YOM KIPPUR :

Make Yom Kippur a Car-Free Day

In Israel, Yom Kippur is a transformative experience inside and outside of the synagogue. The streets become empty of motor vehicles, and the population takes to the streets as bikes and pedestrians reclaim the asphalt. Those who attend synagogue services and those who don’t are spared the noise and exhaust of motor engines. Concurrently, air quality across the country improves as pollution emissions plummet. Dr. Jeremy Benstein, deputy director of Israel’s Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, notes in the most recent issue of the Jerusalem Report that a car-free Yom Kippur is not a mere incidental benefit of the day, but a fitting quality that symbolizes our repentance for the sins of the year. He writes, “…when we degrade the Earth, we harm others more vulnerable, and those that will come after us, who will inherit the problems we're piling up for them.” As the cars sit idle, we reduce our degradation.

In North America, as we atone for our sins to our fellow humans and to God, we might this year consider our sins to those who suffer from our environmental transgressions, the Earth itself, and to the public that suffers from the degraded environment. Consider, then, making Yom Kippur in North America a car free day, as is de rigueur for the Orthodox community. Granted, the streets won’t clear out to make way for walkers and bikers, but the act of walking is a substantive way of lightening our environmental footprint, if only for a day.

Use the walk to synagogue as an opportunity to speak with friends and family about the environmental impact of our car-centered lifestyle. For a single day, we can eliminate our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, while reconnecting with our community, our neighborhood, and the natural environment through our stroll to synagogue.