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October 25, 2002/Cheshvan 19 5763, Vol. 55, No. 9
Trading in SUV reduces guiltRABBI ROBERT KRAVITZFor several years, I've hemmed and hawed about driving an SUV, the excuse being that I'm a fairly tall guy and need the extra leg room. I owned a mid-size SUV and I felt uncomfortable each time I went to the pump to buy gasoline from the overseas oil cartel. I don't really take pleasure in sending my dollars to countries in the Gulf that don't recognize me as a Westerner, American, Jew and supporter of Israel.But it's hard to make this kind of a decision. If the resources are there to buy and to run an SUV, why not? Don't we have the American freedom to drive anything we want? Shouldn't we enjoy the freedom of the open road? Yes to all the above, but with a codicil. Yes, we are able to buy, to drive and to enjoy the "bigger is better" SUV or any other vehicle. It's more difficult to answer how the bigger vehicle with fewer miles per gallon (mpg) affects me Jewishly. The underlying premise of the SUV is its attractiveness and status. Sure, the ads do talk about transporting the entire girls' soccer team. How many times a week? But we all know that it's really about "being cool." Mine is bigger than yours. However is "being cool" a Jewish reason for oversizing? It's sort of like "Chad Gadyah," the Passover song we share every year around the seder table. SUVs and large automobiles (and some smaller ones with huge engines) gulp gasoline; the gasoline comes from the Gulf States; these Gulf States are at war with Israel; those confrontational states at war with Israel fund terrorism against Americans worldwide. When automakers pressure members of Congress to keep down the mpg, we all suffer. The American Jewish Committee has advocated, so far unsuccessfully, for an increase in the mpg for automobiles - required by CAFE, Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards outlined in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 - to free the United States from oil dependency. Since creative engineers are able to make engines that run well on canola oil (even in a Harley Davidson "chopper"), why aren't we trying similar technologies that don't counter our Jewish, Israeli and American interests? I finally answered all these nagging questions by going "hybrid." I couldn't face myself in the morning knowing that the day was going to include another gas-gulper. I downsized a little, left the SUV on the trade-in lot and drove away in a smaller four-door Honda Civic, with the hybrid gasoline-electric system. Now my mpg is well above 40, and I don't feel guilty. It's good to be driving what I think parallels my Jewish beliefs, and I enjoy facing a smile in my rearview mirror. Rabbi Robert Kravitz is executive director of the Arizona chapter of The American Jewish Committee. Contact him at 480-970-6363. |
