Jewish Environmental Bike Rides Raise Awareness Throughout the Community

by Julie Pelavin Marcus

Picture yourself cycling down the scenic Hudson Valley through Westchester into New York City. Or cycling across the United States from Seattle to Washington, DC. Now imagine how enriching this experience could be when your co-riders possess common values about Judaism, the environment, the world.

The Jewish Environmental Bike Rides are a project of the non-profit organization Hazon ("vision" in Hebrew). Founded in 1999, Hazon is committed to programs that are rooted in Jewish tradition but committed to the present and the Jewish future.

Hazon’s first project was the Cross-USA Jewish Environmental Bike Ride. In the summer of 2000, a diverse Jewish group cycled over 3000 miles, from Seattle to Washington, DC, to raise environmental awareness in the Jewish community, to raise money for Jewish environmental projects and to be positive role models for people they met along the way, especially young people. Participants in the Cross-USA Ride taught in 47 different Jewish communities during the Ride, and ended at the White House, where they won a national award from the EPA.

Nigel Savage, Hazon’s director and founder of the Rides, says "one of the most exciting things about a Ride such as this is its ability to bring very disparate people together. Riders in the Cross-USA Ride ranged from Lubavitch to secular, from teenagers to a 71-year old, and from passionate environmentalists and cyclists who were Jewishly unaffiliated to observant Jews who had spent little time thinking about environmental issues. We believe that a Ride such as this is important not just to raise environmental awareness in the Jewish community, but also as a practical example of taking Jewish vision out into the world, across boundaries of age and denomination."

Hazon followed up with a New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride in the fall of 2001. Riders ranged in age from 12 to 69, in religious affiliation from Orthodox to Reform to secular to non-Jewish, and came from Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago and Maryland, in addition New York and New Jersey. Riders raised over $30,000 that went to support Jewish environmental projects, including COEJL (the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life) and the Teva Learning Center in the US and the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

Hazon is currently organizing the 2nd annual New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride. As with previous rides, the event’s mission is multifold. The ride aims to "get Jewish people thinking about environmental issues and how we can draw on both Jewish tradition and the community to make a difference. And to have a great time while doing so," says Savage. Hazon expects to have more than 100 riders this year, compared with 40 in the 2001 Ride.

Because an enduring bond developed during last year’s trip, many past participants have already signed up for the 2002 spin. This multi-generational group, with diverse Jewish backgrounds, includes Marty Lager, an accountant and organic farmer. In 2001, the only rider Lager knew was Rabbi Gordon Tucker from Temple Israel Center and former dean of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Nonetheless, Lager emphasizes, "By the end of two days, a community was formed among the riders." Rena Shachar, another returning rider, who is Director of the COEJL chapter in the San Francisco Bay area, said "the Ride is a great way to teach about Jewish environmentalism in a way that’s integrated and enjoyable. I’m proud to be part of the California contingent on the Ride."

The Right Direction

In light of the year’s terror attacks, how does Hazon maintain its optimism about the state of world Jewry and the environment? Savage found words of wisdom from Rabbi Tucker in the aftermath of last September’s horrific events. "He said ‘the ride is the antithesis of what 9/11 was about – (Hazon) is rooted in religion, but universalistic, inclusive, committed to making the world better,’ " reports Savage.

Writer David Arnow (a past chairman of the New Israel Fund) echoes many riders noting how the event successfully integrates "a love of Judaism, concern for the environment and cycling." Arnow also stresses that the ride is ideal for teens – last year’s ride was one boy’s Bar Mitzvah project – serving as a "wonderful opportunity for learning about tzedakah and tikkun olam."

Ruth Messenger, Former Manhattan Borough President and current President of the American Jewish World Service, also returns this year after experiencing "a physical challenge, great company, solid Jewish learning and an opportunity to think more about critical environmental issues." And she concludes with an invitation to all "Try it!"

This year’s ride kicks-off on Sunday morning, October 13, at Camp Sprout Lake in Verbank, New York. (An optional Shabbat Retreat on the campgrounds offers a unique opportunity for learning and celebrating before the ride.) Surrounded by autumn foliage, cyclists will journey southward on mostly quiet roads. A support and gear van will travel alongside the riders who are expected to train prior to the event.

Racers will finish their first 70 miles at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, NY where they will be treated to dinner sponsored by the local kosher caterers. On Monday morning the ride precedes into Manhattan on a 40-mile leg to the Jewish Community Center at Amsterdam and 76th Street. The event culminates in an "eco-fair" featuring short speeches, prizes and an array of activities for the bikers and their families.

In addition to a registration fee participants must each raise $500 to help support Hazon’s causes. While a portion of this fund-raiser goes toward the ride, the money is primarily used "to develop year-round Jewish environmental education and advocacy in the U.S. and in Israel," explains Savage.

To register for the 2002 Jewish Environmental Bike Ride, become a sponsor or volunteer, please contact the Hazon office at (212) 685-7908 or visit the website www.hazon.org.

Portions of this article have been reprinted with the permission of the Westchester Jewish Chronicle (July 2002).