The last time I was in Israel was during the Intifada when no one was visiting and I joined a small group from Silicon Valley in support. The little shop owner on Ben Yehuda Street read my palms and noted that they did not match.
My first trip was a federation mission after Nadine was born. Then an educational trip for Hebrew school teachers. In 1993 I volunteered with Sar-El. And the best---in 1992 the San Jose community received a grant for a teen community mission that would begin in Poland and include a 6 week hi adventure and educational trip throughout Israel and I was asked to lead it. I can still remember rappelling down Negev cliffs, drinking tea with Bedouins, rafting down the Jordan, hiking near Eilat, and especially standing hand-in-hand at sunset at the edge of the Mediterranean singing "Eli Eli" (Oh Lord, my G-d, I pray that these things never end, the sand and the sea, the rush of the waters, the crash of the heavens, the prayer of the heart).
So this is trip # 6. A GEM trip for women sponsored by Aish Ha Torah. In 1982 while working at the JCC in Bensalem, Pa., two young men stopped in the office and gave me a pamphlet called "The Forty Eight Ways." Now I am coming full circle by participating on this wonderful learning experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment