Seeing Israel Again, For the First Time
By Sharon Lieblein

Being the daughter of an Israeli, going to Israel wasn’t new for me. When I was a kid, we’d gone to visit my family several times. My mother made sure that in addition to seeing the family, that she took me to tourist stuff like Masada and the Dead Sea, but mostly I saw
Israel through the eyes of my Israeli family. They would take us to cool places that they enjoyed as locals. I definitely saw an Israeli’s Israel.

Now at the age of 34, I hadn’t been there for 10 years. Life just got in the way and who really has the time. Then I was selected to go on Hadassah’s Young Women’s Mission to Poland and Israel. I was so excited. Free trip to Poland and Israel. I had never been to Poland, so that would be cool and I’d get to see my family in Israel. The Hadassah part of it was the icing on the cake.

Poland wasn’t exactly as I imagined. Warsaw was what you would think it should be. Dark, bleak, no interesting architecture, just block shaped buildings. This was definitely the Poland I thought of in my mind. Krakow on the other hand was gorgeous. Even as I write it, I
can’t believe I’m saying it. This place where there was so much destruction and pain has really now become a beautiful city. Going to Auschwitz was very eye opening.

I’ve seen it in the past like many of you on TV or in the movies, but actually being there chilled me to the
core. A feeling I will not forget. And this feeling made me understand the need for the land of Israel, even more.

Getting off the plane in Israel this time was different than ever before in many ways. We had just come from Poland so the feeling of “This is my land and my people’s land” was stronger than ever. Also, it was a completely different airport. No more getting off the plane, walking down the stairs and taking a bus to the terminal. Israel had entered the 21st century along with everyone else. There is now a gorgeous new airport with a mall inside that is fantastic and a beautiful artistic fountain. All I could think was “Where am I?” This was a feeling that I had a lot throughout the trip. I don’t know why I expected Israel to stay stagnant while the rest of the world was evolving around it, but I did. And it definitely
didn’t.

This was a new Israel to me in so many ways. And I wasn’t there with my mom and dad or any other family. This was my first adult trip to Israel. I knew it was going to be different. But I had no idea the effect it would have on me.

The feeling of saying Shabbat Shalom to people on Friday when leaving a store and they say it back. Or that I could go into a supermarket that was all kosher. I didn’t have to check the labels. “This is my home!” was ringing in my head throughout the entire trip.

Seeing Israel through Hadassah’s eyes was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. We went to the tourist places like Masada and the Dead sea which was fun. But more importantly, we went to see our projects. The projects that our grandmother’s,
mother’s and our money helped to build. I touched the walls of Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus and felt the power of what we have built. What we have given to Israel and to the world. I went to the Neurim Youth Village and met the children and saw where they lived and how they learn. I really didn’t understand this project fully until I saw it with my own eyes. I went to Hadassah College Jerusalem and saw how we are helping to shape the future of Israel. In every field from Optometry to the Culinary Arts. The Judean Youth Hostel, where the Year course students live in Jerusalem is amazing. All I
could think was, “I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to go on Year Course.” And the lush green JNF park we visited reminds me every day of how Hadassah is making a huge impact on the environment.

I can’t wait to sit with friends from my Hadassah chapter to talk specifically about each of the amazing projects and what I learned. I’ve been back over a week and the excitement is still bubbling inside me. I feel like I saw Israel for the first time. Hadassah’s Israel. And it’s the most amazing place I’ve ever been. I can’t wait to go back.

I hope each and every one of you gets the chance to see what I’ve seen. I promise it will be eye opening and inspiring and you will feel like it is your home.

My First Journey To Israel.

by Marisa Brown

 

I just finished with our second Seder of the week this week.  Last night it was at our house and the house smelled great, was filled with people we love, the kids laughed and played and the wine was poured.

 

I torture myself sometimes because I want events like this to be as perfect as possible.  And I want to invite as many people as I can.  And while that isn’t really reasonable most of the time, it makes me feel good to have people over to mark special Jewish holidays.  I want these times to be special for my own children like they were special to me.

 

And yet, for many years of my life, my Judaism was lost to me.  After my Bat Mitzvah, I never returned for more learning.  I had the customary celebratory holiday dinners with family and left it at that.  Until my first child was born.

 

When she was born, I felt this unbelievable pull back to being Jewish.  Not Orthodox by any means, but just Jewishly aware.  I found a synagogue where my husband (who isn’t Jewish) and I could be comfortable with our interfaith family, we got ourselves involved, we got our small daughter involved and life was pretty good.

 

Meanwhile, I also got very involved with my local Federation.  I enjoyed it and met wonderful people and felt I was doing good things for my community.  I made annual donations and felt satisfied that they were sufficient, at least for now.

 

This year, I was chosen by my local Federation to take part in a UJC National Young Women’s Leadership mission to Israel.  I was surprised and honored to be chosen and admittedly nervous as well.

 

Has there really ever been a time in the history of the State of Israel when they weren’t either verbally or physically under attack?  Israel is a tiny speck of a nation and yet the shockwaves of its existence are large and travel far.  My ignorance and my belief in what I heard and saw on the news regularly, made me afraid to visit Israel.

 

I decided, however, that I needed to suck it up and go.  When else was I going to get an opportunity like this?  And I didn’t want to let down my local Federation, the wonderful woman who nominated me for the trip, or the other two incredible women who I’d be traveling with.

 

For weeks leading up to the trip, I was in denial about going.  I didn’t believe it.  I didn’t think too hard about it and I didn’t get overly excited to go.

 

But then, all of a sudden, I was on an El AL flight on my way to Ben Gurion airport for the trip that changed my perception of Israel and definitely changed my life.

 

I don’t think I was prepared for how I would feel when I got there.  It felt a little foreign, for sure.  But I felt tied to this place.  It was overwhelming to think that I was standing in a country that I had heard about and learned about the better part of my life.  I was in Israel.  And it was marvelous.

 

While on this UJC sponsored mission, we did some tourist activities but the bulk of our time was spent seeing where Federations all over our country send their international dollars.  And what an incredible experience that was.

 

I found that, through all that we did, through the people that we met, the places that we saw, I was cementing my Judaism within me and I wanted to tell the world how Israel touched my soul.

 

Israel is a wonderful, thriving, beautiful place.  Filled with people of different faiths, of course, but most people are Jewish.  The Police?  Jewish.  The shop owners?  Jewish.  The hotel staff?  Jewish, mostly.  The bus driver?  Jewish.  While it’s strange at first, it took me virtually no time to get used to the idea.

 

I spent an amazing week there with amazing women, equally as committed as I.  We had access to things that most people would not normally experience (like a “cocktail” hour at the home of the Prime Minister with his wife, Eliza Olmert).  Not bad for my first Israeli experience!

 

More than anything, on my first of what I hope will be many trips, I realized that Israel is in the HEART of Jewish people everywhere.  We don’t realize it’s there but it is.  To visit is to unlock a wealth of emotion you may never realize is laying within you.  But when you are there and perhaps see the Wall for the first time, or the walls and gates of the Old City, or the Dead Sea or Massada – whatever it is for you, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed at the rush of feelings that might overtake you.  I was surprised when I unexpectedly found myself looking down at the Wall for the first time.  I instantly burst into tears and had a hard time composing myself.  I was unaware of how strongly I felt about being there.  And how proud I was to be Jewish and to have the opportunity to see Israel for myself.

 

As we celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut - Israeli Independence Day – let’s keep this beautiful country on our minds and in our hearts.  Whether you’ve been there yourself or not, Israel is the beating heart of Judaism.  A wonderful, warm, spiritual place that calls from within us all.

 

 

My Pesach in Israel

by Lawrence Brown (Larry is not related to Marisa Brown, who contributed the 2007 Yom HaAtzmaut story.)

 

This Pesach, I traveled with my wife and three children to Israel.  Many friends and family questioned “why a trip now?” “aren’t you concerned about your safety” and  “why not wait until after your son Zachary’s Bar Mitzvah”.  My rational was two-fold; one, to hopefully enhance my son’s understanding of Judaism and Zionism while he travels through the bar mitzvah process and two, to realize my dream of bringing my family to the cherished Jewish state. I feel compelled to share our experience with my friends and our community.

 

We reached Jerusalem on Friday afternoon and had an opportunity to welcome Shabbat at the Western Wall.  It had been 25 years since I had last been at the Wall for my bar mitzvah and could not wait to share this experience with my family.  As my son and I touched the Wall for the first time together and said the Sh’ma, I knew that my love for Israel would always beat in his heart as it does my own. 

 

As an active supporter of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, we had the benefit of their assistance in the planning of our trip and selection of our guide, Moti, who quickly grew to become a member of our family.  His Kurdish family emigrated from Iraq and settled in Jerusalem.  As our trip progressed, he shared his stories and knowledge with us, while equally educating us and adding more color to our trip than we could have ever dreamed of.

 

The American mindset and media paint a grim picture of security issues in Israel, which are very different in reality when traveling there.   The quantity and quality of the Israeli security is deeply woven into every part of daily life there.  It is not an inconvenience, just an acceptance of the way that things need to be.  I felt more secure by the competence of the security there, than I do at home.  My wife, Robin and I never once felt unsafe with our children, whether walking at night on Ben Yahuda street in Jerusalem or walking the shores of Tel Aviv.  Security concerns are a reality in Israel and we greatly respected that.

 

Our days were spent touring the country and throughout the trip our cherished guide educated and quizzed my children on many historical facts.  Robin and I were amazed by the amount of knowledge that all three of our children had learned at Congregation Bnai Tzedek.  Their depth of Hebrew and Jewish history was more than impressive.  It’s always easy to be a critic of the system, but when you have the real ability to test it, the true results are uncovered.  All of the teachers and professionals at our Synagogue deserve a tremendous amount of credit for teaching my children enough to impress even our seasoned guide.

 

 

One of our favorite days in Israel was when we visited the town of Beit Shemesh.  This dynamic city, with the support of the Washington, DC community and the P2K program has linked people of a common history like my family.  We planted a pomegranate tree, visited a boutique winery and experienced a kosher Kurdish lunch in the home of a resident of the town.  My entire family was touched with the love for the land, its history and our Kurdish host’s amazing cooking.  After lunch my children picked cumquats and for the first time enjoyed the fruit of the land.

 

Through our relationship with David Golinkin and the Schechter Institute, we were invited to share the Seder at the home of a family in Tel Aviv.  As we read the Haggadah and drank our four cups of Israeli wine, I watched my children learn new traditions and become friends with Israeli children.  This experience was especially touching and extremely rewarding.  Once again, I was impressed with the depth of knowledge my family brought from Potomac and was able to share with this incredibly welcoming Israeli family.  Each one of us participated in the Seder.

 

Whether we were visiting Yad Vashem or experiencing a kosher Moroccan meal in Jerusalem, my family was touched by our amazing Israeli experience.  I was able to see my daughters play with Israeli children and experienced purchasing a hand woven Tallis for my son’s bar mitzvah.  Seeing him wear it for the first time is something that I will never forget.  Israel is the only place that I have traveled where the graffiti proudly celebrates the love for the country.

 

Today I’m proud to say that my children have a solid understanding of their Jewish heritage and a love for Israel. We are already talking about our next trip and the many places we would like to visit with our new friend Moti.

 

Israel is a country and a homeland that everyone of Jewish heritage should experience. Its people, culture and economy are alive and thriving.  You will feel as safe in Jerusalem as you do in Washington DC. Bring your family, young and old, and experience what we were so fortunate to experience in the Promised Land.

Support Federation and give your family an experience that will last a lifetime.

 

 

 

 

 

Lawrence Brown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

< back to top