Saturday, November 8, 2008

Getting Started

I am writing this as I travel to Israel for the Fall 2008 Israel Ride. I will keep it as my journal for the ride, then see where we go from there.

For more information about the ride, you can go to their website, www.israelride.org.

About me, and the Israel Ride.... this is the third time that I've done the ride. The first, in 2005, was one of those 'life cycle' events. I thought that I would do it once, love it, but not feel any pull to do it a second time, 2007, and surely not a third time, now! Much to the surprise of many, I'm back! Hopefully not for the last time. I ride as part of Team JNF (Jewish National Fund). And, I ride in memory of my stepfather, Rabbi Morris Gordon. And, I ride to help support two great organizations, The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, in Israel, and Hazon, in the USA. But, truth is, mostly I ride for me -- the ride is an incredible way to visit Israel, explore the Negev, challenge myself, and meet some wonderful people along the way. This year, I'm also riding to celebrate my Bar Mitzvah. The service was this past spring, only 40 years late, but worth every minute of the wait. I would have liked to get each of my six fellow b'nei mitzvot to join me, but it looks like I ended up as the designated rider!

More to follow. Next post from Jerusalem!

3 comments:

cjgm2600 said...

David:

Caught your pictures on Picasa, looks like things are going well.
I am extremely jealous (I thought I would join the Ride for a day while there on Business but that fell through ...) However I just signed up for Spring 2009 .... want to ride again when the days are longer?

cjgm2600 said...

Carl,, as in Carl Jacobs .. sorry about that

Anonymous said...

David--Your ride..and experience...sounds amazing! I am so incredibly jealous--yet enjoying every minute of your descriptions and stories. One thing I know for sure: Next year, I want to be the one "blogging" to friends back in the US.