Our day kicked off with a decadent breakfast at the Carleton Tel Aviv hotel. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the raw honeycomb slab, alongside the indulgent spread of traditional Israeli breakfast delights.
We started our day with a visit to the Magen David Adom headquarters in Ramleh, home to their state-of-the-art, fully secured blood bank. I had the privilege of delivering an envelope containing a generous donation from one of our congregants to support this vital and worthy cause:
Next, we drove to Jerusalem and visited Congregation Kol Ha’Nshama, a prominent Reform congregation, where we had the opportunity to hear from distinguished speakers. One of them was journalist and author Matti Friedman, who shared his insights on why the media’s focus is so intensely fixed on Israel. He argued that the overwhelming coverage actually leads to less understanding of the region’s incredibly complex realities. “Israel receives more media attention than any other place in the world, despite its small size,” he said. He also emphasized that Israel’s true conflict is with Iran, rather than with Gaza. His words were so potent and right on target; I am hoping to bring him as a guest speaker to our congregation.
I then had the honor of meeting one of my heroes from my younger years, Dr. Nachman Shai. A journalist and politician, Dr. Shai served as Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and has held numerous influential roles, including as a member of the Knesset, Deputy Speaker, and IDF spokesperson. In April 2024, he was appointed Dean of the Hebrew Union College campus in Jerusalem.
Our encounter was especially meaningful to me because of his role during the Gulf War in 1991, when Iraq targeted Israel with missiles. At the time, Dr. Shai was the commander and chief editor of Israel Army Radio, where his calming voice helped soothe the anxieties of Israelis, like myself, locked in sealed rooms during air raids. I’ll never forget how his steady words brought me a sense of calm in those tense moments. I shared this memory with him, and we embraced, a full-circle moment I’ll always cherish.
We were deeply moved by the stories shared by four of my Israeli Reform rabbinical colleagues, each recounting their experiences of October 7 and the challenging months that followed. Their resilience, wisdom, and compassion in responding to the needs of their communities were nothing short of inspiring. Rabbis Naomi Efrat, Yael Vurgan, Rinat Safania, and Oded Mazor, the latter of whom graciously hosted us at Kol Ha’Neshama Synagogue, each offered a unique and powerful perspective.
As I listened to their speeches and personal stories, I felt the weight of the collective pain that Israelis are carrying. The devastation of October 7, 2023, and its aftermath, has left a deep wound in the country—a vacuum filled with anger, grief, loss of hope, and heightened anxiety. Yet, one thing I’ve come to know about Israelis, and Jews in general, is their incredible ability to pick up the pieces, push forward, and keep moving. Nothing can extinguish the love they have for their land, nor their unwavering determination to persevere, to choose life—ובחרת בחיים—even when it means rising from the ashes. Am Yisrael Chai. עם ישראל חי
