Dream Revisited and Reformulated

By Susan Cosden

From the early days of Mashabei Sadeh

Before we left for Israel I was lamenting that the Dream of Israel, the dream of Labor Zionist Israel had died. I was therefore more than delighted to begin our trip last Thursday night in the at Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh. While the kibbutz over the years has modernized by converting the abandoned children’s houses into country lodging and having members become silk artisans, this kibbutz still greeted us with sounds and smells of cows and roosters.The dining hall was still communal and the showers still had squeegees. So began my search for the dream and reality of kibbutzim in Israel.

On Shabbat afternoon in Tel Aviv, we were shown a different view of the dream of Israel through poetry. Lisa Grant, a professor of Education at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, led our group in an exploration of cultural change in Israel as seen through poetry, with some mention of Israeli music.  Grant shared with us how through the 60’s the poetry reflected the dream of a united Israel, turning everyone into the dream of one people – a Jewish people living the socialist, agricultural, Ashkenazic dream.

The next period of poetry began to celebrate the variety of individual voices – poets such as Erez Biton originally from Algeria, Lea Aini of Ladino-speaking Salonikan ancestry and Balfour Hakak. This current period of poetry now celebrates glocalization, looking at the world/changing the world globally while acting locally. This poetry forces us to see global issues from a local perspective, including a poem called Revenge by Taha Muhammad Ali.

So while the dream of Labor Zionist was represented as the national ideal for years Israel’s culture has grown to celebrate many more voices of Israel, In fact, our entire trip has been about the various narratives of one land, the land of Israel.

Tuesday afternoon we met members of a panel discussing Bringing Change to the Galilee. It was here that I learned that at least for a few Israelis the dream of socialist Zionism, kibbutz Zionism was alive - though it had been reformulated. Many of us had the great pleasure of meeting Tamir from Kibbutz Eshbal.

This is the newest kibbutz in the country.  Rather than being created as an agricultural kibbutz, which time has proven as an unsuccessful model, this kibbutz was created as an educational kibbutz. All of its members live an egalitarian, socialist lifestyle and work as educators in school, after school settings, and youth work. On the kibbutz is a boarding school for at risk youth. Tamir spends his days working on Kibbutz Eshbal and then returns at night to Carmiel, a town in the Galilee where he and the rest of his kvutzah (a small collective), with a few other collectives are working with the town of Carmiel to form a kibbutz within Carmiel. Tamir is a product of the youth movement of HaNoar HaOved U'HaLomed - which is the Israeli counterpart of Habonim Dror, from the United States.

I learned from Tamir that not only is the dream of socialism alive for some young adult in Israel but that it is being transformed. Just like the different period of poetry that were presented to us indicated, Israeli socialism has been converted from a dream that everyone would till the land as equals to make Israel green to as equals we can practice glocalization and make the world better by educating locally and improving our local towns and cities by making change from within.

Tonight we once again explored the cultural lens of Israel. We were divided into two groups and my group had the pleasure of attending Agrippas 12 Art Gallery– an art collective created after the 2^nd Intifada to help keep art alive in Jerusalem. This non-profit organization was created to bring artists closer to the public by having the artists themselves together be the curators. Tonight’s show was a group show by artists who are both members of the cooperative and others who were invited to show with them on the subject of Bringing Meaning Out of Darkness

In their own way these artists are redefining and reformatting the Israelite socialist dream to once again practice glocalization. These men and women discussed how this studio has influenced other studios in Jerusalem and throughout Israel and how they are even about to do a collaborative showing between various galleries in other regions of Israel and the Southwest United States, They also shared with us their desire to get lesser known artisans and artisan groups’ narratives seen and counted, such as artists with autism.

Most of the kibbutzim have chosen to privatize since I last lived in Israel. However, if Israel allows Labor Zionism to be a flexible definition that changes with the nation, it may continue to transform the nation into its highest ideals.

Susan Cosden, MAJE, RJE
Director of Education
Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester

Ohev Yisrael - Loving Israel

By Lynn Lancaster

We have spent the last few days listening to the stories of Israel, the stories of each other and following them up  with deep and meaningful conversations. Sometimes the stories drive home our long standing beliefs and sometimes they challenge us to move into places we have not been before.  Always they are framed by the question of how do they inform our work. 

Professor Alex Sinclair with our group
in the Library of Beit Schocken 

Alex Sinclair challenged us to move our learners beyond a simplistic understanding and love for Israel. He used the metaphor of a parent's relationship to an adolescent.  Those of us who are there (with our own adolescents) know that the relationship is complex, challenging, ever changing and yes built on a foundation of deep love and commitment.

Though I understand the metaphor, I wonder about the inequality of that relationship.  The innate push towards independence  and the power struggles. Who is parent, and who is child.  I think that I am more comfortable with the metaphor of marriage.  Sometimes passionate, sometimes not, sometimes easy, sometimes not - but always a relationship of equal and willing partners committed to each other and committed to making the relationship work.  Like a marriage, our engagement with Israel is not always easy nor is it always smooth but it is always meaningful and defining. 

I have no doubt that each of us will leave israel with a deeper relationship to Israel , a relationship that will effect the work we do with our learners and a relationship that will evolve over time.

Tzipori, Safforia - one place, two perspectives and more

By Hazzan Marian Turk

Today, on the seventh day of our Leadership Institute journey in Israel, I have seen beautiful landscapes, toured ancient ruins, met interesting people, seen an organic olive oil factory, and eaten the most delicious lunch I've ever had in my life. That's the snapshot of our day. Looking closer, a more complicated story of our day emerges, one that will have me thinking for quite a while. We spent the bulk of our day in and around the village of Tzippori, in northern Israel. 

Amin Muhammed Ali

We heard the story of a Palestinian who was born in 1935 in the village of Saffouria. In 1948, and in the aftermath of the war, Saffouria was evacuated and destroyed. It was settled by Jews and is now called Tzippori. Amin, the gentleman who shared his story with us, showed us a photograph of what Saffouria looked like before the 1948 war of independence. And we could see for ourselves what remained: nothing. 

No matter how fervently one believes in a Jewish homeland and the right of the Jews to live in Eretz Yisrael, it's impossible not to be moved by a human being standing before you telling his story. To make matters even more complicated, Amin is a close friend of Roberta Bell-Kligler, an American who made aliyah to Israel and who has been leading much of our trip. He even referred to Roberta as his sister. Yet they are both on opposite sides of the story. Amin told us that he wants to live in peace with Jews. Yet he also told us that he does not have a problem with the Jews, only the Zionists. None of us was able to get a direct answer from him about what the distinction is between Jews and Zionists, but in his mind there is one. 

After we heard from Amin, we visited the Tzippori National Park. Tzippori, or Sephoris as it was known in ancient times, was inhabited in the Roman and Byzantine periods. In addition, there was a thriving Jewish community there in ancient times, and the Mishnah, part of the code of Jewish law, was redacted by Yehuda HaNasi in Tzippori. We walked among excavated ancient ruins and saw evidence of the mingling of cultures at that time. We saw, in the villa of Yehuda HaNasi, a Greek-inspired mosaic with scenes of celebrations of the Greek god Dionysus. In the excavated site of one of Tzippori's 18 ancient synagogues, we saw another Greek-inspired mosaic portraying the Zodiac. We were reminded of how Judaism has always been influenced by the surrounding culture where Jews lived. 

By the time we were done exploring Tzippori National Park we were all ready for lunch. I don't think any of us could have imagined the fresh, delicious feast that awaited us at the Resh Lakish Cafe, an organic olive oil manufacturer and cafe named after the third century sage of the Talmud. 

A wonderful lunch
at Resh Lakish!

First we heard the story of one of Resh Lakish's proprietors, how she and her husband came with their 3 children to Israel, had 3 more children, and eventually converted a chicken coop into an olive oil factory. When we went inside to the cafe, we were greeted by tables full of olives, cheeses, fresh salads and tomatoes, and other fresh, delicious food. Everything about the meal was organic, down to the compostable plates, napkins, and flatware. 

After we had our fill of lunch and had purchased olive oil products, we headed to the home of Roberta Bell-Kligler, our teacher and guide in Israel. All 42 of us Leadership Institute fellows were warmly welcomed into Roberta's home on Moshav Tzippori, where we had dessert and admired the collection of ancient jug handles and mosaic pieces that Roberta had found on the moshav's property. 

Roberta told us the story of how she and her husband had come to Israel in the 70s and built a life for themselves in Israel, and how Holocaust survivors had come to Tzippori in 1950, been given 300-square-foot homes, and had farmed the land. Roberta spoke passionately about how she and her husband came to Israel to be in the Jewish homeland, and to build a life in the Jewish state. A one-state solution to the Israel/Palestinian conflict, as Amin had indicated this morning that he wanted, would mean the end of the Jewish state, as Jews would no longer be the numeric majority. 

What we Leadership Institute fellows got today from our travels in Tzippori was a mosaic of narratives. We heard three very different stories and explored the remains of some ancient stories. And we were left with many more questions than answers. Everything in life has a cost, and I came away from this amazing, challenging day wondering what the cost of Jewish survival will be, and what the future holds for our beloved Jewish homeland. 

Shalom u’vracha from the holy land, 

Hazzan Marian Turk

The Culinary Queens of Yerucham put Sallah Shabbati to bed!

Topol as Sallah Shabbati

Many of us of a certain age (50ish and older) were shown the Israeli movie Sallah Shbbati - in youth group, or in religious school, or - as in my case - on a rainy day at camp, cooped up in a M*A*S*H style tent we called the Beit Am. It was a black and white, and was made in 1964. It was for a long time the most successful film in Israeli history. It starred two actors who were then unknown outside of Israel, Gila Almagor and Topol - before he starred as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof or as Hans Zarkov in Flash Gordon.
Danny Yarhi, writing in iMDB describes the film:

A Yemenite Jewish family that was flown to Israel during "Operation Magic Carpet" - a clandestine operation that flew 49,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel the year after the state was formed - is forced to move to a government settlement camp. The patriarch of the family tries to make money and get better housing, in a country that can barely provide for its own and is in the midst absorbing hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Humor, sensitivity, politics and music highlight this capsule of history.

It was an hysterically funny comedy. Seeing it years later with a much deeper knowledge of Israeli history, that comedy turns out to be an incredibly biting dark satire and social commentary on Israeli society in the 50's. It brings out the best and worst of Israel - the wondrous rescue of nearly forgotten Jews and the far less than ideal treatment of non-Ashkenazi Jews by the European born or descended elites of Israel.

I recall one scene where Sallah is given a job planting trees by the Jewish National Fund. An official plants a sign next to the saplings with the name of a couple from the Diaspora. As a driver brings them up to the forest, the official tells them that thanks to their generosity, this was "their" forest. As soon as they left, the official took down the sign and replaced it with one with another name, just as another official drove up with another donor from abroad. Sallah accuses the official of dishonesty. When the next donors come to see "their" forest, Sallah starts plucking the new trees out of the ground!

As a member of the Leadership Institute, I had the pleasure for the second time to visit with one of the Culinary Queens of Yerucham. It was created by Atid Bamidbar (The Future is in the Desert) to "create opportunities for local women with no or low incomes, from diverse ethnic groups in town, to host visiting groups from Israel and abroad in their homes for an enriching multicultural culinary and human experience. The encounter gives visitors a great meal, warm hospitality, and insight into the lives of local residents and Jewish ethnic traditions; it provides the hostesses with added income, a boost to self-esteem and a widening of horizons."

It was all of that and more.

Mazal and her husband Jojo were wonderful and 20 of us had a wonderful meal. And the best part was Jojo's storytelling. He was animated, expressive and funny. He told of coming from Tunisia at the age of five with his parents. They wanted to go to Jerusalem. They were loaded on a truck at the port and driven through the night. They were told they were in Jerusalem and dumped in the desert. He has been in Yerucham ever since. He also told the story of their courtship. Rather than explain it, here are three videos!

Enjoy.

Part I 

Mazal and the other Queens have taken the dark satire of Sallah Shabbati and set it aside. They are part of several projects from Atid Bamidbar and other agencies like Nativ that are changing the face of Yerucham and other development towns in the Negev. Sallah seemed to have little hope. Not so any more.

And think about how the culinary queens are one of many projects that is helping this community that has spent so long in the economic trough climb out. And make it a point to visit them for lunch! It is worth it!

Part II 

  Part III

Crossposted to Welcome to the Next Level

What a great first day in Israel!

After landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv we drove south to go into the Negev, and spent our first night in Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh.  It was my first time in the desert, and my first time staying at a 'real' kibbutz.  Just smelling the desert air was a new and special experience.

Our first morning in Israel we took a meditative hike in the desert, another new experience for me.  I highly recommend it!

And then we were on our way to Yerucham, a development town that is remaking itself into a center of  social, educational and cultural life in the desert.  We visited with the Ass't Principal of a local school, and then went to the home of one of the 'Culinary Queens of Yerucham' - another unbelievable experience! These are women who are economically disadvantaged, and are great cooks and gracious hosts.  They open up their homes to visitors, and cook multi-course meals.  There were 20 in our group, and we sampled 15 or so different homemade dishes.  We were also regaled with the family's story of how they came to Yerucham, and some insights into their lives here.  I am happy to share their cookbook with you.

As I type this we are on the bus on our way to Tel Aviv, to prepare for Shabbat.  We are excited to be hosting 11 Lone Soldiers for Shabbat dinner tonight.

A special note to our friends who came to Israel last year with SHJC....our friend and tour guide Shari Robins is on this trip.  She sends love and regards to each of you, and is excited to lead another SHJC trip next February.  We are working on some of the details this week.

I'm here less than 24 hours....and it already feels 'home'.

With gratitude, and Shabbat Shalom,

Sherry Gutes.

Our Journey Begins...

Here I am!

I was hoping to post last nightafter our Opening Ceremony, but lack of wifi and a little jet lag got in the way. But make no mistake, we are here, and this is definitely a huge WE. 42 fellows and mentors of the Leadership Institute have begun a magnificent journey together. Under last night's full moon we came together to sing & read poetry to frame our experience. My favorite: "Using all of our senses: Let's gaze at the moon. Let's smell the air. Let's feel the wind. Let's hear the night. Let's touch the earth. Let us sense the gifts of nature around us."

As a Jewish Educator commited to disability awareness, I know that this multi-sensory approach is a blessing. In the midst of Jewish Disabilty Awareness Month I am keenly aware of the significance of reaching every learner. My goal will be to experience Israel with all of my senses. As I honor those who learn differently. Then will I know that I am truly here.

Another Bracha to say along with Shehecheyanu

My Hevruta and I have been working our way through the tractate Brachot.  As I am preparing to leave for Israel on my Leadership Institute for Hebrew School Principals Israel Seminar tomorrow, I learned a new blessing.  “The Rabbis taught in a baraita:  If one sees Houses of Israel in their inhabited state, he says ‘Blessed are You…who establishes the boundary of the widow.  (58b)  Rashi in his commentary says this refers to the Second Temple period  because it was only after the destruction of the First Temple was Israel describe as a widow in the book of Lamentations, Eicha. Rashi implies that this refers only in the Land of Israel. 

Wouldn’t you know we leave for Israel on Motzei Tu Bishvat! I know from all my previous trips that the National bird of Israel should be the Building Crane.  There is constant construction go on, changing the landscape.  I am constantly impressed by the beauty of these new apartment buildings.  I know we who are participating on this Israel experience span the political spectrum. Although we won’t agree on many political issues, we all love and support Israel in our way.  Personally I can hardly wait to land in Israel and be able to recite this bracha when I see the State of Israel being redeemed and flourishing with Jews living in their own houses. “Baruch Matziv Gevul Almana!”Amen!