RJ Blog

by Alden Solovy A “Color Red” siren went off in Jerusalem yesterday. For the second time in four days, rockets were launched from Gaza at the City of Gold. We got a taste of what the south has been suffering, quite literally, for years. My first reaction: the IDF has my back. No need to worry. Of course, it’s not quite so simple. And still, we’re counting on the IDF. We must. Last week, RJ Blog posted my three-part liturgy for Operation Pillar of Defense. The first prayer is for the safety of the IDF, called “For the IDF: Operation [...]

How can one best participate in building the State of Israel? In the long history of the Jewish people, this is a very new question. The question of what is the best way to build or protect Israel has been, and continues to be, at the center of many debates. These debates were present in Israel before the declaration of the state. There were two groups in the land; those who worked to return the Jewish people to the land as farmers, workers, and builders, and those who wished to bring about a state based on Torah study. The chalutzim [...]

Today’s Forward editorial, “Our Forgotten Defenders,”reminds American Jews of the sacrifices our Jewish servicemen and women are making overseas – not just by serving in the IDF but by deploying to Iraq Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. military. The tally of American Jewish servicemen and women killed in these wars has risen to 50, though the National Museum of American Jewish Military History says there may be many more among the deceased whose religion isn’t known. The piece begins: In mid-August, 127 Americans flew to Israel with the intention of joining the Israel Defense Forces. They arrived at Ben-Gurion [...]

Long before Israel gained independence, the city of Jaffa was a bustling port. Today, it swarms with multi-national populations, whose tenuous coexistence is constantly on the brink of conflict. The ones who suffer most from this situation are the weaker populations – the children, the youth and the elderly. The participants in the IMPJ pre-army Mechina program in Jaffa volunteer in this unique mosaic in an attempt to assist its weaker populations.

By Adam Ross He was waiting for one of his commanders to pick him up. I was waiting to go to sleep. Yet another 3 hour shift of guard duty, but this time I was assigned to the back entrance to the base, which leads to the firing ranges. I don’t mind that spot so much because the drivers that are going back and forth between the base and firing ranges usually give me a sip of their Coke, or slip me a chocolate bar while no one’s looking. There are also people walking by, always up for a little [...]

by Aaron Selkow I sat in a classroom last week with fellow URJ camp directors Rabbi Mark Covitz (GUCI) and Bobby Harris (Coleman), along with my colleague at Camp Harlam, Rabbi Vicki Tuckman. There was a graph mapped out on the floor with lots of different papers spread across it, and there were more than 40 Israeli staff (Shlichim, or “emissaries”) sitting around the room. These staff members will be travelling to work with our camps this summer, including 26 at Harlam, and the classroom was at Kibbutz Shefayim in Israel. This was my tenth time at the Summer Shlichim [...]

Haggai. I danced at his wedding in the fall of 1971. He was a proud member of the IDF Tank Corps. The wedding was at Kibbutz Na’an not far from Rehovot. My first Israeli wedding. We laughed and danced. He embraced me into the “kibbutz family” into which my sister would marry in February. On the first day of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Haggai was killed on the Golan. He is buried not far from where he fell. Haggai was born on the 29th of November 1973, an auspicious day in our Zionist/Israeli history. He was the first child on Kibbutz [...]

The weight of Israel’s Memorial Day is almost too heavy to bear. Regardless of the deep political divisions in the Jewish state, there aren’t separate cemeteries for the fallen soldiers that were affiliated with different political parties. Profound grief cuts across the full spectrum of Israeli society. Memories of so many unfinished lives are held close by all of us who love Israel and understand the enormous sacrifice 64 years of statehood has required. In his book “Death as a Way of Life,” Israeli writer and peace activist David Grossman writes, “Today I ran into a reservist who served with [...]