The final few days have been no less remarkable than the previous few weeks. Our last week of studies included classes with Donniel Hartman in the morning and Melila Hellner-Eshed in the afternoons.
One of the most interesting aspects of our final days was the inclusion of a session with Christian leaders. The Hartman Institute has just begun a 10 day Christian Leadership Conference where Hartman, in conjunction with the American Jewish Committee, has invited a number of the leading Christian thinkers of various Protestant and Catholic denominations for a study mission in Jerusalem. The goal is not dialogue but study and immersion in ancient Jewish texts and contemporary Israeli society. They are a fascinating group and one morning we had a chance to study Talmud with them in Hevruta. I was paired up with the Rev. Dr. Cynthia M Cambell who is the president of the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. She is the first woman to be elected president of a Presbyterian seminary in the United States. She recently published a book entitled: "A Multitude of Blessings: A Christian Approach to Religious Diversity." I also had the privilege to study with the Rev. Dr. Douglas Mills who is the Associate General Secretary for the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns for the United Methodist Church located in Manhattan. We studied two Talmudic texts together -- one from the Tractate of Kiddushin 39b which explores the age old question of why the righteous suffer and the wicked flourish. We also studied one of the most fascinating sections from the tractate of Avodah Zarah 54b. Our Christian friends had never studied Talmud before and remarked that there was nothing like this in their tradition: A text that raises argumentation to an art form and feels no need for resolution but is satisfied just to allow a multiplicity of opinions interact with each other -- we had a wonderful time. There is nothing like studying together to open a relationship and encourage a deep and honest conversation.
And now it has come to an end.
How do I begin to capture the scope of what I have been involved in these past few weeks? Does the 110 typed pages of notes give you an idea? Or maybe the 225 hours of sessions we were involved in give you another glimpse. How do I share with you the countless conversations with colleagues and scholars, Israelis on the street and opinion makers in various fields from the military to the arts? It has been a remarkable experience that will nourish me (and you) for months to come.
On Wednesday evening we gathered in the apartment of one of our colleagues Rabbi Sam Gordon from Chicago for a wrap up. Sam and his wife are staying in the Guest House at Mishkenot Shaananim. It is one of the most magnificent places in Jerusalem. Originally built by Sir Moses Montifiore in the 1800's to encourage Jewish settlement outside the walls of the old city -- today it has been remodeled and serves as a center for the arts encouraging artists from around the world to use Jerusalem as their inspiration. We sat on his balcony, overlooking the walls of the Old city and with Jerusalem as our backdrop and our inspiration we spoke of the remarkable time we shared together.
We have become quite a close group of some 26 rabbis of all denominations. We respect each other, we have learned from each other and we have developed that special love that can come only from sharing and caring and studying together. We had a wonderful evening. We laughed, shared stories and a lot of wine and scotch and then embraced each other with the knowledge that, God willing, our journey together will continue. In October our video conference learning sessions will start up again, in January we return to Jerusalem for a week of intensive study and next summer we all hope and pray to be back together to rejoice in the special privilege of studying Torah together in Jerusalem.
So as things wrap up here in Jerusalem, I look forward to seeing all our good friends back in Roslyn and I am returning renewed and refreshed and excited about the opportunity to continue all of the wonderful and exciting things we have planned for this coming year. I hope you will be inspired by my studies to renew your commitment to Jewish learning. I hope that the joys I experienced in learning and praying will be inspire you to join in our dynamic community of learning and prayer and fellowship at TBS. I hope to see you soon.
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So much to share. The days fly by each one packed from morning to evening. Rather than talk about my courses this week, I thought I might use this entry to refer to some of the many other activities that are always swirling around and occupying our time.
For example I am sure you have all been following the events surrounding the return of the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. It was two years ago, July 12, 2006 that Hezbollah attacked a reserve patrol along the northern border but because they took their bodies it was not known for sure if they were alive or dead.
In many ways this attack precipitated the second Lebanon War that had such catastrophic results for Israel. It was their capture that caused us at TBS to start saying the prayer for soldiers that we recite every Shabbat morning as part of our davening.
And it came to an end this past Wednesday when all Israel watched the live television picture of Hezbollah announcing that if you want to know the fate of your boys? And then they placed two coffins on the ground. It was a sad moment, a tragic moment in the life of modern Israel - and it was played out over 24 hours culminating in their funerals on Thursday. It was heart wrenching - but as usual it was a privilege to be here and see how this country and this people deals with its heartbreak. The comments of Karnit Goldwasser who spoke at her husband's funeral -- they had been married less than a year - and the clips from their wedding video are interspersed with his funeral on Israeli TV.
And now begins the debate -- was it worth it? was it the right thing to do? Israel traded 199 bodies and 5 live Lebanese prisoners -- to get back the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Israel is now going through that internal soul searching that it does so well. The commentators are giving their opinions and the people are debating and something very remarkable is happening. There right in front of my eyes a nation is changing, maturing, learning, reacting.
I don't know why but it just doesn't seem to happen that way in America. There are events, there are those who speak out -- but maybe because we are so much larger -- you just don't see it happening -- the wheels turning, the pained looks, the thoughtful responses the anger and sadness that gives way to understanding and growth. Here it is just so much more -- real.
What makes this country so remarkable is that it does learn. It grows. Yes, it makes mistakes -- and some of them have been tragic. But, it rarely sweeps them under the rug, it almost never ignores them or denies them -- that is not what they do here. Here, like father Jacob so long ago -- in an act that got his name changed to Yisrael -- here they wrestle.
Wrestling is still what Israel does best -- they wrestle with each other, but most of all, they wrestle with themselves.
Two scenes played out on the TV screen this past week -- on the other side of the border Nasralloah gave triumphant speeches how they won. They danced and they celebrated a victory that brought them nothing. And here on our side --we cried and we mourned the funeral of our two boys who finally came home. There was a lot of crying here in Israel this week and a lot of sad conversation, some heated debates and a lot of love and support. I am glad that I am on this side of the border -- on our side.
For a wonderful example of the kind of soul searching that is going on here take a look at this Danny Gordis piece
On Wednesday night we took a walking tour of the Nahlaot section of Jerusalem with Benjy Levin the grandson of "The Tzadik of Jerusalem" Reb Aryeh Levin. It was a remarkable evening of stories and a glimpse into a Jerusalem that is no more. We were introduced to the characters who walked these streets almost some 60 years ago. Sinners and saints and personalities that were quite remarkable. Like the milkman Reb Sholem who was so pious that he was disturbed by the housewives of Rehavia who were coming out to purchase their milk in their nightgowns -- so he dipped his Streimel --his hat in herring brine and smelled so bad -- they left the bottles on the doorstep with a note rather than coming out to meet him.
On Thursday we took a tiyul, a trip down to Qumran on the Dead Sea. We were escorted by Hanan Eshel a remarkable archeologist who specializes in the Dead Sea Scrolls. You can read more about him here
We spent an entire day learning about the Qumran sect and one of the things that we learned is that Qumran in the summer is VERY HOT! Having barely survived our trek up to a few of the caves where the scrolls were found and exploring the community in which they lived more than 2000 years ago -- we were bussed up to the Israel Museum where we were met by Adolfo Roitman the Director of the Shrine of the Book that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls. You can actually see what we saw at: Israel Museum Shire of the Book web site as they have put many of their precious texts online.
There has been much in the news lately about this period of history from another one of our teachers at the Hartman Institute -- Israel Knohl. You may have seen the article in the New York Times and it has created a lot of discussion and conversation here.
We also managed to take in a couple of movies as part of the Jerusalem film Festive -- a Czech Film called "Empties", that was very cute and a Jordanian film called "Recycle" that was very troubling.
And remember, all of this was just a quick walk through of what has been going on this past week outside of my classes!!!!
Now we are preparing for Shabbat. I forgot to mention that last week we had the pleasant surprise of bumping into Billy and Rachel Goldstein, Jacob and Morris in shul! We were all davening at Shira Hadasha -- what a treat. Tonight we are having some friends over for dinner. Tomorrow we will be davening at a shul called Yediya and having lunch with Rabbi Joel and Barbara Roth.
So Shabbat Shalom and I look forward to continuing our conversation soon.
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I hope you believe me when I begin each entry with an apology for not having written more or more often. My intentions are honorable-- it is just that when I get a free moment the idea of sitting in front of the computer and typing is, well not the first thing I am eager to do.
So remember how I said I would be meeting a friend at 7:45 AM to explore a new shul in Jerusalem? Well it may have been a new shul for me - but it is hardly a new shul. Located on the Via Delarosa in the middle of the Arab Shuk in the Old City -- this shul was founded by the pre-'48 Jewish community that lived in the Old City at that time. It was lost from 1948-1967 when the Old City was under Jordanian Rule but was reestablished in 1967 when Israel retook the Old City. It has been meeting faithfully since then. It is quite a walk to get there -- from The German Colony where I live, down past The Sultan's Pool, up to the walls of the Old City, through the winding streets of the Christian and then Arab Quarters of the Old City -- to this wonderful, small shul. The attendance was small but the spirit was great. After services my friend took me to climb up a ladder to the roof of the shul with a fantastic view of the Old City. There before me was the chaos of the Old City -- Christian Pilgrims singing and walking the Via Delarosa, Arab merchants hawking their wares, Jews making their way to and from the Kotel, the smells and sights and sounds were overwhelming.
We then walked back to our apartment, and I was back home at 10:30AM! Just a little different from my usual Shabbat morning routine in Roslyn.
The classes continue to go well and each one is a new opportunity to explore new ideas with wonderful scholars. In the course of the week I studied with Melila Hellner-Eshed on "Ways of Remembering Sinai" and Rachel Korazim on "Holocaust Narratives and their Impact on Contemporary Jewish Identities." Rani Jaeger led a fascinating session on "Megilat Ha'azmaut (The Israeli Declaration of Independence): The Construction and Deconstruction of the Israeli Narrative". Doniel Hartman gave a wonderful lesson on "The Rabbinic Narratives of God and in the afternoons I studied with Moshe Halbertal four sessions on "Law and Narrative in the Talmud." And these are just the day sessions -- our evenings have been filled with a lecture by Doniel Hartman on "Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron -- Competing Foundational Narratives for Understanding Modern Israel." And anther night we saw the movie "Beaufort" and were led in a conversation by Stuart Schoffman - film critic and journalist. Last Monday we took a tiyul -- a walking tour of some of the neighborhoods of Jerusalem. We sat by one of the earliest apartments in Rechavia and our guide, Dr. Elan Ezrachi, Director of Yad Ben Zvi read a beautiful piece written around 1903 of a man who took his children to this very spot and told them he had just purchased this land and this is where he would build his new home -- he described the desolate scene of what was then an area filled with rocks and thorns. He then proceeded to tell us that the apartment we were looking at was the building he built and the man was his grandfather -- and he and his children live there to this day! It was quite remarkable - how the old and the new and the ancient and the contemporary- how history and reality intertwine at every step in this remarkable place.
We saw the Walk's when they were here and I am trying to reach some of our kids who are here on Pilgrimage.
We had a wonderful conversation with Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, California on some of the challenges facing the contemporary American synagogue -- such as how to change a crowd of people into a community. I think some of his ideas jive very nicely with the initiatives we are taking with our Legacy Heritage Grant/ Mentors program that Gila is developing and I suspect you will hear much more about this on the High Holy Days.Now, I have a short break before returning for my afternoon session with Melila Hellner-Eshed on "Images of God" -- I will be using some of this material in my Herbert Tarr Adult Ed course this fall which I am calling "Talking About God".
Tonight Alick Isaacs is teaching a session entitled: "How Do We Get from Rational Learning to Spiritual Experience." And each morning this week we are studying with David Hartman himself on the topic of "Messianism".
So, my days are really quite full with learning and the real joy is the 25 or so other rabbis I share this with. We have formed a special bond in this learning and our conversations are as fruitful as the courses themselves. These are a remarkable group of dedicated rabbis who work tirelessly on behalf of Jews and Judaism and it is truly a privilege to study with them and get to know them.
OK -- enough for now. I look forward to seeing you all in a few weeks -- until then -- check back and I hope to have more details soon.
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Happy 4th of July -- I know this is a day of barbecues and fireworks back home -- here it is just another Friday!
The biggest challenge of this blog is finding time to write it! My schedule continues to be quite full.
Take yesterday for example. I was at the Hartman Institute at 8:30 AM -- as usual, and was treated to a shiur-- a lesson by David Hartman himself. Each morning it is a different one of the great scholars of the Institute-- the day before it was Yisrael Knohl, and before that Moshe Halbertal.
Hartman's topic was: Abraham and Moses as the key to understanding Maimodean philosophy. He opened with a few introductory remarks and then we studied from 8:45 am to 10:30 in hevruta. Hevruta for those who have never experienced it, is a unique form of traditional Jewish study -- perfected over the ages. It is two (or more) people who wrestle with a text by studying it in dialogue with each other. Yesterday my hevrutot partners were Rabbi Neil Zuckerman from White Plains and formerly our TBS intern, Rabbi David Steinhardt of B'nai Torah in Boca Raton and Rabbi Neil Cooper of Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnwood, PA. We studied sources form Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed and his Mishneh Torah.At 10:30 am we took a break for a 45 minute session which they call Havurot ( not to be confused with hevruta but all havurot come form the root Haver -- which means friend and describes some form of fellowship). These havurot, are groups of 6-10 rabbis who talk about various topics from current events to personal issues in the rabbinate.
At 11:15 we reconvene in the Beit Midrash where David Harman gave his lecture which was based on the sources we had been grappling with for the past couple of hours. In this particular case his premise was that Abraham is for Maimonides the ideal model of philosophic spirituality in Judaism whereas Moses is the model of halachik or legal spirituality. The greatest halachik mind in Jewish history (Maimonides) -- believes (Hartman contends) that halacha is not enough. Maimonides begins with Abrahamic spirituality according to Hartman because - the hero of the Bible for the greatest legal authority in Jewish history is Abraham, even more than Moses the lawgiver! (well I thought it was interesting)
The lecture concluded by 1:00 and we broke for lunch until 2:00. From 2:00 -3:30 we had our afternoon electives -- I have been taking a wonderful course with Noam Zion (many of you are familiar with him from his delightful Passover Haggadah "A Different Night"). He taught a course titled:" A Troubling Narrative -- Our Ancestors-- Oy! Avraham, Sarah & Hagar. You will probably hear more bout this as I think it will make a wonderful adult education course -- maybe for Herbert Tarr this fall (see I haven't forgotten you Florence Meyer)
At 3:30 we reconvened for our peer study -- each one of us in the Rabbinic Leadership Institute has to teach a session and this one was taught by Rabbi Jonah Layman of Olney, MD on how to make our shuls more inclusive -- reaching out to those on the fringes -- the handicapped, mentally disabled, etc. This finished at 5:00 giving us just time to run out and catch a chartered bus that was taking us to Tel Aviv for the evening .
And what an evening it was. We were treated to a most unusual experience at a unique dinner theater called Nalaga'at -- which is Hebrew for "Please touch!" There are two restaurants on the premise one is called Café Kapish, where we ate, that is fully staffed by deaf waiters and waitresses and the other is called "Blackout" which is a pitch black room where you order and are served dinner by blind waiters and waitresses. The challenge is to get you out of your world and give you a sense of the world that those who are deaf and blind live in. Following dinner we saw a fascinating play entitled "Not by bread alone…" where all the actors are either blind, deaf or both!Billed as the only playhouse of its kind in the world, employing deaf and bind actors , -- it was an amazing experience. Not only was the subject of the play fascinating but when you contemplate what had to be done to coordinate, communicate and produce a play where all the actors are deaf and blind -- well it was quite remarkable. The simple challenge of a "blind actor" who must act on cue and create facial responses he or she has never seen before -- well, if you think about it, it is quite remarkable. The theme of the entire evening is to challenge you to get out of your own comfort zone and begin to imagine what the world is like for those who navigate it day in and day out without being able to see or hear!
Then it was back on the bus and we got back to Jerusalem after midnight. So as you can see, my days are quite full and quite remarkable.
Of course there has been much discussion revolving round the pigua -- the terrorist act where a Palestinian from East Jerusalem drove a bulldozer into an Egged bus killing 6 people. It is still not clear whether this was the isolated act of a disturbed man or a coordinated act of terror -- but regardless the dead are dead and the tragedy of innocent people going about their daily routine being at risk is a terrible feature of life here in Israel.
The fact is that a number of features of Israeli security, including the Security Barrier - have reduced these events dramatically. But that is small comfort to the few who still die. The real talk here is not about terror. The attitude regarding the Palestinians, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank -- is remarkably fatalistic. Israelis no longer have much hope that there are any real solutions in the foreseeable future -- but they feel these are problems they can live with and that can be managed.
The problem that keeps them up at nights is Iran. If the prospect of a nuclear Iran is problematic for us as Americans -- for Israelis is completely terrifying and therefore unacceptable. More and more you hear that Israel has resigned itself that no one else is prepared to do anything to prevent a nuclear Iran -- and that it will be left to Israel to prevent it from happening. For many Israelis the question is not so much "if" but "when."
They also are not confident in the current cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza and imagine that when it breaks down they will have to go in with troops and pacify it once again. Here too most Israelis speak in terms of "when" rather than "if."
But Israel is nothing, if not a land of contrast. One moment you are debating security the next moment you are dancing at a wedding. Last Tuesday, Edy and I went to the wedding of the son of good friends (and colleague) Rabbi Neil & Lori Cooper. Their son, Yoni, made aliyah last year, is currently serving in the Paratroopers and married a lovely young woman who was raised in Jerusalem.
Israeli weddings are very different affairs from their American counterparts -- starting with the fact that there were 400 people there. (Howie Braverman would love it here!) Everything was outdoors (no chance of rain till Sukkot) and the music was incredible -- including Neshama Carlebach singing as the couple marched down the aisle. It was a delightful evening and a nice chance to catch up with old friends.
So, now you are up to date. Today, we are busy shopping and getting ready for Shabbat. Things are noticeably more expensive here from last year. The combination of inflation and the weak dollar has made things 30-40% more expensive from what they were last year. And while you complain about gas -- it went up 7 shekels (more than two dollars) in one jump last week (making it $9-$10 a gallon).
Tonight we are invited for dinner at Rabbi Doniel Hartman's house, tomorrow I am walking with a friend to Services in the Old City - lest you think I am taking things too easy here -- we are meeting at 7:45 AM for our walk to shul -- so no complaints from those of you who come waltzing in after 10!So have a nice Shabbat and I hope to write again soon -- maybe I will even remember to take my camera and include some pictures. Until then: Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.
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It is wonderful to be back in Israel. We arrived on Thursday, with barely time to get settled in time for Shabbat and yet in the brief time we have been here we have managed to: try and catch up on our sleep, attend the funeral of the wife of my revered teacher Rabbi David Weiss Halivni, had our first shopping trip to the shuk and my favorite bakery, had shabbat dinner with friends at which Lynn Shusterman ,renowned Jewish philanthropist and one of the founders of the incredible Birthright program was in attendance, attended shul and celebrated the aufruf of a dear friends son whose wedding we, God willing, will attend on Tuesday, strolled the streets of Jerusalem and now are ready to begin our first Sunday in town. Wow! Things haven't even started and I am running at full speed!
Israel is a country that operates at the extremes -- everything is done with an intensity that is exhausting. We have been here only a couple of days yet have already been immersed in arguments about religion, politics and the economy. We debated whether Israel's celebration at 60 was a good thing or a waste of money that could have better been spent on the many challenges that confront contemporary life. We have had discussions over whether the major challenge to contemporary Israel is religious, political, educational or economic! There was even a gay pride parade on Friday -- which brought with it its whole set of arguments - from "Why not?" to "Why here in Jerusalem? -- Let them march in Tel Aviv where they belong!" And my program doesn’t even begin until Monday -- yes, these have just been casual conversations with friends and people on the street! What a country. Even the graffiti here is educational. On a wall is scribbled the familiar: am yisrael hai - "The nation of Israel lives!" To which someone appended the word: baseret - in movies. I did not understand until someone explained that the expression hai baseret -- to live in the movies - has the connotation of saying you are living in a dream world, in a fantasy world. So on the one hand you have the proud affirmation that Israel lives -- and the rebuttal -- in a fantasy world! What a place. Even the security people have their opinions. When my son was asked the purpose of his visit - he replied that he would be attending the wedding of a close friend. The passport officer smiled and replied: od gever nisraf -- which roughly translates to "another one bites the dust" -- but is a play on an army term that with each passing day you can say -- "another day burnt" -- here applied to my son's friend. In what other country would the passport person feel free to comment on the purpose of your trip?
But there are new restaurants to explore, new shops to discover and so many more conversations to be had. There is a vitality here that is a bright as the middle eastern sun that just seems stronger and brighter here than anywhere else. Every step, every experience and every day is filled with this feeling that you are living in the best of times and the worst of times. Of the many challenges that beset this place, boredom is not among them.
So for now, we are here - exhausted, but thrilled to once again be part of the conversation.
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