The End of the Road...Or Just the Beginning

Sitting back here in my kitchen in Silver Spring, MD, it’s hard to believe that our whirlwind trip experience has ended. Just a few days ago, we were bathing in the holiness and mystique of Jerusalem; now, a 12-hour flight and 5-hour drive later, we (at least those who returned on the group flight) are back to the pedestrian, hum-drum rhythms of American life.

I did not have a chance to blog over our last few days in Israel; the pace of final events coupled with my frantic realization that I had not yet bought anything for my wife or children meant that any “free” time was consumed with activity.

We last left off with our student blogger describing the Yeshiva Day experience. That afternoon we went horseback riding, which was a last minute switch from the originally scheduled bike riding. (Our tour guide, Tehila, volunteers weekly at this ranch just outside Jerusalem, so she got us in there on short notice, and at a discounted price.)

We had a blast (just look at all the pictures). Although only 10 students at a time could ride, the rest of the group enjoyed a stable-side bar and a rodeo show hosted by the ranch-hands. Israeli rodeo…now those are two words I never thought I would utter in the same sentence.

This event was a terrific bonding experience and a highlight of the trip for many students.

Friday, after an intense morning lecture my Rabbi Laurence Kelemen, world-renowned author and lecturer, we visited the Jerusalem Shuk (Marketplace), a frenzied outdoor shopping venue which reaches its peak on Friday morning before Shabbat. Students had free time to roam the market, purchasing yummy treats (especially Marzepan’s rugelach!) and absorbing the local cultural flavor.

After returning to the hotels to shower and change for Shabbat, we embarked to Har Nof, the Jerusalem neighborhood where the girls had been studying throughout the trip, and where we would be spending the Holy Day. The bus ride itself proved to be an adventure – and a test of our students’ emotional tenor. On our first rainy evening since arriving in Israel, our bus driver decided that, rather than drop all of the students at their respective host families, he would simply stop at the edge of Har Nof and leave them all to fend for themselves. All rational debate with him proved senseless, and thirty students were stranded in the rain

Thankfully, as he seems to do on a daily basis, trip director Yoni Greenwald dashed over with his car, and began transporting small groups of students one-by-one from the “drop off point” to the various host homes. Our students demonstrated patience and composure despite the frustrating conditions.

Friday night, after a spirited service and dinner at the family homes, we reconvened for an Oneg Shabbat program. This was an important event, as students had the chance to express a lot of their feelings about the learning we had been doing throughout the trip. Many of them expressed passionate opinions about the content and method of instruction, some of offering constructive criticism and others just expressing their opinions. Both Rabbi Ozzie and I were very pleased with the students’ openness and thought we were able to achieve a meaningful dialogue about the most important concepts the trip had raised.

The rest of Shabbat went smoothly, and concluded with break-out discussion groups about how students could concretize the inspiration they had experienced in Israel back in to their daily lives on college campus.

Saturday night we headed out to Talpiyot, a Jerusalem neighborhood that houses the area’s only bowling alley. Despite the group’s overall lack of bowling prowess, we had a delightful time and enjoyed our last group activity together. (For the record, while at the bowling alley, I maintained my undefeated foosball record in almost five years of relentless student challenges.)

Sunday morning was our last day of learning, after which students were given a free afternoon to shop or take care of any last-minute responsibilities. We then traveled as a group to Moshav Ramat Rackhel, home of the Ramat Rakhel hotel and banguet hall, for our closing banquet.

A delicious, three-station buffet setup greeted us at the hall, where we began by watching a slide show of photos from the previous two weeks – newly minted memories now printed firmly in all of our minds. Next came the highlight of the evening – the student presentations. Each student, against a backdrop of a personal photo on the large screen behind them, took the podium to express their feelings about the program. This was a moving ceremony which helped place in context the true meaning and uniqueness of the Meor Israel experience.

And so concludes my reports of this magnificent journey – spanning two continents (and sometimes the waters above them), including guest compositions, and hopefully imparting not only the factual trip itinerary but a sense of the program’s flavor and deeper vision.

Some of our students have extended their stays in Israel, and we wish them a safe and enjoyable remainder of Winter Break. Others returned on the group flight, and are already safely ensconced back in their respective homes. All of them remain in the hearts and minds of myself, Rabbi Ozzie and the entire Meor/MJX national and local team. We look forward to greeting these precious young men and women back to campus later this month, where we will continue our Jewish journey together. Thank you for joining us on this segment of the ride!

Signing off…

I remain, Rabbi K

Guest Blogger: Alon Diamant-Cohen - "The Yeshiva Experience" (from this past Thursday)

What an exciting day! This morning the men visited a yeshiva in the neighborhood of Har Nof by the name of Machon Yaakov. We arrived only a little late and had some delicious home-made chocolate cake before we began our study sessions. We proceeded to break up into little chevrutah study partners in order to further ponder the in’s and out’s of deception. As our partners we were privileged enough to have the current students at the yeshiva participate in our discussions. Most of these guys were truly inspirational characters; they were beginners in the art of Torah much like we were, yet these young men had left extremely successful lives in the secular world in order to learn at yeshiva for a year or two.

We then reconvened and heard a lecture from Rabbi Taub further concerning deception and received handouts with translations from the Talmud regarding the topic. A little break followed after which the Meor guys and the yeshiva boys spilt up into two large groups and both had lectures - ours being on the topic of deception and its connection to us as human beings.

Guest Blogger: Meredith Braverman - "The Trek South"

Each time you visit a place you take away something different. Different aspects and stories affect each student in an individual way, and learning Israel’s history while standing in the place it occurred has the ability to bring ideas into reality and put them into perspective.

Since Tuesday we have visited Mount Herzel, toured the Old City, spent time with the Bedouins, climbed Masada, rappelled in the Negev and floated in the Dead Sea. As we toured around we were told about the stories and historical significance of Mount Herzel and the Old City. Monday afternoon we visited people who had survived terror attacks inside of Israel through an organization called Operation Embrace.

Our program was divided into a few separate smaller groups that were given a family’s house to visit. My group visited the home of a boy who had been stuck by a bullet while driving in the car with his dad and some others. He survived but still suffers from the affects. We were given the opportunity to speak with his father and ask him about what happened and his thoughts, feelings and emotions surrounding the attack. Seeing the way the family persevered, despite what had happened, showed a tremendous amount of strength and bravery.

We spent last night with the Bedouins, where we were given the traditional Bedouin meal and we slept in the tents. Our wake up was a very early 4am and we hiked up Masada in time to see the sunrise.

Today was great and filled with a lot of activity. Many people conquered their fear of heights by climbing down steep ladders and then repelling down a cliff. Following the rock climbing we were given a delicious traditional Israeli boxed lunch – a hot meal in the middle of the desert! – comprising schnitzel, Israeli salad, humus, bread, some fruit and a few other items. We ended the day at the Ein Gedi Spa, where we spent time in the sulfur pool and the Dead Sea. Now we are all on the bus and heading back to Jerusalem for the night. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s resumed learning program and further touring adventures.

Guest Blogger: Melissa Weiss - "Jerusalem is Home"

So I’m sitting at a gas station somewhere in Israel, typing away at a computer. Headed to the desert for the night, I have no idea where we are at the moment. I see city lights in the distance. Jerusalem? Probably not-I’ve been asleep since we left J-town a few hours ago.

The truth is, I have no idea where we are. But it doesn’t really matter. I’m back in Israel, and that’s all I really care about. The past week has been a whirlwind. I truly think I’ve done more in this one week than I have on any of my past Israel trips. We’ve made Jerusalem our home, Tzfat our weekend vacation spot and fro-yo our food of choice. I’ve become settled in Jerusalem, in our sick hotel with amazing food (and soup). Because we’ve gotten into a routine (breakfast, Nevey Yerushalayim, random afternoon activity) we’ve gotten more of a chance to get acquainted with the city where it all began.

Jerusalem is unreal. Its vast beauty and sprawling landscapes, which have remained virtually unchanged over thousands of years, serve as a reminder that we are seeing the same city our ancestors saw. How many places can anyone say that about?

Yesterday, we visited the homes of people whose lives have been altered by the terrorist attacks that have for years plagued our beautiful country. My group visited the home of Ronit Tubul, who suffered severe brain injuries when a suicide bomber attacked the bus she was taking to work one morning in June 2002. If you met Ronit on the street today, you would never know that five years ago, she lay in a coma, lingering between life and death. Today, she has resumed her job as a policewoman and is raising two young children with her husband, a fellow policeman.

Ronit spoke to us about her experience, about that day and how her life has changed since. It brought the Matzav, the Intifada, so much closer. Here we were, eating pretzels and cake with a woman who will never step on a bus again. This war, it’s real. The danger is ever present. But we live in America, where an attack is a thirty second segment on CNN (or 10 seconds if you’re watching Fox News…). We write a check to JNF and forget all about people like Ronit.

Ronit said something to us yesterday, and I’ll never forget it. She said, “I will never leave Jerusalem. I could never live anywhere else in the world. I don’t want to live anywhere else. This is home.”

Jerusalem is home, yes. Not just to Ronit and her family, and not just to the 750,000 people who live there. Jerusalem is home to all of us – to every Jew who has ever uttered the words “L’shana haba’ah b’Yerushalayim,” who has been the victim of a hate crime or who has yet to see the sun set on the holiest place in the world. Whether you’ve been here or have yet to be here, this is your home. This is our home. This is my home. I am home.

Guest Blogger: Lindsay Kleiman - "The Meaning of Shabbat"

Gedaya necklace? Check. Red string from the Kotel? Check again. Hundreds of amazing pictures? You’d better believe it.

On my first trip to Israel last winter with Taglit Birthright, I successfully obtained all of these essential tourist souvenirs. But now, on my second visit to the country, I was ready to take my experiences in Israel to the next level, by developing my knowledge and perception of Judaism. And thus far, this trip has more than fulfilled these expectations.

On my first trip to Israel last winter with Taglit Birthright, I successfully obtained all of these essential tourist souvenirs. But now, on my second visit to the country, I was ready to take my experiences in Israel to the next level, by developing my knowledge and perception of Judaism. And thus far, this trip has more than fulfilled these expectations.

One of the most interesting areas of my knowledge that I have developed so far relates to my understanding of Shabbat. Ever since my earliest years in Hebrew school, I had always been taught that this weekly occasion was meant to commemorate the day that G-d rested after six days of creating the world. Therefore, in order to celebrate G-d’s break on Day Seven, it is customary for Jews to also rest, by abstaining from activities like watching T.V. and driving in a car. But while the practices surrounding Shabbat were always an important part of my Jewish education, I never truly understood how desisting from these activities really promoted “rest”; as my father has often stated, walking someplace seems like a LOT more work than just hopping into a car, right?

Then, last week at Neve Yerushalyim, I heard an amazing lecture that has permanently altered the way I perceive Shabbat. I learned that the infamous seventh day shouldn’t be considered a simple act of much needed R&R, but instead, should be contemplated as the occasion in which G-d ceased to create. Therefore, in abstaining from the aforementioned activities, Jews are not really resting so much as deliberately ceasing to behave in ways that allow them to create, or to dominate the resources of their environment. In this way, we are able to take a step back, in order to remind ourselves that we too are one of G-d’s miraculous creations.

With this new explanation in mind, I was able to celebrate last week’s Shabbat with a fresh perspective. Instead of practicing the laws of Shabbat with only a foggy understanding of why I was doing them, I felt as though I finally understood the pertinence of this weekly celebration, and its relevance to my own life. This new, deeper insight is invaluable, and even more amazingly, it is just one of the ways that this trip has allowed me to formulate a stronger connection to Judaism.

And most importantly of course, I can return to America with information that will satiate my dad. For a few days, at least.

A TIME TO MOURN…A TIME TO BE REBORN

Following a morning of riveting – and at times controversial – Jewish classes and discussions, we embarked on an afternoon of sadness and perspective. Any visit to Mt. Herzl, Israel’s national military cemetery, evokes sadness mixed with appreciation for the country’s fallen heroes. However, it is much more powerful and personal when one of those heroes is a young American who made aliyah to join the IDF, and a personal friend to the site’s visitors, as was the case in our group.

Michele Hasit, one of our trip participants, spoke emotionally about Michael Levin, the Philadelphia native who fulfilled his lifelong dream when he immigrated to Israel, joined the army and ultimately died in the line of duty. We learned some words of Torah – offering the traditional Jewish perspective on death as a pathway to a greater existence – and recited Kaddish responsively to honor Michael’s memory.

Any focus on such overwhelming tragedy should always be balanced by an appreciation of life, and of the special people who make Israel a great Jewish country. To this end, we spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting living – and thriving – victims of Palestinian terror, as volunteers through Operation Embrace.

Operation Embrace was founded by Mrs. Aviva Tessler, wife of Rabbi Joel Tessler from congregation Beth Sholom of Potomac, to offer relief – financial, emotional, and spiritual – to those men and women who are “yesterday’s headlines, forgotten tomorrow.” This often overlooked segment of the Israeli population desperately needs assistance – whether to purchase needed items, to put their family lives back together, or just to enjoy some simple camaraderie from strangers who care.

Mrs. Tessler arranged four home visitations for our students, each in a different Jerusalem location. We journeyed to these homes to hear their miraculous stories, ask them questions and, hopefully, provide them a measure of support and comfort. Ultimately, I think most of the students gained far more from these heroic families than they could possibly have hoped to contribute to them. They also learned a tremendous amount about Israeli society in general, and these unique portraits of humanity that populate it. Many students commented that the visits brought the country and its painful struggles to life in a way that no museum or tour could; and they felt good in the process.

Now, as I sit in my hotel room, the students are headed out for their New Year’s festivities. We know they will act responsibly, safely and maturely – according to the guidelines we have outlined clearly for them – while enjoying themselves and returning tonight refreshed for another day of learning and touring tomorrow.

Happy New Year’s to all of the parents and readers out there. Be safe, and I hope to write again soon.

TZFAT, SHABBAT AND JEEPING UP NORTH

These last four days have been a whirlwind of activity. As a result (and thanks to my both of my computer batteries dying on the long bus ride back from the north), I have not been able to blog since beginning our northern excursion late last week.

Friday morning (as I detailed from the bus) we left to Tzfat, the “mystical city.” We first had a class on Jewish Mysticim by Rabbi Feldheim, a congregation rabbi in Yardley, PA and campus rabbi at Rutgers, who has been addressing our students regularly. He explained the general concept of Kabbalah, and followed with a mystical insight in to the mitzvah of not mixing wool and linen in clothing, one of the most enigmatic in the Torah.

We then went on a very brief tour of Tzfat (sharing the more extensive one for Shabbat afternoon), and let the students free for the balance of the afternoon.

Next came Shabbat – the highlight of the week on the Meor Israel Experience. One of our students will be blogging about this shortly, so I’ll keep my comments to a minimum. We packed the historic and gorgeous Abuhav synagogue for Friday night (we rented out the entire facility) and rocked the house with a incredibly spirited Kabbalat Shabbat service.

After the festive Friday night meal, we were privileged to hear from Meor Chairman of the Board Mr. Tom Steinberg, chairman of Tisch Family Interests. He described his circuitous life journey that saw him travel around the world, and through the educational corridors Yale, Stamford and, most formatively, Machon Shlomo Yeshiva (where he studied under Rabbi Gershenfeld, now the Meor National Director). Later Friday night, we introduced the students to “Rabbi Jack” and the meaning of a true Jewish l’chayim!

Shabbat morning, we offered an optional, abridged explanatory service, followed by an early (11 am) Shabbat lunch. After some lively discussion groups, we embarked on our more extensive tour of Tzfat, before returning for the Third Shabbat Meal.

Saturday night was a complete change of pace. We traveled to Tiberias (about a ½ hour south of Tzfat), where we boarded party boats that sailed us around the Kinneret, to the tune of blaring Israeli music. On the boat, a local guide led us in a drumming event, replete with a dozen bongos that the students had a chance to play. We then returned to the boardwalk, and dined in a fine Italian-style restaurant overlooking the water. When we arrived, the tables already were set with platters of thick-crusted pizzas, pasta, fish and other delicacies. After dinner, we gave the students a few hours of free time to stroll about the tayelet (boardwalk) and take in the local scene.

Sunday morning began another long day of adventure. We embarked on an off-road jeeping adventure through the hills of the Golan Heights. We stopped at some breathtaking vistas, including an abandoned Syrian bunker that students were able to climb under and sit on – one of them actually had a couch resting on top!

Next, we set out to Rosh HaNikra, the northern most point in Israel. We descended on cable cars in to the ravenous cliffs, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Rosh HaNikra boasts some of the most beautiful, crystal blue waters in the world, which gush through tiny gorges cut in to the massive sea caves. Sunset over its cliffs provided the most striking moment of Israel’s physical beauty that we have yet encountered.