I am the lucky one. This week I am drafting these words of Torah on parshah Lech Lecha from our Holy Land, eretz Yisrael.
I arrived last week for the Kivunim program, an initiative created by the JCC Association for new JCC CEOs. Seventeen professionals traveled across Israel to engage in professional development experiences that were literally “off the beaten path.” From walking through founding neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, to meditation in the Negev desert, to experiencing a rare spontaneous rave on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem, we studied together, discussed the responsibilities of Jewish community building and Israel’s role in our respective missions, and especially shared our unique and similar experiences and stories of Jewish communal life.
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Then, immediately following this incredible experience, I drove north to meet our JFGN Board Chair, Nat Ritter, to visit our new Partnership 2Gether (P2G) region, Hadera-Eiron, where we visited the recipient charities of our Greater Naples Israel Crisis Funds allocations. Nonprofits that range from trauma recovery centers, to Ethiopian community centers, to music therapy conservatories, to soldier treatment retreats, and much, much more.
In this week’s Torah reading, Abram (Abraham before his name was changed by Gd) was given the directive to Lekh Lecha, “Go forth to a land that I will show you.” Well, I am here, and so is my extended family, and in honor of this week’s parshah, I share the words that came to me in the desert while on my trip.
On the 8th Day
Gd created Zion.
In a world created for everyone, Gd knew the Jews would need a place safe from hate, but glorious in its beauty, sanctity, and history.
On the 8th Day
Gd created Zion.
Not perfect but holy; not monolithic but shared; not exclusive but as welcoming as Abraham’s tent.
On the 8th Day
Gd created Zion.
A place where hope shines bright on the darkest days and in the deepest tunnels; where “shalom” means more than peace, and where the most extreme differences are still limited by our overwhelming similarities.
On the 8th Day
Gd created Zion.
Like all great and prized gifts, Zion comes with the responsibility to understand not only what we received, but why. And to accept that others simply won’t ever understand.
On the 8th Day
Gd created Zion.
Home for those who are no longer here, and home to us who are, and still, it will also be home for the generations yet to be.
On the 8th Day
Gd created Zion.
May we all be blessed to have the opportunity to visit our homeland this year. The one thing that was common no matter if it was the secular Jew in the city center, or the religious Jew in Jerusalem, or the Arab shopkeeper in the marketplace, or the Ethiopian community center director, we all agreed that we are Stronger Together.
Shabbat Shalom,
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