doing it and can have our kids go to their parents and say, ‘This is what I learned how to do at school.’ Some families were inspired to put solar on their roof. Two board members started composing. I think sustainability is a moral responsibility of a Jewish organization or any organization.”
From L.A. to the world
For now, Schwartz and his family are funding the challenge, but he plans to expand: “I decided, rather than raising money now, to put money in, prove that it works, then I could go show it to people. After these 12 to 15 grants, they’ll be installed by next year at some point, and then we’ll show that to a list of funders.” More funding could also allow JSC to expand to faith-based organizations outside the Jewish community, helping to put solar on churches and mosques, he said.
While JSC is a national program with big ambitions, it has so far only funded projects in California. “Our goal is to literally cover every Jewish nonprofit that owns a building in America with solar. That’s in the high hundreds. It’s totally doable,” he said.
