VOICES OF CONGREGANTS

Ann Bogdanow

Temple Emanu-El Trip to Israel May 3-13, 2009

…The Temple Emanu-El trip was the first trip to Israel for both my husband Alan and me. We had talked about going for a very long time but the timing was never right for us until this May. We were so fortunate to have such an engaging group of 36 individuals and couples to travel with and get to know better. We learned together, we laughed together, we catnapped together.

Our nine days were long and heavily programmed with little time to reflect or process what we learned each day. But since returning, I have found that I cannot stop thinking and talking about our trip and that as I continue to share my experiences with family and friends, the details come alive and I realize how much this trip has meant to me.

Going to Israel for the first time for me was all about seeking a connection. Connection to Israel, to history, to the Jewish people. Seeking a sense of God, a sense of where it all began. Since, I never have thought of myself as being a very spiritual person, I kept wondering if I would ‘feel’ anything as others before have always said one would.

As a first-timer, everything on our itinerary was brand new to me. But since time is short, I will mention today two of the most meaningful parts of this trip for me.

The first was Kinneret Cemetery. On this trip, we visited a lot of cemeteries. But being at Kinneret was different. Here we had our first chance to pause from our hectic pace to take time for personal reflection.

Kinneret is a very beautiful cemetery where some of the early Zionist pioneers are buried. It is an almost magical setting of granite and stone and gardens overlooking the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. It is a place of the many colors and textures of nature. Plants, flowers, stones, water, and sky. Whites, grays, greens, blues, pinks, purples and reds. Here I could feel the spirit of the early reformers. Themes of life, death, birth, renewal, wisdom, courage, strength, hope, continuity and most of all peace. A peaceful, beautiful place for comfort and reflection.

In his Big Jewish Ideas class Rabbi Stern taught us that On Shabbat we might “take a moment to appreciate the world of nature, and speak the words,
zecher l’ma’aseh bereshit- ‘a remembrance of the work of creation’”. Well, here we were in Kinneret and it was almost Shabbat. And these words rang true.

The second experience I want to talk about is our arrival and first view of Jerusalem. The last stop on our itinerary.

Already five days into our trip, I was really eager to get to Jerusalem. The anticipation had been building since our plane first landed in Tel Aviv. As our bus left Kinneret and journeyed south along the West Bank, I kept wondering what I would feel when we got there. Would I feel anything?

Muki, our guide, began to prepare us for this last leg of our journey. He told us it was very important to see Jerusalem not so much with our eyes but with our hearts. And I kept thinking about what he said.

We are approaching the tunnel and suddenly I am completely choked up. We arrive at Mt Scopus and I am overwhelmed by what I am feeling. Tears are running down my cheeks and I am so happy to finally “see” Jerusalem. Gazing at the view from Mt Scopus, a view I had seen many times in films or photos, it is different because I am really there, seeing it for myself, feeling it for myself. The feeling is breathtaking and the view is beautiful even in the haze. The old and the new. The ancient and the modern. The layers and the textures.

We recite the “shehechiyanu”, read some prayers and poems. One poem in particular has struck a chord:

ONE DOES NOT travel to Jerusalem,
One returns
One ascends
The road taken by generations,
The path of longing
On the way to redemption.

One brings rucksacks
Stuffed with memories
To each mountain
And each hill
In the cobbled white alleyways
One offers a blessing
For memories of the past
Which have been renewed.

One does not travel to Jerusalem.
One returns.

I love this poem. In a way, I have returned. On this one day, Friday, just before Shabbat, I have been to Kinneret Cemetery and arrived in Jerusalem. Everything I had been hoping for has happened in one day. I am feeling a lot of emotion. How can one not feel the presence of God at this moment?

The remainder of our stay in Jerusalem was as beautiful and wonderful as the days before. I am so grateful for the gift of this trip, to have connected with Israel and opened my heart.

On Torah
Ann Bogdanow