Anat Hoffman, HUC and the Golan     December 3, 2012

        I am still reflecting on our encounters yesterday near Gaza at Moshav Netiv HaAsar, Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the town of Sderot.  From the comfort of an American perspective these people have been living in extreme conditions not just during the past week but for more than a dozen years.  While thousands of rockets and mortars have been shot at them they are working and raising families with the uncertainty of when the next alert will be sounded or when the next rocket will land.  In this area you do not see normal bus stops because alongside of each one is a fortified bomb shelter.   The nursery schools are not only being reinforced to withstand bombs but often have very little windows.  There are days on end when the kids can’t go outside to play in the playground because it is too dangerous.  Parents who try to teach their children not to hate the Palestinians are finding fewer other families willing to repeat that message.  Political positions are forced to extremes and entire communities are being treated for trauma and extreme anxiety.  Children are afraid to sleep alone and are expressing multiple fears.  There are strains on normal family life and yet when you talk to them all they want is to live in peace and let others do the same.  But they want to be safe in their homes.

          In my previous blogI mentioned Chen Avraham.  Yesterday when the final question was asked of her as to why she and others continue to live in such conditions her answer was Hope for a better future.”  Raz Shmilovitz’s response was that this is undisputed land that is his home and he wants to grow his tomatoes as he watches his two little boys grow up.

          The reality of their existence is not considered by so many around the world even among Jews.  Too many in the rest of the world don’t see the picture of Israelis who are not militants only wanting to live in peace.  They want the same for their neighbors.

          I imagine some will wonder if I was safe on this visit.  Since there was no shooting while I was there I did not fear being there.  I am as safe as they were for the moment, but I’ll be returning to Rochester.

          Today’s itinerary was of a different nature.  Our first stop this morning was an 8:00 meeting with Anat Hoffman of IRAC (Israel Religious Action Center) at Beit Shimshon on the HUC campus.  In her usual powerful manner she spoke of the five areas of concern that IRAC is working on at present.  The first is equality for Reform and Conservative rabbis in Israel.  Having already won the Miri Gold case, although she still has not received her first paycheck, they are now petitioning for neighborhood rabbis in cities to be recognized and receive pay like their Orthodox counterparts.

          The second area has to do with freedom of marriage and divorce.  IRAC has brought this issue to the Knesset 16 times already.  Political parties include it on their platforms but as soon as they feel the need to make a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties (which is always the case) they drop it like a hot potato.  Last year 20% of Israeli marriages took place outside of the country because the couple either was denied the right to a wedding or wanted a non-Orthodox rabbi to perform the ceremony.

          The third area is the struggle to prevent the segregation of women in the public sphere.  IRAC organizes freedom bus rides to allow women to sit anywhere in the bus they choose.  It is an activity that tour groups can participate in when they are here. Often the people seeking help from IRAC in this arena are Orthodox women. Item 4 is the fight against racism.  There are rabbis who are inciting their followers against Arabs in Israel.  This is at odds with the founding principles of the country found in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.  It is an embarrassment that these rabbis are being paid by the state.      

          Finally IRAC is attempting to change the status of the Western Wall from being only an Orthodox synagogue.  They will petition the Supreme Court to disband the Western Wall Heritage Society which is the way the Orthodox control the area.  A proposal of shared time, meaning that different groups have access at different times would allow all religious streams to have full rights at this national historical site.  Anat also explained that her leadership of Women of the Wall is separate from her position at IRAC although there is some overlap.

          From there we hurried over to the HUC sanctuary where both the American and Israeli students were worshipping together.  I find it amazing to see some of the changes in worship that now occur.  Many participants wear tefilin.  None did so in my day.  I sat next to Jason Fenster and was very proud as he chanted the second aliyah and the second section of the Torah.  Kudos to Mrs. Rosenberg.

We quickly headed to the bus and headed down towards Jericho and up the Jordan valley until we arrived at the Kineret (Sea of Galilee).     We visited the Kineret cemetery where some of the early chalutzim (pioneers) from the first kibbutzim are buried.  We read poetry at the grave of the wonderful poet Rachel and saw the grave of Naomi Shemer who wrote Yerushalayim Shel Zahav.

After a quick lunch of shwarma in Tiberius we drove towards the Golan Heights to get on jeeps.  We bounced around as our driver Ilan showed us different places including a fast flowing Jordan River.  

The highlight was watching two foxes fighting.  We also passed some reserve soldiers who were on the dirt road having a vehicle repaired.  One of them jokingly asked if he could hitch ride with us.  As the day was waning we made two stops on the Golan.  The first was at the Gadot overlook where one stands by a Syrian bunker looking down into the valley where they shot thousands of rounds at the Israeli settlements before 1967.  Then it was off to the other side where in the dark, cold and wind we looked out towards Syria.  We reflected how in the few months when over 40,000 Syrians have been killed in the violence, we don’t hear of worldwide protests like the ones that are too often leveled against Israel.

Our hotel for the night was at Kibbutz Kfar Blum (The Pastoral Hotel).  This is a place I have taken numerous groups.  They have upgraded the facilities and we are staying in the newest buildings where the rooms could compete with many a fine hotel.  After dinner, where our group of 14 was joined by over 100 pensioners I was finally not the oldest in the room.  The evening concluded with the hotel manager telling us of the transformation of the entire kibbutz movement. 

Tomorrow we are off to Tzefat and then Tel Aviv.