Weekly Sermons

My Journey through Israel
Basha Brody

Chavarim,

This week’s portion, Sefer Devarim, comes from the book of Deuteronomy, it is the end of one era and the beginning of another. The Israelites are finally moving forward.  Moses prepares to surrender the reins of leadership to his successor. It contains Moses’ farewell address to the people he has led for forty years. It is viewed in three parts: First Moses gives an overview of the history of the people wandering in the wilderness and Israel’s lack of loyalty and gratitude, followed by a review and explanation of the status and ordinances of the Torah and lastly Moses’ final blessing and his death.

As I was reading the portion, I thought about my recent journey to Israel from which I recently returned. It had been 31 years since my last trip to Israel so my reflections will be on Israel then and now.

I traveled with congregation Bnai Shalom B’nai Israel, in Manchester, CT. which is the synagogue in which I grew up. 32 people along with their Rabbi Richard Plavin and his wife Lisa traveled together for 13 days. One of those people was my sister Linda who actually got me to go on this trip.  Traveling with my sister was an adventure all to itself. We had not spent that much time together since we were young children and this became an opportunity to reconnect.  It was really great to experience Israel with her as this was her first time not only in Israel but she had never been out of the country before. Seeing Israel with her made this trip that much more special.  It was an amazing journey throughout Israel doing both the traditional site seeing as well as doing Mitzvahs. I will like to highlight some of them. 

I knew that 30 years ago while I was in Israel I could not wear my tallit, put on tefillin or even feel comfortable wearing a Kippa.  Two weeks ago as I landed at Tel Aviv, at 5:30 am, after I did all the necessary things to arrive in the main area of the airport I took out my kippa, tallit and tefillin and davined the morning prayers.  I thought about the conversation I had on the plane prior to landing with a wonderful young religious man with one of the many birthright groups. He explained about obligation versus privilege.  He told me he was obligated to pray but for me it was a privilege.  I thanked him for his interpretation and I said I respectfully see it differently.  I felt we are both obligated to do the mitzvot of praying, wearing our tallit and tafillin and that the privilege is the fact that we both have the knowledge to be able to do that. Being educated in reading Hebrew, being able to recite Torah and davin is the greatest privilege of all.  He smiled and said he would never stop anyone from doing what they felt they needed to do around prayer. I thought how wonderful and simple it would be if all religious men felt this way.

We started our journey into the promised land by taking part in the mitzvah of leket. We entered a farm where all the harvest crops are distributed to food shelves across Israel. This project is called Leket Israel, “Table to Table”.  We spent the better part of the morning picking tomatoes, many tons of tomatoes that were put on trucks and delivered too many sites.  It was hot and we were all tired from our trip but doing mitzvot before anything else is what we did throughout our trip.

We visited sites that most never see. We spent a morning at Beit Issi Shapiro a school that serves the needs of developmentally and physically challenged youths in the Town of Ra’anana. These children ranging ages from a year to 12 years of age from both Israeli and Arab families, all of whom have many challenges but are getting their medical and educational needs met at the school.  It is a remarkable place; their methods and research are highlighted in many Special Education journals.

In Jerusalem we visited and learned from elderly persons at a program called Yad LaKashish “Lifeline for the Old” which is a non-profit organization that assists Jerusalem’s needy, elderly and disabled persons to remain active and an integral part of Israeli society.  Yad Lakadish achieves the highest level of tzedakah which is helping others help themselves.  Each individual does purposeful work and receives a monthly stipend and other crucial support services.  Their beautiful hand-made products are sold throughout the world. 

Our journey also took us to hikes through the Hula Valley Nature Reserve that has tens of thousands of migratory birds pass through. 

We spent a fascinating afternoon at Yemin Orde a school south of Haifa in the Carmel Mountains which house over 500 disadvantaged and at risk teen immigrants from 20 countries around the world. A large number of these teens come from the Ethiopian Jewish community, having traveled from Ethiopia to Israel for months by foot in the dead of night so they would not be caught. One of our guides spoke of her trip and the decision a young mother had to make when her three year old child was making too much noise. She either had to leave her child behind because the noise would have been disastrous for all, or only travel alone with her other children.  She chose to leave her child behind and continue on her journey with her other children. She prayed to G-d to watch over her child and protect her.  A few days later another group came upon this child and brought her to Israel where she was united with her family. Nothing in Israel is easy, nothing is simple, and all issues are complicated.  Their stories are a testament to our Jewish history which brings us back to today’s portion.

It was the fortieth year on the first day of the eleventh month that Moses addresses the Israelites in accordance with the instructions that the Lord had given for them.  Basically he says you have stayed long enough and your journey is over and your new journey will begin.  “I place the land at your disposal. Go; take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  I cannot bear the burden of you by myself.  You have multiplied and are numerous. I have taken your tribal leaders and appointed them heads over you.” Moses then gives them a recount of how they got there and their working orders to proceed. 

We note that those entering the Promised Land are not those who left Egypt. It required a 40 year journey to wait until one generation had died out and the new generation could enter the land.  Instead of entering directly from the wilderness in the South which they could have done 38 years earlier, the Israelites approach the land from the East, a more difficult route.  It requires them to pass five states that run the length of Transjordan.  We also note that Moses will not be going with them. He will never touch the Promised Land.

As I read this week’s portion I thought about my dissent to Jerusalem. Our bus traveling from Tel Aviv stopped at the outskirts of Jerusalem and our guide and Rabbi Plavin spoke of the essence of Jerusalem. All of us, those who have never been and those who have been before knew it was going to be something special. Like Moses, our leaders gave us the history of the city, how we got there and what our working orders were to be for the next four days.

 Since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has granted access to holy sites of all faiths and has restored and rebuilt Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy sites. In fact Israel’s declaration of Independence issued in 1948 clearly extends religious freedoms to all its inhabitants; the State of Israel “will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or sex. It will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions.”  Futher on I will talk about how well Israel today is doing around these issues of ensuring complete equality.
 
We stopped at an archeological site to shift through matter that was dumped into the Emek Tzurim from under the Temple Mount. In 1999 Zachi Zweig, a graduate student at Bar-Ilan University heard  that the Muslim governing body that overseas the Temple Mount was removing material from an illicit dig near the front of the substructure, know as Solomon’s Stables and emptying the archeologically rich material into the Kidron Valley. For some reason the Israeli government was pretending this was not happening.  It took Zachi and a team of archeologist five years of protests to have this illegal dig stopped. It took years for the right permits to be granted so the archeological team could take the mounds of dirt from the valley and sift through it for ancient artifacts.  Nothing in Israel is easy, nothing is simple, and all issues are complicated.

Much richness has been found through this sifting process.  Our group helped as we spent some time sifting through much dirt to find ancient pottery, small parts of mosaic tiles, rare stones, and fossils.  I loved this work and could have stayed there all day. Imagine shifting through dirt to find things that are possibly from King David’s time.

We then stopped at the Mount of Olives to see the city from above. Mount of Olives is the hill facing the old city of Jerusalem, on the eastern side of Kidron valley.  Its name came from the olive trees that once grew on its hillside from ancient times. From the 3rd millennium B.C. until the present, this 2900-foot hill has served as one of the main burial grounds for the city. Therefore, the hillside became the holiest cemetery and is covered by thousands of grave stones.

Jerusalem as we know is the capital of Israel and is considered to be the Holiest city in the World. This strategic location, first selected by King David 3000 years ago, is a holy city for the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths.  The temple mount, where the Golden Dome of the Rock Mosque is located, has an inner wall, covering about 1/6 of the old city area. This inner wall also includes the "Wailing Wall" (or, Western Wall). Here is where much activity takes place.  We traveled to the Kotel and the Kotel tunnels.  After the Six Day War, the Ministry of Religious Affairs began the project of exposing the entire length of the Western Wall.  After almost 20 years and despite all the difficulties the Western Wall Tunnels were excavated.  Our guide had been part of the excavation work. It is awe inspiring to be in a place that was developed over 2,000 years ago. Being underground and knowing that above were homes and people living was somewhat eerie.  31 years ago I had not seen the tunnels so this was a unique experience for me. Inside the tunnels there are places set up for men and women to pray and spend time meditating.  It was wonderful to sit in a private room with other women and mediate and feel so close to G-d and our fore fathers and mothers.  Later we spent time outside at the Kotel which is most familiar. Much excitement and controversy continues to happen here.

Our guide told us that there are many discussions around issues that Israel is dealing with. All issues have many sides to them.  Most deal with the peace process and the Palestinian issue.  But there are many internal issues as well, issues that divide the Israeli people and strain relations with Jews from the Diaspora.  Two issues were very evident while I was there.  One issue is based on the fact that the Ultra-Orthodox groups decide most of Israel’s laws and policies around religious issues and how this comes up against the right of equality that the Declaration of Independence so thoughtfully wrote about. This is demonstrated in the Women of the Wall and the new law governing conversion.

Does Israel have religious equality for all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex?  Not really. Not even close. At least not for all Jews.    In my opinion the Muslins and Christians have better access to their holy places than all Jews have to the Kotel. Women of the Wall is a group of Israeli and Jewish women from around the world who seek the right for Jewish women to conduct prayer services, read from a Torah scroll while wearing prayer shawls, and sing out loud at the Western Wall.  Many arrests have taken place because of limitations on what women can do at the Kotel. Every Rosh Chodesh hundreds of women gather at the Western Wall Plaza at the Robinson’s Arch which was designated by the courts as the area for women to gather to celebrate and pray.  Robinson’s Arch is not exactly the main part of the wall. Rabbi Jan has attended such a gathering and I know has much to share on this subject. This past Monday on Rosh Chodesh chairperson of Women of the Wall Anat Hoffman was arrested for holding a Torah Scroll at the site. She was taken into custody and held for five hours before she was released and was ordered to stay away from the Kotel for the next 30 days.

Supreme Court rulings prohibit women from reading the Torah at the wall, but women are permitted to use the Torah scroll at the Robinson’s Arch. According to reports Hoffman was carrying the torah in her arms not reading from it; when the Kotel Police told her to stop, she didn’t. They tried to forcefully remove the Torah from her hands, almost ripping the Torah from its covering. Nothing in Israel is easy, nothing is simple, and all issues are complicated.  Although 30 years ago I would never have considered praying at the wall with my tallit and tefillin, today even though it is not easy to do hundreds of women participate in this ritual.

 For me it was a moment to pause and reflect every morning when I would get up and go out to my balcony, face Jerusalem, put on my kippa (which I wore most of the time), put on my talis and teffillin, and pray and meditate.  I would look up and say Henanie (here I am).  However the moment I did this in Jerusalem was beyond any words I can speak.  And while I was doing this alone, I kept thinking how wonderful it would have been to do this with this congregation and with Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Jan leading us.  In fact most of my trip I kept thinking we can do this as a congregation and how rich it would have been to be there with Ohavi Zedek members.

The second internal issue that Israel is facing started while I was there and continues now is the Rotem conversion bill. Many leaders of the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements are meeting to protest against the Rotem bill, which recently passed its first reading in Israel’s Knesset. Defining “who is a Jew” is taking place in the Knesset committee on law and justice, where two right wing parties, one secular and the other ultra-Orthodox, are writing a new law governing conversion that has many American Jewish leaders worried about the far-reaching impact on support for Israel. United Synagogue President Rabbi Steven Wernick has been in Israel fighting this bill and meeting with members of the Knesset.  The legislation gives the chief rabbinate, run by the ultra-Orthodox, a monopoly on conversions and overturns a High Court ruling providing Israeli citizenship for Jews converted by all branches of Judaism.  The bill will force terrible and improper distinctions between born Jews and Jews-by-choice.  We are urged to write to the Israeli Prime Minister asking him to come out against this bill. Although this issue comes into focus every so many years, this time it is taking on even a higher level both in Israel and aboard. Nothing in Israel is easy, nothing is simple, and all issues are complicated.

But issues’ aside spending Shabbat in Jerusalem is special. Unlike Tel Aviv which is highly secular, Jerusalem is much more sacred around Shabbat. The city closes down, buses stop and the hustle and bustle of the week ends.  It is a great feeling to really be able to slow down and celebrate Shabbat with an entire city.  Just being in a place where celebrating Shabbat is the norm is so unique. 

We had many options for Kabbat Shabbat.  We could go to the Kotel where about 8,000 people would travel to pray; we could attend the conservative service at the Fuschberg Center, or attend the Orthodox service at the Great Synagogue and hear the most amazing men’s choir one could imagine.

Because of arthritis in both my knees walking was a huge issue for me throughout this trip. We walked many miles a day.   I knew I could not walk from the Kotel back to the Mount Zion Hotel so I choose to attend the Fuschberg Conservative Synagogue which was much closer.  It was exciting for me to see Conservative Judaism in Jerusalem. 30 years ago this did not exist. If I wanted to go to services it was an Orthodox synagogue or nothing.  So seeing the many USY groups and conservative Jews from Israel and around the country praying in their synagogue was very special.
However, as special as that was it was nothing compared to the Saturday morning service I was about to attend. This moment was one of the biggest highlights of my trip.  For me, it was extraordinary. I attended a modern Orthodox synagogue called Shira Hadasha (A new Song) which was founded in 2001 by a group of Jerusalem residents who wanted to increase women’s participation and leadership within traditional Jewish prayer and law. Tova Hartman, one of the founders of Shira Hadasha, is a Professor of Education at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in gender studies, and author of books on the role of women in Judaism.  Being there is an experience I will cherish forever. Women led services, carried the Torah, read the Torah and had aliyot while still keeping within the Orthodox traditions.   Over two hundred women were very vocally participating in the service. The bimah is in the center which both men and women use simultaneously. The mehitzah was a see-through curtain that was opened during non-prayer times.  During this particular Shabbat there was an aufruh held. Both soon to be bride and groom had an aliyah after which the man gently leaned over and kissed his bride to be; I was in a place I cannot put into words.  A place I have waited a lifetime to experience. I was in my comfort zone.  For me sitting with so many women who loved to davin was so extraordinary.

Much of their service is done in beautiful song and each side harmonizes with the other side.  It is breath taking to hear and participate. Since I am tone deaf and cannot carry a tune I am not sure I would be allowed to join this synagogue but it sounded amazing anyway.  Everything is done in Hebrew and it really did not matter that I did not understand the Davr Torah, or the announcements, or any explanations given.  For me it all came into place. Rabbi Jan last night used some of Shira Hadash melodies and I know she had attended services there often and can talk to you much better about this place than I can.

However, after Havdelah the city comes alive. Traveling to Ben Yehuda Street which is the heart of Jerusalem’s center for shopping, cafes and live music was an experience all to itself.  Hundreds of young people from the birthright programs were in the streets singing and dancing to live music. Cafes, restaurants and shops were abundant. It is where you can get any Judaic items you wish. These stores stay open to around 3 am.  I had the best Kosher Hamburg I ever had at Burger Barn. I felt like twenty all over again.  Unfortunately, the next morning as we were leaving for Haifa my body reminded me that I was no longer as young as I felt the night before.,

Even though Jerusalem is special my favorite place to be, to wander around and explore and experience is the city of Safed the home to Jewish kabbalah. The Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism, explains the laws of spiritual energy and how it moves through the Cosmos. The learning and understanding of the ten Sefirot (spiritual properties that flow from the comic source to our heart) can be experienced in Safed. We learn of the connection of harmonic balance.  Safed, where among other great works the  L’Ha Dodi prayer was written. 30 years ago I loved this place and 30 years later I love it more. If I was to spend any time again in Israel I would stay near the Sea of Galilee live in the city of Tiberia and study in the city of Safed.  Life could not get any better than that.  Shabbat in Safed is at a level all to its own.

But beyond all that was going to the Golan Heights, swimming in the Dead Sea, taking the cable car to Mesada (30 years ago I climbed Mesada), attending Givat Haviva seminar center which is a movement for the coexistence of Arab-Jewish settlements that is part of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement.  This agreement has divided towns and people by a ditch in the road they call the green line that now has area A that is Palestinian responsibility for civil affairs, internal security and public order and Area B which has Palestinian responsibility for civil affairs public order of Palestinians but Israel has responsibility for security. It felt like East and West Berlin but instead of a wall that separated family and friends there is a big ditch that divides communities.  Lydia Aisenberg has spent most of her life working on the coexistence of Arabs and Jews.  She is an amazing person and brought us close and personal to the many issues facing that part of Israel. Nothing in Israel is easy, nothing is simple, and all issues are complicated.

Beyond the gates of Jaffe and visiting Caesarea and the ancient coliseum that King Harad built, which is still used today for concerts and lectures. Beyond all I saw and experienced none of that compare to the greatest moment of all.

When Moses says I place the land at your disposal and the Israelites are finally going to the Promised Land, I thought of Congregation Shirat Ha Yam. Congregation Shirat Ha Yam is a group of Russian Refugees from the Soviet Union who came to Israel and settled near Haifa. A congregation that on July fourth, our independence day, received the greatest gift of all from the synagogue I was traveling with. On this day at a special ceremony and service we were presenting this new congregation with the gift of Torah. We had brought a Torah with us to give to this community in which none of its members had ever seen a Torah before. Once no bar and bat mitzvahs were done, now they can happen; now both men and women can learn to read Torah, study and be called to the Torah.  The greatest mitzvah I can think of is giving a community a Torah. There was much singing and dancing, and crying on this night.  A night I will remember forever. Yes, nothing in Israel is easy, nothing is simple, and all issues are complicated, but sometimes in rare moments the simple act of giving a Torah from a community who had many, to a community from the Former Soviet Union who had none can be pretty simple, easy and not so complicated.

My pledge to you is that in two years, around February 2012 when the rates are lower and accommodations are cheaper, Ohavi Zedek synagogue together with Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Jan, and other members of our congregation with experience guiding tours in Israeli will put together a 10-12 day trip to Israel for those who have never been and those who would like to return.  If a congregation in Manchester, CT smaller than ours with fewer resources than we have can go every two years with at least 30 people from the community at large, we at Ohavi Zedek can do it. Vermont we cannot have the same feeling of being Jewish as we can in Israel. Here we are a minority and most of our lives we are explaining our traditions, rituals, and customs.  In Israel we just are.  This fall let us start to make this happen.  Yes it is not simple, yes it is not easy, yes it can be complicated but we can make it happen. For going to Israel is not only a privilege, but I believe an obligation for every Jew at least once in their lifetime.

Shabbat shalom