Picture of the week – A green Yom Kippur for all the world

September 30, 2009 - 8:20 PM by Nicky · 1 Comment
Filed under: Environment, General, Holidays, Picture of the Week

Children riding their bikes and bimbas on an empty street in Jerusalem. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.

For some it’s a solemn day of fasting, prayer, and asking for forgiveness, for others – specifically children – Yom Kippur is the day they claim the streets.

Ever year, children all over the country hone their cycling skills as the traffic stops and the roads clear. Whether it’s on a bike, roller blades, scooters, bimbas, or even unicycles, the nation takes to the street in what is probably – ironically – one of the most joyous holidays of the year.

Aside from the sheer pleasure of cycling undisturbed down some of Israel’s main arteries – like route 6, or the Ayalon Freeway, the quality of undisturbed silence is unparalleled. There are no buses, no cars, no trains, no airplanes even. The only sound is the whir of bikes, and the calls of children.

And the air quality, well…

I’ve long thought that some form of Yom Kippur actually ought to be adopted by other countries as an environmental measure. This must be the greenest day in Israel.

Every year there are reports in the local press about the dramatic decline in air pollution throughout Israel’s towns and cities. It’s a chance for the country to breathe again. Imagine what would happen if London followed suit, or New York, or Beijing. Perhaps this should be the latest campaign for environmentalists.

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