By Lael Gray, Executive Director.
Few topics bring forth as much passion from American Jews as Israel. And – as is quite often the case with Jewish people – there is no shortage of varying opinions on what Israel should or shouldn’t do, and what Israel means to modern Jewry around the world.
On our recent trip to Israel, Felisa Morgan (our board president), Devorah Holan (incoming board president), and I attended the JCC Association’s conference “Innovation Lab: Jerusalem,” where we learned that across the United States, JCCs find ourselves in the center of the conversation about Israel. It seems that, more than any collective Jewish institution in the U.S., JCCs have the unique ability to reach a large number of people from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. This gives us both a great opportunity and a responsibility to introduce these many people to a view of Israel that is not typically available through the daily news and social media.
We embarked on our journey in late October, in the midst of a recent wave of terror attacks and what was being called a “third Intifada.” My husband Jeff and I traveled to Israel several days before the JCCA conference began, with plans to tour sites around Israel. I had seen so many images in the news of soldiers, police, guns, knives, rock throwing, flames, tears and rage. I was admittedly nervous about what we might experience once we arrived. We landed in Tel Aviv on Monday evening, and were somewhat surprised to breeze through the airport more easily than we had in Newark Airport, where we departed from. We went to the Hertz desk to pick up our rental car, and then Google mapped our way to the city of Haifa where we had booked a cheap Air BNB. Before we left, I was warned that people drive a little crazy in Israel. But the only thing that seemed different from driving on highways in the U.S. was that the Israeli road signs are written in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
The area where we stayed in Haifa was very near to the port and a somewhat run-down part of town. It was late when we ventured out for dinner, and I was surprised that so many people were out and about, including women walking fearlessly alone, talking on cell phones without any apparent concern for their safety. The next morning, in the light of day, here’s what we discovered… all around us were little workshops, studios, and hole-in-the-wall eateries with people of all kinds bustling through. What struck me right away was that all of these people who looked like cousins, were as likely to be greeting us in Arabic as in Hebrew or English. Arabs and Jews were quite easily and peacefully sharing life in a free society, running businesses or going to school, and all seemed very happy to see tourists showing up in spite of the recent violence in their country.
On our second day, Jeff and I visited the ruins of Cesarea – a fascinating and beautiful site on the Mediterranean Sea. There is still active archeological excavation going on there, which was very cool to observe. A group of more than 100 high school students were also there on a field trip. I was impressed by the diversity of the teens who worked and laughed together, and who were dressed in Muslim hijab, Jewish kippot and tzitzit, or Gap sweatshirts and jeans. This inspiring moment was tempered by our learning about the history of the site where we stood. Like so many places we visited in Israel, Cesarea’s relics tell the story of thousands of years of conquest after conquest. I wondered if I should be hopeful about the teenagers, or discouraged by the long and continued history of human violence towards each other.
Felisa and Devorah joined us in Tel Aviv that night, and the four of us spent three more incredible days touring Israel before the conference began – including time in the Negev, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The JCCA conference was hosted in Jerusalem, and provided us with so many ideas and insights that we hope to bring to our JCC in the coming year. We spent time with some of Israel’s most prominent thought leaders, artists, social justice activists, and business innovators. There was much to take in, and we are all likely going to be processing the experience for some time.
In the short-term, you should know that our Community Life & Events Director Rochelle Reich is taking the lead on our JCC developing a partnership with a “sister” community center in Tel Mond, Israel. The hope is for us to build cross-cultural relationships, collaborate on projects, and learn from each other. For more information about our JCC’s goals regarding Israel programming and upcoming events, click here.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!
