Separating the Sacred from the Secular....

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olamhamav'dil bein kodesh l'chol, bein or l'choshekh bein Yis'ra'eil la'amim, bein yom hash'vi'i l'sheishet y'mei hama'aseh, Barukh atah Adonai, hamav'dil bein kodesh l'chol. (Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe, Who separates between sacred and secular, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six days of labor, Blessed are You, Lord, who separates between sacred and secular.)

The Havdalah blessing...repeated around the world weekly at the end of Shabbat....its purpose is to remind us that within our one life there exists two worlds..the first is our day to day world. The parts of our life that can often seem routine, mundane and repetitive. The second world are those moments in our life that pull us outside of that everyday. The special moments, the parts of our life set aside for meaningful, intense feelings and reflection. Last night I walked down a jet way in Atlanta and crossed that divide. While the logo on the plane, a Delta widget, was familiar to my day to day, where I was now was a different space.

As with the Havdalah service, all five of my senses were immediately taken to a very special place. The flight announcements and voices throughout the plane speaking in Hebrew. The familiar, comforting symbols of that other part of my life- the Israeli flag on a flight attendant's pin, the Magen David necklace another was wearing, the menus printed in Hebrew. The hummus they served us after take off, Everything around me reminding me this was not my day to day world. That this time was to be set apart from the rest.

Special moments have that weird ability to happen in slow motion and go too fast all at the same time...4:20 the pilot announced we had entered Israeli air space....4:40 Tel Aviv came into view...4:55 our wheels touched down. The sun was setting. Shabbat was ending. For the rest of Israel they were about to cross back from the sacred to the secular, from the special to the ordinary. For me the special was just beginning....

Baruch ata, Adonai Eloheinu, melech haolam, shehechyanu vekiyamanu vehigianu lazman hazeh. (Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.)

Accompanying Photo Share Created

I have set up a shutterfly site to share my pictures. Take a peek at...

http://ylcisrael2009.shutterfly.com/

Size truly doesn't matter....

Contrary to conventional wisdom, in most things size doesn't matter. When it comes to noise that is certainly the case. The plane I just got off (coming to Atlanta) was filled the entire way with the squealing of a baby would couldn't have weighed more than 6 lbs. A small package making great noise. I have a 17 lb cat who lets out a little birdie squeak and nothing more, in his world he is a big package making a small noise.

As children we instinctively know that even if we are small, we can still command the world with our voice, but somewhere around adolescence we begin to forget that. We are conditioned to believe that our one voice can't move mountains, that we only matter if we are part of the majority, that we must fit in to have an impact. I more than anyone fell into this trap. (stop laughing those that know me now, there was a time that I thought this way *smile*).

Particularly when it came to leadership and my role in the philanthropic world, I truly believed unless I have a lot of money, was part of a large Jewish community and had a high power job my voice and my contributions (financial or hands on) would not matter. I would go to events where communities travelled in packs it seemed, and I as the member of a small community faded into the background alone. I let this belief keep me from action and being heard.

But like so much else in my world that view changed in 2001. That year I had my eyes opened to the reality of small voices, inside and outside the Jewish world. That year I moved from Syracuse NY, a large Jewish community, to Binghamton NY, pretty much off the Jewish map completely. I went from being active as part of a group, with strong ties to Israel to being a single voice in a community struggling just to meet social needs at home.

Then into my life walked another person who was pivotal in my future, Rhea. Rhea leads the UJC Network of Jewish Communities, or "the Network". The network represents those communities too small to make it on the UJC map, but still with a strong Jewish heart and soul. Rhea welcomed me into the fold and thus began a great learning adventure for me. I was able to join with others with small voices and be heard and I was given a platform for my voice to be heard. Rhea had the faith in me to send me to speak in many Network communities, and to also to sit at the table with some great leaders in our country (former senators, leaders of industry, Jewish leaders) all were people the world clearly heard, despite them being "off the map" in where they lived.

My experience with the Network helped me see through my eyes and those of others, that one voice can make a difference, if we are willing to scream a little louder. That being the driving force for a cause doesn't make your views any less important. The network helped me find that confidence to help make a difference.

I also learned about other voices via the network. I learned of the elderly of Tbilisi, with voices so weak from age and life that they can barely speak, they asked us to speak for them and I did. I learned of the small voices of the children in Lod, they asked us to tell the world about them and I did. One other voice I met during this time will always call to me even if I someday forget the others, although now silenced, that of Yochai Porat, a volunteer with Magen David Adom, killed in the line of duty. His voice more than any will remind me about giving all you have when its right.

This week I will meet a whole new set of small voices, those who attend school afraid they make not make it home, those who have migrated to Israel from places like Ethiopia and are learning to teach their small voices to speak in their new language, those of teens in Gaza who are trying to cope with their current reality and are afraid to speak loudly for fear of retaliation. They will ask me to speak for them, and to them and I will. I will share their stories with all of you, and hopefully you will share their stories with others, each of our small voices adding to the roar that helps the world remember the things we sometimes try to forget.

It is the small voice in me that is calling me back to Israel, I have been too silent in the last year when it comes to this part of my life. It is the small voices in Gaza that will call me to action upon my return.
Every voice matters, whether you are squeaky, or small, or old or tired, Whether you speak in English, or Hebrew, or Hindi or Spanish or Greek. It's time to speak!!!!!!

Tel Aviv via.... Omaha???

No I don't need a better travel agent. I have been in Omaha NE for the past day on business. I leave for Atlanta from here tomorrow afternoon and then on to Tel Aviv. But despite the rather roundabout logistics of these flights, there is great irony in me being in Omaha that I have spent the last few hours thinking about.

There are people who enter our lives and stick around, there are those who walk through our life once and are never heard from again, but then there are those who we seem to cross paths with many times. I once read a book (the Celestine Prophecy) that hypothesized that if someone has a purpose in your life that is still unfinished they will keep crossing your path, until the purpose is complete. I am not sure I come close to believing in a world that mystical, but you have to wonder.

Ironically, Omaha is home to one of those people who keeps crossing my life, Joel.

There are five people as I look back on my interactions with Israel and philanthropy in general that played pivotal roles. They helped me realize the true value of Israel in my life and the role of my life in Israel. They helped me understand the world is bigger than each of us, but despite that we are responsible for helping those we have never met, for giving what we can and then some and for doing our part.

One of those five was Joel. I first met Joel when I was 25 or so and living in Syracuse NY. Joel was a friend of two of the other people I count in those 5. He was speaking at a Young Leadership event. I remember hearing him speak. Joel is one of those speakers who can pull you, in make you feel like you have shared his experiences with him and leave you charged for action. Even if you have heard Joel's stories many times you are still moved by them (and if you have known Joel a while you HAVE heard his stories a few times....including the wrong house for a football game story *smile*) .

I remember looking at Joel that day and feeling so envious, he was somewhere in his life I thought I could never get, successful, involved, respected and he was able to use that to help heal the world. But instead of that envy being paralyzing, I used it to learn, to better my life, and to set goals, that I thought that day so unreachable.

The next time Joel and I crossed paths was somewhere around 2002. I was now a member of YL Cabinet, was involved in UJC and got my chance not only to tell Joel what an impact his lessons had had on me but to use what he taught me. Over the next couple years we got to work together on a few different events as he was chairing a UJC group I was on the executive committee of. In that time I saw Israel for the first time, and I remember sitting in Atlanta after the trip for the first time with the tables turned...Joel sitting in the audience and me at the podium, sharing my experiences hoping to inspire others. I can admit now that no one in that room made me nervous except Joel. It is always hard to have your heroes watching, but he had set the bar very high. And ironically I was scheduled to speak right after him. But the smile on his face as I spoke helped me see how far my life had come in those 7 years. That I had learned his lessons well and was a place in my life I never thought possible.

Fast forward another 7 years....here I am in Omaha, his hometown, and about to leave to do what he taught me so many years ago. Go where you are needed. Be there. Make your voice heard. Do more than write a check to help, make sure you do write the check, but do more than that. If you are able, there is no excuse for inaction. Never be silent. Tell the world about those in need. Challenge others to action. Never consider the effort over. We owe the world, the world doesn't owe us. And most of all, never take no for an answer when you believe in what you are doing. Whether the no you are hearing is your own self doubts, naysayers, financial challenges, or personal safety risks. Anything is possible if we give it our all.

Tomorrow I will travel physically from Omaha to Tel Aviv, but in some ways I have been making that journey for the last 14 years.

Voices from Sderot

Want to hear other voices share their experiences in Southern Israel, and previous missions, UJC has started an ongoing blog.

http://www.ujc.org/blog.aspx?id=95

Our trip's participants will be adding to it this week.

Don't Ask...Don't Tell

Today the journey began....I have a two day business trip in Nebraska from which I will leave directly for TLV (via Atlanta)...so today was the dreaded "good bye day". Saying good byes is nothing unique in my world, I travel for business most every week. So leaving is something I am pretty good at, but a trip to Israel is always a different set of good byes than heading to Connecticut or Oklahoma.

The good byes take longer, are more intense and there is more planning. The actual good byes are always overshadowed with the sometimes unspoken (sometimes slightly spoken) "what ifs". The reality of life in Israel is on every one's mind no matter how they feel about me going. I find people look at you just a few seconds longer during these good byes, as if they are trying to memorize you just in case......

And I know my view is different too, I gave hugs where I don't normally, I snuggled the furbies a few extra times, I looked around my house longer on the way out the door...just in case....I have no fear going to Israel, I crave it, but I am not naive, I know the risks and realities.

The good byes are just the culmination though of the weird process of letting those around you know you are going to Israel. Despite repeated trips I have yet to figure out the right way to know who you tell you are going and how. The reactions have varied over the years from people who were totally supportive to those that have tried to bribe me to not go to those who have flat out opposed the idea. There are those you tell before you go, there are those you can only tell once you are back safe and sound. There are some you never tell, they can't get past what they see on the news to understand.

This time around was really surprising and enlightening to me. I think it speaks to what a good place my life is at. With the recent upswing in violence (and related press coverage) I went into this very tentatively, not wanting to tell colleagues and hesitant to tell friends. I had no idea the reactions, and didn't want the political views of the world to complicate my relationships.

But my world once again surprised me. Not one person in my immediate circle of friends and colleagues was anything less that supportive. And if anything I received a great deal of support in making the trip happen on short notice. Sure there were those who think it is an insane idea, but even they were true friends and tried to understand why I need to go and helped me make it happen.

I am reminded today what a wonderful life I have, how blessed I am with the people around me and that makes why I am going even more important. As the phrase goes..."To those whom much is given, much is expected". I believe that, I try to live that, so off I go to give back just a small part of all I have been given.

Right Journey! Right Time?

I have never blogged before, we'll see if this turns out to be a great idea or not. I am not sure why I am doing this. Am I doing it for me, as I regret that I didn't better document my last trip to Israel? Am I doing it for the people I care about, who are worried about this trip and my safety? Am I doing it for a greater reason, in hopes that someone reading this who doesn't "get it" about the situation in the middle east will read my words and realize that behind the headlines and military attacks there are faces...faces who yearn for nothing more than the safety and calm that we take for granted in the United States. Who knows, but like so many other journeys in my life I take without understanding why, so too goes this blog.

I may not know why I am writing this blog, but I do know why I am heading to Israel again. I feel that call, that urge to be there. To stand up for what I believe in, to stand with the people I believe in, in a country who I believe in.

It's hard to explain, if you ask most around me why I am going, it would be some response about being Jewish. And yes that is part of it, but there is more. Israel, right wrong or otherwise, to me speaks about all that is possible in this world, both the good and the bad.

On the good, Israel is about dreams, determination, love and passion. I have never been accused on doing anything 1/2 way. Anyone who has known me more than 10 minutes, knows that once I set my mind to something I cling to it til I am done. For this reason a very dear friend gave me the hebrew name Lehava Rut....literally Lehava is flame, but the "slang" meaning of this name is "Stubborn Friend". Some may say my stubbornness is a bad thing, but many also know it is how I have survived and thrived through good and bad. I see Israel as the epitome of that quality.

Israel, is the homeland of people who have seen the worst the world can offer, and yet through it all have persevered, survived and thrived. The dream of Israel, the state of Israel and the continued defending of Israel required holding fast to ideals and views that the world many times tried to extinguish, yet she has survived and thrived. There is no greater legacy than that. To have stood fast to our dreams against all odds.

I think holding fast to my own beliefs and ideals is part of what is drawing me back to Israel at this moment in my life. I have had many chances to go in the last few years, but this time the call was too strong to pass up. I need to be reminded that dreams do come true, that holding tight to what you believe in does matter and that fighting the good fight is worth it in the end. I need to reconnect with that part of myself.

The bad, how do you even start to explain the bad in humanity that Israel represents. From it beginnings with a people nearly extinguished who fought to exist and to find a home to the current hate and murder and pain in the middle east. No matter what side of the political divide you come down on, the pain is excruciating. I do not feel sorry for the terrorists or the soldiers on either side of the conflict, but my heart aches for the innocent on both sides. People who spend every day praying that their children will come home safe, their homes will be standing in the morning and that they will live to see a new year. No one should have to live like that. And the sad part is no one has to. If the fanatics on both sides of the border could just stop and see what they are doing for a minute it could all end, but that is but a dream today.

I can't change the bad, but I also can not bury my head in the sand and pretend it isn't there. I feel drawn to be there, to for a few days stand with others from the US and say "we are here, we know you are hurting, let us help". I need to reconnect with this part of myself also. I remember the young girls I met when I was last on a mission in 2002, we taught them the words blue, red, yellow in English, we colored with them, we sang. Are they still alive? What are their lives like now? I remember the soldiers we met, did they live to see their families again? I remember the merchant in S'fat, his wife in tears because our mere cents spent on their pottery allowed them to celebrate a birthday with a dinner. I remember the bombing victims telling us "please tell the world we are here, we think they have forgotten us". I need to remind myself I haven't forgotten them.

I am not naive, I know this trip is a risk. That this is a volatile part of the world I am headed to, that I would be much safer on a beach in Hawaii, or a hotel over looking the Eiffel tower. But every day I ask others to live in harms way in Israel so that I as a Jew have a homeland to turn to. How can I not go for a few days and take that risk. A beach or Paris would not help me find those parts of me I feel so lost from right now. They live in Israel, and I must go to find them.....