Daily reports by the trip participants
DAY 1
Greetings from Eretz Yisrael from Jeff and Paula Silberberg and the entire BSO crew!
It's out first time in Israel; amazing! I (Paula) never thought we'd actually get to go. The tour hits the ground running. None of this "go to the hotel from the airport and take a nap". We went directly to see the tanks at the Armored Corps Center. Our museum guide was in the army and from California - quite informative. Made us feel well-protected. Next, we each planted a tree in Israel in bone-dry, rocky soil. Hope they make it! Then on to Jerusalem, to the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of the old city. We were even treated to a burning bush! (An actual brush fire across the street from where our bus parked. Tip that it was not the biblical one - the bushes WERE consumed! Even a power transformer.)
We quickly learned how to cope with the heat in Israel - head for the shade!
The stop at the Kotel was awe-inspiring.
DAY 2
Visited Yad Vashem Memorial Museum with many videos of Holocaust survivors' stories - it was heart-rendering. Haven't been to the Holocaust Museum in DC so we can't compare them. We learned quite a bit about Herzl at the Herzl Exhibit. Walt Disney couldn't have done it better. The model of the Old City at the Israel Museum was amazing!
Paula: All this Jewishness reminds me of visiting my relatives in NYC in my youth!
Jeff: It's a great group here from BSO, and our tour guide, Gila, is SUPER. I couldn't quite place her accent, so I asked. She's from Zimbabwe. She seems to know everything about Israel and its history, and her background as an elementary school teacher helps her almost keep us in line.
DAY 3
Having the time of our lives........Dave Rothfeld
As day three opens we find a little more wind in our sails as the time difference has melted away.....we left our hotel to begin a day of exploration, not of the State of Israel, but more of the State of Conservative Judaism in the State of Israel. Our first stop was the Fuchsberg Center of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Our tour was by the director of the Conservative Yeshiva, Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb. He described their purpose as trying to bring the books of Judaism to more than just Rabbis and other theologian, but back to Jewish population. The campus serves as a educational center where people come for summer programs, for sabbaticals or even years to study in the Yeshiva. There was some discussion as to the difficulties Conservative Judaism faces in the back drop of Ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox control of Israeli society. We then spent a session with the director studying the Jewish view on what constitutes theft. There was some lively and entertaining discourse between our group and the director. We discussed theft from that of Bernie Madoff, to the person who takes more sugar from a restaurant than they can use in their coffee, to the person who may have received an item such as a carton of milk for free at the grocery store because it was not rung at the register. We learned that Judaism provides that the intent of the person governs whether Judaism considers it theft. Then we travelled to Yad Sarah which is a mostly volunteer organization providing services and home health equipment to anyone that needs it throughout the State of Israel. This organization provides walkers, crutches, wheeelchairs, and other medical devices even to visitors. In addition, they have a 24/7/365 emergency call center to monitor people who live alone and might need assistance(contact is made through a wrist transmitter) from just checking on the person to calling EMS. We had the opportunity to help service some wheelchairs for a brief period of time. Next was our lunch stop to the open air market at Mahaneh Yehudah Market. Here there were cafes, falafel stands, schwarma stands and the like. My family stopped to have falafel. We walked the market scouting out all of the great Israeli produce for purchase prior to Shabbat. We ended our lunch hour with dessert trip to Marzipan, a recommendation from the Rabbi, which had the absolutely best ruggalah. After lunch we made our way to a Masorti synagogue on French Hill to meet with Rabbi Chaya Baker. We got to hear the Rabbi describe the fragmentation of Jewish society based on religious ideology within our religion. Tolerance does not seem to be the word of the day by the Ultra-Orthodox community. The Ultra-Orthodox community is growing, is a significant contributor to the welfare rolls, and does not believe in the concept of the Jewish state as such until the Messiah comes. The growth of this community and their radicalism may threaten the existence of a Jewish State over the next 20-30 years if more moderate forces can not gain traction. The Masorti movement(Conservative Judiasm) in Israel faces many challenges such as funding mostly by donation (Israeli's don't join organizations in general, and the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox communities receive State funding), the lack of a formal educational system that will bridge the middle between State supported secular and religious school (run by the Orthodox) systems. There is little religious training in the secular schools and Orthodox training in the religious schools. Programs to reach families seeking a middle ground in Masorti to provide an almost religious school experience such as BSO children receive is underway in its early stages. Other challenges include the lack of funding for most Masorti synagogues for a full time Rabbi. This is just a tidbit of an enlightening time. Our last stop of the day was a historical site from the 1967 War, Ammunition Hill. We toured the site of a daring Israeli raid early in the conflict by a paratrooper squad to the main Jordanian ammunition depot situated near Mount Scopus. The paratroopers had to make their way under darkness (no nightvision equipment) through fortified trenches left by the British occupation and overcome a strategically placed machine gunner to take the Jordanian ammunition depot and a key strategic area of highground allowing Israeli forces to reunite the city of Jerusalem.
DAY 4
BAT MITZVAH OF ROSALIE FRIEDMAN IN JERUSALEM
When we first chose a date for Rosalie’s Bat Mitzvah at BSO more than two years ago, we planned the week Montgomery County Public Schools ended and summer vacation began, so that we could do a trip to Israel that did not conflict with school. Rosalie’s bat mitzvah at BSO was a minhah/ma’ariv/Havdalah service. This way, she could repeat the same parasha later that week in Israel.
Originally, we planned that this would just be a family trip. However, when Rabbi Sunshine learned of our plans, he decided to take the lead and open the experience to the entire congregation. Our original thought was to have Rosalie’s Bat Mitzvah on Masada, because we believed thatwomen and men are separated at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Rabbi told us we could do the Bat Mitzvah at the Kotel, at a spot called Robinson’s Arch, which is an extension of the Wall recently uncovered by Israeli archaeologists and open to anyoneforegalitarian b’nai mitzvah. Robinson’s Arch once supported a staircase that led to the Temple Mount.
We entered through the Davidson Center – a new archaeological exhibit – and were greeted by an almost deafening din of drums and shofarot of other celebrations going on at the same time. We walked down stairs through the remains of ancient shops that once sold pigeons for sacrifice, at the Temple, mikvahs, and the services for money changers. It stood on a street built by Herod, the Roman-Jewish ruler who expanded the Temple Mount and enlarged the Second Temple around 37 BCE.
We had to wait while other b’nai mitzvah were completed, and then we set up a table to hold the Torah near the base of the Wall, next to a pile of huge stones from the Temple complex destroyed by the Romans circa 70 CE. We put on tallit and tefillin, and Rabbi Sunshine led us through the Shacharit service. Rosalie read Torah from Parashat Balak.
I have to admit I cried after Rosalie read Torah. First thought was she read so well. Second thought was that I did not mess up the blessings before and after her reading. Last thought was we were standing at the base of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on a 2,000 year old road participating in a Jewish service at the holiest spot on earth. As a professional historian and archaeologist, it meant so much to me to be surrounded by ancient archaeological remnants of the center of life for the Jewish people.
As a Jewish parent, I was so proud of Rosalie for l’dor vador—passage of our heritage from generation to generation. It is amazing that the Jewish people have survived all these thousands of years with our culture. Not the Romans nor Hitler nor the Arabs could destroy us. And we stood at the Kotel to affirm our right to exist as a people and practice our religion at our historic and traditional places of worship.
After the service, Jodie and I hosted a luncheon for the entire group at a courtyard in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The beautiful courtyard was shaded by an olive tree and was located in front of the center which leads tours of the Old City for people with disabilities of all types. Through ITC, we hired Reuven, a guy with a beard and tzitzit, originally from New Jersey, who entertained us with his guitar and sang Israeli songs (plus some MoTown). We did the hora and Rosalie got a chair dance.
Our own Jeff Silberberg borrowed Reuven’s guitar and played a couple of his own songs. It was wonderful to have members of BSO join us for Rosalie’s bat mitzvah, as we consider BSO an extension of our family.
Besides the thirty or so BSO members and other members of our tour group, our extended family included grandparents who made this trip possible for our family (Marvin & Shirley Levine), Rosalie’s aunt Aileen Stein, cousins Jason & Michelle, Aunt Mindy Rubenstein, cousin Randi, Aunt and Uncle Wendy & Eric Levine, and our nuclear family including Rosalie’s brother Sloan and sister Julia.
After lunch, we all went shopping in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Lastly, we went on a tour through underground tunnels that Israeli archeologists have excavated to the base of the wall supporting Herod’s Temple Mount. Again, another reinforcement of our ancient Jewish roots and connection to the remains of the Second Temple. What a great spiritual experience. My family will never forget this special occasion. Hopefully, Rosalie will always remember her connection to her faith and people.
Day 5
Written by Colin and Hilde Alter:
We began our day on Friday with “a dig for a day” at an archeological site about a one hour bus ride from our hotel. We were told to dress in dirty clothes. Luckily most of us did. We participated in an actual dig in caves from just prior to the Maccabean period. Since the finds were all from a single time period, we amateurs were allowed to participate. After digging not long enough, we ascended to the surface to sift our buckets. We all found some actual artifacts. Next, all the young folk and a number of us brave adults crawled (literally, often on our backs) through an unexcavated cave. The rest of the group entered a fully excavated cave and saw reconstructions of an actual olive oil factory. Each group was sure they had the better time, but the crawlers were definitely dirtier, though all were dirty. Next we went to the open air market for lunch a shopping for Shabbat snacks. It was busier and more frenetic than Filenes Basement on clearance day. Fun for some, difficult for others.
Day 6
Written by Colin and Hilde Alter
K’LAL YISRAEL
Shabbat in Jerusalem: so how does BSO celebrate Shabbat in Jerusalem? EVERYWAY. We all celebrated at least a part of Shabbat with our BSO family. Those of us who welcomed Shabbat with Rabbi Sunshine did so on a roof overlooking the Old City to the west as the sun set on a beautiful, cool Jerusalem evening. Many of us attended services at Shira Hadasha, an egalitarian Orthodox shul where women led part of the service on their side of the mehitza, and were joined by the men, on their own side, singing and praying with much ruach and in magnificent harmony. The bima is in the center of the shul and slides from the men’s side to women’s side. Several members attended services at the Reform movement’s Jerusalem seminary, finding it much more traditional than services led by Reform rabbis in Maryland. In fact, it seemed very similar to the services at BSO and Shira Hadasha. It is obvious to this writer that we are B’nai Yisrael echad—one big Jewish family with the similarities far outweighing the differences.
After a fabulous two hour walking tour of the neighborhoods around our hotel, we proceeded to the Rabbi’s room for a “3rd meal” snack. From his eleventh floor room, we faced the Eastern horizon: the beige of the desert contrasting with the green of the Israeli side of the border. The beauty of Jerusalem was at our feet. After Havdalah in the lobby we jumped on a bus and frantically hurried to the light and sound show at David’s Tower. It was a phenomenal, entrancing performance portraying Jerusalem through the ages. On our way home to the hotel, we made a quick crawl through the 21st Century mall which provided an amazing contrast to the 3000 year old Tower of David. Wake up is at 6:30 AM and we are all in need of a good sleep before we face the Dead Sea and the desert.
Day 7
Written by Howard Press
Sunday, June 27, was a day of contradictions. We left Jerusalem with its Old City, parks and new modern tall buildings for the ancient fortress of Masada. Along the way, we rode in our air conditioned bus passed camels and Bedouin encampments, through the barren rocky desert that our ancestors walked with their camels five thousand years ago. Although Masada was built over two thousand years ago, it has become the symbol of the fighting spirit of Israel and Jews. From there we went to a modern Dead Sea Spa for relaxation. Then Abraham invited everyone for an absolutely delicious dinner. We rode camels through time three thousand years ago to his tent. Over dinner Abraham explained all the customs for treating guests. As Jerry Oslick put it, “An excursion to Abraham’s tent would be a great field trip for our Sunday School students, but it would be a bit of an expense.”
Day 8
Written by Jerry and Eileen Oslick
We begin with a Lahitra’ot to Jerusalem, hopping on the bus for a long day’s journey with our BSO family – old and new. Our first stop, after traveling along the security fence which does not seem so tall from the Jewish side, is an underground water system at Mei Kedem which once fed water as far as Caesarea. It’s amazing that the people back then were able to construct the system that we walked through, cutting through the solid rock. On then to Acco, where we visited ruins from the days of the Crusades that were used as a prison in the mid 20th century. The structure is solid – how the founders of modern Israel were able to escape captivity there is unimaginable. From the ruins, a short bus ride takes us to the Tunisian synagogue in Acco – a labor of love where the caretaker and a few others are dedicated to telling the Jewish and Israeli stories, by covering every inch of the shul in mosaics. In sounds somewhat gaudy, but it definitely works – another shul in Israel worthy of support.
We then took a bus ride to the grottos of Rosh Hanikra, at the border with Lebanon – a gorgeous view, with barbed wire a few feet away. Another short bus ride (about 150 miles for the day) takes us to our Hotel at Kibbutzz Lavi. Forget everything you ever heard about a kibbutz – it is modern and welcoming and the Jewish-Irish kibbutznik who spoke with us about kibbutz life let us know what worked and did not work of the original communal theories. They have a major agricultural operation and make furniture used in synagogues worldwide.
Day 9
Written by Jerry and Eileen Oslick
A bus ride to Tsefat, takes us to the home of kabbalah, kabbalas Shabbas (if this ends up as “Shabbat” you know it was edited), interesting shops and a solid assist to the Israeli economy from the writers.
We traveled to the Jordan river were a two hour 4 wheel vehicle ride on both sides of the Jordan, took us up on the Golan Heights, overlooking the Galilee. Your correspondents then wimped out on the kayaking on the Jordan, choosing rather to sit in the 100 degree shade, while most of the group enjoyed themselves on a fun self propelled ride down the water. A quiet boat ride in Tiberius and a wonderful dinner, completed the ninth day of the journey.
On a general note, Jerry kept noting the variety of agriculture that was thriving throughout the region – row vegetables, fruit trees, nuts, beef and dairy cattle, sheep and goats. It definitely brought back images of California’s agricultural cornucopia.
Lots of pictures and video to come.
Day 10
From Wendy and Eric Levine
Spent the day touring sites between the Galilee and Haifa.
First stop was the Tzippori Synagogue an ancient synagogue in Tzippori, a town that is now a national archaeological park. The synagogue was built in the late 5th century and has a beautiful mosaic floor depicting various biblical scenes.
On the bus, we saw a march of thousands of Israelis showing support for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped 4 years ago and has been held in the Gaza Strip ever since. With a slight detour to avoid the march area, we headed for Isifiya.
Isifya is a small Druze village. The Druze are an Arabic-speaking people who are not Muslims, but have a separate religion drawing largely on the Bible. The Druze society is made up of both secular and religious members; children, at a young age, choose their own path (secular/religious) in life. The group was welcomed into a Druze meeting house where enjoyed an explanation of the Druze people and were treated to some Druze snacks and tea.
Next, we stopped by a shopping area in the small town of Zichron Yaakov for some lunch and of course some shopping. The area was a bit crowded as they were preparing for the Gilad Shalit march to pass through the town.
We had a surprise change in our planned itinerary with a visit to an Israeli boutique winery – Tishbi Winery. A winery representative gave an informative tour and explanation of the machinery used to make the wine as well as the aging process. Then we were treated to an opportunity to taste several varieties of wines that Tishbi offers.
After the winery, we relaxed on the bus for our ride to Tel Aviv.
Day 11
Touring around Tel Aviv
After a HUGE buffet breakfast at the hotel (including smoothies, omelets, waffles, and everything else you can think of) we started off the day with a visit to the Palmach Museum. The Palmach was the elite striking force of the “Hagana” – the underground military organization which existed prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. In this unique museum we learned about the Palmach, not through static displays, but through the stories of individuals and groups involved. We “joined” a group of young Palmach recruits from its establishment, and advanced through the story of the Palmach until the end of the War of Independence.
We then had an opportunity to view some beautiful mosaics created by Nahum Gutman depicting the story of the beginnings of the city of Tel Aviv. The mosaics were in a building which was the original site of the first high-school, known as Gymnasia Herzelya. Next stop, Independence Hall. This house which became a museum and political and historic landmark was the home of Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel-Aviv and one of the founders of the city. This is the building where they gathered to read Israel's Declaration of Independence on Friday, May 14, 1948, at 4pm (so they could be done in time for Shabbat.) After a short introductory film and some really interesting old pictures showing what Tel-Aviv looked like on the day of its founding (a big pile of sand), we were taken into the hall where we got to sit and listen to a recording of the independence ceremony including the reading of the declaration by David Ben Gurion.
After a quick lunch, we visited the Ayalon Institute. This was the Hagana’s largest bullet factory. It was a secret plant built underground within Kibbutzim Hill. Above the factory was a laundry, bakery, dining hall which gave the Hill all the appearances of an ordinary Kibbutz. Every day the factory workers descended 13 feet underground to manufacture bullets. They entered the factory through a small opening concealed beneath a large washing machine in the Kibbutz’s laundry. During the period of its operation, the “normal kibbutz members” as well as the British who ruled the area had no idea of the existence of this secret operation. At the Institute, we were able to descend into the factory and view the machines they used and a firing range to test the bullets.
At the end of this long day, we had a farewell dinner at a Yemenite restaurant, thanked Gila, our awesome tour guide, and David our bus driver. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful (albeit tiring) trip to Israel. Then it was off to Ben Gurion Airport to begin the long journey home.