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Jerusalem, Glasgow, and climate leadership

By Yonatan Neril

While proudly watching my son run a 5K as part of the recent Jerusalem Marathon, I realized that the arc of human history is a marathon. As we race towards an unseen finish line, we need the spiritual attribute of endurance to manifest a thriving, spiritually aware, and sustainable society. Yet the way we are running this race for our planet’s survival, I worry we’re running fast towards a cliff.

The marathon in Jerusalem and hundreds of other cities taps into a sweet spot in the human experience: movement, sun, music, competition, fun, fitness, and especially since the pandemic, gathering with huge numbers of other people. This raises the question: what can motivate us just as much to prioritize sustainable living? While the Jerusalem Marathon shut down much of the city, and in past years has numbered 25,000 participants, the People’s Climate March in Tel Aviv on the same day closed only a small part of that city. There’s currently no People’s Climate March in Jerusalem.