Below are Rochelle Reich’s (Community Life and Events Director) daily updates from Israel as she tours with the Jewish Community Center Association.
2/9 Monday
It is hard to believe that I am getting on the plane in 10 minutes to come home! The week has flown by with incredible speed. I miss my boys and I miss Asheville, but I wish I wasn’t leaving. Today was another wonderful day, the highlight being a semi private walking tour of Tel Aviv. I now know that Tel Aviv is the most Jewish City in the world. Ask me why when I see you next and I will do my best to explain. I learned today that the original Zionists in Tel Aviv used the traditional Tallit as the inspiration for the flag of Israel and I learned that the aerial view of Tel Aviv shows streets in the shape of a menorah and other areas where they form the Star of David. The architecture is eclectic and textured. It is a beautiful city- so much more than night clubs and technology!
This experience has been amazing and since I am short on time, let me just say to stay tuned for what comes next. I plan to share more about my trip with you all through a few creative ways and programs. Want to help? I will happily accept.
Lilah Tov one last time (that is until I come back!)2/8 Sunday
Shabbat in Israel was a unique, peaceful, and spiritual experience. We ushered in Shabbat together in the hotel lobby just before sunset by lighting the Shabbat candles and then we quickly boarded the bus to drive to the Old City so that we could celebrate Shabbat at the Western Wall. This is something that you must add to your bucket list! The ultra religious standing next to the secular, women dancing and singing and then welcome a group of soldiers to join them, 100 Ukrainian Jews on a Birthright trip singing together in a huge circle with others (myself included) clapping and singing along. Everyone celebrating the holiest day together in the holiest place – truly transformative.
Then we walked 35 minutes up hill (yes, I said uphill) to go enjoy a delicious Shabbat dinner with about a dozen IDF soldiers at the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center. Lone soldiers are those young men and women originally from foreign countries whom have made Aliyah to serve in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and protect the State of Israel. In addition there are 3,000 soldiers from ultra Orthodox homes who against their family’s wishes, decided to join the army. These soldiers have been basically disowned by their families, so even though they are physically close, they are completed isolated. The Lone Soldier Center provides a family for all of these soldiers; a Kehilla of support. It was a powerful evening, where we heard their stories, the story behind the creation of the center, and we all agreed that it had been an overwhelming highlight of the trip thus far.
Shabbat afternoon, we were treated to a wonderful walking tour of modern Jerusalem. We sang Havdalah as a group, then enjoyed dinner on our own and FINALLY a chance to do a little shopping as all the stores re-open after Shabbat ends.
This morning we had a fascinating visit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem before leaving for Tel Aviv. We watched the changing landscape as we made the one hour drive. Today we saw the new Sardona Market, the training ground for the Maccabiah Games, participated in a Modern Hebrew crash course, and an amazing cooking class where we all worked together to prepare an integrated menu of both Arab and Israeli dishes. Suffice it to say that it was tons of fun and that we are all suffering from food coma now! Headed to the hotel in Jaffa for some sleep before our last day… Lilah Tov
Friday 2/6
Today started off by me walking to the grocery store to use the ATM machine. You are about to hear what happens when you combine a foreign currency with lack of sleep and caffeine. The machine asked if I wanted 100, 200, 300, or 400? I wanted $100 but forgot that it was in shekels not dollars. Well that will teach me!! So another $7 ATM fee until I got the right amount.
We then headed to the old city of Jerusalem where there is the most beautiful architecture, stories- again I must refer to our amazing guide as we navigated in and out of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and all the various rooms inside and how they relate to each other. Avrham guided us through the landscape, the architectural one and why certain buildings are built where they are and so on. He must have got an A+ in tour guide school! We then made our way to the Western Wall, where I delivered a note from my 8 year old and said a prayer for our Kehilla in Asheville. We return there tonight for Shabbat services. It is the holiest of Holy places for many religions and you could feel that in the air.
I just returned from lunch, which I enjoyed from the terrace of the Mamilla hotel. I was joined by a woman from the National Council for Jewish Women in the Israel office. What a fascinating woman! I really enjoyed her, the delicious salad and the amazing view. Tonight we have Shabbat dinner with Lone Soldiers at the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Center. Time to get ready for Kabbalat Shabat. Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem. I will write again on Sunday when I will be in Tel Aviv.
Thursday 2/5
Today started off with a delicious breakfast (again) at the hotel. They had Halavah that looked like layer cake!
We then headed off to the Jewish Agency for Israel, where we spent the first half of the day. We learned all about the various ways to bring a schliach to our community- something I really, really hope that we can do in Asheville. It was amazing to hear the wonderful stories from other communities and from the schliachim, themselves. I know that Asheville would embrace an Israeli extension of the family and that we would learn so much. Anyone reading this that is interested in helping to make this happen, please let me know. We also learned about a Tikkun Olam service mission for young adults that I look forward to sharing with YAJA and Hillel. The program is called ‘Project Ten’ if you want to check it out. What I took away most from this morning is that there are many ways that we can connect with Israeli’s- by bringing them to Asheville or by meeting them in another country. We can strengthen our connections with Israel in very personal ways, and we should.
We just pulled up to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I was here when I was 15 and remember it being both very spiritual, emotional and exhausting. I suspect that as a ‘grown up’, today will be even harder, so I will sign off for today now.
Wednesday 2/4
Shalom from Israel!! Today was day 3 and proved to be a very intense day. The bulk of the day was dedicated to helping us gain a better understanding about Israel’s relationship to the physical land- from the perspective of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. It was a day full of historical back story from our guide’s perspective, a day of questions, struggles, emotions, insight- and to be honest, for me, a little clarity. The goal of today was to help us gain some Israeli perspective and then use that perspective to help us as we develop programming about the conflict in our communities. A big goal. I really couldn’t begin to download it all in this blog as to be honest, I am still trying to process it all. I will however give you an overview of what we did and saw.
The day started off by us saying Shalom to Kibbutz Kramim. Avrham began our Israeli perspective lesson as we drove to the Gaza border. We there got out of the bus- right at the border wall and met with a local artist who began a community dialogue through an art project ON the wall. She was an inspiring woman who lives maybe 100 yards from the wall, had a collection of missle shells from around the neighborhood, lives next door to a home that we saw being re-built from the war this summer because it was destroyed from a missle and yet her project is one based on her belief that one day there will be peace. She was inspiring, yet I still felt like ‘how could she be so naive?’, but then who am I to dismiss the power of positive thinking and true belief? It was an emotional morning- her home is beautiful, the neighborhood has a waiting list to move into- yet I kid you not, it is FEET from Gaza. How do you feel safe raising a family there? and even with all this newly found perspective, who am I to judge?
We then headed to Sderot and visited their JCC and met with an amazing guy Robbie Greengrass from Makom, a department of the Jewish Agency for Israel. There is way too much to say here, so I will recap with this: the conflict is complex, dynamic and sometimes disturbing, yet we need to remember that there is so much more to Israel than the conflict. There are likely 17 different opinions and there is truth in each of them and as a Jewish people, we need to learn to respect the complexity and the disturbing, find the common goals and work together to move forward. I don’t believe that I have the answers on exactly how to do all this, but I do believe that it can be done and I look forward to the conversation with you when I return.
We ended the day in Jerusalem, where I write to you from now. We enjoyed a quick visit to the Biblical Zoo where the house all animals mentioned in the Bible, native Israeli animals and endangered animals. Checked in to our hotel, had dinner with heated conversation continuing throughout the evening. I am officially exhausted. Until tomorrow.
Lilah Tov,
Rochelle
Tuesday 2/3
So after some much needed sleep in a guest house on Kibbutz Kramim, I was ready and eager to begin today. Yesterday was so amazing and I really couldn’t wait to start.
Let me say something about Israeli breakfast: YUM! No stupid pancakes or waffles- instead gorgeous fresh salads and local cheese (yes, more cheese) and strong Turkish coffee and this decadent chocolate cereal that LOOKS like shredded wheat, but tastes like a crunchy Nutella cereal!We then went on a tour of the Kibbutz. It is one of the few kibbutz that successfully marry both religious and secular communities together. Even in the preschool- while some kids went to do their morning prayers, others were working on gross motor skills- then they all joined together again for morning snack. It was wonderfully inspiring to see.
We then headed to the heart of the desert to visit the grave of David Ben Gurion and to tour the Desert Research Center that he helped establish. All this was unbelievably inspiring- David Ben Gurion was THE original Zionist and Israeli pioneer. He was the first Prime Minister of Israel, the one who sent Golda Meir to America to fund raise to help establish the Jewish State of Israel, and a slew of other amazing accomplishments, but on his grave, where you try to drill down your life’s worth in a few words, he had the date he moved to Israel- he felt that this was his single most worthwhile accomplishment in life…. a true visionary and yet equally a reflective soul.
He chose to be buried in the desert, overlooking the land where Moses came through… the view is incredible. My pictures don’t do it justice. You must come and see it for yourself- you won’t be disappointed. The tour at the research center was equally enlightening. We saw and heard about cutting edge research coming out of the institute including research about algae that they are growing to be used for medical and food sources. This same institute is who developed the patent for the natural red dye now used to dye salmon pink. We saw solar energy research and water conservation research in laboratory stage- almost want to come home and become an environmental research scientist.
Then we headed for a delicious outdoor lunch at a woman’s home. More cheese- but tons of other delicious items with a gorgeous setting. Ronit was a fabulous host as we fueled up for the second part of our day…
We drove a short distance to Ein Avdat. Here we embarked on a breathtaking hike where we got a geology lesson from the amazing Avrham. WHEN you come to Israel, you have GOT to hire him as your guide. Not only is he the most friendly New Yorker I’ve ever met, but his passion for this country, with all it’s nuances and complications, shines through with every word he speaks. This experience would not be the same without him. The cliffs complete with caves and a natural spring trickling OUT of the middle of the cliff made for an awe inspiring afternoon in the desert.
We then headed to a development town called Yerucham and visited their JCC. We got to participate in their Tu b’shvat Carnival- something I hope to replicate in Asheville next year! It was awesome – and I learned the Hebrew word for awesome today: mad’him. And just in case that wasn’t enough, we then got to participate in a Tu b’shvat Seder with their staff and the staff of the JCC Miami via Skype! We learned all about the friendships that have been forged between these two communities- I know I keep saying inspirational, but I don’t have a better word! I plan to learn more about how we might begin a similar relationship between Asheville and an Israeli community- one Kehila from two!
Then {I know, can you believe all this in one day?}, our last stop of the day was to another woman’s home in Yerucham where she served us a scrumptious Tunisian influenced meal and shared with us her very personal story- one that resonated with me very much. The experience of being invited into these homes and getting to see, smell, touch and taste Israel in this very hamish way …. simply the perfect way to end this very memorable day.
Lilah TovMonday 2/2
So I arrived in Israel to find out that the Patriots won the Super Bowl in what may have been the biggest nail biter in football history! I am hoping someone recorded it for me!
As exhausting as the travel here was, today was an amazing day. We started off by heading to a small goat farm. It is a family owned business, that is part goat farm, part restaurant, and part tourism. We had the most delicious meal with several varieties of goat cheese (and I LOVE cheese!). Then we got a tour where we saw baby goats and some VERY pregnant Mommas. While we were there we learned some insightful things about the seven original crops of Israel and their connection to various holidays (more to come on this when I get home!). We then headed over to the site where David fought Goliath. The view was amazing! There was something almost surreal about knowing that you were standing in the same place that your ancestors stood on some 3,000 years prior! The site was blessed with an early spring gift of gorgeous wild flowers and mild temperatures- combined with the spiritualism of the site; it made for an amazing day!
We then loaded the bus to head towards the kibbutz where we are staying for the next few days. On the way, our guide pointed out the border fence between Israel and the West Bank. I couldn’t ignore the overwhelming feeling of sadness that invaded me. I watched a beautiful sunset dance across this ugly wall and thought of all that it represents- on all multi-faceted sides of the issues. From all fronts, ugly seems to be the right word, and yet there was this beautiful vibrant sunset on both sides of the fence….
So I am pretty tired, but want to close with two more thoughts. Our tour guide Avrham asked us “who owns the land of Israel?” The answer being the Jewish people. I couldn’t help but draw the parallel between our community being the owners of our JCC. The other insightful thing I connected with today was that the three symbols and blessings for Shabbat (the wine, challah, and candles), each represent one of three of the original crops of Israel: grapes, wheat, and olive (oil). In now knowing this, I realize that as we celebrate Shabbat each week in Asheville, we connect ourselves to Israel. Pretty cool right? Or as they say in Hebrew: sababa.
Lilah tov (Good night).
