On my last two trips to Israel, I had the delightful surprise of meeting friends at Logan Airport travelling to Israel on the same flight as me: Marc Andler, Amy Mitman, Rabbi Marc Baker and others. On one flight I even met the author, Rachel Kadish, who wrote, “The Weight of Ink.” On this trip I met no one. Ok.
I planned to spend my first night in Jerusalem to see friends and do some touring, before heading to other parts of the country. I had hoped to see Yael and Michael Berger who had hosted me for Shabbat lunch on my last two trips. However, Yael wrote back “Rough timing. I fly with the kids to Australia on Monday.” Michael added “Next time BeH (with Hashem’s help).”
As I stood on the train platform to travel from the airport to Jerusalem, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was my friend, Michael Berger, who had dropped his wife and kids at the airport and was returning home. Baruch HaShem, only in Israel.
We spoke about the current situation. Michael acknowledged the need to return the hostages as soon as possible, and he also expressed hope that delaying a ceasefire might allow the IDF to fully neutralize Hamas in Gaza.
After lunch with Michael, I walked to pray at the Kotel. On the way, I decided to visit the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. Begin founded today’s Likud party and after 29 years serving in the Knesset as a leader of the opposition (the Labor Party governed), he became Prime Minister. Begin forged peace with Egypt and ordered Operation Opera, Israel’s strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981, establishing the Begin doctrine, “We shall not allow any enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction turned against us,” which guided Israel’s policy towards Iran.
Begin also promoted equality between the Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, saying we are all Jews, one family. Earlier in the day, Michael Berger had said something similar, “We are all Jews,” as an approach to transcending the religious divides within Israeli society.
Lastly, I went to meet Meesh Hammer-Kossoy, a director at Pardes where I studied last February. She was attending a book release party at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Sheikh Jarrah (East Jeruslam). Ittay Flescher, the auther of The Holy And The Broken: A cry for peace from a land that must be shared, is the Education Director at Kids4Peace Jerusalem, an interfaith youth movement for Israelis and Palestinians. He was in conversation with Sari Nusseibeh, a scholar whose family holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
