British rabbis choose pedal power

LONDON — Rabbis from across the religious spectrum will join forces in the UK this weekend as part of a 21-day effort to raise £100,000 for environmental causes. Some twenty rabbis have signed up to abandon their cars in favor of bicycles in the first Rabbi Relay Ride, set to kick off this Sunday, June 10 from Land’s End, England’s extreme westerly point.

Both male and female rabbis are expected to pedal for distances varying from 100-200 miles of the 1300 mile trek from Land’s End to John O’Groats, traditionally a route designated for charity walks or bike rides.

The bicycle trek is the brainchild of Michael Leventhal, 38, who will be cycling the entire stretch together with his wife, environmental lawyer, Rachel. All proceeds from the Ride have been earmarked for UK- and Israel-based food and environmental charities.

‘It evoked a slightly bizarre image – 20 rabbis cycling the length of the UK’

“People thought I was a complete madman,” says Leventhal. “It evoked a slightly bizarre image – 20 rabbis cycling the length of the UK. But when I spoke about it, one rabbi immediately volunteered to do 200 miles; then another got in touch, volunteering to do 100, and so it grew.”

Leventhal’s own love affair with the bicycle began when he met Rachel, an avid cyclist, and he was soon persuaded to dispose of his car in favor of a two-wheeler. Today, the bike has deposed other methods of transport in London since the mayor’s 2010 launch of a public cycle-sharing scheme, sponsored by one of the country’s leading banks.

Some of the rabbis, ranging from Orthodox to Liberal, are no strangers to the humble bicycle, riding daily to work around England’s capital city. With 2012 named as “Year of the Bike” by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, (the body which represents British Jewry), Leventhal thought it apt to encourage the rabbis, their supporters and friends to adopt a healthier and more sustainable mode of transport.

Leventhal conceived of the project several months ago as an offshoot of the Jewish Food Festival, Gefiltefest. Fifty percent of the funds raised from the ride are set to go to the same food and sustainability causes. The remaining 50% will be earmarked for causes chosen by the rabbis, who have been sponsored by their congregations, friends and families.

Former Reform Judaism CEO Rabbi Shoshana Boyd-Gelfand, admits that she found it difficult to say “no” to Leventhal when asked to sign up for the ride. She’s chosen to donate her 50% to her local park and manor house.

“I support the Jewish environmental and sustainable food movement,” she says. “The Ride was also an expression of my own personal journey as part of other changes I am making to my life.”

A native of the US, the changes she made were partly to compensate for carbon emissions and damage to the environment she felt responsible for, as a result of flights to visit her family in Florida. Director of the Jewish Social Action and Innovation Hub in London, Boyd-Gelfand now drives a hybrid car and is a vegetarian, although “not a fanatic.”

With three young children, cycling everywhere was not a feasible option. A folding bike was her solution, enabling her to use it whenever possible, putting it in the car’s trunk when driving the kids to school.

Many of the other rabbis are also no strangers to the bike as their daily mode of transport. Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski of the Orthodox Golders Green synagogue in north London has been cycling for around 25 years “with a gap in the middle.”

‘Most of my professional commitments are just a short distance away from my home or synagogue so I cycle there’

“Most of my professional commitments are just a short distance away from my home or synagogue so I cycle there,” he says. “The idea of raising money while cycling, for health and environmental causes, is very attractive.”

He has signed up for three days, starting in Land’s End, the southernmost tip of the UK, and anticipates being in the saddle for six or seven hours a day.

Tipped by the Jewish press as a hot candidate for the post of next chief rabbi, Belovski is most enthusiastic about the chance to build relationships with his counterparts from other streams of the Jewish community. Leventhal and the other rabbis also cite this as of major importance.

“I hope that we can make contact with members of the more remote Jewish communities in the UK, with whom we would never usually meet,” says Leventhal. “And I know that the rabbis are also looking forward to building bridges with their counterparts from opposite ends of the community spectrum. They never get the chance to meet them on a day-to-day basis.”

“It is unusual for Anglo Jewry to organize a cross communal activity for an outward looking cause,” says Rabbi Natan Levy, who recently resigned his post as rabbi of an Orthodox congregation in favour of a position as Social Action Director with the Board of Deputies of British Jews.. “The relay ride is like a chain – each rabbi will take over from his predecessor on the route. It is like saying we can’t tackle these issues alone – we need to work together.”

‘The relay ride is like a chain – each rabbi will take over from his predecessor on the route. It is like saying we can’t tackle these issues alone – we need to work together’

Levy has joined forces with Liberal Rabbi Anna Gerrard to raise funds for a school in Abu Guida, a Bedouin village in the Negev.

“It’s fantastic that we all have one common goal that is not religious,” says Gerrard, an outreach director at Liberal Judaism and a rabbi of a congregation in Gloucester. “I like to think that our cross communal interests are now improving.”

The concept of the ride, she believes, brings together Jewish values and sustainability for the future, in addition to well-being and an environmental conscience.

“What appears to be a very simple concept actually has a beautiful theme,” continues Levy. “Ever since Adam, there has been a human obligation to explore one’s environment. The bike is a better and healthier way to go about it. In business, you make five-year plans; in religion, we make 100-year plans, for our children and grandchildren. Things that don’t affect us in the environment will affect our children, so planting a seed in the Jewish community is a good idea for them.”

Sections of the route have been graded on a scale from 1-5, depending on the hilliness of the terrain, to enable the participants to prepare for the ride and train accordingly.

A self-confessed “geek cyclist,” Rabbi Eiran Davies felt compelled to be a part of the project because, he says, Judaism attaches great importance to environmentalism.
“I think the Anglo-Jewish community is heading for a revolution,” he says. “It is very important for people to think about how they engage with the world, adopting a more sustainable attitude.”

A professional goldsmith and jeweler by trade, and affiliated to the Spanish and Portuguese congregation, Davies, 38, has signed up for the ride for two days in Yorkshire. “I’ve been cycling for nearly 30 years so I won’t necessarily find the ride physically challenging, especially with the equipment available these days. However, I wanted to raise awareness. After all, the word rabbi means teacher.”