Jews on Bikes!

Ilan Glazer

By Dan Max Kestin
JTS/Columbia

It's been almost 18 months since I graduated from the Joint Program with Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary, and yet still, people keep asking me if I am going to be (or if I already am) a Rabbi. Folks usually seem disappointed when I explain that I have an ordinary secular career, but they don't need to be. The most important thing I learned about Judaism is that everyone can take an active role in our world as a Jewish layperson. Jewish tradition is a great deal more than holidays and kashrut; it is an important perspective we can use when making decisions in our everyday lives, and it has much to say about a wide variety of contemporary issues.

In particular, many aspects of Judaism indicate a strong connection between people and the environment. The ancient law of shmitta, allowing land to lie dormant every seventh year, suggests that we should respect the natural state of plants. The biblical concept of peah, leaving the corner of fields unharvested for the poor to pick themselves connects ecological issues with the need for people to live free of hunger, and with their basic needs met. Many Jewish holidays are directly connected to the Earth, its origins, and its seasonal cycles. There are many other direct references to the environment in Rabbinic writings and Jewish liturgy. But, how can we apply what we learn from all this to our lives today? That is what the organization "Hazon" is all about.

The word "Hazon" means "Vision," and the organization "Hazon" is a non-profit, founded barely two years ago. Hazon is committed to fostering new vision in the Jewish community in general; and in particular it is spearheading efforts to raise environmental awareness in the New York Jewish community, and to raise money for Jewish environmental projects here and in Israel. Hazon sponsors a pluralistic Beit Midrash and a Tu B'Shevat Seder, but its largest event every year is a Jewish Environmental Bike Ride.

This year, I was a rider and crew member in Hazon's 2nd Annual New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride. On Columbus Day weekend, more than 140 Jews rode their bikes over 100 miles from Poughkeepsie to Manhattan, in an effort to raise money and awareness for environmental education programs. I had spent much of the summer physically training and preparing for the event, which itself allowed me to interact more with the outdoors than I had since the days of summer camp. It turns out that there are some incredibly beautiful places to bike in and around New York City, some with spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Palisades. Having lived in the New York area for my entire life, I can honestly tell you that the experience of crossing the George Washington Bridge on a bicycle is entirely more fun and exciting than doing so in a car.

The weekend of the ride was wonderful and inspiring. The actual ride itself was the greatest physical challenge I have ever attempted in my life, and the rainy weather during the first day, when we had to ride 70 miles, made parts of it really tough. But the community of riders and volunteers was extremely supportive. People cheered each other on as they struggled to climb up long hills and they helped fellow riders to repair flat tires and other bike maladies on the road. Everyone met up to ride the last section of the route together, and the site of a New York City street, completely filled with bicycles, neither polluting the air nor making noise made a strong statement about what people can do to improve the environment when they put their minds to it.

Ilan Glazer, Tzadik Greenberg, Dan Kestin

 The work that Hazon does is important on so many levels. At one level it's about re-inspiring the Jewish community, at a difficult time. Hazon's Rides and events bring people together across all sorts of differences - Jews of every denomination (and non-Jews), from all over the United States and other countries, aged 12 to 69 regularly participate. The Ride has incredible spirit, and it's had quite an impact on many of its riders. Two people who met on Hazon's first Ride, two years ago, just got married to each other; one of this year's Riders is doing the Ride as his bar mitzvah project. Last year a 69-year old flew in from Minneapolis to do the Ride because she'd so loved meeting some of the riders the year before. But as well as being healthy and celebrating and building relationships, the Ride also renews Jewish life by framing traditional teachings in the light of contemporary issues. It also, I sincerely hope, is an important step towards adding the Jewish community's voice to calls for environmental protection in this country and in Israel. To challenge pollution and global warming and habitat destruction we need both to change our behavior as individuals, and to build organizations that will help us help ourselves. Hazon is doing both.

I invite everyone to visit www.hazon.org, to learn more about Hazon and how you too can stay involved with a progressive and open Jewish community that strives to make the world a better place. "It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it." (Rabbi Tarfon, Pirke Avot / Ethics of the Fathers 2:21)

[Posted 1/2/03]