So, let’s backtrack a little and tell you a little bit about what we have done up until this point.
We landed at Ben Gurion Airport and hit the ground running. We visited Zichron Yaacov and saw the Sara Aronson house which was very interesting. We checked in to our hotel in Tiberias and that night were treated to a terrific welcome dinner at the world famous DECKS restaurant where our group was officially welcomed by a huge boat floating up to the restaurant with fire flares and over a loudspeaker greeting the group from New York, welcoming us to Israel and playing “New York, New York” for the whole restaurant to hear. We also were able to celebrate with our friends Harriet and Marvin Rosen on their 49th wedding anniversary.
A great ending to a great night.
Friday morning we were up early and headed to Tzfat – it was a great way to prepare us for Shabbat as the prayer L’cha Dodi, a cornerstone of the Kabbalat Shabbat service, was written in Tzfat. We then made our way up to Jerusalem where we had a beautiful service and magnificent dinner at (get the name) Beit Shalom, a historical landmark in Jerusalem where heads of state deliberated and where magnificent works of art adorn the walls. The rest of Shabbat proved to be just as great – in the morning we split up into groups which went all over Yerushalayim, from the Kotel to local synagogues, we each got a taste of Shabbat in Jerusalem. Later in the days, some of the group took a walking tour in the Old City led by our fabulous guide, Lyanna Rotstein. We met for Seudat Shlishit at the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism, where we were able to see the movement’s home in Jerusalem. On Motzei Shabbat, people hit the town for a night of fun, eating and of course, shopping!
Today (Sunday) we started the day at our partner school, Yad HaMoreh. What an amazing place. The teachers, students and parents greeted us so warmly and it was really an amazing program.
We then spent the rest of the day in the Old City of Jerusalem, getting in touch with our ancient Jewish roots and seeing the archeological foundation of Israel.
The group gathers for a picture on the steps to the ancient Temple
It included a visit to the Kotel, which is always awe inspiring but held a new meaning for those on our trip who had never been to Israel.
The group gathers for a pictuere on the steps of the ancient Temple
We have totally lucked out with the weather. It is cool but sunny – we were even walking around today without jackets! The sunny days have given way to beautiful clear starry nights. Picture perfect!
The group is starting to bond. It is amazing that such a diverse group can find common ground through Israel and our experience here. We are learning about each other, discovering new neighbors and are quickly becoming a community.
Tomorrow we will wake up early for Shacharit at the Kotel Masorati, where we will honor those who have become or are becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah. It will once again be a fantastic day.
Looking forward to reporting more to you then…
BETH SHOLOM - ISRAEL PILGRIMAGE - DECEMBER, 2007
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2007
Submitted by Carolyn Canova
The weather was cloudy, but a bit warmer today, as we set out from Jerusalem on our way to Tel Aviv. Except for our first night, which was spent up north in Tiberias, the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem has been our home base in Israel, and we were excited to be spending our one day in Tel Aviv. We proceeded north-west along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway, and soon learned from Lyana that the route itself was steeped in history.
Shortly after leaving Jerusalem we passed the remains of several old trucks and vehicles, both to our right and left along the highway. Lyana told us that immediately after adoption of the UN Partition plan on November 29, 1947, the Arabs cut off Jerusalem in an effort to force the Jews to surrender the city. Jerusalem at the time was not self-sufficient and couldn't survive long without basic supplies from elsewhere. The vehicles we saw were left here as a reminder of the convoys, most of which failed, that were dispatched to bring supplies to Jerusalem in the struggle to keep the city under Jewish control, and in recognition of the valiant efforts of the brave boys and girls who risked their lives to bring in supplies during the siege. Upon seeing a convoy leaving Tel Aviv, the Arabs would signal the towns along the route, and the inhabitants would come down from the hills like locusts to ambush and attack the slow moving trucks. As we drove through the valley at the base of those hills, travelling safely between the barbed wire fences that frame the highway in this area for protection today, we could imagine the Arabs raining down on the convoys and feel just a little bit of how vulnerable they must have felt.
Lyana told us of the popular story of how the Israelis finally found a pass through the hills - - two soldiers from Jerusalem intent on visiting their girlfriends in Tel Aviv stole a jeep and made their way through the hills to Tel Aviv. An Israeli officer overheard them bragging about their exploits, had them recreate their journey, and thus, the route, shaky perhaps but nonetheless a route, was established. Unfortunately, even after the War for Independence was won, it was not until after the 1967 War and the capture of the Arab city of Latrun that a direct route could be established.
We soon passed the Arab town of Abu Gosh, and saw the unusual proximity of the Arab town to the main road. We learned of the high regard in which the town is held by Israelis as a result of the rare loyalty that the people of Abu Gosh demonstrated toward their Jewish neighbors by fighting alongside them against the Arabs in the War for Independence.
We heard from Lyana that although the Jews were not initially successful in the battle for Jerusalem, they eventually took the strategic points crucial for victory when, underestimating the Jews, the Arabs guarding them left their posts to attend the funeral of an important Arab leader, and Rabin's forces walked in and took them without a shot being fired (more about him once we get to Tel Aviv).
We hit lots of traffic enroute to Tel Aviv, and what should have been an hour trip took us two hours. Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, we went immediately to the Rabin Memorial and Rabin Square. The Walk family had chosen Yitzchak Rabin as their project, and with her characteristic charm, creativity and humor, Ellen Walk quizzed the group on the life and accomplishments of Yitzchak Rabin, including his participation in the Oslo Peace Accord and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Then, in a touching tribute to him, the Weil family surprised us with having researched Shir L'Shalom, the song of peace which has become associated with Yitzchak Rabin, and Deborah and Levi handed out song sheets and led us in singing the song together in Rabin's memory at the spot that now bears his name. Lyana talked about how Rabin had just finished speaking at a the peace rally at the Square in which we were standing, when he was gunned down by a lone assailant, a religious right wing Jew who disagreed with Rabin's ideology, and was willing to take a life to prevent it from moving forward. We discussed that the inconceivable act of one Jew killing another because of ideological differences marked the end of innocence for the State of Israel, and deepened the rift between secular and religious Jews over the Land. The tragedy, though, also brought into light the seriousness of the growing divide among Jews over the issue, previously left hidden in the shadows. As we stood as a group in Rabin Square to honor one of Israel's fallen leaders, our experience here culminated with a moving reading by our young adult members focusing on thoughts and feelings of and about Rabin, the man, and of the peace he envisioned.
From Rabin Square it was a quick trip on the bus to Independence Hall, where at 4:00 pm on Friday, May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion declared the Jewish State in the land of Israel. It initially brought to mind our own Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed, also at the brink of certain war, but a much stronger connection to us a Jews quickly became apparent. The room itself is not very large, and is fairly simple and unadorned, but the sight of it invoked in many of us the emotions of that historic day that established a modern homeland for Jews in the land given to us as a people by Hashem in biblical times. At the front of the room, a large and familiar portrait of Theodore Herzel, the father of modern Zionism, is flanked by two large Israeli flags, draped from floor to ceiling on both sides. All around the room are beautiful paintings from leading Jewish artists, including the most famous, Marc Chagall. Due to our late arrival, we missed the official film, but our guide did a wonderful job explaining the historical and political circumstances leading up to the event and the participants who were present that day in the very room in which we were sitting. Then, as though we were transported back in time almost 60 years, we had the privilege of hearing for ourselves a recording in Hebrew of David Ben Gurion's actual declaration of the Jewish State, followed by the Rabbi reciting Shehechiyanu, and the orchestra playing Hatikva. Being able to understand enough of the Hebrew, I was personally moved to tears upon hearing the words in his own voice, and was not alone among our group (and certainly not by the time Hatikva began to play). It was a moment for all of us to reflect and appreciate with joy and pride for Israel and the Jewish people.
Upon leaving the inspiring experience at Independence Hall, we went to Nachalat Binyamin, the open air crafts market, for a bit of lunch and shopping. It was my favourite shopping stop so far, as all of the vendors were artists, showing their own beautiful work (way too short a time to appreciate and shop). My family ate in a small kosher meat restaurant where none of the staff spoke English, so we did our best in Hebrew, making out Corned Beef, Schnitzel, and Chips on the menu, and stuck with those standard items (fyi -"ketchup" is apparently a universal term, but beware of the really spicy mustard that also mysteriously appeared on our sandwiches). Billy didn't eat much for lunch, but we were just thrilled that he was feeling a bit better and made it to Tel Aviv, after he, Cindy Lipper and a few others with milder cases, were struck down by the "plague" in Jerusalem, and were out of commission for a few days.
On another personal note, our family was also trying to hook up with John's cousin, a law professor from the States, who was coincidentally flying into Tel Aviv that very day to lecture at a conference later in the week, but unfortunately the timing didn't work out for a quick reunion due to our very limited time in the city. As we walked around the city, it struck us that for much of the world, it was Christmas Day, and all that it implies, but you would never have known it, being in Israel.
Then we were back on the bus heading toward the port city of Jaffa along Ben Yehuda Street (we were already familiar with Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem, and now we were on this one in Tel Aviv). In addition to taking in the multi-era architecture throughout the city along the way, we learned that Ben Yehuda is honoured throughout Israel with streets named after him because he was responsible for reviving Hebrew as the modern spoken language of the Jewish people, and that he was instrumental in establishing it as the official language of Israel. Because Hebrew was until then an ancient language, Ben Yehuda had to invent many new words to reflect the modern world in which it would be used, and thus he wrote the first modern Hebrew/English dictionary.
We stopped briefly to see the new Boardwalk area of Tel Aviv, and got to walk along a short stretch of shore on the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Aside from the sea itself, and the overabundance of stray cats to entertain the kids on the boardwalk, the highlight for most on this stop was some creamy, chocolate indulgence, hot or cold, at the Max Brenner café. We couldn't resist, and brought home chocolate malted shake mix, too.
Before heading back to Jerusalem, we took a quick bus tour of Jaffa, the 4000 year old port city on the Mediterranean Sea, still a critical port location in Israel. As we drove through the narrow, crowded neighborhoods, Lyana explained that it was an Arab city for many centuries, but it became clear as Tel Aviv was growing and expanding, that a Jewish presence was needed in Jaffa to control the port. Today, while Tel Aviv is a Jewish city, Jaffa is mixed with both Arabs and Jews.
As we said "Shalom" to Tel Aviv-Yafo, and travelled north for a bit along the coast, the clouds broke briefly and we could see the beginnings of a beautiful orange sunset. In response to our pleas, Adi stopped the bus for a minute and we all scrambled with our cameras to climb to the highest point to catch a glimpse of it, but alas, it was a fleeting moment, missed by all but the swiftest of us (best I could tell, Evan Siegel got the best shot, and was unofficially dubbed the Beth Sholom Israeli sunset photographer). Though lasting only a moment, the hint of brilliance as the sun dipped down from the clouds toward the beautiful Mediterranean Sea was an exquisite end to another wonderful, jam-packed, memorable day in Israel.
We can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store (oh, and it's laundry day, too - yea!).
A Full but happy bus!
First dinner in Tiberias at Decks
How's this for a welcome --just for TBS!!
At the shuk
Gila leads the davening at our TBS Bar/Bat Mitzvah minyan at the Kotel Hamesorati
a night out with hamburger's at Norman's
Jonathan Sherman has an aliyah at the kotel
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Follow the travels of the 50 TBS congregants joining Rabbi Alan Lucas on the 2008 TBS Israel Trip. In addition to seeing the land of Israel, they will explore the people of Israel. See what they experience in their Israel Blog.
Joining on this trip are:
Carolyn, John, William and Beth Canova
Paula, Michael, Jessica and Ilana Margulis
Andrew Finkelstein, Linda Lebovitz, David Finkelstein and Joanna Finkelstein
Alice and Kenneth Jacoby
Howard, Meg, Zachary and Danielle Kahn
Ronni Kaplan
Susan, Gil, Carrie and Cindy Lipper
Rabbi Alan and Edy Lucas
Marvin and Harriet Rosen
Stacey, Fred and Hannah Rosen
Antonie Samuels
Lisa and Jim Schlesinger
Debra, Gary and Tsvi Weil
Nancy and Jacob Weiss
Mindy, Jay, Jonathan and Andrew Sherman
Wendy, Scott, Evan and Noah Siegel
Ellen and Melissa Walk
Gila Hadani Ward and Eddie Ward
Our Itinerary
TEMPLE BETH SHOLOM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2007
Welcome to Israel !
Meeting and assistance inside the arrivals hall of Ben Gurion International Airport. (El Al 002).
Meet with your guide, Lyana Rotstein.
Your main luggage will be brought directly to Jerusalem. Be sure to keep your overnight bag with you (with all clothing and personal belongings that you’ll need until tomorrows arrival in Jerusalem)
Drive along the Mediterranean Coast to the town of Zichron Yaakov. The town was founded in 1883 by Baron Edmond James De Rothschild. Zichron Yaakov gained notoriety during World War One for the establishment of the Nili spy ring by Sarah Aaronsohn, her brothers and a friend. They volunteered to spy on Ottoman positions and report them to British agents offshore. In September 1917, the Ottomans caught one of Sarah's carrier pigeons and cracked the Nili code. In October, the Turks surrounded the town and arrested Sarah and several others. A special visit to their home has been arranged for you this afternoon. After this stop, it’s through the Galilee to Tiberias. Arrival to your hotel for check in.
8.00pm - Enjoy dinner at the Decks Restaurant, overlooking the Sea of Galilee
Overnight: Sheraton Hotel, Tiberias
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2007
Early buffet breakfast and check out of your hotel.
8.00am – Departure from the hotel.
A short drive brings us to the town of Safed. Wandering through the lanes and alleyways of Safed today, you may be struck its simple beauty. It is this beauty which inspires the many artists who have settled here during the last decades and have turned Safed into a center of Israeli art. Some of the greatest scholars, spiritual leaders and religious thinkers of the Jewish world, were drawn to this small Galilean village.
From Safed, we head south, driving along the shores of the Jordan River, through the Jordan Valley. After passing the ancient city of Jericho, start the climb to the Golden city of Jerusalem
Arrival and check in to your hotel.
This evening, celebrate our group Kabbalat Shabbat and Traditional Friday night dinner at nearby Beit Shalom.
Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2007
Buffet breakfast
This morning enjoy visits to various shuls and have a taste of the wide variety of religious experiences available in Jerusalem. From Sephardic to Masorti to an Orthodox minyan that tries to incorporate women. This afternoon will be at leisure to enjoy the special atmosphere of Jerusalem.
11.00am – 1.30pm – Explore with Lyana the Jewish roots of Christianity. Walk to the Old City via the Jaffa Gate. Visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Proceed to Mount Zion to the traditional Tomb of King David and the room of the Last Supper before returning to our hotel.
4.00pm – A seudah Shlisheet and program has been arranged for you at the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism. We will also have Havdalah at the Fuchsberg Center and then spend a night on the town! Enjoy a walking tour to the Citadel of David at the Jaffa Gate.
Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2007
Buffet breakfast
We will begin the day by visiting our “Partner” school, Yad HaMoreh. We will see first-hand the amazing work it does and how the connection of our TBS students and families to both the school and to Israel is strengthened through the Partnership 2000 (P2K) program. This will also give us the chance to see the Israeli educational system up close and to look at its challenges and opportunities.
An unforgettable day awaits us as we board the bus and proceed to the City of David. Explore the new excavations at this exciting site, and walk through the Warren’s Shaft. From here we proceed back into the Old City through the Dung Gate. Visit the Southern Excavations. Enjoy a “Jewish Quarter fast lunch) with some time for shopping and exploring the area.. Explore the Jewish Quarter before we head over to the “Quarter’s coffee house” for dinner. After dinner we have a special visit and tour through the Western Wall Rabbinical Tunnels.
Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem
MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2007
Buffet breakfast
8.00am - We gather together at the Kotel for services
This morning partake in a tsedaka project with Rabbi Lucas. Then it’s on to the hustling Machane Yehuda marketplace and a quick lunch. This afternoon we visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s newly reopened and updated memorial to the Jewish Holocaust victims.
This evening will be free to visit friends, family or take in one of the great restaurants that we can recommend to you.
Overnight: Inbal hotel, Jerusalem
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2007
Buffet breakfast
In less than an hour, we drive from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv is where the action is in Israel. The Mediterranean beaches are clean and white, the sea warm (not necessarily in December), the nightclubs hopping, the shopping plentiful and the restaurants appetizing. Begin the day at Independence Hall, where David Ben Gurion proclaimed the State of Israel in 1948. Drive along Rothschild Blvd. There are over 5000 Bauhaus buildings, the largest number in any one city in the world; a fact that led UNESCO to recognize it as a “World Heritage Site." Tel Aviv is also known as, "The white city", named so in account of the bright colors of the building style: white, off-white, light yellow. On to Rabin Square, the large public square in front of Tel Aviv’s city hall, where, in November 1995 Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated. Enjoy a visit to Nachalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv’s twice a week pedestrian mall. We will then head back up to Jerusalem for an evening at leisure.
Overnight; Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2007
Buffet breakfast
The dress code today is worn and rugged.
This morning we drive to Neot Kedumim, the Biblical landscape reserve of Israel. Our tour today will be based on the miracle of Chanuka (which we celebrated earlier this month) and the art of sheep-herding. From here, we proceed to Beit Guvrin for an opportunity to dig, sift and search through the underground tunnels and excavations with a professional archaeologist. Return to Jerusalem
Overnight: Inbal Hotel, Jerusalem
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2007
Buffet breakfast
Leave your locked luggage (with clear name tags attached) just outside your door. It will be collected and brought directly to Eilat. Only bring your valuables with you (passport, plane tickets, etc etc).
This is a once in a lifetime day as after breakfast we head down to the Dead Sea. Drive through the Judean Desert eastwards until you reach the shores of the Sea. First stop will be Masada. For the adventurous prepare and enjoy the now famous “Lucasada” - you’ve never climbed Masada like this! (Unless you were on previous trips). You have to be in shape for this magnificent 2 ½ hour climb. For the slightly less adventurous, there will be an opportunity to meet us on top via the new cable car. After touring this mountaintop fortress, we continue driving south along the shores of the Dead Sea to Fata Morgana at Moshav Neot KaKikar. Enjoy a sumptuous desert lunch and have a peak at the amazing desert agriculture before the next leg of our journey – to the Red Sea port city of Eilat.
Overnight: Queen of Sheba Hilton Hotel, Eilat
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2007
After breakfast,
9.00am – Meet your caravan of jeeps just outside the lobby of your hotel. (dress warmly as some of the jeeps are open) Proceed by jeep into the Eilat Mountains and Red Canyon. Visit the wadis of Shlomo, Rechavam, Yehoshafat and upper Shlomo. Enjoy an amazing view of 4 countries (Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia) from Mount Yoash. Walk through the Red Canyon before returning to your hotel. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon at leisure in Eilat.
Evening Shabbat prayers will take place with Rabbi Lucas in the Eden Hall (12th floor)
Shabbat dinner a private section of the Makeda hall (Lobby level)
Overnight: Queen of Sheba Hilton Hotel, Eilat
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2007
Buffet breakfast
Day at leisure in Eilat
This evening enjoy a poolside Bar Be Que farewell dinner at the hotel (Ebony restaurant)
For those traveling to Petra tomorrow, please settle any “extras” you may have billed to your room with the front desk this evening, as we are departing early in the morning.
Overnight: Queen of Sheba Hilton Hotel, Eilat
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2007
Buffet breakfast
For those not traveling to Petra, you have a day to relax in Eilat. Check out time from your hotel room is at 12noon. (feel free to ask the front desk if they can allow you to keep your room for a bit longer – if they can, they will allow it).
Keep your luggage with you – you will bring your luggage on the flight with you from Eilat to Ben Gurion Airport.
6.15pm – Departure from the Queen of Sheba Hilton hotel for Eilat airport
Check in for your Israir charter flight from Eilat to Ben Gurion Airport (domestic terminal)
7.45pm – Israir charter flight
8.40pm – Arrival to Ben Gurion Airport (domestic terminal)
Upon arrival to Ben Gurion airport, you will be met by our airport representative and transferred from the domestic terminal to the international terminal for check in for your flight home.
TOUR TO PETRA
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Don’t forget your passports
6.00am – An early breakfast is waiting for you in the Makeda Hall (lobby floor) Check out of your room and leave your luggage (with a firmly attached name tag) packed and locked just outside your door. At 6.30am the hotel will collect these suitcases and store them in the security room. The next time you will see your luggage is at Ben Gurion Airport prior to checking in for your flight back home.
We suggest you pack in your overnight bag and change of clothes for the flight home. You can leave the overnight bag in the hotel (at the front desk) or bring it to Petra.
6.30am – Departure from the hotel for the 5 minute drive to the Arava/Rabin border crossing. Following Israeli and Jordanian border formalities, meet our Jordanian guide, Mr Yousef Zureikat. Drive through the desert to the Bedouin town of Wadi Moussa. Enter the Nabatean capital of Petra. Walk thru the “Siq”, the immense crack in the sandstone.
Near the end of the passage, take one last turn and out of the shadows appears Petra’s most impressive monument, el Khazneh – The Treasure. Beyond el Khazneh you are surrounded on both sides by hundreds of Petra’s carved and built structures. One should not forget that Petra is not only about the Nabataeans. Within a fifteen minute drive you have the 8000 year old excavated Stone Age village of Beidha and Basta, settlements of the biblical Edomites, not to mention the Tomb of Aaron, Moses’ brother. Enjoy before returning back to your hotel in Eilat.
10 rooms have been kept at the Queen of Sheba hotel for your convenience
6.15pm – Departure from the Queen of Sheba Hilton hotel for Eilat airport – HAVE PASSPORTS HANDY
Check in for your Israir charter flight from Eilat to Ben Gurion Airport (domestic terminal)
7.45pm – Israir charter flight
8.40pm – Arrival to Ben Gurion Airport (domestic terminal)
Upon arrival to Ben Gurion airport, you will be met by our airport representative and transferred from the domestic terminal to the international terminal for check in for your flight home.
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July 25, 2007
Well it is hard to believe that my time in Israel has come to a close -- what a wonderful and special time it was! The learning was at such an incredibly high level (some of you have requested that I share more details as to what exactly I have been studying -- so I have appended some class notes for those who are interested - at the end of this entry.
In addition to the learning, the hevra -- the remarkable collection of rabbis who are participating on this program is also quite special and we have much to learn from each other. So, great learning, a remarkable group of learners, and then throw Israel into the mix – and the time here has been too good to be true.
What a privilege to be in Israel – to drink in the sights and sounds of this remarkable land on a daily basis. The only thing that makes leaving possible is the knowledge that we are at the beginning of a journey together and not at the end. As I explained at the beginning of this blog – rather than take my Sabbatical in one extended period away from the congregation – I decided to use this Hartman Fellows Program which convenes every July for the next several years (with video conferencing from my office during the year etc.) This then becomes a real win/win – for the congregation, the intrusion of my being away is manageable – and for me, it is an opportunity to participate in this wonderful learning experience.
After our last classes this morning –and a concluding luncheon with a lot of hugs and promises to keep in touch (it really is remarkable how close a bond is formed through study) it was off to the city for some last few errands.
One last walk past my favorite bakery.
It has gotten VERY hot here in Jerusalem – and hot here in the Middle East is hot! This is coupled with a nation wide strike that has been called by Histadrut – the Labor Union to which almost all of Israel’s workers belong to. It is a crippling strike and expected to begin at the airport tomorrow at 6 AM. Guess when our flight back to NY is? 6:45 AM!
We called our airlines and they asked us to be at the airport at 2 AM because they hope to move up the flight to get out before the strike? Will Rabbi Lucas make it out before the strike? Will he be stranded at Ben Gurion airport – stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion of our show.
More than likely the strike will be settled – and even if not – we will probably get out before the deadline –so am I worried? Not at all.
So after a quick stop at Mahane Yehuda to pick up my favorite spices, and a stop at Meah Shearim to get some new tzitzit for a friend's tallit , it is back to the apartment for some last minute packing and then dinner with friends and off to the airport. I have so many wonderful stories to share with you over the next few weeks and months and I look forward to seeing you all in shul! Thanks for sharing our experience with us through this blog. See you soon!
Most of our classes were taught in this classroom - here is a picture of a class with Rabbi Donniel Hartman
And for those who asked -- here are some notes from a couple of our classes. I am not sure if you will be able to make much sense of them as you don't have the sources that we studied for hours before the lecture to prepare for the topic -- but it will still give you a feeling for what I have been doing. The first are notes from a class with David Hartman on "Foundations of Moral Obligation", the second is from a class with Moshe Halbertal on "Great Texts in Moral Philosphy" -- Enjoy!
Rabbi David Hartman
July 15, 2007
"Foundations of Moral Obligations"
Bereishit Rabbah, 24
Should be read: First Rabbi Akiva. Then Ben Azzai. Ben Azzai attacks Akiva.
Ben Azzai finds Rabbi Akiva’s klal limited. Is it an extension of self love or is it an extension of humanity?
L’rayecha—refers to behavior. What you would want done to you, do to him.
Ben Azzai understands the neighbor to be you. What if you have self-hate? If it’s an extension of you, not a good source to build an ethic.
But could be, “he is like you—a representative of the human condition.”
“Don’t talk about what you yourself have not experienced. Stay with this nebuch religion called Judaism.”
This awareness of particular and universal—question is what happened to the God of Creation when He went to Sinai?
Fundamental philosophical issue is what happened to God? God wants to destroy world and then falls in love with Abraham and becomes a bloody, tribal God. We take God out of universal role and give him family role. That’s why Genesis is a family story.
Personhood of God by Yohanan Muffs. Psycho-dynamic study of God.
Most tragic pasuk in Bereishit: Lo osif l’kaleil et ha-adam… ki yetzer ha-adam.
“You just found out the people are that way? You created them!”
Heschel: All those who can’t understand God’s emotion in the Bible can’t understand the Bible.
In beginning God brought great expectations and then lowered the expectations. God is learning on the job. Maturing as he goes along.
Humanity of God is only thing Bible gives us.
What type of religious life does Rambam want? Love is based on knowledge and you can’t have knowledge.
“Ehyeh asher ehyeh…” I am in process. Who God is is still unfolding. Have we exhausted all images of God. Ehyeh says you haven’t.
Most serious theological issue you have to face is transition from Genesis to Exodus. From God who understands Sarah’s pain to warrior God who takes on kingdom of Egypt. So they’ll know I am God. How will they know it? Through my power.
Hazal understood that you cannot build theology on divine triumphalism. So they have to make new and different meanings of it.
Most crucial issue in modern Judaism is issue of siddur. Whole siddur has to be re-thought. How can we say the same things after Holocaust that we said before? Have to rethink religious language.
Are Jews at Sinai b’nai noach? If so, re’eicha include ben noach. But if not, question becomes who is re’eicha. (Read article by Akiva Simon from previous booklet)
(DH says: Read Hilkhot Rotzeich)
“I separated you from world so you could be Mine.” What does that mean?
“Those who hate God, I hate.”—issue of where do you draw lines.
13:13. Mitzvah to hate him. But Rambam is prepared to see person not just by his actions but by his beliefs. If you believe right you’re OK.
(But this has changed. Now essence is on religious behavior. This is why people aren’t up in arms about Habad. So they believe he’s the messiah? So what. They keep kosher.)
Hilkhot Avel, 14:2
Ben Zoma says getting it right re: God, is enough. That’s why he says Sh’ma Yisrael.
[Problem in our communities is that they’re disconnected from Torah. ]
AKIVA
Foundations of morality are normative connections in a community. For Rambam, re’eicha is someone you know. You learn to become an ethical person by living with your neighbor. That’s foundation out of which you build the ethical.
Meeting with re’eicha
Biggest problem of being rabbi is that you sacrifice your family for the congregation. Must demythologize the rabbi. There’s no role. You’re just a teacher. You’re a shnooky teacher. Start learning to be ethical by starting to learn to listen to your children. Before you embrace Darfur, there are children in your home who need your love. Ethics of intimacy. Relational intimacy creates ethical personality. There is a running away from intimacy so we gravitate to abstract ideas.
But we need to focus on logic of intimacy.
Election of Israel can be understood by this logic. You don’t make love to a universal woman. You make love to a particular person. Cannot be intimacy without particularity.
Rabbi Akiva challenges you to enter into a love relationship based on intimacy.
Ben Azzai wants you to transcend the personal. See the world through God’s eyes. He doesn’t trust individual and wants powerful corrective—every human being is beloved by God. For him this is the ground to build ethical world.
When Rambam talks about love he talks about love in behavioral terms.
[? About Akiva—how can he leave his wife for so long? DH answers: Not just him. She wanted him to achieve as well. Takes 2 to tango.]
[Hagadah: Shfoch hamatcha and then 5 minutes later we say Nishmat kol chai]
Danger of intense relationships is that they can become either avenues of embracing world or avenues of distancing self from world.
Intimacy becomes possessive. When child says, “Mommy do you love me?” Doesn’t want to hear, “I love all my children.” Wants to know that he in his particularity is loved.
Ben Azzai’s teaching is important because it’s the corrective for the dark side of intimacy.
Rambam, Hilkhot Avadim
Labor must be meaningful. Your creative process is not who you are.
These halakhot give you a refined sense of what the relationship is.
But then you get to chapter 9, 8
Halakha allows it but compassion and reason want you to behave differently. What a critique of halakha! Halakha doesn’t include these things? Din is not midat hasidut? Din is not rachamim?
This shows us that halakhah is incomplete and inadequate. If midat hasidut wouldn’t allow this, how can din be this way?
Look what he does: He poskins that way and then says “no” to it. Doesn’t allow Jew to be defined by halakha. But the Rambam fails. He doesn’t overturn the law. Why doesn’t he? What were the constraints? Why didn’t he? He’s bound by halakhic precedent. He can’t move beyond it. He is only able to offer alternative ways of dealing with it.
[“That’s why I say that all the agunot should marry and flood Jerusalem with mamzerim!”]
Then Rambam quotes Ben Azzai by quoting Job. I can’t act towards the Caananite slave in a certain way b/c of Job.
Then he says cruelty is a pagan quality. Whole foundation here of your faith posture is how you act toward non-Jew. “The way we feel compassionate for every human-being defines our faith.” If you are connected to God then you cannot feel disconnected from any other being. Here the particular halakhah doesn’t manifest the heart of the tradition. Shimon says: This halakhah is Caananite. There are details of the system and then there is the overall gestalt, the spirit of it all, that is not always embodied in every detail.
Torah is supposed to create a certain kind of mensch. How does Torah shape an ethical personality. To be ben Torah is to manifest a certain kind of gestalt.
By doing it this way, Rambam accomplishes something amazing. He shows us his critique of system.
Moshe Halbertal – Great Texts in Moral Philosophy
1. Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics
2. Kant- Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
3. Utilitarians- Mills (greatest good for greatest number, etc)
4. Nietzche- Genealogy of Morals (post-modern)
Study these systems and point to connections to Jewish thought and halacha
Speculate about what halacha would say about some of their claims
Aristotle – overview of main arguments
His conception of ethics- not about rules governing our behavior. His question is What sort of life is worthy of pursuing? Philosophy is a lifestyle.
Cultivation of mood, habits, way to appear in the world. For Kant, moral philosophy is much more narrow, about rules of behavior.
In inquiring about what good life is about, accd to Aristotle, we think of the telos of human life is happiness (not the mental sensation of pleasure, which is of limited capacity in most of us and is a dead end b/c we get bored from things that give us pleasure and leads to self destruction) but rather happiness is finding activities which are an aim in and of themselves (not goal oriented). Happiness is this kind of well-being.
When we look at human actions- they are organized as aims. I.e. the art of training horses is an instrument for war. The act of war is an instrument of well being of police. The police are instruments for the well-being of the citizenry. There is a hierarchy of the aims.
When something is GOOD, it fulfills its function. A good car, is a comfortable, gets from point A to point B, smooth. So what is the function of being HUMAN? Then we can answer what a good human being.
Accd to Aristotle: There is an essence of a human being. Our mark is, as distinguished from other creatures, are our capacity to judge between good and bad and between true and false. The fulfillment of human life is to manifest that capacity in our lives: to live a life of reason, to be devoted to deepening that capacity for judgment and reason is the ultimate good. NOTE: category of duty/obligation is not present in Aristotle. Ethics is not about our capacity for self-denial, or sacrifice for others. Ethics is about developing what is most noble in us.
Description of character. Moral life is the training of the whole personality of a person. A moral action flows from one’s character- not the will imposing on one’s. Giving charity in a good human is not painful for him. Moral life is about character formation. Life watching a dancer do a complicated dance and it looks effortless, it flows from her. (MAIMONIDES struggles with this- he says ethical life is the imposition of the will over the instincts to respond to one’s obligation. For RMBM/halacha greatness in moral life is our ability, no matter our desire/feeling is to CONQUER our desires in the name of principles/duties.)
What is character and what is project of character training for Aristotle?
1. Sensations- our capacity to experience pain or pleasure- raw, share this trait w/dogs
2. Emotions- are far more complex than sensations. Emotions are cognitive and propositional. If I am fearful, it is because I have a belief that there is a danger to me. And there is an attachment experienced by my fear- i.e. the thing I am afraid of is important to me. Differentiation of emotions is about the attachments associated with them. Fear is generated by an external attachment. Guilt is generated by an internal attachment, I feel I did something that makes me feel guilty.
RAMBAM- ethics as embodied by the WISE MAN as refuah hanefashot- therapeutic. Neurosis arises from wrong set of beliefs (overly worried that your car is not safe in the parking lot) or wrong set of attachments (stinginess as over-attachment to wealth).
Aristotle- there are proper attachments. Love is the more worthy of attachments. What is worthy of loving in the world? (Stoics pre-empt loss by removing attachment from everything out of your control- only thing we are in control of is our moral self.)
3. Dispositions- habit of experiencing a certain emotion. Way we make an emotion wired into our character.
If moral life is about character formation, construction of virtues, and not about constructing rules of behavior, then what is character? Do we have a full picture of what a person of character should look like? What are his virtues? Moods? Dispositions?
There is a religious mood that tends toward melancholy. Happiness is seen as form of boundary expansion/release. And so you need to control frivolity.
However, too much depression can cause a person to suffer from apathy.
Interesting what Chasidut did to counteract/react this mood- on the other end of spectrum.
Aristotle attacks the virtue of humility (anavah) seriously.
Modern history of Zionism- many issues that we talk about- One that we don’t always talk about is attack on Jewish masculinity of old. Character of Israeli man is not Woody Allen. Macho culture. Assertiveness, emotional responses, way he walks, talks, posture all reflects this.
Clash between duty and overcoming inclination/flaw of self – is part of Jewish ethics
Not part of Aristotle’s concept.
What is our ideal character in Judaism? What is our set of ideal virtues? Differentiation between nobility and piety. Cultivation of civic virtue in Aristotle- versus other worldliness (how difficult civic virtue/acculturation within a Jewish culture which is always suspect/outside of the norms.)
Another clash between Aristotle and Judaism
Golden mean (formulated also by RAMBAM) – there is a middle ground between every extreme.
Courage is someone who takes risk for the proper goal. But not an impetuous risk taker and not a person paralyzed from taking a risk for a vital concern.
Generosity is the middle ground between overspending and stinginess.
Tempered person is the middle between apathetic and gluttonous.
[Problem for Aristotle is that the Golden mean is somewhat subjective. The virtuous path may not be courageous, maybe courageous is the extreme to fearful and cautious is the middle ground.]
If the mean is a rule of thumb is the proper way, then what do you do with a category like piety? What is piety if it is not about going above and beyond? Chassid is an extremist- a religious bohemian reacting against the religious bourgeois. Are they not virtuous?
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July 23, 2007
It is hard to believe that the month is rapidly coming to a close! So much left to do. We just got back from the reading of Aicha (The Book of Lamentations) to begin the Fast of Tisha B'Av . We went to the Tayelet - the beautiful promenade that overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem. There more than 600 people gathered to begin the saddest day of the Jewish year and sit on the ground and read the Book of Lamentations.
It was a beautiful Service conducted by our friends from Moreshet Avraham – the Mesorti (Conservative) Congregation in Talpiyot. But, it is so hard to be sad on Tisha B’av here in Jerusalem. We read the ancient words of Jeremiah who was an eye witness to the destruction of The Temple more than 2500 years ago and they just don’t apply any more. Aicha Yashva Badad – How the city sits desolate…”
But the city no longer sits desolate – she is alive once again – Jerusalem is no longer destroyed – it is rebuilt and vibrant and alive!! The contrast between the words we chant and the reality that we see with our eyes is stark and confusing.
As we sat on the floor – children were playing in the grass and running and making too much noise behind us. I was about to say something – when I realized that the contrast was precisely the point. These children and their laughter were the reality of a Jerusalem that was filled with life – not the words we were reading in our books.
It was hard to keep my eyes in the book – my gaze kept wandering to the drama that was playing out in front of me – it was one that was much more compelling and certainly more uplifting.
Yesterday I took a break from my studies to attend the Hazkara – the memorial service at the grave of Michael Levin in the Military Cemetery at Mt. Herzel.
Michael some of you may remember was a young soldier who had made aliyah from Philadelphia and was serving with the Paratroopers in the War in Lebanon last summer when he was tragically killed. Michael was a student of mine at Camp Ramah – I remember a few years ago – the last time I saw him – when we bumped into him in downtown Jerusalem and he told us with great joy and excitement that he was entering the army in a few weeks. He was so excited – it was for him a fulfillment of a dream and for him it was clearly the great accomplishment of his life. We gathered at his grave – family, friends, Israelis and Americans -- his fellow soldiers and friends.
We said the memorial prayers and closed with the singing of Hatikvah. This is a land of so many contradictions – the highs are so high and the lows are so terribly low. I hugged his parents – what could I say. There are occasions too deep for words.
If you would like to know more about Michael you can check it out at: http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=2500
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July 17, 2007
Saturday afternoon we took a walk over to David’s Citadel Hotel and met up with Susan and Alan Zelman who are here on Chancellor Eisen’s trip from the Jewish Theological Seminary. They seem to be having a remarkable experience. We sat in on Seudah Shelishit and met Ari Alon – a good friend of Chancellor Eisen’s from his days back at Oxford. Ari is a formerly Orthodox Jew who refuses to call himself Secular and sees himself as deeply religious and as an author – is attempting to re-appropriate traditional language and sources independent of the existing Orthodox establishment in Israel.
It is fascinating to see Israelis who do not have the wide varieties of Judaism that we do in the States – struggle to find expression here in Israel. The available choices are all or nothing – Orthodoxy or Secularism – and more and more Israelis are rejecting these limiting alternatives and seeking to find ways on their own to express their Jewish identity and their Jewishness.
After Shabbat was over we took a long walk with the Zelmans and showed them our apartment, our neighborhood and we ended up having coffee at a new Aroma that is located in a new shopping mall that overlooks the walls of the old city. It was a beautiful site and a pleasant moment we shared together – but somehow the words: “a new shopping mall that overlooks the walls of the old city…” sticks in my throat. Oh well – progress.
On Sunday, after our studies we took a fascinating trip to Hebron. Hebron is a complicated and troubling place. It is the site of conflicting emotions, conflicting claims and enormous tension. Hebron is one of the four ancient cities in Israel (can you name the other three?) – it contains the traditional site of the burial places of all of our patriarchs and matriarchs save one. (Can you name the one?) It has deep religious and historical connections to the Jewish people.
In 1929 there was a small Jewish community that was living there that was brutally wiped out in the Arab Riots – men, women and children were attacked, raped and tortured. In 1967 Jews returned to Hebron – but it was settled by the very right wing settler movement who had a clear ideological goal of establishing the greater Israel on all the conquered lands. While the politicians of Israel have wrestled with the rights of the settlers – over the years – the army has been left with the responsibility to defend them. Defending a small Jewish presence in the midst of a large and hostile Arab community is not an easy challenge. Whether Jews should be in Hebron at all – is a political debate – the army does not enter into such debates – it’s job is simple and straightforward – to protect Jews.
But the accomplishment of that goal is far from simple and straightforward. Armies are good at fighting wars – but as we in America are learning in Iraq – they are not designed for maintaining civil order. When armies become police forces trouble quickly follows. We were taken on a tour of Hebron by a group called: Shevirat HaShtika – “Breaking the Silence”. These are former Israeli soldiers who are troubled by what they were called upon to do during the course of their training and Reserve Duty. Shevirat HaShtika was formed as a kind of therapy to enable them to talk about these things – what power does to you when Palestinian civilians are under your command. They claim not to have any particular political agenda but merely to sensitize Israel to the realities of occupation and the price of controlling another people.
The problem that everybody recognizes is that there are no good solutions. Israel has tried negotiations, it has tried separation – and now who is there to talk to, even should they decide to talk?? They are a people without any good options – they don’t even have many bad options. But Hebron is a reminder of this situation at its most difficult. The Jews here hate the Arabs, and the Arabs here hate the Jews and each will give you a long litany of reasons as to why the other is at fault and should be removed from the situation – and the Israeli Army is left to try and keep them from killing each other on a daily basis!!
Our learning continued on Monday and Tuesday we are studying the foundation’s of Philosophy: Aristotle, Kant and Nietzche with Moshe Halbertol – but we also are looking at some of the great Jewish thinkers and seeing how these classic philosophers influenced their works. In the mornings we continued out text studies with David Hartman himself.
Tuesday night Edy got tickets for the IBL – the newly formed Israel Baseball League. We traveled to the Yarkon Field outside Petach Tikvah to see the Modiin Miracle play the Petach Tikvah Pioneers. We set our expectations as low as possible and we actually had a wonderful time.
The baseball is hardly even of a minor league quality but still it was baseball! When we first arrived we were shocked more by the crowd than the players. They were almost all Americans and mostly frum. All the announcements were in English!! The few Israelis who were there had stumbled onto the game because they met one of the players in the bar the night before and he gave them a ticket.
Many of the Americans who were there – likewise had some connection to the players: “Put in David Friedman!!” When we asked who was David Friedman – they explained it was their cousin. They had been to several games and hadn’t seen him play once! Total attendance at today’s game? Well we were told not to expect much. Someone who had been at a previous game told us there were only 50 people! At our game – I don’t think there were 50! But this meant that everybody got at least one foul ball to take home – that was until they needed them back for the homerun derby. They play 7 innings and if they are tired after 7 instead of going extra innings they have a home run derby – but at this late point in the game they had run out of balls – so they had to ask everyone to return the foul balls they had collected so they could finish the game!
In the end the Modiin Miracle (my team) won and I got a ball (one I purchased) autographed by the coach of the Petach Tikvah Miracle – Ken Holtzman and by the coach of the Modiin Miracle – Art Shamsky!
Wednesday was a jam packed day as we left early for a tiyul up to the Upper Gallile.
Soon we were back on the road. The agenda was to see the results of last years Lebanon War on the north, speak to the residents and get a feel for what was going on. The most remarkable part of this experience was that we had a meeting with Rachel Rabin – sister of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin z”l. She was one of the founders of the kibbutz Menara that we visited in 1943.
Notice the picture of her brother -- the former Prime Minister -- in the background. Can you see the resemblence?
Situated on the border with Lebanon—Kibbutz Menara really suffered during last year's war but it is a remarkable place and Rachel is one of the true Israeli pioneers. She showed us a film from 1943 of what this hill looked like when they arrived with nothing than their young backs and an incredible spirit – and we then got to see what they built over the years – not only a kibbutz but a country. She spoke honestly about the challenges for the future and here hopes and dreams as well as her frustrations. It was an incredible exchange.
Alan
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