Israel:  Because of Us, without Us,
in Spite of Us

January 2002

by Rabbi Sim Glaser

"We cannot thank you enough for coming." If I heard those words once while in Israel a month ago, I heard them a hundred times. Shopkeepers related the message in their special sales for "brave tourists." Children said it in their delighted smiles at the rare visitors to their Kibbutz. Political leaders, including Natan Scharansky, one of the bravest men you'll ever meet, praised the multiple Federations' three day mission to Israel.

My heart fell every time I heard it. I don't want to be thanked for coming to Israel. I want to thank Israelis for moving on with their lives in the face of terror and global criticism born largely of ignorance. How many times were we asked just before we left: "How can you still be going with what is happening?" And our response was that the trip is even more important now than it was before. Israelis want to know that they are not in this alone; that the Jewish world unites behind them.

It is a dark hour for Israel, and not because insane suicide bombers are blowing themselves up on street corners, but because the hotels, shops and restaurants are eerily silent and the Jewish State seems so very isolated. The Christian missions prevalent this time of year are absent. The hustle and bustle of Ben Yehuda Street in the heart of Jerusalem is a distant memory. Departing Jerusalem for the North, we were instructed to leave our bags in our rooms at the King David Hotel, as no one would be staying there in our absence.

But you wouldn't know sadness or despair to look at the Israelis. Their lives move ahead with spirit and drive. Programs we help to support continue to educate Ethiopian Jewish children and provide for their communities. Neighboring Kibbutzniks, ultra-Orthodox communities and Arab-Jewish villages call the outskirts of Jerusalem their home and continue to thrive side by side. Orchestras of Israeli schoolchildren continue to perform and Hanukkah celebrations celebrate light and freedom and rededication to the values Israel has promulgated from the very beginning of its existence.

It was pouring during most of the mission. But standing in the rain at the shores of the rising Lake Kinneret, in Tiberias, our sister community, one could hardly complain. We, from the city of the lakes, brought eight centimeters of water to the Northern region of Israel where our pioneers long ago drained the swamps, planted the fields and brought an agricultural reality to the new Jewish State.

The dream lives on. Depending upon the extent of our own American Jewish resolve, the modern miracle that is Israel will remain alive in spite of our criticism or apathy, without our donations and visits, or because of our vocal and physical support.

I would like to invite the entire congregation to come to Shabbat evening services on January 18 at which time I will offer reflections on a spectacular mission to the land of Israel. It is my hope that several Temple members who were on the mission there with me will be on hand to informally share their own thoughts with you at the oneg Shabbat.