Reasons to Feel Pride in the State of Israel- A High Holiday Message

It is probably no surprise to any of you that I am going to speak about Israel during one sermon on the High Holydays.  After all, you know that for the past two summers I’ve taken groups to Israel to experience first hand the sights and sounds of the country.  You also know that Charlie and I are hoping to make Aliyah sometime in the fall of 2019, fulfilling a life-long dream I’ve had to live in HaAretz.

My words today will not be about peace or the peace process, nor will they be about political issues in Israel, they will be about experiences that had an emotional impact on me while spending time touring in Israel during the past two summers.

This summer Charlie, Jemma, and I made our way to the Israel Guide Dog Center to learn more about the recipient of Jemma’s Mitzvah project that she supported.  I must say that the experience was invigorating.  Dennis Allon with only one day’s notice showed up at 8:30 a.m. to give us a tour of the new facility 20 minutes outside of Tel Aviv.  The outdoor challenge courses for guide dogs that would one day lead visually impaired Israelis across busy streets were incredible.  The emotional and physical care provided for the dogs was impeccable.  But even more importantly, the rooms that were created so the visually impaired recipient of a guide dog could learn to co-exist with his/her new source of independence before returning home were innovative. When the tour was over and after the CEO of the center came to meet Jemma, there was an expression of gratitude for her contribution to the center .  It was a moment of tears for all present.  The 3,000 dollars her Bat Mitzvah project contributed to the center was treated with the same sense of appreciation and amazement as the 25,000 dollar contribution made the day before by a wealthy visitor to the center. The message we came away with is that organizations such as this in Israel desire all members of society to be able to live independently and experience life fully.

This summer as well as last summer, our groups visited the National Jewish Ethiopian Project housed in a school in Hadera.  We heard the story of a teacher who came to Israel after walking across the Sudan where she was transported to Israel on a cargo plane with her father.  SHer mother and siblings had all died on that trek across the desert.  Yet here she was working as a teacher in a school with the second generation of Ethiopian Jewish children whose parents and grandparents had come to Israel to escape the horrors of life under the Marxist regime that had oppressed Jews. She had rebuilt her life and was serving as a source of inspiration to many.  The teens we met were being supported in their academic endeavors, felt integrated into Israeli society, and were as fun-loving as any group of kids you could possibly meet.  What I took away from these meetings is that the National Jewish Ethiopian project has committed itself to helping Ethiopian-Israeli children succeed in school, develop self-confidence and discover their potential by providing intensive Scholastic Assistance and a plethora of extra-curricular activities for the students. It was a delight to be able to learn about this group first-hand.

Both of our tours took participants to the Pardes Institute of Jewish studies to delve into Jewish texts within a pluralistic setting.  For many of our tour members, this was their first exposure to chevrutah study, where partners worked together to uncover the meaning of a text.  This year we studied the topic “The Pursuit of Peace” and last year we studied the topic “The Return to Zion”.  What was particularly exciting about these experiences is that no matter what one’s previous experience with Jewish learning was, each individual was an integral part of the discussion.   So many people think of Jewish study institutions as being reserved only for the “Yeshivah” buchers…..in reality Torah is accessible to us all and when Jewish institutions value each individual as an individual, no matter what their background, the learning can be incredible.

Another aspect of this year’s tour that was very exciting was the Taglit-Birthright Israel “State of Mind” Innovation Center in partnership with The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. The exciting and cutting-edge Innovation Center allows you to learn about the new advancements Israeli Start-Ups are making in different fields, such as science, medicine, security, space and more.  Learning about bio-bees, water-gen, the iron dome, rewalk, soft wheelchair wheels, and or-cam left one in a sense of awe of the good that has been contributed to the world by Israeli innovations.  As a result of Israeli ingenuity and creativity individuals with spinal cord injuries might are able to walk again, communities suffering from drought have water produced from the air, and natural pest control is available to countries in need of protecting their food sources.

One last experience that our tour participants this summer found invigorating was picking beets for LEKET  in the fields of Moshav Nahallal in the Gallilee.  Leket Israel, the National Food Bank, is the leading food rescue organization in Israel. Unique among all other organizations that serve the poor in Israel and food banks worldwide, Leket Israel’s sole focus is rescuing healthy, surplus food and delivering it to those in need through partner nonprofit organizations. 

In 2017, Leket Israel rescued:

• 14,300 tons of fruits and vegetables from farmers’ fields and packing houses.
• 2,260,000 cooked meals from catering halls, hotels, hi-tech company cafeterias, events, and Israel Defense Forces & Israel Police bases.

Our tour participants picked 500 lbs. of beets that went to 334 families.  Although they were covered in mud by the end of their 2 hour stint in the field, the idea of helping 334 families who suffer from food insecurity was quite rewarding.

There is more to Israel than what you hear on the news or read in the newspapers.  One needs only to travel and spend time in Israel to recognize beyond conflicts there is much good happening within this young country of only 70 years.  Perhaps you’ll think about spending time in Israel within the next year or two. Go off the beaten path!  I do believe the experience will be life-changing and will give you hope that even the most difficult challenges facing  Israel will one day be solved.