I am in Israel. I arrived only on Sunday and for the next four days, I am travelling with a group of Liberal, Masorti and Reform rabbis on a tour arranged by Yachad. Today, as I write this, we have spent the day in the South. We travelled through the Gaza Envelope, as it is known, the stretch of land that borders Gaza, the several kibbutzim that experienced the most profound losses on 7th October 2023.
We planted an olive tree of remembrance in Kibbutz Nirim and heard from resident Rabbi Avi Davush, who leads Rabbis for Human Rights. Standing on the hillside of Sderot, we could see into Gaza and its devastation. We were with ten rabbis from the organisation RHR. One of them, Orthodox rabbi Jesse Burke, lost his son three months ago. He was serving in the IDF. Jesse shared a living hesped (eulogy ) for him, even as he spoke of the loss of children in so many Jewish and Palestinian homes. Each of these rabbis told extraordinary stories of resilience and loss these past sixteen months and they also described a strengthening of their commitment to humanity and the values they see underpinning their Judaism. They dedicate themselves to this. Meeting Rabbi Gilad Kariv at the Knesset, the first Reform Rabbi MK, he described his commitment to the hostage deal holding, the fighting stopping and to a just democracy here in Israel.
Today we hope to be meeting with families of hostages. I will be in Hostage Square on Saturday evening for Havdalah.
The Torah portion for this week, Parashat T’rumah, describes building the mishkan, the sanctuary in the desert.
God says to the people:
Asu li Mikdash v’Shachanti b’Tocham.
Build me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst you.
Not in it but amongst the people, God is saying.
Being here and meeting those who are dedicated to building a safe, just and fair society, I am so struck by these words. It is not always easy for them but I am overwhelmed by the endeavours of those here working for this. In that way a ’sanctuary’ is built.
At home, services are being led by able and gifted FPS folk building our sanctuary of community (even as our building progresses) and I am so grateful for that.
Refugee Shabbat is being marked by many synagogues in the UK and there will be a special service this Saturday with B’Yachad and guests. See below.
Shabbat Shalom and looking forward to seeing you next week and sharing more.
Hannah
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