Monday, August 4--Day one:Arriving at the Kotel

Although many of us were sleep deprived and weary from being stuffed into a very full plane, everyone seemed to perk up and there was clearly a sense of awe and wonder on the faces of all.  The guide, Gila, began talking to us and giving us the logistics, I could not take my eyes off the Kotel….I’ve waited most of my life for this moment. The Kotel, was like a magnet that was pulling me; the closer I got the larger the lump in my throat became and the faster the stream of tears.  When I finally reached the wall I placed my hand on the warm stones and said the Shema.  For the first time, I got it…I really got it…with every fiber of my being I understood what the prayer is all about and understood what it meant “to return to the land” and to feel, with heart and soul, what it meant to be a Jew.  ~Toni Stifano-Walton

 

 

Tuesday, August 5--Day two:Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem was overwhelming . While I haven’t gone to the main part of our US Holocaust museum in DC, I of course knew much about the Holocaust. Nevertheless, the horror and despair gripped me as we went from hall to hall starting with the government of Nazi Germany decrying Jews as a danger to Germany and a cancer to be dealt with, causing Jews to b e deprived of property, freedoms, subject to violence, abandonment by non-jewish friends and co-workers, internment and death camps.  This progression lead many Jews to leave Germany, but 90% of Polish Jews (3 million) and another million Russian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.  The horror of it was stomach wrenching whether it was the step by step loss of freedoms, livelihoods, possessions and then at concentration camps, loss of children, parents,, spouses, and then death or whether it was all at once, -- whole communities taken from their homes (men, women and children), stripped, lined up and mowed down by machine guns and buried on top of those shot before.  The six million Jews killed included 1.5 million children.  The oppressive gloom was only lightened by the victory of the allies and emigration of survivors to Israel and the establishment of the state of Israel. ~Marc Smith

 

Day two: Herzl Museum

 

We enjoyed a visit to the Herzl Museum, dedicated to Theodore Herzl’s vision of the creation of a Jewish State.  Herzl’s story is surprising as for most of his life he believed the “jewish problem” in societies could easily be remedied by assimilation.  It was only after covering the infamous Dreyfus trial as a journalist, he realized that assimilation would not be enough – a Jewish state was needed.  He brought into being the World Zionist Organization in 1897 to work towards this end and predicted the establishment of such a Jewish state in 5-50 years (as it did when the UN voted in favor of a Jewish state in 1947).  The museum had a multi-screen, multi-room Disneyesque presentation that highlighted his life and vision.  Herzl’s life was short and no descendants survive, but his coffin (previously buried in Vienna) was moved, per his request, to Mount Herzl in 1949 in a place of great honor.  We were all able to visit his grave, as well as the other military and honored graves on Mount Herzl.  Judy Levy-Stutsky

                 

                 

 

Day two: Chagall Windows

 

In the bottom floor of a beautiful hospital in Jerusalem made possible from the donations from Hadassah women is an Orthodox synagogue that contains the Chagall windows.  The bima of the synagogue sits below where the congregants sit to depict the part of the bible that states “from the depths below…..”. Surrounding this synagogue are twelve breathtaking stained-glass windows painted by Marc Chagall.  This wonderful artwork is a result of the Hadassah women approaching Marc Chagall to do something for State of Israel.  His comment to the women was that he was waiting for someone to approach him to do something for the State of Israel and as a result he painted the twelve Chagall windows.  These beautiful windows are available for all to see.  The windows display vibrant colors of blue, red, yellow and green and depict themes for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  The colors emanate many feelings to the viewer—feelings of agony, beauty, passion, warmth, light, vitality and many others.  Chagall brought to life the history of the tribes and one leaves with a strong sense of connection to our early history as a people.  The windows were on display in London and New York and now permanently sit in the Hadassah-Ein Karem Hospital synagogue surrounded by bulletproof glass so they could not be destroyed. The Chagall windows are a must see for anyone that visits Jerusalem.  ~Larry and Stefi Parizer

 

Wednesday, August 6—Day 3—The Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum

 

The Israel Museum has enormous collections of Israel history and art, with the crown jewel among them  the collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Since most of the museum collection is not on display at present due to a major renovation of the museum, we were spared the dilemma of where to spend our time, able to focus on the scrolls without conflict.  Our visit is at a fortuitous time as the actual Isaiah scroll is on display for the first time in 40 years; previously there was only the (excellent) photo reproduction that the museum notes accompany.  These scrolls have revealed a great amount of the thinking and beliefs of the (probably) Essene-related sect that went out to the dessert to distance themselves from what they regarded as the error-filled practices of the main populace.   But the most striking thing is to what degree the discovered scrolls are nearly the same as many of the texts in the canonized Tanach that we use.  Our tradition has always held that our texts have been handed down, generation to generation, with great care by vigilant scribes to ensure the accuracy of the entire body.  We previously had documented texts that chiefly extended back only perhaps a thousand years from the present.  While a thousand years is a long time, it remains a great leap to believe that the accuracy has been preserved for three times that.  The Dead Sea Scrolls extend that evidence backwards another thousand years. There is still a leap of belief to accept that the texts which the scrolls reveal accurately reflect the texts when first written, but it is a smaller leap.  To be able to actually see these scrolls with our own eyes is to experience a long history made concrete and real. ~Marc Walton

   

Thursday, August 7—Day 4— Masada

 

For 21 BSO congregants, 102 degrees atop the ancient citadel of Masada was exceeded only by the overwhelming awe we felt as we roamed through this isolated and desolate desert area in Israel.  The excesses and quest for power of the Romans and King Herod were in contrast to the Jewish zealots in search of freedom who became martyrs on this mountain rather than live in slavery.  This was a truly memorable moment in all our lives—only a visit to a spa and a swim in the Dead Sea could bring us back to the real world. ~Ron Rubbin

 

 

“The Days of Our Israeli Lives” --The food! The shopping! It’s all great in Israel. . . Breakfast at the hotel each morning we find tables laden with fresh fruit, Israeli cheeses, cakes, traditional Israeli salads and good old American classics such as scrambled eggs and pancakes. The quantities appear unending. No one is going hungry. On the days that we have eaten out at local restaurants we’ve asked for menus in English and everyone also speaks English so there’s no problem getting a tasty and familiar meal. I’m in “heaven” knowing that I can eat kosher just about everywhere and am not limited to fish or dairy. Because we are moving so fast and seeing so many sights, shopping is not only “power shopping” but “fast” shopping – we need to keep moving to see all the sights. Our schedule is jam-packed. Tonight we went to “Abraham’s tent” (aka Genesis Land) and were served a delicious meal of hummus, babaganoosh, other salads, kohlrabi (really good!), rice, kebabs, chicken legs, dried fruit, coffee and tea. Oh … . and we arrived at Abraham’s tent via camels! What fun. The pictures are going to be such fun to see. We all feel safe and are having so much fun. Already starting to think about my next trip!!! ~Shira Oler

 

 

Shabbat morning, August 9th at the Italian Synagogue

 

So you have a sense of the surroundings, I should start with the fact that this synagogue is from the 16^th Century.  The Ark and bima came from Italy and was reconstructed in a church that once served as an orphanage. There remains a turret that is painted (illuminations-style) complete with images of Jesus and Mary, where kiddushim are sometimes held.  That said, the surroundings are quite amazing.  I sat in the crowded women’s balcony behind a carved wood screen that could be propped open just enough to see down below.  It was a beautiful service with the men chanting with ruach …the women were barely audible. The men’s voices were so rich and the melodies a soulful Sephardic so it was easy to get lost in the moment.  Speaking of getting lost, there were several versions of the siddur…all Hebrew, the Artscroll and the Italian/Hebrew versions I was fine most of the time.  It was with mixed emotions that I sat looking down at the Torah and not with Marc…both seemed so far away…but the Torah was wrapped on the outside with elegant cloth which I could see from above and to listen to the gentleman that chanted the Torah portion and the young man who chanted haftorah I was pulled in probably closer than I’ve been.  I loved it.   ~Toni

 

 

Saturday night, August 9th

Tisha B’Av at Robinson’s Arch (the Kotel)

 

Quintessential spiritual moment was sitting on the stone steps at the Southwestern end of the Kotel; our Rabbi reading from Eicha (Lamentations) with hundreds of others present.  We ended by singing Hatikva…an unforgettable Shabbat evening and Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem.  ~Ron Rubbin

 

What an awe inspiring and emotional night.  The feeling of sitting on massive stones that had been pushed from the wall in an act of destruction some 2000 years ago was incredible.  I’ll never forget it.  ~Toni

 

Awesome, emotional and moving. A feeling of connection to generations before me that I’ve never felt before.  ~Shira

 

 

Sunday, August 10^th—The Old City

 

We went to the Davidson Center (named after a big donor!) and learned how the Temple was built, layer by layer. I was surprised to learn that what I saw at the Kotel was actually only a small portion of what the wall actually was – especially in height – during biblical times. We saw some of the excavation of a Herodian mansion (can you believe it was more than 5,000 square feet in size!), with all their bathrooms, mikvehs – lots of them, and they were big.  Did you know that women at this period also did redecorating?  We then looked out from the southern wall overlooking the hills of Jerusalem, Mt. of Olives and David’s City. We could see burial sites that had been desecrated by the Jordanians. We shopped in the cardo – the remains of the Roman road through the middle of ancient Jerusalem—where I bought a new tallit (gorgeous!!) and our group bought a gift to bring back for the synagogue that will be used on the High Holy Days. Come to shul to see it.    ~Shira

 

Sunday, August 10^th

Is there a place for the Conservative/Masorti Movement in Israel?

 

I’m sure that our movement fits the needs of some Israelis, but I see this as a very small minority.  More likely, it seems to meet the needs of Americans and other westerners who make aliyah to Israel and, very importantly, it supports the growth and development of the Conservative Movement in the diaspora by providing a home for study, prayer and community in Eretz Yisrael.

 

My evidence:

 

1.  Orthodoxy and Ultra-Orthodoxy hold virtually all the religious and political weight in Israel.

 

2.  Israel is a very secular state, where many, if not most, citizens attend services but once a year on Yom Kippur.  If they’re going to go anywhere, it might as well be Orthodox.

 

3.  The niche for the Conservative/Masorti Movement in Israel is very narrow.  There are Modern Orthodox congregations here with egalitarian practices, and the Reform Movement has a presence here as well.

 

4.  Since this is a Jewish country, the needs for a Jewish communal center are not as necessary as in the diaspora, where congregations fulfill that need.

 

Over these past few days, we visited the headquarters of the Conservative Movement in Jerusalem, the Fuchsberg Center, where we participated in a study session and mincha on Tisha B’Av.  We saw a vibrant Jewish center for visiting youth from America, and we also davened at the Masorti synagogue next door, a congregation composed largely of foreigners who have made aliyah to Israel. 

 

We also visited Rabbi Paul Arberman (who was a BSO Scholar-in-Residence back in November) at his synagogue in Modi’in, a booming community of 70,000, growing rapidly, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.  The community has two Masorti congregations of 30 and 50 families and is hard-pressed to support rabbinic leadership there.

 

So, is there a role for the Conservative/Masorti Movement in Israel?

 

I think so, but we didn’t see much evidence that it has reached the native Israeli population.

 

This is the challenge the Masorti Movement must meet.  ~ Ben Katcoff 

 

Monday, August 11^th

We started the day at the Wall. So many Bar Mitzvahs and much celebrating!  We even had some food from the Kiddush at one. J Walked through the underground tunnel that was along the western wall underneath the Arab quarter.  Amazing architecture.  Saw a film showing how physics made the construction possible.  Next was a bus drive to a winery with a minyan on wheels. Even the bus driver participated.  Where else could this happen but in Israel?  ~ Shira

 

 

Friday, August 8, 2008 – Archaeological Dig

 

At the dig we actually helped to unearth 2,000 year old artifacts. Our guide took us down in a cave with two rooms where we were given a pick axe and trowel, and two buckets – one for dirt and one for “finds.” We found a lot of pottery pieces, charcoal, and animal bones. I found a pot handle. We took our “find” buckets and dirt buckets out of the cave. We put the “finds” with the large buckets designated for each room and then sifted the dirt buckets to find small artifacts and anything else we may have missed. After that we got a tour of a room in a fully excavated cave that had an olive oil press. I kind of ran off through the other sections of the cave with my Dad while the group was leaving. The cave was so much bigger than I had thought. We finally came out the other side where we found the group. I think they were worried about us. Then the guide took us to a building and showed us some of the things they had found. Since they couldn’t use all of the previous found, they let us have them to keep. I got twenty five 2,000 year-old sea shells and my dad got some pottery pieces. It was a lot of fun and if/when I go back to Israel I’ll definitely do a dig again! ~ Ben Stutsky

 

Tuesday  Aug. 12, 2008 - Sefat

 

We started our adventures in Sefat with visits to two Sephardic Synagogues.  Sefat is considered the birthplace of Jewish mysticism.  The one synagogue very unusual. There was a very interesting transition from a courtyard which people gathered prior to entering the synagogue for prayer. It was very colorful, especially blue which is considered a good luck color, warding off evil. It had many symbolic relations to numerology.  For example: paintings of the twelve tribes were represented in the dome over the bimah. Sefat also had some wonderful shops with local art and jewelry.

 

Next we went kayaking in the Jordan River. We went down in groups of 2-5 people. The river was no deeper than 5 feet and we traveled two miles in about 1 ½ hours. Very slow moving, rocky and narrow.

 

Then we went on a jeep ride on the Golan Heights which borders Syria. We were amazed that Syria was only 10 miles away. We appreciated the importance of the Golan Heights to the security of Israel. We saw many crops being grown – cotton, pomegranate, blackberries, watermelon, mustard plants and other herbs. Our next stop was a boat ride in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. The sunset was beautiful. There was Israeli music and dancing on the boat. Dinner at “Decks” was wonderful. It was a family style feast with many courses including filet mignon, duck, chicken, and an Israeli “bloomin’ onion.” Parve dessert was ice cream with a crepe. It was a busy and great day for all. ~Vickie Smith

 

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 – Kibbutz Lavi

 

Imagine being part of a community where social, economic and political decisions are shared collectively. We had the wonderful opportunity of learning about life on a kibbutz – the Hebrew word for “collective.” Kibbutz Lavi was started by 50 Russian Zionists in 1949 as an agricultural community. Today there are 650 members, of which 250 are children. Their main source of income today is manufacturing synagogue furniture that they sell all over the world. The kibbutz is on hundreds of acres that at one time was arid, barren land. The members have created what is today, a beautiful environment with lush gardens and fields of plentiful crops. We also saw where the cows are housed and milked daily.  Only 4% of the milk they produce is used by the members. The rest is sold as another source of income. Now here’s the best part – you may be lucky enough to have all your laundry done for you, meals prepared and served to your family, a house provided, means for advancing your education – all simply by being a member of a kibbutz! And someone like me would probably be one of the teachers on the kibbutz. We so appreciated the beautiful tour we received by an “elder” of the community. Ester’s energetic enthusiasm makes me think that perhaps this is the way to live and raise your family! ~ Stefanie Parizer

 

Zippori

This was an intellectual center where many rabbis lived. There were so many mosaics! There were clean bathrooms in the visitor’s center – even had toilet paper . . . not always available so that was a treat. We saw etchings on the paved streets (paved with large stones) of gambling games. There were indentations of wheeled carts visible on the street. This is an active excavation site from May-July, then they analyze their findings for the remainder of the year. We saw columns that were uncovered only a month ago.

 

Acco - Acre – Akko (pick a spelling since they were all used!)

We saw a Tunisian synagogue. I’ve never seen so many mosaics in my life – on the floors, walls, ceilings. Unbelievable! We all have the pictures to prove how amazing it was. In every synagogue we went into on this trip, including this one, there are tzedekah boxes that we all contributed to since they are dependent on donations to support them. We were glad to do it since everyone was so gracious.

 

Time to eat again. . . Kosher McDonald’s for some, and for others, another favorite eatery called “Aroma.” Great salads, sandwiches, and iced coffee -- a big treat. Then we were off to Rosh Hanikra – the grottos next to the Israel/Lebanon border. We had quite an experience waiting in line for the cable cars. We had to hold Toni and Ed back from a heated exchange with some Israelis who tried to jump the line. Apparently, if you say “I’m trying to get with my children up there” it actually means “get out of my way. I’m coming through!” Eventually, we all made it down and back up again. ~ Shira Oler

Thursday, August 14th – Atlit, Shalom Tower, Independence Hall, Ayalot Institute (bullet factory), Old Jaffa and our Farewell Yemenite dinner

 

It is hard to believe that this is our last day in Israel. The focus of today’s itinerary is leading to Independence and establishing the modern state of Israel.

 

After morning minyan we identified our luggage and boarded the bus to go to Atlit. Atlit was a DP camp established by the British after WW II for survivors of the Holocaust who tried to enter Palestine. As we walked around the camp it is hard to comprehend how the British could intern people after they survived the ordeal of the Holocaust. Gilla, our very knowledgeable guide, told us that the British White Paper issued in 1936 only would allow 75,000 people to resettle in Palestine over a five-year period. The “hitch” was if the economy would allow it. That is how they could intern these people. We saw a movie on how the Palmach organized a “break out” of 200 people from the camp in the middle of the night. It is unbelievable that they could orchestra this escape and not be detected. In the room where we saw the movie there were replicas of the ships that were trying to bring the Jews to Palestine. The numbers of people the ships could hold and the actual numbers of people that were on the ships were listed. EVERY ship held many, many more people than it should have. In addition these ships were in very poor condition. This showed just how determined they were to get to Palestine.

 

Our next stop was Tel Aviv. It is the second largest city in Israel. Even though Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, the embassies are in Tel Aviv and the Ambassadors live here. Our first stop in Tel Aviv was at the Shalom Tower. In the lobby was a series of mosaics based on the drawing of Nahum Goldman. There are four panels that depicted the history of Israel. They were made in Italy and the pictures are really beautiful.

 

Independence Hall is the former home of Meir Dizengoff, the mayor of Tel Aviv. His house was built on the first lot to be auctioned off to create the new suburb for workers commuting to Jaffa. Leave it to the Jewish people to create this beautiful city built on sand dunes. As we entered Independence Hall we were ushered in to a large room that served as a theatre. We had a general introduction to the history of Israel declaring independence. Once the British decided to pull out of Palestine, the Jews had a small window of opportunity to declare their independence. The Egyptian Air Force was on their way to bomb the city and since it was Friday, Shabbat would be starting.

 

We next went in to the room where Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence. Our guide told us about “Israeli time” versus real time. When a wedding is called for 7:00 pm no one shows up till maybe 8:45 pm. He gave this illustration to emphasize the importance of time on this day. Ben Gurion started his speech at 4:00 pm and it was over exactly at 4:32 pm. This was one time that they did not follow Israeli time. We listened to a recording of the actual declaring of independence and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra playing Haktivka. Tears started to come to my eyes as I felt the importance of the moment. Here we were in Israel in the place where modern Israel was formed.

 

Lunch was on our own. While we were in Independence Hall, Gilla had surveyed the area to locate places for us to eat our last Israeli lunch. Many of us chose to go to a place that sold schwarma. Thank goodness we had Rabbi Sunshine to help us order from a Hebrew menu.

 

After lunch we went to the Ayalon Institute. The guide told us of the top-secret operation that took place here after World War II to make bullets under the nose of the British. People who participated in the secret production of bullets were sworn to secrecy. We were shown how they got down to the factory through the laundry. It was unbelievable that the secret was not discovered. Anytime people who worked in the factory were talking and a non-factory worker was near by they said the word “giraffe.” This was a signal to change the subject.

 

As the day came to a close our last stop was Old Jaffa for a walking tour. We departed the bus at a sculpture of the whale from Jonah and the whale. This was a “Kodak moment” group picture taking opportunity. Gilla took several pictures with different cameras. Hopefully one will turn out okay with everyone looking at the camera at the same time.

 

We walked up and down several of the narrow streets. We found the only orange tree left in Old Jaffa. It turned out to be another sculpture. This one had the orange tree growing out of it.  We then were given some unexpected shopping time. We have learned to do the fast shop. It is amazing how much shopping we did in the limited time we had.

 

For our farewell dinner we went to the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv. This is one of the oldest parts of the city. We ate at a restaurant called Maganda. The cuisine is Yemenite Middle Eastern. There were several courses that included many of the dishes we had sampled during our trip. The main course consisted of beef and chicken on skewers. Towards the end of dinner a pre-wedding party walked in. The bride and groom were dressed in ethnic wedding clothes. It was a delicious dinner and a nice ending to a wonderful trip to Israel. We have many, many wonderful memories of the “Land of milk and honey.”

Andrea and Rich Goncher

 

We will miss Gila, our guide, constantly saying, “you need your hats, sunglasses, cameras, and water”, and her conditioning us to go to the bathroom on demand at every stop J.  Her knowledge was astounding and her ability to help us comprehend all we saw made this an amazing experience. 

 

In our 11 days here, we barely scratched the surface of this beautiful country.  There is so much we could have seen if we had the time.  One trip is not enough.  We leave with sadness, appreciation, and a desire to return.  L’Shana Ha-Ba’-ah Bi-Yerushalayim—Next Year in Jerusalem! - Shira