The Movement for Reform Judaism

What did you dress up as this Purim?  Esther, Haman or even the Easter Bunny?  This year I decided to dress up as Lance Armstong and cycle two thirds of the length of Israel.

This wasn’t just for the fun of it, although it was very enjoyable.  The reason I put myself through months of training was the 5th (and my 3rd) Riding4Reform bike ride in support of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ).

Whilst there was snow in Britain, Israel was going through somewhat of an unexpected heat wave.  The ride started at Mishkenot Ruth Daniel in Jaffa.  This is an offshoot of Bet Daniel (the big Reform Synagogue in Tel Aviv) and is a community centre and youth hostel run in conjunction with the IMPJ.  We then left Jaffa and made our way to Beer Sheva; luckily the ride was mostly flat and all on-road, unfortunately there were no trees to protect us from the 40 degrees sun (the road also radiated heat to increase the temperature a further 10 degrees!).

Something that makes this bike ride different is that the majority of the cyclists work in the Jewish community and are educators in some form or other; so along the route we stop and learn about where we are.  On the first day we went through the Sde Yoav area of the northern Negev, this was the scene of heavy fighting against the Egyptians during the 1948 War of Independence.  We also met a couple who with the support from the IMPJ run a community centre/school near Sderot which works with both Israeli Jews and Arabs.

On day two we went from Beer Sheva to Mitzpe Ramon which is located on the edge of the Ramon Crater, thankfully the road wasn’t as busy and so there wasn’t a constant taste of pollution in my mouth.  Along the way we passed army outposts, Bedouin encampments and small family farms.

Day three was the first day of off-road cycling, the change in terrain saw quite a few people fall off their bikes – not clumsy me though, for some reason my klutziness disappears when I’m on a bike!  We cycled through the heart of the Ramon Crater, following the Neqarot and Katzra riverbeds to Mo’a on the Nabatean Spice route.  From here the trail paralleled the Jordanian border end we ended the day in Paran. 

On the penultimate day had a chance to meet more communities that the IMPJ support, the two Reform Kibbutzim in the Arava.  After hours of cycling along rocks, gravel and sand we arrived at Kibbutz Yahel and were treated to Pomelo and the story about Pomelo’s for Peace.  To learn more about this go to one of my Israel Tour updates on the RSY-Netzer website. 

After this we cycled to Kibbutz Lotan and learnt about their eco park (again read one of my updates) and then had a Watsu – it’s Shiatsu but in water.

On the final day we descended from the Sayyarim heights to the Atek riverbed and the stunning Atek Canyon to Beer Ora (Ora’s well). The views were truly amazing today. At many points all I could see was masses of mountain ranges and cliff edges.

After making it through the Timner Park area we hit the Arava road into Eilat. Instead of opting for the better maintained but highly dangerous new road, we took the old badly kept bouncy road. Whilst this was a little bumpy, at least we didn’t have to compete with Israeli drivers. We were literally blown down the   road and onto the beaches of Eilat.

In total there were 50 riders from Israel, America, Canada and me from England, all with completely different riding experiences.  There were some who cycle most days and others like me, who prefer to travel on more comfortable forms of transport.  In total we raised over £100,000 for the IMPJ to help their educational and community work in Israel.  Some of the money will go to support:

•    45 kindergarten classes around Israel providing a unique egalitarian Jewish experience for 1,250 young Israelis.
•    Noar Telem’s Mechina programme in Jaffa which offers a year of study, work and community service for high-school graduates before they join the Israel army – some of the participants joined us on the ride.
•    The School Involvement Programme which trains teachers from secular public schools around the country to teach Jewish studies in a meaningful and Progressive way.

Click here to see a selection of photos from the ride.

Next years ride is 29th March – 2nd April and will be from Mount Hermon to Jerusalem.  I’ll be doing it and would love it if you kept me company.  If you have any questions about the ride please email at me or visit the Riding4Reform website.

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