Thoughts from Rabbi David Lerner

Dear Friends,

Shalom U’Vrakhah MiYisrael (Greetings and blessings from Israel)!

Thanks to modern technology I am able to send you greetings from Kfar Giladi, a beautiful Kibbutz in the Northern Galilee, just a mile from the Lebanese border. The first three days of the JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council) Interfaith Clergy Trip to Israel have been filled with varied events.

After moving interfaith prayers for the trip at JFK airport before the flight, we had a joyful flight on El AL to Tel Aviv. From there, we enjoyed a traditional felafel lunch in Netanya and then a magnificent tour of Caesarea - the impressive Roman city with is filled with amazing archeological sites that has been partially restored and is used as a wonderful beachfront concert site. Along the way there (and since there), we have been exploring passages from the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and the New Testament and related to the sites we have visited. Yesterday, for example, we saw a stone with an inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate who left Caesarea to try Jesus in Jerusalem, as we read from the New Testament It was also the place where the leaders of the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-135 CE) were brought, tortured and killed by the Romans -- something we read each Yom Kippur afternoon in our Martyrology service.

From there, we went up to the beautiful mountain city of Haifa and enjoyed the Bahai Gardens and learned of the origins of their faith whose world headquarters are in Haifa. My roommate, Rabbi Dan Liben, and I went for a run around the top of Mount Carmel in Haifa with beautiful views of the Mediterranean on one side and Haifa’s bay and port on the other side. Beyond the stunning scenery, it became a quintessential “Israeli” experience. We ran into a park where a band was practicing for an evening concert by rehearsing “Rubber Duckie” (a classic American-Israel moment!). From there, we passed a street musician playing a classic Zionist tune from the 1920s and from found a beautiful promenade with stunning views and Israelis - Jews and Arabs -- of every color and background strolling in the evening air. Haifa is known as the city of co-existence and on this evening, we could see and feel it.

Dinner took us to the offices of the Boston-Haifa connection. This CJP program is not only about helping Israel and its not-for-profits through donations, but, more importantly, consists of a true collaboration between the two communities. Each year, they send delegations to Boston and we visit them. Our Billy Dalwin Preschool Director, Shelley Rossman, has hosted teachers from Haifa and brought teachers to visit Haifa several times. Over dinner, we met with the heads of various not-for-profits in Haifa, learning about their programs to help others by providing many services including, child care, offering micro loans and mentoring small entrepreneurs especially, women and Israeli Arabs. The discussion at our table focused on differences between American and Israeli not-for-profits. From there, we talked about the prospects for peace, which even for these Left-learning Israelis did not look all that promising.

Today, Wednesday, we heard a wonderful lecture by Professor Amazia Bar-Am of Haifa University about Israel’s Geo-Political and Strategic Alliances - it was a fascinating talk about the complexities, nuances, and challenges that Israel faces in a tough neighborhood. Most depressing was his assessment of the Iranian nuclear situation which reminded me to redouble our efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Shiluvim was our next stop. There we met a number of Israelis from Ethiopia who were working on a Boston-Haifa program to improve their communities through job-training for adults and after-school programs for children. Most powerful was Mulu, 32-year-old director of Shiluvim, who shared her journey in 1985 from Ethiopia as a seven year old. It was an arduous process walking for weeks to Sudan, risking her life on the way, finally boarding huge Israeli cargo planes with their engines still running! When she landed in Israel, she described it as a dream. Mulu also shared some of the particular challenges Ethiopian Jews face - I videoed some of her story which I hope to make available to you.

In the afternoon, we visited the Talmudic village of Tzippori where Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi - Rabbi Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah, the basic code of Jewish law, in 220 CE. We discussed how the Mishnah revolutionized Judaism, helping adapt our practices from being Temple-based to rabbinic Judaism centered around study, prayer acts of loving kindness. The Mishnah is also a utopian text discussing areas of Jewish law that were shattered with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, reminding those alive 1800 of hope - a basic Jewish approach to tragedy and life. I also shared how the Mishnah is the first legal code in human history to include the minority or dissenting voice.

Our afternoon continued with a visit to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation. I had last visited in 1993 with a Jewish leadership group. Traveling to this Christian Holy Site with priests and ministers who read the story from the book of Luke in the New Testament about the announcement of Jesus’s birth. It was powerful to watch the priests in the group kneel and pray at this site where according to Christian tradition, Mary lived and for me, to get a sense of what this place means to Christians. As we left, we saw a disturbing Muslim billboard next to the Church which said “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.” (from the Quran)

Later in the afternoon, we visited Nahil, an Israeli Arab town, in the Galilee where we met Nadia Ismail, an Israeli Muslim woman who works to help empower Israeli Arab women, helping them find work. She described the discrimination she and her community face as Israeli Arabs. It was difficult to hear of their suffering. There’s a paradox here. Israel struggles to be both a democratic and a Jewish state and that tricky balance affects its Muslim population. Though it is clear that Israel is more democratic than most than Arab or Muslim states (in Israel, Arabs can vote and women have full rights), there is still much room for improvement. She invited us into her home and led us on a short tour of her village to see their difficult situation.

From there, we drove up to the top of Israel - Etzba Hagalil - the finger of the Galilee to Kibbutz Kfar Giladi for a relaxing dinner followed by some time to process our experiences in small groups. Another example of paradox - here we are at a beautiful Kibbutz, just a couple of miles from the Lebanese border. While we are enjoying a perfect evening tonight, we are aware that Hezbollah missiles fell all around here during the 2006 war and if Iran orders them to fire again, this picturesque kibbutz would once again be vulnerable.

Israel - a vibrant country filled with delicious food, majestic scenery, and timeless history, but also filled with paradox.

May we continue to grow from these experiences and yearn and pray for a hopeful tomorrow,

Rabbi David Lerner

Thoughts from Rev. Sally Thatcher

Rev. Sally Thatcher

Our experiences of Israel began to unfold, believe it or not, with El Al security at JFK Airport. While Alan and David were taken aside and interviewed separately by 2 security people, we members of the group were interviewed in twos. Our interviewers were young women who sounded educated, intelligent, polite, and very intentional about what they were doing. They gave the impression that they take their job seriously and consider it important. It was a new experience to this traveler.

Shortly before flight left noticed a group of Jewish men in long black coats, wearing distinctive flat top, widebrimmed hats praying by the window looking out at our plane. David told us that this was a traditional Jewish ritual before traveling and invited us to do the same. We formed a circle: Catholics, Protestants and Jews, while Paul prayed a Christian prayer and David recited and in English and Hebrew a traditional Hebrew prayer for travelers. It certainly felt as we were starting off on the right foot (or feet).

We had additional opportunities to observe, close at hand, Jewish men in prayer. Our group was seated near the rear of the 747. There were many large groups of children returning home from summer camps as well as families with young children. It seemed as if we 14 were the only non-Hebrew speakers on the plane.

As darkness fell, some are over the Atlantic, a group of 10 or 12 men, again in black coats and hats, gathered in the aisles beside and behind us praying aloud from prayerbooks. It was impressive to see the way a schedule of praying structures their lives even while traveling. They prayed again at dawn. I don't know exactly when, but I was awakened by someone brushing me gently with his long white shawl, right arm and hand wrapped in a kind of strap and wearing what looked like a miner's light strapped to his head. Mercifully, the men prayed silently as I was not yet ready to greet the day, and apparently others or group weren't either. Bill and David participated and Bill promised to explain. More on this in a later entry.

The plane landed a few hours later to cheers and applause from Israelis. This traveler had goosebumps on her throat at finally being here. There is so much to learn about this land and its people in such a short time. What a week it's going to be!