The RovingRabbis have been known to rove in rented cars, donated cars, busses, taxis, scooters, airplanes, feet, and perhaps even gondolas. But we, the RovingRabbis to Amsterdam, use bikes.
Amsterdam is full of bikes. In fact, according to Wikipedia, there are over 500,000 bicycles in this city of under 800,000 souls. In Rome do as the Romans, and in Amsterdam do as the Amsterdammers. So we rented ourselves bikes.
We now zip all around Amsterdam on our stainless-steel steeds. We cycle to synagogues and meetings in local style.
Biking has incredible advantages. It is cheap, clean, eco-friendly, and there are bike lanes and bike parking lots all over the city. One disadvantage, however, is that bikes do precious little to protect their riders from the rain.
The other day, just as we were just about to bike over to meet a gentleman named Zephania, the skies opened up, and the thirsty canals of Amsterdam drank up heaven's bounty. But what were we to do? As we stood there wondering what to do next, a friendly Israeli named David pulled up to say hello. After getting to know each other, he offered to take us to Zephania's in his car.
Thank G‑d Amsterdam has almost as many Israelis as bikes!
