Tzafon: The place of reckoning

We spent today in the North of Israel, "Tzafon" in Hebrew. The word literally means "hidden" or "place of mystery." Indeed much of the mystery of Israel is rooted here. Safed, the home of Lurianic Kabbalah and so much Jewish mysticism is here. This is the center of the Jewish quest for secret treasures embedded and hidden in the Torah. Safed is all about the mystery and the Divine hidden things that we seek to reveal.

It is also taught that things will be judged and great reckoning will take place here. The Bible tells us that in ancient Israel each tribe had its own assigned place. The tribe of Dan was given the coastal plain near today's Tel Aviv, but in the days of the Judges they moved north. During a period of civil unrest, the Danites marched through other tribal territories and took the northern land. Commentators point out that the word "Dan" is a cognate of the Hebrew word "to judge" (i.e. din, dayan). From a literary perspective the story of Dan's move to the North is a story about judgement - Israelites reckoning their difference with other Israelites, God closing some unfinished business with people, and nations versus each other in the Middle East.

This is the place where we started our touring today, at Tel Dan, a nature preserve and site of an important archeological dig. Here you can see the ruins of the ancient city of Dan and its gates. Here archaeologists found the only extra-biblical references to King David. Here we can see one of the springs that feeds the Jordan River. It's a beautiful nature preserve with hiking trails, pools, and flora ranging from eucalyptus to bamboo and all types of flowers.

But this is a place whose beauty belies its underlying tension and explosive potential (truly... there are volcanoes just over the Golan Heights, about 15 miles away). From here Israel staged its sorties and troop transports into Lebanon in the 80s and 90s. From here, Hizbollah kidnapped soldiers and drew Israel into prolonged conflict. From here, the most precious resource - water - can be drawn or dammed. As in those days when Dan first traversed the country, Israel today judges itself and reckons with its neighbors from here.

We hear that the Knesset voted to approve a swap: known terrorist murderers for Israeli soldiers, Regev and Goldwasser, and some information about Ron Arad, missing since the 1980s. We hear about possible negotiations with Syria and about giving back the Golan. This is a tense time and Israelis are conflicted. They want peace and they want security. They want their soldiers repatriated and they are willing to pay a steep price for them. They want water and all the luxuries that come with it (irrigation, lawns, cold drinks, etc.).

They look to the north like the ancient Dan ancestors. We can't make it by the coastal plain alone. We must go the place of mystery to the Tzafon. The country is moving and judgement moves with them. There will be a reckoning of Israel with its neighbors, with itself, with its water and resource supply. And no doubt, as in ancient days, that judgement will involve the Tzafon.

Photos uploaded today

See the new album with photos from today: Kibbutz HaGoshrin, Tel Dan nature preserve, the Golan Heights jeep tour, Safed. Follow the link at right under "web sites."

More later, after dinner....

"Af Al Pi Chen" - Nevertheless

Near the start of our trip, Roni, our tour guide said, "The country was not given to us on a silver platter." As we hit the road for touring in earnest today, that lesson came alive - in ancient and modern contexts. We started with the present and moved backward in time. The murder of Yitzhak Rabin at the hands of a Jewish, religious opponent of the Oslo Peace Process, marked a nadir in Israel's national life. Rabin had been the first prime minister who was a native born Israeli. He was, as Roni put it, truly seed of this land. Rabin had also survived nearly everything - the War for Independence, the Six Day War (he was the chief of army for it), the Intifadah and he came to understand that shaking Arafat's hand was more productive and important to peace than shooting him. Since Rabin's death, the Peace Process and Israeli society have never been the same. It really is a struggle.

At Haifa we stood below Mount Carmel site of the story of Elijah the Prophet. In biblical days, he stood against King Ahab and Queen Jezebel at the risk of death. They had forsaken the Traditions of the ancestors and worshipped the foreign god, Ba'al. Elijah challenged the prophets of Ba'al to a kind of holy duel - your god vs. mine - atop this very mountain. Elijah won but had to flee for his life. He fled to the desert where he encountered the "still small voice" of God. He wins a battle but the war is not over - nothing is handed to him on a silver platter.

From that base of Mt. Carmel, we then entered the museum of the Israeli navy. Its centerpiece is a display about the illegal immigration - the Ma'apilim Jewish partisans who ran the British blockades in the 1940s to bring Holocaust survivors to the Jewish homeland. The conditions were terrible. You may know the story of the Exodus ship and the internment camps on Cyprus. They looked a lot like concentration camps. We learned about this from a young woman (maybe in her mid-20s) who is an officer in the navy. Roni pointed out to us that she wore on her uniform the insignia indicating that she had served in the Lebanon war 2 years ago. She toured us around the grounds and through one of the ships that had been used to run the British blockades (now preserved in dry dock at the musuem). The ship we toured had entered service after the Exodus disaster when thousands of refugees had been repatriated to Europe by force. The ship's name captured the spirit of the ma'apilim efforts: Af Al Pi Chen, Hebrew for "Nevertheless." Even though the obstacles are great and history indicates we may lose many battles, NEVERTHELESS we will not be stopped. We will make our home in this land in peace, safety, and happiness. Nevertheless...

What commitments do you have in your life that you would name "Af Al Pi Chen?" What goals will you pursue with full vigor even against the greatest of doubts?

New Photos!

Check the online photo albums - I just uploaded a bunch on new pictures with captions from yesterday and today!

Yesterday was Shabbat so we had a free day to enjoy. 10 AM Torah study on the breakers extending onto the beach (just Lynn and I but a great study in a beautiful place). Lots of time at pools and beaches then dinner together at a local favorite Thai/Sushi place on Saturday night. Sunday wake up & check out then hit the road. Stop first at Rabin Square - the site of Yithak Rabin's assassination - in Tel Aviv. Then we drove straight up the Mediterranean coast: first to Caesaria then to Haifa then Rosh HaNikra and finally east and north from the coast to Kibbutz HaGoshrin, in a beautiful setting at the northern tip of Israel near Kiryat Shmona. We stay here two nights. Tomorrow we go to Banias Nature preserve and a jeep tour of the Golan and finish in Safed, a holy city and home of Jewish mysticism & artists' colony. Remember the link to the photo albums can always be found on the right side of the page - under the web site links.

It's Like a Bar Mitzvah!

There is something about being in Israel that makes mundane things feel like elevated Jewish experiences. Maybe it's the land itself. Every other road sign indicates not just a highway exit or street sign, they point to sages and places where the Torah came alive: Jaffa, where Jonah boarded the ship for his fateful trip or Rambam Street, named for the great medieval rabbi. Maybe it's being surrounded by Jews everywhere: British accented Jews sitting next to French speaking Jews, black Jews, tattooed and beach bound bikini wearing Jews, Americans, Jews running the country and Jews pumping sewage from a septic tank on the street behind the hotel. Maybe it was the way the restaurant owners broke into spontaneous "Siman Tov u'Mazel Tov" at our welcome dinner, grabbed Gunnar and danced him around the room. Maybe it was the Friday night dinner at Mishkenot Ruth Daniel with it's beautiful rooftop setting and 360 degree views of Tel Aviv and Jaffa. We shared Shabbat dinner with people from all over the world and, again, broke into dancing and song (see this video from another Shabbat dinner at the same place a few months ago and you'll see what it was like).

Or Maybe it's just all the food. Friday morning we enjoyed our first breakfast at the hotel. It's a lavish spread of everything you could want and many things you didn't even know could be served for breakfast: pickles, salad, chicken, a full cheese department, etc. Ernie walked by our table on his way to the espresso station with a huge smile on his face and captured the feeling: "It's like a bar mitvah!"





L to R: Mazel tov! it's a pastry table, a hot food station, a smoked and pickled fish station








Again with the food! ... at the Mediterranean salads station, at the fresh juice and smoothie bar, and (not shown) the omlette station, the espresso bar, cheese table, party favors (my kids received beach balls and flip flops)!

Ernie hit the nail on the head. It IS like a bar mitzvah. But it's even more than that. It's the best bar mitzvah you've ever attended and everyone's invited and you've never felt so at home.

Shabbat shalom!

To learn and to teach

Jewish tradition has a strong commitment to the concept of "b'shem omro" (lit. "in the name of the one who said it"). We also believe that we can learn something from everybody. While I expected to learn a lot on this trip, I was not sure how much our tour guide, Roni, could learn from me. I also did not yet realize an important lesson from a passing conversation with Cantor Clissold. But last night at dinner Roni was telling Elizabeth and me about his daughter's upcoming bat mitzvah. He had just told me about his son's bar mitzvah last year. We laughed at the fact that both Israeli and American kids learn their Torah portions by iPod (only that his son learned it in two weeks and ours usually take a little longer). I asked where he would hold his daughter's bat mitzvah. I didn't think that any traditional synagogues in Israel would allow such a thing. Roni explained that Israeli bat mitzvah celebrations are just parties. It was like an American sweet 16.

Then Cantor's lesson became clear. A few weeks ago she told me of a conversation she had with some friends. The man grew up traditional and does not believe girls - including his own daughter - should have a bat mitzvah (let alone serve as cantors!). Needless to say, Cantor Clissold did not agree. Later, Cantor Clissold told the woman she needed to make sure her daughter had a bat mitzvah. She told her how important it is for girls to the read from the Torah scroll; to know that - like their brothers - they have full access, equal ability, and high standing in the eyes of God and the Jewish people. Not bringing girls to the Torah when their brothers have or will do so, sends the opposite message.

So I told Roni that he needed to ensure his daughter read from the Torah scroll for her bat mitzvah. I told him to go to the Reform synagogue in Haifa and explain his situation. He protested that his wife's French Tunisian family didn't do these kinds of things and it wouldn't fit. I told him to go with just his immediate family for the Torah reading and have the party for everyone later. We can not allow Orthodoxy to dictate girls out off the bima. He told me that was a fight we could not win. I told him that we must win it. He asked me how. I answered that it happens when his daughter reads the Torah. He told me I was a missionary (as a compliment) and he liked the suggestion, "I had never even thought of it until you said it." Since I don't have daughters, I had never much considered the importance of the ritual for girls as different from boys. But now I see. I learned it from the Cantor and Roni learned it from me and someday his daughter will pass it on.

We're Here

Shalom from Israel! Our group has arrived safe and sound. I can report that everyone is happy and doing well - Rebecca, Gunnar, Kyle, Noah, Ariel, Sammy, Sarah, Alex have been smiling and enjoying themselves despite the long hours without sleep. The adults are not doing so bad either. We arrived on time (early in fact) to Ben Gurion airport, met our tour guide, Roni, collected our bags, and boarded our personalized MRT bus. After a quick stop in Jaffa, we went to the hotel to enjoy the 5 S's (Swim, sun, snack, sleep, and whatever personal "s" was needed... for me it was "shower"). To the right ("under check out these websites") you'll find the link to our group's online photo album. Thanks for all the good wishes we have received! Tonight we have our welcome dinner, tomorrow we go to the Ayalon Institute in Rechovot and tour Tel Aviv before Shabbat.

You're it! (We leave for Israel)

I'm posting this from Newark Airport, just outside our departure gate. We have 18 travelers with us - as Perry noted, "Chai" (the Hebrew word for "life" equals the number 18 in numerology and is considered a blessing - or so says Alex). We had to arrive 3 1/2 hours before departure time to meet El Al's tight security rules. So, how else to you pass the time than with a game of airport terminal tag. The rules: play until security makes you stop. When you are tagged, you're "it." (Photo: Alex on the run, she's "it")

We started the morning at the temple with tefillat ha-derech, the Jewish travelers prayer, recited on the bima in the presence of our Torah scrolls. This was a powerful moment. Judaism teaches that the number of letters in the Torah equals the number of people who stood at Sinai. The scrolls, therefore, are not just a repository of ancient wisdom, they hold the primordial soul of all Judaism. As pilgrims to the land of Israel, we carry with us not just our own hopes and expectations, but the heritage of those souls from Sinai who never made it to their destination. Passing the Holocaust Memorial Scroll in the temple lobby (a scroll that was recovered from Breznice, Czech Republic, after all its Jews were deported to Holocaust death camps), we took with us the memory of each of those brothers and sisters who never realized their hope to survive and see the land of our ancestors.

Unlike our ancestors, anybody today can travel to Israel. The only requirements are the means to get there and the willingness to be chosen - or choose yourself. We have 18 who represent the true picture of Judaism today - three single parents with their kids, an interfaith couple whose youngest daughter just took her first trip to Israel, a Jew by choice who has been a communal leader finally taking her first trip to Israel, and two families who have lived in Israel before returning with their children for the first time. It's like the game of tag - you can only avoid it for so long, you can only run to a few places. Sooner or later you're tagged. You have to go. You are it.

In Memory of Nemanja Petrovic

I learned this week about the death of my friend, Nemanja Petrovic. Nemi had become part of our family when he came to the US as a high school exchange student 17 years ago. At almost 7 feet tall, you couldn't miss him. He had come here to escape the civil war in Yugoslavia and play Division I basketball. He intially played at U of Maryland, see his stats page, but played most of his career at St. Joe's in Philadelphia. He was the team's rebound leader when the team went to the NCAA Sweet 16 and the recipient of numerous awards and academic honors. Most of all, Nemanja was a giant mentsch.

Nemanja lived with Elizabeth's aunt Pat and uncle Marc in the Philly suburbs before they ever had children. When they adopted Melissa, Nemi was there from the first day and has been her big brother ever since. Because of the war in Yugoslavia, Nemi didn't have much opportunity to go home or visit his family for long stretches. He was with us for all holidays and family occasions. He was part of our wedding party in 1995 and like a cousin in every way. When his brother, Darko, moved to the US shortly after him, we had our own family version of the "wild and crazy guys."

Nemanja was 34 years old. He is survived by his brother Darko and sister-in-law Clementina, his parents, Rada and Golub, his sister Melissa, and all the members of the Davis and Siegle families who had "adopted" him in the US.

I don't believe there are theological lessons to learn from Nemanja's death. I don't believe things like this happen for a reason - certainly no divine or religious reasons. I do believe simply that we can find meaning in the things that happen and the relationships that we build in our lives. Nemanja overcame obstacles and made lemons out of lemonade. Injuries kept him from reaching the heights that recruiters held out for him as a high school student, but he took the opportunity to learn as much as he could, to meet everyone he could, to play as hard as he could, and that always brought him success. Nemanja was a great brother and a great friend. From him, we learn what it means to grow close to people, support them, work with them, and grow with them. There's too much to say about a guy like Nemi. He lived a short 34 years but gave all of us who knew him a lifetime of inspiration. We miss him every day.

See Darko and Nemanja's page from GL Trade.

Read more about Nemi (obit published by the A10 Athletic Conference and this obit by St. Joe's).