March 3, 2013
22 Adar 5773
Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that a week has passed since our congregational
trip to Israel concluded. It seems like only yesterday that we visited
Yad LaKashish, davened at Robinson’s Arch, climbed the steps of the southern
entrance to the Temple singing “Shir HaMaalot”, rode camels in the wilderness,
shouted “Masada will not fall again!” and attended a truly exuberant public
celebration of Purim. I hope that those memories will remain vivid! I
know that collectively we probably took several thousand photographs of our
experience. Here are just a few of the hundreds of images
I've got on my hard drive (I can't wait to see everyone else's):
Many thanks as well to Zvi Levran, for whom guiding visitors to the
Land and the State of Israel is a labor of intertwining loves: the love of
Israel, the Jewish people, and the Zionist dream. And let’s not forget our
driver, Moti, who got us to and from where we needed to be, safely and
comfortably.
I wanted to share with you a few interesting things that have
happened during the past week.
First, a marathon took place in Jerusalem the other day.
Coming from Boston, I felt very much at home!
By coincidence, for the first time since I arrived in Jerusalem, I
had a car at my disposal, but because of the marathon, I wasn’t able to make
use of it! The marathon went right down my street (call it the
“Commonwealth Avenue” of Katamon) and so I had to move the car out of the area
by 6:00 am, and couldn’t drive it anywhere near my neighborhood—or through much
of downtown—for the rest of the day. But it was a fun experience enjoyed
by just about everyone—except a taxi driver I encountered, who couldn't stop
complaining about how it was disrupting his day. (He also couldn't stop telling
me how annoyed he was that President Obama is planning to visit Israel four
days before Pesach: "Think of the traffic jams!")
Second, wild flowers – some of which we saw during our trip – have
really exploded with color (and—as I and many others have become aware—pollen).
Consider the following shot taken right around the corner from my apartment:
(During the summer, all you can see is parched ground under those
olive trees.)
Finally, national coalition negotiations continue. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet been able to form a government.
President Shimon Peres has given him two more weeks. There’s another
deadline at play here: if the Prime Minister (“Bibi”) doesn’t form a
government real soon, President Obama may postpone his trip to Israel. I
am sure that many people here hope that won’t happen. But this period is
very important: it is during coalition negotiations that many legislative
initiatives get hammered out. I for one hope that the problem of the
"equality of burden" (i.e., the exemption from army service enjoyed
by thousands of Hareidi yeshiva students, engendering tremendous resentment),
which has plagued the state from its very beginning, will begin to be resolved.
Speaking of the recent elections and speaking of this issue of shivyon
ha-netel (the equality of burden), I want to remind you about one
particular new member of the Knesset who bears watching. Zvi mentioned her to
us. Her name is Ruth Calderone.
She is really a special person who has already made important contributions
to Israeli society. Born into a secular family, she came to embrace
Talmud study as an adult – as a secular adult. She founded not one but
two institutions of higher learning for adults – secular adults – to
help them study Jewish texts. I got to meet Ruth Calderone at the Hartman
Institute a number of years ago. In her
inaugural speech to the Knesset, Ms. Calderone did something that had never
been done in that place before: she taught Talmud. She, a woman,
a secular woman, brought the Talmud into the Knesset and demonstrated
that its lessons aren’t just for the Orthodox. Rather, they are – or should
be – for all of us.
Here is the URL for a Haaretz
article about her amazing speech. It includes a video clip of the speech
with English subtitles. It is well worth
watching.
Ruth
Calderone's election symbolizes something very important happening in Israel
today: a broad-based public yearning to bridge the century-old gap
between secular and religious sensibilities in Israeli society. For many
years, the assumption has been that the 20% of the Jewish population in Israel
that is religious, and the 80% that is secular, have nothing in common. That perception, in stages, is
changing. Ruth Calderone’s speech will,
I believe, eventually be seen as an important step in that process.
This
brings me to my final point. As I said even before our trip began, a trip to
Israel is, hopefully, not just a trip to Israel. (As Zvi reminded us
repeatedly, nothing about Israel is ever "just a.") For
American Jews, a trip like ours can be an opportunity to think about what being
Jewish means to us. It can be an opportunity to reflect on what our role
is -- or might be -- in shaping the Jewish future. I know, from the
discussions we've already had, that this trip has had an impact on some of us,
and that some of us have begun to think about these questions. I hope that that
exploration continues. I hope that each of us will come away from this
experience not just inspired, but also committed to exploring future
connections, future opportunities for Jewish engagement, growth and
contribution, both within our own community and more broadly.
Let me conclude on a lighter note. Do you remember the contest
to find the most amusing misspelled English words on Israeli signs? In
the spirit of the season, I delightedly wanted to share with you one of my
favorites that I found in Jerusalem a few years ago:
Thanks to all of you for participating in a wonderful trip! Be
well, take care and shalom!
Sincerely,
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
Temple
Aliyah
1664
Central Avenue
Needham,
MA 02492
781-444-8522
