By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Leyna Krow
Assistant Editor, JTNews
Can riding a bicycle make you a better Jew?
That question remains open for debate, but organizers of the upcoming Hazon California Bike Ride believe that riding bikes can help Jewish environmentalists make the connection between their passion for protecting the planet and their religion.
“A lot of people have environmental ethics – to behave responsibly, be it with regard to food or transportation,” said Ilana Mantell, director of operations for the Kavana Cooperative, who is co-organizing a team of cyclists from Seattle to take part in the ride. “For a lot of people there’s a desire to connect those ethics with Jewish values, though how to do that isn’t always obvious. Hazon is trying to make that connection.”
The event, which runs May 7-10, includes a two-day Shabbat retreat in Sonoma County, followed by a two-day bike ride to San Francisco. The retreat will feature rabbis and Jewish educators from around the country offering lectures, classes, and services centered around the connection between Judaism and environmentalism.
“By the time people get on their bikes, they will have been marinating for two days in the idea that Jews are caretakers of the world,” Mantell said.
The ride isn’t just an educational opportunity; it’s also a fundraiser. Cyclists are asked to raise a minimum of $1,000 to participate, with the money being distributed by Hazon, a New York-based Jewish environmental advocacy organization, to a variety of American and Israeli projects. Recipients include ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship, a three-month leadership training program for young adults, and The Jewish Farm School, which hosts alternative spring breaks for students on the East Coast and in California. Some of the money stays with Hazon to help fund their annual food conference, community supported agriculture program, and future bike rides.
Hazon began hosting bike rides in 2001, with previous events taking place in New York and Israel. This is the first time a ride has been held on the West Coast.
Mantell said the idea to field a team of Seattleites for the Hazon ride first came in December when she and several other leaders from Seattle Jewish organizations attended Hazon’s annual food conference in Monterey, Calif.
“They were advertising the ride at the conference, and we were so thrilled to find another way for people to combine Judaism with environmentalism,” she said.
Rabbi Jessica Kessler Marshall of Everett’s Temple Beth Or took part in Hazon’s New York ride last summer.
“Hazon announced they would be doing a California ride in 2010 and I thought, ‘Great, I don’t have to fly across the country to do this anymore,’” recalled Marshall, an avid cyclist and outdoor enthusiast. “And then I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get other people from Seattle to come along?’”
Mantell and Marshall combined their efforts and the Seattle group is being organized as a partnership between Kavana, Congregation Beth Shalom, the Ravenna Kibbutz, Temple Beth Or, and Hillel at the University of Washington. They’re calling themselves Team Seattle and, as of April, they represented the largest single contingent to sign up from any city.
Participants needn’t be affiliates of any of the organizing communities, however. According to Mantell, the team is a mix of people from a broad cross section of Jewish life.
“For the most part these aren’t Talmud scholars or people who are going to synagogue every week,” Mantell said. “For a lot of people, they’re looking for a way to make Judaism relevant to their values.”
For the past few months, the team has been doing Sunday morning training rides to prepare for the miles they will cover in California. Marshall said the turnout for these rides has often been larger than the team itself.
“It’s a mix of people who are participating, but also just Jewish bikers who like riding and want to join us,” she said.
For Marshall, riding a bicycle is not only a way for her to practice her own brand of Jewish ethics, but also as a way to facilitate conversations about Judaism.
“I really feel like for me, my spirit just soars with having kind of deeper conversations while on a bike,” she said. “I’ve had all kinds of discussions, from what are the different definitions of God to what to do about a daughter who’s dating a non-Jewish guy.”
Marshall said she hopes Team Seattle members will return from California with a better sense of how their religion fits with their other passions, cycling or otherwise.
“There are a myriad of different ways for people to connect with Judaism,” she said. “It doesn’t always have to be while sitting in a pew in a building.”