Last summer, I wrote about Abram Kaplan, an older man whom I’d met in my grandmother’s hometown of Mohilev-Podolski. The work he was doing was amazing and inspiring: creating a Holocaust museum, feeding the poor, establishing monuments, and serving as an ambassador to the outside world and as a bridge between generations. I felt strongly then that I was privileged to peer into a world that was vanishing before our eyes. Since then, Abram has passed on, but his inspiration remains.

The journey to Eastern Europe and the exploration of the roots so many of us have there led to months of study and sharing at our Wednesday Adult Education classes on topics ranging from the teachings of Chasidic rebbes to writers of the Enlightenment; from the destruction of the Holocaust to present-day communities, to the real life experiences of members of our own community.

In another context, Reb Zalman teaches that to survive, a tree must have its core and its growing edge. Profoundly, one of the growing edges in the Jewish world today is also at the place of our deepest roots: Israel. Israel is a phenomenally interesting and spiritually powerful place. Its stones bear witness to our most ancient stories, and they witness our current story. It is the unique story of a people returning home after thousands of years of exile and oppression. It is the story of the first independent Jewish country in almost 2000 years. When our grandparents were born, this story could only have been told as a dream, or a prophecy.

For many of us, Israel stirs our passions, including our passion for peace, and our passion for justice. Sometimes, though, we are so overwhelmed by the situation there that we numb our passion, or even wash ourselves of any interest at all. Other times, we so desperately want peace that we blame ourselves entirely and can do no right. Yet our tradition and beliefs mandate that we, in the name of peace, and in the name of justice, look at our own role in bringing disharmony.
To that end, we recently co-sponsored bringing to our community two pairs of Israeli-and-Palestinian guests. Two former combatants, one Palestinian and one Israeli, came to speak on behalf of themselves and other “Combatants for Peace” at one of our Shabbat services, and two women, one Israeli and one Palestinian, came to share their powerful personal-story theatrical performance, “By the Well of Sarah and Hagar.”

But the political situation and its accompanying disharmony is not the whole story. Israel is also a vibrant, modern, multi-cultural society at the forefront of so many fields of endeavor. It is a land rich in geological, historical, cultural and spiritual treasures. And this year, Israel will experience its first-ever Santa Cruz Jewish community pilgrimage to Israel, as a group from Chadeish Yameinu undertakes a journey to the land of our roots for Purim and the transition from winter to spring. Ours will be a spiritual journey, not only visiting places of religious interest, but also acquainting ourselves with a diversity of communities and connecting us with the sacredness of the Land itself.
Part of what makes this a spiritual journey is that we undertake it on behalf of, and in the name of, our community. Our group includes those who have visited Israel before, those who have never been there but who have always dreamed of going, and some who have never dreamed of going. We are Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and non-religious. And we go for all of us.
May we go with your blessing. And may we bring your blessing with us, to renew and be renewed by it, and return to you in peace.