A personal journal of the Leadership Institute for Congregational School Educators visit to Israel on February 2009

1. February 6 - 14 2009 י " ב - כ ' שבט תשס " ט

2. Rabbi Nehunia Ben-Hakaneh used to say a prayer as he entered the Beit Hamikdash, and as he left it – a short prayer. They said to him : “What sort of prayer is this?” He replied: “When I enter I pray that no offense should occur through me, and when I leave I express thanks for my lot.” Mishnah, Seder Zra’im, Tractate Brachot, Chapter 4:2 Upon entering a sacred space

4. " אלי , אלי שלא ייגמר לעולם החול והים רשרוש של המים ברק השמים תפילת האדם " חנה סנש הליכה לקיסריה Arrival at C esarea - קיסריה Friday, February 6 יום שישי – י " ב שבט

5. " ברוך אתה ה ' אלוהינו מלך העולם שהחיינו וקיימנו והגיענו לזמן הזה "

6. " כמה טוב שבאת הביתה ...." " How nice is it to be home...” Arik Einstein – אריק אינשטיין

7. In 10-15 minutes from now I would like to introduce to you our madrichot from the Lokey Institute in Haifa...

8. The A-Team- הצוות המנצח Neomi Frisch-Aviram Dalia Tibon-Lagziel Evie Rothstein Beth Lutzker

9. ' " ארץ זבת חלב ודבש " שמות ג ': ח A land flowing with milk an honey... (Exodus 3 :8)

10. ...This is too good to be true....

11. … I can’t take my eyes off you…

12. These people haven ’t eaten in years…

13. Hey, guys – that’s all together in this tray! " כי ה ' אלוהיך מביאך אל ארץ טובה : ארץ חיטה ושעורה , וגפן ותאנה ורימון , ארץ - זית שמן , ודבש " דברים ח ': ז '- ח ' "For the Lord your God brings you into a good land- a land of wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, land of olive oil and honey ” Deuteronomy, 8:7-8

14. “ נהלל את נשמת כל חי ונברך על מיני בשמים " "Let us celebrate the breath of all living things and praise all essences” Marcia Falk

15. This is Bo’az Sternberg He will sing for us this weekend… … as soon as he finishes his hairdressing…

16. Zichron Yaakov Traveling on road 2 from Tel Aviv to Haifa, several kilometers after Cesarea, we arrived at Zichron Yaacov, settled in 1882 by the first Jewish Immigration Wave – The First Alliyah. We visited its Museum.

17. Outside the Museum – a “ Beresheet ” view: a street vendor of freshly squeezed orange or pomegranate juice. We guessed the real museum was right here…

19. Haifa, built on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, was estasblished as a small por city in the Late Bronze Age, as Tel Abu Hawam. Over the centuries, the city has changed hands : Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, Egyptians and British. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, in 1948, the city as been governed by the Haifa municipality and today it is a major seaport. University of Haifa, The Technion Institute and the Oranim College are some of the Academic establishments in the city, as well as the Leo Beck school, which we visited.

20. Our Group Bat- Mitzvah in Israel… Shabbat, February 7 - יום שבת י " ג שבט Dan Panorama Hotel - מלון דן פנורמה חיפה

21. Parshat Ytro " וישמע יתרו כהן מדין חותן משה את כל אשר עשה ה ' למשה ולישראל עמו ... שמות , י " ח : א “ And Jethro, the Priest of Midian, father in Law of Moshe, heard about all that God has done unto Moshe and his people Israel” Exodus, 18:1

23. “ It is a Jewish phenomenon, unique to Judaism, to be a part of a Minyan . To know that the nine are in need of a tenth, and the one in need of nine. It is possibly the most important part of Judaism…” Abba Kovner – Vilna Ghetto fighter

24. Sunday, February 8 - יום ראשון י " ד שבט Leo Baeck School, Haifa - ביה " ס ליאו בק - חיפה http://www.leobaeck.org.il/

25. לא ארחף בחלל משולחת רסן פן יבלע ענן את הפס הדקיק שבליבי שמפריד בין טוב לרע אין לי קיום בלי הברקים והקולות ששמעתי בסיני זלדה I will not hover in space Unrestrained For a cloud in my heart might swallow The lean stripe That separates good from evil I have no existence Without the lightening and thunder That I heard at Sinai. Zelda

27. Beit She’arim בית שערים -

28. Beit She’arim is the archeological site of a Jewish town and necropolis, bordering with the town of Kiryat Tiv’on at the northeast region of Israel. Most of the archeological items date from the 2 nd and 4 th century CE. According to the Jerusalem Talmud, Beit She’arim is the burial place of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi, the head of the Sanhedrin, who signed the Mishnah. His burial place was found on this site.

30. תנו רבנן : שמע ישראל ה ' אלוהינו ה ' אחד - זו קריאת שמע של רבי יהודה הנשיא . תלמוד בבלי , מסכת פסחים , דף ק " ד ע " ב Our rabbis taught : “ Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one ” this was Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi’s recital of Shem'a. Talmud – Mas. Berachot 13b

31. " והיינו דאמר רבי : הרבה תורה למדתי מרבותי , ומחברי יותר מהם , ומתלמידי יותר מכולן " תלמוד בבלי , מסכת מכות , דף י ע " א " Rabbi said : Much Torah have I learned from my Masters, more from my fellows and from my disciples most of all. " Babilonian Talmud, Masechet Makkot 10a

32. Kallaniot- כלניות Rakaffot- רקפות

33. Ein sof – “without end ” – according to Kaballah , the true essence of God is so transcendent that it cannot be described, except with reference to what it is not. The true essence of God is known as Ein Sof , which encompasses the idea of his lack of boundaries in both time and space.

36. Tzfat- Safed is one of Judaism’s Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron, and a center for Kaballah, or Jewish Misticism. Safed is the highest city in the Galilee (2,660 feet above sea level). The city is cited at the Jerusalem Talmud as one of the five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the New Moon and Festivals during the Second Temple period.

37. Legend has it that Safed was founded by a son of Noah after the Great Flood.

38. After the expulsion of Spain in 1492, many prominent rabbis found their way to Safed, among them the kabbalists Isaac Luria (Arizal), and Moshe Kordovero; Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch, and Shlomo Halevi Elkabetz, composer of the Shabbat zemer Lecha Dodi. The influx of Sephardic Jews made Safed a global center for Jewish learning.

39. And they are still there…

40. The Ashkenazi Ari Synagogue

41. The core of the kaballa by Rabbi Isaac Luria is TIKKUN-repair The Kaballistic Tu Bishvat Seder offers us an opportunity to repair the 4 worlds : 1. Assya,(our world) 2. Yetzirah (world of human creation) 3. Briyah (world of God’s Creation 4. Atzilut (the highest and purest world)

42. We learned how to bless…

43. We hoped the rebbe would not interrupt the rebbetzn

46. Monday, February 9 יום שני – ט " ו שבט T el-Aviv- תל - אביב

47. Here we start our walking beit-midrash with Dr. Alex Sinclair on the cutting point between three neighborhoods in Tel-Aviv: Shenkin, Nachalat Binyamin and Shuck Hakarmel.

48. Hey, Steven Spielberg, say something for the camera! My next movie will be much better than the last one!

49. Can you explain the difference between Nachalat Binyamin, Shuck Hakarmel and Sheinkin?

50. So we went to look for the difference between Nachalat Binyamin, Shuck Hakarmel and Sheinkin.

51. Sheinkin

52. Shuck Hakarmel

54. ארץ גשן Goshen What a name for a restaurant in Tel-Aviv...

57. At this point, we said good bye to Dr. Alex Sinclair

58. We continued to our next stop: the School for Environmental Studies – בית הספר לטבע ולסביבה - on the Border between Yaffo and Tel-Aviv

59. W here we were about to have a true “ Tu Bishvat Planting Experience”

60. We met with Einat Kramer, director of Teva Ivri-Hebrew Nature- http://www.heschel.org.il/eng/Fellows_2008-9 a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to the interplay between Judaism and the Environment.

61. And we planted an Almond tree- שקדיה

62. מצווה עלינו לאכלה , לעבדה ולשמרה We are commanded to enjoy, work and keep the earth.

63. Everyone has his / her share...

64. even Brady!

66. Mission accomplished! And it is already blossoming!

67. So now we all celebrate!

68. A few snapshots from inside the school

71. “ To be human means to take responsibility” Antoine de-Saint-Exupery

72. As we leave school grounds, we are followed by images of important Jewish figures as they are seen through the students’ eyes.

74. Open eyed land, Falling down, Open land Without subconscious Without wrapping Without food coloring Pure landscape, Net landscape Yehuda Amichai

80. “ For forty years the Holy One made Israel go in a roundabout way through the wilderness, saying: “ Should I now lead them on a straight route, each one will take possession of a field or a vineyard and regard himself as not obligated to study Torah. I shall therefore lead them by way of the wilderness, where they will eat mannah, drink the waters of the well, and so [ give themselves the study of ] Torah, which will then be inculcated on them. Midrash Tanhuma - Beshallach

88. דבש טבעי ! This is Natural Honey!

92. חברותא Hevruta study

94. Yerucham is a town in the Sothern District of Israel, in the Negev. It had a popoluation of 9,400 in 2006. It is named after the Biblical Jeroham. At the outskirts of Yerucham there is an ancient well, Be’er Rahma. Some archeologists have identified it as the well where the biblical Hagar drew water for her son Ishma ’el. Our “well” in Yerucham was Devorah G. Golan, who took us to eat at Tova’s house.

95. We tasted her special food from the typical Moroccan Cuisine

96. And had a great time…

98. http://www.bamidbar.org/ Deborah Goldman Golan, the visionary and leader of the project “Atid baMidbar”, in Yerucham, gave us the opportunity to listen first hand from some of her disciples.

99. I Brother Other After me Responsibility Bulletin Board at the school in Yerucham where…

100. the Israelis in our group stopped by to perform their civil obligation On February 10 th , 2009, Israel held elections for the “Knesset” – the Israeli Parliament. Since we happened to be around on that date….

101. Please, guiveret … Let us vote here… We came from far, far away, from the USA, just to vote here in Yerucham, in the middle of the desert. PLEEAAASEEEE….. Well, if you agree to show this picture to everyone in the US….we will allow you in:

102. These guys are out of their minds… I must be out of my mind… I don’t remember where my mind is… Inside the voting room….

103. OK, You can vote here…. If you really insist… Please be our guests and enjoy our voting facilities…

104. Ronit-born in Israel. Ana –made Alliyah in 1982. Danny-born in Israel. Sharon-born in Israel.

105. WE DID IT!

106. On our way out from the school (voting pole) we stopped by one more Bulletin Board: And we said: AMEN. Gil’ad ben Aviva (Shalit) Ehud Ben Malka (Goldwasser) Eldad ben Sucha (Regev) Zecharya Shlomo Ben Miriam (Baumer) Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman Ben Sarah Tzvi Ben Peninah (Feldman)

108. http://www.shayarot.com/english/

110. And the best traditional bedouin food welcomed the weary and hungry amongst us…

115. יום רביעי , י " ז בשבט Wednesday, 11 February

116. אור חדש על ציון תאיר , ונזכה כולנו מהרה לאורו A new light will light upon Tzion and we will all rejoice in it

119. ירושלים בנויה על יסודות קמורים של צעקה מאופקת . אם לא תהיה סיבה לצעקה , ישברו היסודות , תתמוטט העיר . אם תצעק הצעקה , תתפוצץ ירושלים לשמים . יהודה עמיחי - שירי ירושלים Jerusalem is built on the vaulted foundations Of a held-back scream. If there were no reason For the scream, the foundations would crumble, the city would collapse; If the cream were screamed, Jerusalem would explode into the heavens. Yehuda Amichai – Poems of Jerusalem

123. http://www.kbyonline.org/kol_haneshama/index.html http://www.robbiegringras.5u.com/

138. מסע מוצלח לא מסתיים לעולם - הקילומטרים כן . אך הזמן נשאר חקוק בך והופך לחלק ממך . בסוף המסע אינך מרגיש מנצח , אלא יותר אסיר תודה - כאילו שהדרך עברה בתוכך - ולא אתה בתוכה . מאיר שלו The successful journey never ends – Kilometers do. But time remains engraved into you And becomes a part of you. At the end of the journey you do not feel a winner, But rather thankful- As though the road went through you, And not you through it. Meir Shalev