Rabbi Yoshi and Jacqueline are leading a Stephen Wise Temple solidarity mission this week in Israel. Each day Rabbi Yoshi will share reflections on the visit.
Monday, Feb 12, 2024 – 3 Adar I, 5784
אין כמו שבת בירושלים.
“There is nothing like Shabbat in Jerusalem.”
You hear people say this all the time. It’s certainly true and after the emotionality of the week that passed, we needed this Shabbat more than ever.
As we prepared to welcome the day of rest, my friend Rabbi Dr. Leon Wiener Dow began our day with text study. He reminded us of the humility we need to cultivate in moments like this especially. We don’t know how this all will unfold. We don’t know what will be written about this time five years or ten years from now. We still have to do our best to navigate it with wisdom, resolve, empathy, and courage. But we cannot know now how it will play out. There are unforeseen opportunities as well as unexpected challenges.
Rabbi Dr. Leon Weiner Dow, Jacqueline, and Rabbi Yoshi.
Political analyst Neil Lazarus updated us on the situation leading up to and since October 7. He showed us chilling videos that don’t seem to make it to western media highlighting how long Hamas had been planning the massacre, right under our noses. They produced and released a television show last year that portrayed exactly how the attack, murders, and kidnappings would unfold and broadcast it on Gaza television. He also shared reporting from the Israeli press about army reports that were written and submitted describing the precise Hamas strategy that was ultimately executed. One can better understand the anger and frustration of the Israeli public when one considers just how profound the failure of leadership has been. Neil pointed out that the Army chief of staff and the head of intelligence services have both expressed regret and assumed responsibility for their failure. The prime minister however has not.
We then spent some time supporting the local economy which has been badly hurt by the decline in tourism with some shopping for jewelry and Judaica. We went for lunch at one of my favorite places in all of Israel: Shuk Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem’s main open air market which sells fruits and vegetables, candy and pastries, and more–including delicious meals. The market was crowded and vibrant and there was a sense of release, joy, and even celebration. The war rages on. The hostages are still in captivity. But as Shabbat approached, the people in the Shuk were making the best of it.
Trip participants at Shuk Machane Yehuda
We joined the Kol HaNeshama community for Shabbat evening services, which was the synagogue we attended when we lived here full time. This Shabbat was the 12th anniversary of our oldest daughter, Isa’s, being called to Torah so it had special resonance. There were many young children in attendance and the service was led by a recently ordained rabbi (and the daughter of an old friend), Davi Shua-Hayyim, and a multi-instrumentalist rabbinic student, Eric Sever. It was soul healing to hear the voices of young children singing together and witnessing a vibrant community gathered in solidarity and joy in the midst of such hardship.
Again, and again the people we encountered, thanked us for coming to be with them, a reminder of how important showing up for one another can be.
On Shabbat morning, our former neighbor and forever friend, Yael Goodman, met some of the group 1st thing for a Shabbat running tour of Jerusalem. She took us on a 5 km loop around and in the old city with stops along the way, compassionately programmed to allow us to catch our breaths after a particularly challenging Jerusalem hill. Yael started her running tour business right before the pandemic, and with an absence of tourism during that, found a way to offer these outings to members of her local community. Since October 7, she has been taking survivors and evacuations out for healing runs. She describes these experiences as extremely therapeutic for participants. Recently she started organizing 7.10 km runs in the western Galilee in honor and memory of the victims of October 7.
A Shabbat morning run around the Old City walls.
After lunch, we enjoyed a walking tour of the Old City with our guide, Geoff Winston, and then spent some time for reflection and personal prayer at the Kotel–the Western Wall.
Before we bid farewell to Shabbat with Havdallah, each participant was invited to share some of their own reflections of the experience so far, including two of our dear Israeli friends, Andy and Hadas, who joined us for dinner after. It was inspiring to hear from both the American participants, as well as our friends and members of our guide’s family about how important and impactful the visit has been and how much it has meant to each of us, Americans and Israelis alike, for a group like ours to spend time in Israel at a moment like this.
A few us made our way to Paris Square after dinner to stand in solidarity with members of the families of those held hostage in captivity, demanding that the government do everything in its power to secure their release.
May we celebrate that moment, that gift, before next Shabbat.
Am Yisrael Chai,
Rabbi Yoshi