Ride to Remember Events
 

The 2009 Ride to Remember kicked off with a terrific JMA BBQ that was held in Madison Square directly behind the Savannah Hilton DeSoto, the JMA host hotel. We were fortunate to enjoy the BBQ on a balmy and dry Southern Spring evening under Madison Square’s leafy canopy. JMA attendees new and old had a fine time making new friends and meeting old friends in the lovely square.

On Friday morning, the R2R attendees rode, swam or boated over to the Savannah Jewish Federation to enjoy a breakfast hosted by the Federation prior to the official Ride to Remember to Charleston, SC.
Unfortunately, the heavy rainfall and the forecast for continued heavy rainfall in the Charleston area forced the R2R Organizing Committee to cancel the ride for safety reasons. Nonetheless, about 100 bikes with some 125 JMA attendees decided to ride to Charleston and participate in a memorial service at the Charleston Holocaust Memorial.

The Friday night Shabbat dinner was highlighted with several notable speakers including Chaim Melamed, a survivor of four concentration camps and Sam Fried, the honoree of the 2008 Ride to Remember in Nebraska and the founder of the Heartland Holocaust Educational Fund in that state.

The 2009 R2R closed with a wonderful buffet on a Savannah riverboat cruise with entertainment provided by Harvey Atkin who did about 40 minutes of some really funny standup. Most importantly, despite the poor economy, the 2009 R2R enjoyed 215 attendees who through their collective efforts, raised $57,000 for the Holocaust Research and Lending Library in Savannah and The Remember Project in Charleston.

Links:

• The complete brochure and signup forms of R2R 2009

Sixty two years ago, as Allied armies charged across Europe administering the final blow to Adolph Hitler’s third Reich, the world learned that the unimaginable had occurred - that millions of innocent people had been slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps. Six Million men, women, and children of the Jewish faith along with millions of other innocent people were murdered in one of the worst genocides in the history of humankind. The shocking implications of the mass murder of such a large number of people are nearly impossible to grasp.
Each lost individual represents a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a child, and the loss of unknown intellectual potential - scientists, doctors, lawyers, farmers, teachers and… The Holocaust must serve as a horrific example that people of goodwill must face unpleasant truths and oppose anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry wherever it surfaces. It is incumbent upon us to remember the lessons of history. We as Jews cannot grow complacent - comforted by the passing of time or the security of affluence and distance.
The Holocaust is not only about the past, it is about the current inflamed world where prejudice and radicalism threatens to destroy freedom-loving people. In today’s world, intolerance flourishes; human rights are too often denied; and genocide is met with ineffective opposition and/or apathy. We as Jews must recognize the moral imperative of teaching young people about the defining moments of the Holocaust and the central importance of passing these lessons on to future generations.
The NHEF’S goal is to fund Holocaust education courses at Universities and Colleges in the State of Nebraska and beyond. The endowment is currently funding Holocaust education courses at the following Universities: University of Nebraska at Omaha University of Nebraska at Lincoln Creighton University Omaha Nebraska University of Nebraska at Kearney Wayne State College With your support, we can make an important difference in the lives of our future leaders as they gain greater understanding of the lingering and serious impact of the Holocaust.
Together, the JMA and the National Holocaust Endowment Fund will work to ensure a future filled with the promise of equality for people of all backgrounds. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and we hope you join us in remembering our past and celebrating our future. Please join us May 22 in honoring the NHEF and its founders, Sam and Frances Fried. The JMA hopes that as many people as possible can attend this exciting and meaningful event. We look forward to meeting you in Omaha Nebraska!

Links:

• The complete brochure and signup forms of R2R 2008
• The council's decision about R2R 2008

Why New York City? With approximately 1.4 million Jews living and working in the metropolitan area of New York City, it has the largest Jewish population outside of Tel Aviv. As well, the Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance (JMA) feels that we will have the greatest impact by holding the 2007 Ride to Remember (R2R) in the city that is the gateway to the United States and the media capital of the world: New York City!

The JMA feels its imperative for us to show our solidarity with Israel. It is also the responsibility of the Jewish people Worldwide to show the rest of the world, that we will Never Again allow another Holocaust. Therefore, the theme for this year’s ride will be "Remembering the 6 million lost and honoring the 6 million living in Israel." Accordingly, we are calling the 2007 R2R the “6 and 6 R2R.”

We have many exciting events planned for New York and the surrounding area as noted in our itinerary; from visiting the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Ellis Island to riding in the Israel Day Parade. You will also have some time to explore the great city of New York and its many boroughs; maybe take time to visit Crown Heights or take in that Broadway show you have always wanted to see, or visit old friends and make new ones. This is an opportunity of a lifetime and we hope you join us in remembering our past and celebrating our future.

We have selected the Magen David Adom as the focus of our charity efforts this year. Magen David Adom (donation Letter) (MDA) and its team of trained volunteer and professional medical responders provide the entire nation's pre-hospital emergency medical needs, including disaster, ambulance and blood services.

As noted above, the JMA hopes that as many members as possible can attend this exciting event and we look forward to meeting you in NEW YORK!

Links:

• Press before, during and after the event
• A movie of Sabra Riders' trip
• The parade narration
• Mel Moris, JMA president's speech in NYC

On May 5, 2006, members of the Jewish Motorcycle Alliance visited the Whitwell Middle School’s “Children’s Holocaust Memorial” in Whitwell, Tennessee.

The genesis of this remarkable memorial was the desire expressed by the school’s administration and staff to teach cultural diversity to students in a community that is almost exclusively white and Christian. In 1998, the students of the Whitwell Middle School began to study The Holocaust. They decided to collect six million paper clips in an effort to understand the enormity of the genocide of the six million Jewish victims. This endeavor touched a chord amongst Holocaust survivors, their families and even world leaders and celebrities. The project eventually expanded to involve the entire town of 1600 and reached out to some 19 countries and 49 states.

The JMA decided that we would ride to Whitwell, TN in memory of the Jews who perished in the Holocaust and to honor the students and staff of the Whitwell School for their remarkable efforts. The JMA felt that The Whitwell Middle School was an appropriate venue in that the paper clip memorial at the school represents many thousands of Jewish victims who otherwise would not have a memorial. As well, in an era of increasing anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, we felt that the Jewish Community had a responsibility to recognize the remarkable mitzvah that the school has created--in a most unlikely place. The school has taken the responsibility to teach its students (and the community beyond) about intolerance, thus fulfilling what must be considered a major component of an educational institution’s mandate.

We wanted to “give back” something to the school. The then principal of the school, Linda Hooper, told us that the school would like to purchase an electronic teaching aid called a Promethean Board. The co-chairs of the ride, Steve Stein and Sid Rochwerg told Linda in one of their preliminary conversations that they would guarantee them a Promethean Board as they felt confident that the funds could be raised. In the end, the JMA was able to provide the school with 10 Promethean Boards! As well, the Promethean Corp. was so impressed with our efforts that they donated another board to the school.

On the morning of May 5, 2006, the JMA congregated at the Jewish Community Federation of Greater Chattanooga. After several poignant speeches and a touching poem read by local Judge Moon, we saddled up for 45 minute ride over a mountain road to the hamlet of Whitwell. We were greeted by cheering students ushering our riders into the school parking lot. As we walked into the gym we heard rising roar of exuberant, exited students and staff that welcomed the JMA to the school. We spent several touching hours, many of us with tears in our eyes, touring the school’s Holocaust Memorial and interacting with the students and staff.

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was truly a Ride to Remember.

The brochure