Rejoice, Reflect, Renew

This year, Reform congregations in North America have a unique opportunity to deepen their connection to Israel and to rethink how Israel is expressed within our communities. In the spring of 2008/5768, we will mark 60 years of renewed Jewish sovereignty in Israel, and celebrate our Movement’s Zionist activity after 50 years of NFTY in Israel and the 30th anniversary of ARZA.

Join the Reform Movement as we:

• REJOICE on the sacred occasion of Israel’s 60th year of independence
• REFLECT on our loving, and at times complex, relationships with Israel
• RENEW our connections to Israel and the greater Jewish People

How is the Reform Movement celebrating? See the list of Events, Programs, and Publications between now and next summer.

THE HIGHLIGHT:
Movement-wide Israel at 60 Weekend - MAY 9-11, 2008
We have created exciting programming materials for all ages for study, reflection, and of course, celebration. Use them for the holiday weekend and beyond. A hard copy and the "Our Israel" DVD will be sent to participating congregations. Weekend Program Guide

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As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart, With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion, Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost: To be a free people in our land, The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

These words are immediately recognized—they are the translation of Hatikvah, “The Hope,” the national anthem of the State of Israel. These words were written by Naftali Herz Imber, who was an English Jewish poet, originally from Bohemia (the melody was composed by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia, who based his composition on Bedrich Smetana’s "Moldau.").

Continue reading "Finding Hope in the Midst of Hostility - Ten Minutes of Torah" »

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Earlier this month as rockets fell on Northern Israel and parents worried about their sons and daughters fighting in Lebanon, we received this letter from an Israeli mother who had fled her home in the north and was being sheltered by the Israeli Reform Movement:

“Tears of fear, sorrow and longing for home drip down onto the cloth from my eyes. My glance moves over to the bed next to me and I watch my child sleeping soundly … (after a day filled with activity and playing in the pool) that would not have been possible except for you… In my name and in the name of my entire family, I thank you and wish you “yeshar ko’ach” – may you go from strength to strength. I have only barely expressed all of my feeling in the letter and for this I apologize. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! With prayers for better days.”

Continue reading "News Update - Reform Movement Makes a Real Impact on Israeli Society" »

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'Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.'

'I should have called it
Something you somehow haven't to deserve.'
-Robert Frost, “The Death of the Hired Man”

When we first came to live in the Galilee sixteen years ago, and I was very much taken with the physical beauty of the land here (as I still am), I became fascinated by the question of what causes us to develop an attachment to a particular landscape. Obviously, many places are beautiful, each in its own unique way – whether the majesty of the desert or the refreshing green of rolling meadows or the deep tranquility of the forest. The Galilee is beautiful, but not “objectively” more so than, say, the Alps, or Hawaii, or lots of other places in the world – including places I have lived at various times in my life. Why, then, did I so quickly develop a kind of visceral attachment to the view from Shorashim? And what is the meaning of this attachment to place? Is it a force for good, or a destructive component of human nature?

Continue reading "Homecoming I - Galilee Diary" »

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I keep coming back to the image of the kids in the Leo Baek Center's parking garage. (scroll down to see picture)

I can't get over having to spend your summer cooped up in a bomb shelter. The funny thing to me is that Israel is such a close family that soldiers are caring for the kids in that parking garage. I've missed that since I came home, that sense that everyone around is part of the same family pulling for the same team. That is not to say Israel isn't fragmented and political just like any where else they are, more so because politics is so tied to religion, but when it comes right down to it Israelis take care of their own. Really that is why I am not so worried about my Carmel friends who are still in Israel because I know that they will be taken care of.

For those of you considering travel to Israel on a URJ program I can say only two things first they are the most overprotective group of organizers you can find so don't worry about your safety too much, they'll take care of you. Second no matter what you will have the time of your life I know I did.

Mara Goldberg was Carmel participant 2004-2005

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This letter was delievered to the student orginizers of the first letter of petition

Dear Matt and Adrian,

Thank you for your passion and your commitment to the State of Israel. We appreciate your desire to give voice to your beliefs and to participate in determining the direction of the Reform movement. Obviously, our KESHER and NFTY programs have encouraged you to ask hard questions and to be concerned with justice in our world.

The loss of innocent lives is terrible beyond words. As I said in a speech on August 1, “let us not think for a moment…that we can be indifferent to the death of innocents. The death of any child, Israeli or Arab, Muslim or Jew, is an unspeakable tragedy that rends the heart.” It is not possible, however, to equate the unprovoked attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas with the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces. The IDF, as has been well publicized, warned the citizens of Lebanon of impending attacks and did everything in its power to avoid the loss of civilian life. Hezbollah, in contrast, operates from civilian areas and uses Lebanese civilians as shields while firing missiles at Israel’s cities. It does this knowing that in order to protect its own citizens, Israel will be forced to endanger the lives of Lebanese civilians, and the result will inevitably be to increase civilian deaths, no matter how precise Israel’s weaponry. And these deaths in turn will be used to ratchet up the violence and hate.

No side is completely blameless in a war, but I am confident that the government of Israel has taken all reasonable precautions to avoid civilian casualties. I am confident too that when we review all aspects of this conflict, justice clearly resides with Israel.

We all are grateful for the recent ceasefire. We hope and pray that the ceasefire will hold and the killing will stop.

Thank you again for sharing your views with me.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie
President
Union for Reform Judaism

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This letter was delieved to Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Chairperson Robert Heller in response to the first student letter

We are a group of students, led by members of the KESHER-ARZA Fellowship and other campus leaders, who are distraught by the recent letter sent out by our peers surrounding the issues in Israel. While we agree with many of the issues that they have presented, we disagree with their call for an unconditional bilateral cease-fire and equivalency made between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hizbollah.

We would like to applaud the Union for Reform Judaism, its leaders and affiliates, for its support of the State of Israel during this time. We would like to urge the URJ to keep its trust in the Israeli government as it decides the best path for Israeli security. The decision to refrain from military escalation while attempting diplomacy shows their willingness and eagerness to achieve peace. They have also expressed a willingness to support an international force in Lebanon.

Continue reading "KESHER-ARZA Leaders respond to peers" »

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This letter was delievered to Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Chairperson Robert Heller on August 15, 2006

We, the college and youth leaders of the Reform Movement, urge the Union for Reform Judaism to take a stand for the Jewish values of peace and justice by declaring its support for a sustained bilateral ceasefire and peace negotiations in the Middle East.

As the future leaders of the Reform Movement, we heed the call of Rabbi Hillel to “be from the students of Aaron, love peace and pursue peace.” As we see events unfold around us, we look to fulfill our religious obligation by speaking out on the moral issues of our day. As Jews, we declare our commitment to protect our historic homeland, Israel, and to ensure the safety and well-being of its inhabitants. As Jews, we also believe that upholding the sanctity of all human life is of the utmost importance.

In a month of war in Lebanon, over 700 civilians, both Lebanese and Israeli, were killed. During the same period of time, while the world was focused on Lebanon, over 150 Palestinian civilians were killed in the Gaza Strip as well.

Continue reading "A Letter to Reform Leadship from the Reform Youth - "The precedent for the Union to advocate for diplomacy in the name of peace has already been set"" »

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As dawn broke, the angels urged Lot on, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two remaining daughters, lest you be swept away because of the iniquity of the city.” Still he delayed. So the men seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters – in the Lord’s mercy on him – and brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.”… Lot’s wife looked back, and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt.

-Genesis 19:15-17, 26

The recent experience of living under Katyusha fire in the Galilee brings into sharp relief the eternal tension between attachment to home and the pull of other values such as life, family, and faith. Most of the residents of the Galilee, we are told, left home and for temporary quarters in the center and south; indeed, the government actively encouraged people to leave endangered communities, and provided some (minimal) help in doing so. There were tent cities, and people sleeping in schools, and many families who took in relatives, friends, or even complete strangers. The instinct to get out of harm’s way is obvious and healthy. On the other hand, a large minority stayed in their homes, even though they had to run to the shelter ten times a day (if they even had one), even though life in the community was half-paralyzed, even though the risk was real, palpable, and immediate. The scorched fields and bomb craters and smashed houses are clearly visible to even a casual visitor. One could say, paraphrasing God’s instructions to Lot: “Are you crazy or something? Get out of here!”

Continue reading "Packing - Galilee Diary" »

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Over the past week, families from the north, from Naharriya to Kiryat Shmona, Jews and Arabs, have arrivied at Kibbutz Yahel to stay in our "bed-and-breakfast." This may not look different from the last three weeks, but there is a difference. These northerners arriving have not left the shelters since the beginning of the war due to the fact they come from low income families and could not afford to travel or are physically limited. In cooperation with the IMPJ, we will be hosting these people for a week, providing rooms, meals and activities for the children and adults alike. We will continue with this program as long as needed.

I would like to translate a letter from one of the Israelis staying with us.

Shalom,

My name is Norit Naftolovich, from Kibbutz Eilon, situated on the Lebanese border in the Western Galilee. From the first days of the war we stayed in our concrete homes. All around us were the booms of the IDF cannons and the Katyusha rockets, shaking our homes to the foundations. We hoped that the Katyushas would fall in open areas and not in the kibbutz. After a week, we decided to go to the bomb shelters.because the situation was worsening. At that point a number of families decided to evacuate to a safer place. We turned to the local welfare office, and in cooperation with the Southern Arava office we arrived at Kibbutz Yahel, not knowing what the future holds for us. To our pleasant surprise, we have been embraced by the wonderful people of Yahel. All of our needs are taken care of, from food to laundry, child care to showers in members homes. We number 30 from Eilon, and Yahel provided us with their library complex. Everything we asked for has been provided without hesitation. We feel a part of Yahel, and when the time comes to return home, that will be very difficult. But we miss our own homes, our beds, the familiar surroundings, and are looking forward to that moment. But wothout a doubt, we will never forget the extraordinary people of Yahel.

Sincerely,

Norit, Yonatan, Gal, Tal, Amit and Shachar

Ron Bernstein is the Pomelo Orchard Manager and Summer Desert Tour Guide at Kibbitz Yahel in the South of Israel

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I was so happy to hear the news about the ceasefire, that I didn’t read any of the 19 Resolution 1701 articles. After 33 days of war, we here in Haifa want to see the end.

In the media they discussed who is the winner, Lebanon, Hizballa or Israel? I think that in this war everyone lost. More than 100 soldiers were killed already, half of them were reserve duty soldiers, ages 21-41 (I was a reserve duty soldier for 20 years, it could have been me but since I am 45, I am too old to be sent to fight). The other half were young men, ages 18-21, who just finished high school and didn’t even have a chance to go to college. More than 50 civilians were killed from all denominations, Jews, Christians, Moslems and Druze. Many hundreds are wounded and are still in the hospitals. I heard a mother whose child is wounded, saying that she is happy that her son doesn’t have to go back to Lebanon and fight.

Continue reading "Ceasefire Birthday Present - Rabbi Dr. Edgar Nof from Or Hadash, Haifa" »

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Friends, colleagues and relatives from the US have been calling to express their support and concern for my family and for all the people living in Israel. I would like to use last week’s Shabbat experience to give you an example of our life in the shadow of the war.

Last Friday, Parashat Va-et'chanan, I volunteered to lead Friday night services in our congregation Sulam Yaakov together with another member of the congregation, Lior Doron, a mature, intelligent youth who is very committed to 0ur youth movement. I was very excited, it being the first time in my personal and professional life that I was asked to lead the services and I took it very seriously. In spite of my sizeable experience leading adults and children, this experience was very moving for me.

Continue reading "A War Time Kabbalat Shabbat - The Morning After" »

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The war in the North grinds into the 4th week. Ground operations have expanded and with that more soldiers killed and wounded. Staff and students at the College have relatives and loved ones enlisted or recently called into service. In this country there are maybe "2 degrees of separation." So our greater community finds itself visiting the wounded and attending military funerals. The North remains a combination of ghost towns and cities struggling to function. As my colleague at the Leo Baeck Centre in Haifa told me: "we are operating at 50%." These are hard and heavy times. At this writing, there is serious talk about a Cease Fire, so let us hope….

Something remarkable happened this week in Jerusalem. In the midst of this difficult and painful war, hundreds gathered in the Forscheimer Courtyard at the College for the opening of the first ever Inter-faith gathering, as part of World Pride 2006, an affirmation of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Community. Under the full moon of Tu B'av (the 15th of Av) an impromptu student choir of cantorial and rabbinic students, led by upperclassman SSM Student David Berger, set the evening with a magnificent rendering of Psalm 122 and they continued to sing throughout the evening. What a heavenly choir they were, with them we could really soar to a place of transcendence we so needed to get to.

Continue reading "View from Jerusalem - World Pride At War" »

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As a practicing physician in Haifa and Nahariya in Israel, I understand much of what Lebanese colleagues have been writing, from a standpoint of true empathy. The current military conflict between Hizballah and Northern Israel has been surprisingly long and bitter, and it is resulting in a wide spectrum of medical implications.

As always in war, the medical staff here has been selflessly getting to work, doing our jobs, trying our best to save lives and limbs. As always in military confrontations, there are many heart wrenching cases of tragedies, which cannot be undone by even the most skilled and best equipped medical teams.

An orthopedic surgeon was killed by combatants while doing his military medical service, and a paramedic was killed in service yesterday. Physicians and medical staff of the North are dedicated and tireless in helping every kind of wounded people, of every faith and nationality and religion. Some of our medical staff are stressed by having families who have left their homes in the North for safer regions. The North of Israel has absorbed some 3000 missile strikes, and the damages have taken a heavy toll. Missiles have slammed into our hospitals and all around them.

Continue reading "Doctor to Doctor – Dr. Jesse Lechter of Or Hadash responses to the Lebanese doctors requests for Cease Fire" »

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Sunday was my wedding anniversary. My wife, Deborah and I usually eat at a restaurant to celebrate the event, but this year we are “celebrating” at home, hoping that it will be a quiet evening with no sirens (of course we couldn’t find a single restaurant open during nighttime in Haifa).

We were hoping for some calm, but the past Shabbat was anything but quiet. After the 48 hour ceasefire, things changed for the worse. In the past 3 days over 200 katyushas per day landed in the North of Israel, with dozens of civilians killed and many more wounded. Just a few minutes ago, 12 people were killed in Kfar Giladi in what is to referred to as the one of the most difficult days for us since the beginning of the war.

Continue reading "Anniversary Under Fire - Rabbi Dr. Edgar Nof from Or Hadash, Haifa" »

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Today, Monday, there are the funerals. We bury our dead so quickly it can almost take your breath away. The funerals happen before we can even digest the deaths. Yesterday there were so many deaths, so today there are so many funerals.

Friday afternoon, day 24 of the war, we had just gotten back from the packed "Canyon" mall in Or Akiva, just South of Zichron Yaakov and across the highway from Binyamina. So many shoppers were there, the grocery store ran out of carts and people (us included) were using grocery sacks to carry stuff around the story. When we got back to Zichron, Julie went out to the shed to put on a load of laundry while I unpacked things into the fridge. She came running back in to say, simply, "There are sirens." We stepped back outside and sure enough, the city sirens were wailing in the distance. We immediately walked over to the shed which connects to an underground miklat, bomb shelter, stepped inside, turned the light on and just looked at each other. I took a chair down from a shelf (the miklat here is about 8' x 8') for Julie -- she sat down, burst into tears and asked me to call the boys (one in Herzliya and one in Hod HaSharon) to make sure they were ok.

Continue reading "Today there are Funerals -A post by Steve Schuster, President of Temple Sinai in Worcester, MA" »

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It is now three weeks since I arrived in Israel. I am amazed to sit back and recall our conversations then. Kfar Vradim is safe, we all said. Its elevation is too high for the trajectories of the Katushyas. Nasrallah is “threatening” to aim for Haifa. This will be over in just a couple days. Should we go South or just hang out here? Seems pretty safe.

Well, today Kfar Vradim made headlines (locally, anyhow) when it was among the many hard-hit Galilee towns in what is now many consecutive days ofheavy heavy rocket attacks. The headlines read: 8 civilians, 4 soldiers killed in bloodiest day of war.

130 rockets were fired into Israel within 90 minutes between 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 this afternoon. Two hit homes in Kfar Vradim - homes on streets we recognized, of course. We watched the local news with Sharon who knows the homeowners being interviewed, knows the woman shown on the newscast who came from next door to hug the homeowners in tears, knows her father (an Oleh from the U.S. in 1998) refuses to come South and says he won't sleep in his miklat (shelter) because it's "too messy." The Arab village next door, Tarshicha, suffered losses today, as well, when three shephards tending their goat herd were killed by direct Katushya strikes (obviously they were nowhere near shelters).

Continue reading "Life Goes on During the War - A post by Steve Schuster, President of Temple Sinai in Worcester, MA" »

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This week the Jewish calendar reached its nadir, the lowest point of our Scriptural and liturgical cycle. The 9th of Av represents the saddest and most mournful day of our holy day cycle. The hot dry summer weather corresponds with the associations of despair and desolation. Indeed the difficult events of this past week mirror these associations as well. The death of the innocent victims at Kfar Kana, the continuing devastation of our cities: Kiryat Shemonah, Carmiel, Tzat, Acco, Maalot-Tarshicha and the lose of life in the North, civilians and soldiers weighs heavily on every Israeli everywhere.

We may hit "rock bottom" on the evening of the 9th of Av, but even our Rabbis would not allow us to stay there. By Mincha time on the day itself, we begin to move away from many of the symbols of mourning and turn towards hope. This dynamic tension captures so much of our daily reality. We find ourselves, three and a half weeks into this war, swinging back and forth from mourning to healing, despair to hope. Isaiah was the first to rally us, shake us out of our sadness and sense of helplessness. Haifa writer, "secular" prophet A.B. Yehoshua said in the midst of the toughest days of Haifa, where he remains: "Pessimism is a luxury!"

Continue reading "View from Jerusalem - 9th of Av" »

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Delivered at Temple Emanuel in Westfield, NJ on August 1, 2006.

We are grateful for the analysis that we will hear tonight. It is important for us to understand as best we can the terrible conflict that rages on Israel’s northern border.

Still, as much as we appreciate analysis and commentary, it seems to me that the distinguishing feature of this conflict is the utter clarity of the issues and of the moral choices that it presents.

This is a war in which the rights and wrongs are beyond all doubt.

Southern Lebanon is taken over by Hezbollah after Israel’s withdrawal. Supported by Syria and Iran, Hezbollah amasses an arsenal of 13,000 missiles and rockets. Over a period of 6 years, it launches dozens of unprovoked attacks into Israeli territory— striking at military installations or launching rockets at civilian targets. All the while, Hezbollah’s leaders proclaim their genocidal intentions: Israel is to be wiped off the map.

And then, after it attacks again, kidnapping and killing Israeli soldiers, Israel finally strikes back. After six long years, it has had enough. But without hesitation, Hezbollah unleashes a barrage of 2500 rockets against Israel’s northern cities, each and every rocket aimed at civilians, each and every rocket intended to kill, or to maim, or to terrorize.

And terrorize they have. A half million Israelis have been driven from their homes; nearly a million pass most of their days in bomb shelters. Life in the northern half of the country has come to a standstill. And not only that. Hezbollah intentionally operates from civilian areas, knowing that this will increase civilian deaths, no matter how precise Israel’s weaponry. And these deaths in turn will be used to ratchet up the violence and the hate.

Continue reading "An Evening of Solidarity with Israel at the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey - Remarks by Rabbi Eric Yoffie" »

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Tonight was like most other recent nights for me. I just moved some things into my soon-to-be new apartment.

I walked in tonight aware of the date, the 9th of Av. I did not realize, however, it was my friend Dana's one year anniversary of her Aliyah. Dana and I met in high school during an Israel seminar between members of Habonim, Hashomer Hatzair, NFTY, USY, YJ.... (NCSY never showed up as I recall). I met her again during Succot at the Levenfeld home in Jerusalem during my year on Carmel; she was on the USY Nativ Program. I remember running into her in the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, and her telling me, with all the excitement that she would be making aliyah and moving to Israel. I also remember searching out and finding the only kosher l'Pesach cafe on the Hof HaCarmel with Dana. She is currently a paramedic based on the Lebanese border.

She sent me an instant message this morning, at about 1 am; her day is beginning while mine is just ending. She told me that today is the one year anniversary of her making Aliyah. She is excited and proud, rightly so.

Continue reading "This Just In - Matthew Reber ARZA KESHER Fellow writes on the writers" »

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As a seemingly unending torrent of Katyusha rockets reigns down on homes, businesses, and playgrounds in northern Israel and battles rage throughout the border region, our thoughts and prayers are with all of Israel’s citizens, and particularly those on the front lines—those who repeatedly race for bomb shelters and those who have hurriedly moved to safer locales in cities and towns far from home.

This is a time to mobilize our community to show our support for Israel, and to reach out to our neighbors to help them understand that Israel’s very survival is at stake. A list of action items can be found on the Union's website under “What Can I Do to Help?” Additional materials can be found on ARZA's website.

But, my friends, our brothers and sisters in Israel need more than political support right now—they need financial and material support as well. Just as our Reform congregations in Jackson, Houston, Baton Rouge, Memphis and elsewhere opened their hearts and homes to those fleeing Hurricane Katrina’s wrath less than a year ago, so too our Reform congregations and communities in Israel are providing essential shelter, comfort, and welcome to many of the more than 400,000 dislocated individuals from Israel’s north. And, just as our North American Reform community responded to Katrina’s destruction by providing the funds necessary to care for thousands of storm evacuees, so too must we provide financial resources for our Israeli brethren to care for those now unexpectedly in their midst.

Continue reading "What are we doing? - An Update from Rabbi Eric Yoffie" »

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The war continues – yesterday was a very difficult day, and at its end, we lost nine soldiers.

We in the Movement for Progressive Judaism continue to assist the residents of Northern Israel and are trying to give them respite and strength to carry on at Kfar Silver, next to Ashkelon, where almost 200 people from the North are staying. The Movement is taking care of all of their needs and providing activities for the children and some long needed summer fun in the pool. Gila Cohen, a social worker and rabbinical student, is serving as the pastoral counselor of the camp, and relates that the families residing there have undergone truly difficult experiences. Gila organizes special support groups for mothers and fathers in order to give every one, each from his/her own perspective, a moment to free him/herself from the stress of having to appear strong in front of their children and to talk about the things that are really bothering them.

The parents that are residing at the camp with their children are extremely worried because this living situation that the Movement has provided is only available to them until next Monday – and, they worry, then where will they go? Many of the refugees are from the lower socio-economic class and they do not have the means to obtain other accommodations such as a hotel or renting an apartment.

Naama Dafni, Coordinator of Community Involvement at the Israeli Religious Action Center, is responsible for placing another segment of the population that is neglected in this war – people with special needs. From the first day of the war, we opened a support hotline and have found temporary housing for people with special needs.

First, the public transportation was cut off for most residents of the North which made it extremely difficult for people to get around. In response, the Movement has been coordinating and providing transportation to the center of the country. Secondly, the Movement has been taking are of those whom the State has not, especially those who cannot take care of themselves, and has been arranging hospitality for them with families and in Kfar Silver, accommodating and assisting especially those with different disabilities.

Click here to learn more about the IMPJ

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Another week has passed, and the hostilities in the North and South show little sign of abating. The Israeli press and media are awash with speculation and expert opinion. Some are emphasizing military strategy and the state of our Army, others look on at the destruction being wrought in Lebanon with anger or despair. Some deal mainly with the social, economic and psychological costs being borne by the residents of Northern Israel, while others see the current events in broader geo-political terms.

Continue reading "View From Jerusalem - Another Week Has Passed" »

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This morning at 7:30 a siren woke my kids up, not the alarm clock. We ran downstairs to the bomb shelter, not the best way to start a Friday morning.

We are going through difficult times. Two days ago nine soldiers were killed in battles in Southern Lebanon, at the location from which Hizballa launches their missile attacks. It is horrible to open the paper and see the pictures of the soldiers who fell in battle. We will say Kaddish for them on tonight at Kabalat Shabbat.

In Haifa we continue to go to the bomb shelter several times each day. Out of 2,600 katyusha rockets, over 100 landed in Haifa. The city seems to be almost abandoned and people are grocery shopping in fear.

We managed to get Or Hadash back to routine. Most of the workers came back to work except for some workers who are afraid to come or workers who called in sick (usually with anxiety problems).

On Saturday we were supposed to have 4 Bar Mitzvah ceremonies, and fortunately only one family cancelled, but I still hope that the family will be back this Saturday. The remaining three Bar Mitzvah families decided to have the Bar Mitzvah as scheduled, with whomever decides to arrive. I must tell you how proud I am of their courage and their determination. Yesterday we had a Bar Mitzvah rehearsal in our bomb shelter and the young boy was photographed near the air purification unit instead of in the synagogue.

Continue reading "A New Alarm Clock - Rabbi Dr. Edgar Nof from Or Hadash, Haifa" »

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Well, it continues to be interesting here in Israel. Having zero knowledge of things military, I am personally amazed that the Katushyas continue to fly into Northern Israel from what must increasingly be a highly devastated Southern Lebanon. But fly they do and today was another string of devastating Katushya strikes in the Galilee. I was thinking that it was not so long ago that Nasrallah verbally threatened to send rockets into Haifa – now the actually attacks there are a daily occurrence. Yesterday and today, he threatened to target Netanya, so we shall see...

So many people have fled from the North at this point that it’s not uncommon to run into people you know from tiny towns in the Galil passing away the time at the Raanana mall. The conversation, as I mentioned in a previous email, is becoming increasingly laden with impatient frustration (these are Israelis, remember...)

Continue reading "Yisrael Chazakah - A post by Steve Schuster, President of Temple Sinai in Worcester, MA" »

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The view from here
And the word of the Lord came to me a second time: What do you see?
I replied: I see a steaming pot, its opening from the north.
And the Lord said to me: From the north shall disaster break loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.

-Jeremiah 1:13-14

Two weeks now into the current conflict on the northern border, and what seemed at first like an adventure and a chance to feel heroic is beginning to have the depressing weight of still another long-term and morally ambiguous campaign.

The Hezballah is said to have over 10,000 rockets stockpiled in Lebanon. We are told that over 2,000 have already been fired at us, and at least that many destroyed by Israeli counterattacks. These rockets do not have large warheads, so that generally only a direct hit does serious damage; and they seem to be impossible to aim with much precision, so the vast majority of them fall in open fields; and the Hezballah has been able to launch at most about 100 in any given day. Thus, the actual amount of physical damage and casualties is not large. Still, the psychological effect on a population that always saw itself as living in a safe area, far from the border, of living day after day with this prospect of random hits – of never knowing just how much to shut down your everyday routine to avoid the very slight chance that you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time – is wearing – especially on families with young children, or on the elderly. Despite Israel’s massive bombing and shelling of Hezballah positions for two weeks, these random barrages have continued day after day. Many people have left for the south, to stay with relatives or even to stay in hotels or camp on the beach in Eilat. Some have simply gone to calmer regions for a couple of days respite from the uncertainty – and from the burden of having to entertain small children full-time indoors, day after day – and in the case of those who live in cities like Karmiel or Nahariya or Safed – of running several times a day to the safe room or bomb shelter.

Continue reading "The View from Here - Galilee Diary - Ten Minutes of Torah" »

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Many of you probably know at least a Jewish joke or two which begins something like 'My Brother-in-Law's Mother-in-Law…'. This is a time with very few Jewish jokes and this is not one of them.

My Brother-in-Law's Mother-in-Law, Ada, lives in a modest flat on the second floor of a block of flats on the main street in Bat Galim, a part of Haifa down near Rambam hospital. Ada and her late husband Shmuel arrived in Israel after the Shoah from Romania. They were people of very modest means. Shmuel was a carpenter, and after a few years they managed to buy the small flat she now lives in and spent most of their lives together caring for their two daughters and, over the years, their five grandchildren. Shmuel passed away just over a year ago after fighting valiantly to overcome a brain tumour and left Ada on her own in the little flat.

Ada had had a relatively easy time during the Shoah, escaping with her family to a part of Romania where there was anti-Semitism, but of the 'mild' kind, i.e. no deportations, ghettoes or death camps, 'just' verbal and the occasional physical abuse. She has always been one of those old time Jewish women who look after their homes, their husbands and children and always have a philosophical word to share about life and its burdens and, as long as the grandchildren were happy, never had a word of complaint about anything. Shmuel's death changed all of this. He had apparently been the shield against all the suppressed trauma from the Shoah. She became paranoid, convinced that she was under threat from everyone, that people wanted to harm her, and had to be hospitalized in a geriatric psychiatric ward in Haifa. After a couple of months she was able to return home with a carer who now lives with her.

Continue reading "My Brother-in Law's Mother-in-Law - A Report from Kibbutz Tzora" »

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Rabbi David Ellenson, president of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion wrote a wonderful opinion column entitled "Normal Portion" in The New York Sun today. Please read and respond.

Posted by Union for Reform Judaism at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Israeli television just reported that since the beginning of the war 14 days ago, more than 2,700 katyushas fell in Israel (hitting more than 30 cities in the North). The number of dead among soldiers and citizens is more than 20, and hundreds are wounded.

Yesterday was, relatively speaking quiet, but since this morning 16 katyushas landed in Haifa, with 25 wounded, resulting in a man dying from a heart attack and 2 people seriously wounded.

We ran to the Or Hadash shelter. One siren went on when I was about to take a shower and another went on while eating breakfast (at that point you have to decide very quickly what to do with the food in your mouth- to swallow fast while running down to the shelter or to spend a few valuable seconds spitting the food to the sink. Not an easy decision, believe me!). Another siren caught me an Ariel while we were grocery shopping in the supermarket. These are hard times in Haifa.

Continue reading "These are hard times in Haifa - A Report from Rabbi Dr. Edgar Nof" »

Posted by Union for Reform Judaism at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)