Bikers ride in Israel to raise funds for Alyn Hospital
November 30, 2005 by Howard Blas
WOODBRIDGE-When Judith Hess saw a Jewish Ledger article last year about a Hazon environmental fundraising bike ride in Israel, she cut it out and saved it, hoping that one day she too, could participate in such a ride.
Recently, the Woodbridge mother of two did just that. Hess just returned from the five-day,
350-kilometer (217 mile) Wheels of Love bike ride. Hess was one of 325 bicyclists from around the world (United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Australia, and Israel), ages 15-72, who participated Nov.
6-13 in the 6th Annual International Alyn Charity Bike Ride. Each rider was committed to raising a minimum sponsorship of $2,000 for the Alyn Hospital, in Jerusalem, which treats young patients, Jewish and Arab, who require intensive therapy for disabilities stemming from congenital conditions, accidents, illness and terror attacks. Riders are aiming to raise $2 million. Last year’s ride, with 235 participants, raised $1.4 million for the hospital.
The Alyn bike ride was the brainchild of Geoffrey Freeman, a cyclist who made aliyah from England. In 1997, Freeman approached Alyn Children’s Hospital with his idea for a charity bike ride. The number of riders has grown from four in 1998, to 100 in 2002, to 160 in 2003, to 325 this year.
Prior to the race, Freeman reported, This year’s Northern Route is a ride of great contrasts. From some of the highest peaks of the Golan, through the pastoral Galilee, we will weave our way through the central regions of the country, as we make our final and breathtaking Tour d’Alyn ascent to Jerusalem. The landscape,
views-and company-will be spectacular, traversing sites of both natural beauty and historical interest. The ride, which features different courses each year, offers parallel on and off road routes (with riders from both groups connecting almost every night).
Hess, who works in the epilepsy surgery program at
Yale-New Haven Hospital, described the ride as amazing, though it was really really physically hard! Hess loved being so in touch with the people and the land of Israel. It was fun to see people in towns and villages standing on the roadside, watching the riders, reports Hess, who was last in Israel 25 years ago. She hopes to return again next year.
On the ride, Hess, a member of Or Shalom in Orange, enjoyed meeting fellow riders, including Rabbi Jonathan Hausman, of Congregation Ahavath Torah in Stoughton, Mass. Hess and Hausman share a Connecticut connection. Hausman attended Congregation Beth El of Fairfield, lived in Bridgeport and Easton, and served as rabbi of Congregation Sinai in West Haven before taking his current pulpit in Stoughton.
Hausman reports, “I have never participated in any bike rides; I am a runner at heart. But I thought this would be a novel way to challenge my congregation to raise
much-needed funds while cementing a connection to Israel.” Hausmans congregation was generous in their support of the ride; their contributions to Alyn totaled more than $12,000.
Other ride participants included Jewish Ledger editorial writer and Jerusalem Post editor Saul Singer.
The
non-profit Alyn Hospital is one of the world’s leading specialists in the active and intensive rehabilitation of children with a broad range of physical disabilities and is the only facility of its kind in Israel. For more information on Alyn Hospital and Wheels of Love, visit www.alyn.org.