Alphabet Soup

Thank you to one of my readers who pointed out my thoughtless use of “Jewish Alphabet Soup” in my posts, I apologize. These terms have been part of my life for so long I forget they aren’t the norm for everyone, Jewish or not. So let me try to break down some of the “buzz words” from my posts.

UJC (http://www.ujc.org)– United Jewish Communities (previously UJA or United Jewish Appeal to those who have been around Jewish philanthropy for a while). UJC was once described to me as “the United Way of the Jewish world”. UJC is the major Jewish fund raising organization in the United States. UJC raises over $1 BILLION dollars a year and uses that money to help people in the US, Israel and 60 other countries around the world.

UJC raises most of its funds through local Jewish Federations. Federations are the community based arms of the Jewish philanthropic world. Most intermediate to large size communities have a Federation, which manages local fund raising and needs. For those communities too small for their own Federation UJC has a program called “The Network Independent Communities” or “The Network”, which helps support and work with these communities and keep them tied into the UJC world (http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=164115).

Federations keep some of the money they raise in their own communities, for local needs, and the rest is collected into UJC national where it is distributed to needs around the world.

National Young Leadership Cabinet (NYLC) – In most Federations there are local Young Leadership programs, helping develop the next generation of leaders in the Jewish community. These organizations provide social, education and networking opportunities for growth of those aged 20-45. The “cabinet” represents the cream of the crop of these leaders and helps them develop their skills nationally and internationally. Cabinet was started for men in 1959 and a woman’s cabinet was started in 1976. At any one time there are about 400 young men and women serving on cabinet. To be part of cabinet means making a 4-6 year commitment to serve as speakers, solicitors, mission leaders, trainers and consultants throughout the United States and Canada. They assist communities in all aspects of campaign and help create and run national programs, aimed at educating and developing future Jewish leaders. In addition to a time and effort commitment, cabinet members also make a financial commitment to give to the needs around the world. Our trip was comprised mostly by current members or Alumni like myself, as well as some prospective cabinet members.

JAFI (Jewish Agency for Israel or the Jewish Agency http://www.jewishagency.org) and JDC (The Joint Distribution Committee http://www.jdc.org/) are two of the main ways that money raised via UJC and the Federations reaches those around the world in need. Their role is to help identify the major needs and to help implement the programs. They are the feet on ground, hands on, day to day managers of the programs in Israel and around the world where there are needs. They make sure that the money raised in the US is put to good use. They are our stewards and our face to the people we help.

Misconceptions

It is really important that I point out some of the misconceptions of UJC, Federations and the partner agencies.

Myth 1 - They only care about Jews. This is not the case. These agencies provide help where help is needed, and often it goes to communities, here and abroad, for initiatives that impact all the citizens in the area. In the US major aid was given post 9/11 and post Katrina for example to help people get back on their feet. In Sderot the trauma center is supporting all the citizens of Sderot, regardless of religious or national affiliation. The requirements are a need not a nationality. Yes the focus is on the Jewish world and Israel, and the majority of the funds come from the Jewish world, needs are met without restriction.

Myth 2 - That by giving to these agencies you are supporting war or politics. These organizations are not government backers, military agencies or political parties. UJC, Federations and the partner agencies are humanitarian organizations. Money given to these organizations provides food, shelter, emotional support and life enrichment. It is not funding weapons or wars.

Myth 3 - Only Jews can give to these organizations. Just as the needs are universal, so are the donors. Any of these organizations will welcome gifts from any person or organization, regardless of religious affiliation or nationality.


I am incredibly proud to belong to these organization, especially of having served on Cabinet, and proud to know that I am doing what I can to live a life that matters and makes a difference. I know that these are not the right organizations for everyone, but I do hope if you take nothing else from my trip it is that we all need to be a part of the solution. If these aren’t the agencies for you, please google other ways to help, either in Israel or around the world.

Please stow your tray tables and bring your seats to an upright position

“Welcome to Altanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport, the local time is 5:37 am”. With those words I am thrown back into reality, our trip is really over. I cling to the last couple announcements in Hebrew, knowing it will be a long time before I hear it again. I have no idea ½ of what is being said, but I want the flight attendant to keep talking anyway. Yosi was right, it IS harder leaving than staying!

Israel is so hard to explain to those who have never been there, whose only view is through CNN or the Washington Post. There is an energy in Israel that we don’t have here in the US, an electricity that comes with not only truly appreciating where you live, but fearing for its existence. Even on our worst days post 9/11 I don’t think any of us considered, even for a second, a world where the US didn’t exist, it is impossible. But for Israelis that is a real unspoken possibility they keep tucked away in their heads and hearts. The existence of Israel is not something they, or any of us, can take for granted.

Don’t get me wrong Israel is far from perfect. My taxicab driver said it best on the way to the airport as he was sharing his dreams of living in America, “Its hard living with a bunch of Jews”. And he is right, we ARE many of our stereotypes…we are loud, passionate, hard headed and opinionated. But we make that work. That passion and tenacity is what has sustained us through many hardships and it is what keeps us all committed to the state of Israel, to the dream of a homeland, to our belief that someday peace will come. Being a part of that energy is not something you easily want to let go of.

I have a wonderful life here in America, great friends, the job of a lifetime. I have a great life and I should be excited to jump back into it, but I feel drained, like a life force that has driven me the last few days is gone. I am not ready to make the jump back across that divide from the sacred to the secular, from the exceptional to the mundane.

Since arriving home this morning multiple people have said, I am glad you made it back in one piece. I have silently laughed each time I have heard it. They don’t realize how wrong they are. Yes I am home safe and intact…but a large piece of my heart is missing, I left it behind in Eretz Israel!!

Ice Cream and F-16's

Four days ago I came to Israel not sure how any one could live like this, constantly worrying about missiles and suicide bombings. I felt bad for the people living here, but as we were told in Sderot, you can’t get it til you are here.

My trip is about to end almost exactly as it started, overlooking the gorgeous blue of the Mediterranean from my hotel room. I am still seeing the mosque and the dolphinarium, the picture is the same but the view is completely different. I am different. I see the world through new filters. What seemed important, like a big deal 48 hours ago now seems so unimportant. Problems we have at home seem so small comparably. This trip has changed me.

As much as being here has shown me how hard this life is, I also feel like I have come one small step closer to understanding how people can live like this on a daily basis and thrive. When we started out on Monday morning many of us were kind of chilled by the security briefing and emergency drill we went through to prepare for the day. While I had had no hesitation at all in coming to Israel, I have to admit the severity with which our leaders warned us did give me pause. I wondered for a moment what I had gotten into, was the risk greater than I had given value to and was this a mistake. They gave us an out after the briefing, the chance to change our minds, I am so glad I didn’t take it.

At that moment I would never have believed that a mere 30 hours later we would be laughing and joking while eating ice cream a few yards from where a grad rocket had landed that morning, but we were. For as unsettling as this area is, you also find normalcy in the abnormal very quickly. At first it seemed strange that so many of our meetings were held in reinforced rooms, that bomb shelters dotted the landscape and no one but us seemed to notice them, but today in Tel Aviv the scenery almost seems naked without them. Their quiet comfort of safety within 15 seconds makes sense now and their absence is eerie.

Noises have also changed. I hear a plane overhead and wait for the artillery fire, its going to take me a while to remember that sometimes a plane is just a plane. A cell phone ringing or a public announcement and I tense. There is no need to scan faces anymore, like I learned to in Sderot and Ashkelon, to try and decipher what our security guard Odet was hearing on the phone. If we needed to prime for action. It’s going to take some time to relax.

It is also going to take some time to learn to be alone again. It seems strange to not be around those I have shared this experience with. On January 31st many of the 20 of us were strangers, UJC is a large organization and it is hard to know more than a few people well, but by February 3rd we were family. We had shared moments and experiences that only we can understand. Dr. Katz at the trauma center in Sderot had a great term for it, “shared reality”.

That is what we have, a shared reality. We have parts of the story that no one else has heard, we have seen things no one else has seen, and that common bond forever unites us (as well as does Facebook *smile*).

B'yachad (Together)

Our trip was not about politics or military strategies or even about who is right or wrong in all this mess. We were there to provide friendship and support to the people who are living with the outcomes. I can’t tell you of all the people we interacted with how many were Israeli Jews and how many were Israeli Non-Jews. That wasn’t the point either. They are Israelis, they are living under tough conditions and that is all that matters.

But with that said, I would be remiss if I left out our experience with the young IDF soldiers. Our final dinner was with a group of officers who had just returned from Operation Cast Lead. My first impression, they are too young to be soldiers. But once they started to talk, again, I heard wisdom beyond years.

These young men and women knew more about being human than they did about shooting guns. It was they who reminded us of the large difference between the Palestinians (who they referred to as “our neighbors”) and the enemy which is Hamas. They spoke with true sympathy for those living in the Gaza strip who merely want the same peace and security the Israelis want, but who are sabotaged in that goal daily by groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. They spoke of going ahead to warn the citizens prior to an attack, and of having to beg some to leave, just to save their lives. How guilty they felt in having to overturn crops to be able to stay safe and see the enemy.

They spoke with total conviction when they asked us to remind the world “We did not go into Gaza to fight the people who live there, we went in there to stop the missiles from reigning down on our families”.

In the end THAT was what this trip was about, that is what this war is about, about the innocent people whose lives are in danger daily. There are those who will say, but what about the Palestinians who are in danger. I can say with total conviction, I really hope their country, the people of their faith from other nations are doing the same for them that I hope we were able to do in our 48 hours in Israel. This is not a matter of faith, of nation or of right or wrong, it is about humans being there for each other.

As Lee Pearlman told us as we were leaving, its about B’Yachad…being together!

And Still They Come

“You’re going WHERE? Have you lost your mind”. When I told people I was flying to Israel mere days after the current round of fighting started the reaction was nearly unanimous. Spoken or unspoken the choice made little sense to most. Imagine if instead I had announced I was moving to Israel? My friends probably would have tried to have me committed. Yet there are many who do make that choice and make Aliyah and move permanently to Israel. They come for many reasons…

To better their hearts

The Calinit Absorption center in Ashkelon looks pretty much like any other college dorm around the world, as long as you can ignore the bomb proofing on the workout and computer rooms. The program, subsidized by the Jewish Agency, houses 150 young students who have opted to move to Israel, to finish their college education and begin their adult lives. They come from points around the globe, including Argentina, Russia, Cuba, Ethiopia, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. They speak some broken English and their native tongue, but their first task upon arriving is to learn Hebrew and after a couple months they do it better than I ever could. As they sit together, it is hard to believe they have come from different lands, they clearly share a bond. A bond in knowing they have made a great choice in their life.

They come here by choice, and while speaking to them they make it sound like such a easy choice, they are making a huge commitment. This is not a decision made by impulsive teens hoping to have it easy somewhere away from their parents. The commitment they are making involves not only moving away from family, friends and the life they have known and starting over in a new country, but doing it in a country and city in turmoil. For some of the students we are having lunch with they had only been in Israel a few months when the fighting escalated and the rockets started falling daily on Ashkelon. And yet they tell us with total clarity how happy they are to be in here. How they fell in love with the country and are happy to be here to support Israel and each other. Many first came to visit on a Birthright trip, fell in love with the people and the country and are now back permanently. Others came because their own countries didn’t offer the freedom or safety (rather ironic) they could find in Israel and are here for the first time.

Regardless of why they came, they are wise beyond their years. They know their role in Israel, in helping to keep the country strong. Beyond helping build the next generation of Israel, the male students also speak with great enthusiasm about the time they will spend in the IDF, a requirement of coming. They view this as their chance to give back to the country that they feel is giving them so much. And they do it totally aware of the dangers around them.

To better their country

The students of the Ayalim village in Moshav Yachini are looking to learn and to give, in ways their fore fathers did. They have come to the southern regions of Israel not only to get an education, but also to become part of the fabric of the area.

As they explain to us over dinner, they felt life had a void. They had been involved as youngsters, they had done their time in the IDF but then there was nothing, no way to give back. Yes they could have gone on and gotten married, started their careers and their lives, but they wanted more. They wanted a way to give instead of take. The Ayalim program lets them do that.

In addition to their studies these modern pioneers are helping build communities and farm the Negev. This alone would have been enough, but they are also playing a role in assisting the residents in the missile ridden communities around them. They work with the children in the communities providing friendship and much needed distractions from war, they help with rebuilding efforts and assist in places like the Sderot Trauma Center. Recently when the attacks were at their worst they provided extra hands to help in taking children out of the area for a day of respite at zoos, the mini-Israel museum and other child friendly areas.

In a time when life in Israel seems so to make so little sense, these young adults are carving out a place for themselves by assisting those around them.

To better their lives

Since 1977 Ethiopian Jews have been assisted in returning to Israel to escape the hardships and mistreatments they must endure in their homeland. In addition to famine and droughts, life in Ethiopia for Jews is one of an outsider at its best. Practice of their faith is prevented and at times has been outlawed. The largest of these efforts were Operation Moses in 1984 & 1985 and Operation Solomon in 1991. Since these major efforts the numbers have slowed but the remaining Ethiopian Jews are still coming, assisted by JAFI and the Israeli government.

Assimilating to life in Israel has been a hard road for these Olim. Not only are there language and cultural differences, but also the challenges of moving from the under developed to the developed world. They must learn the simplest daily tasks that we take for granted, like having a checkbook and shopping for clothes. Moving to Israel is not just changing lives for them, it is changing worlds.

Twenty five years has passed since Operation Moses, and the first generations of Israeli born Ethiopian Jews are now teens and young adults. This group, and the teens still coming, face a unique challenge, maintaining their heritage and culture while living in modern Israel. The Ethiopian National Program and UJC help provide centers and support to fill in that gap. It keeps the youth in touch with each other and also their heritage. This heritage was shared with us as we took part in a Buna coffee ceremony and learned traditional dance.

Holding tight to their cultural ways of coping with stress are more important now than ever, especially for those living in southern Israel. As the Ethiopian-Israeli youth explained to us, the ceremony is about a lot more than drinking the coffee. Preparing the beans and the coffee is a relaxer for them, the smells, the colors, it all is a safe place for them. It is a way of being together and facing their current realities. While the lives of these teens in Israel far outweighs the opportunities they had in Ethiopia, they still find great solace in sharing their culture with their new friends.

Coming to Israel may not seem to some the wisest choice, but for many whether the stay is 48 hours or a life time, coming to Israel is a life changing choice. Even at a time when Israel is not the safest place on the planet it is still a welcoming, wonderful place to be.

No casualities reported….

The day ended Monday with Tzeva Adom warnings in Sderot and at the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council and Tuesday started with a grad rocket landing in Ashkelon. In between heavy artillery impacts can be felt periodically and numerous F-16’s are heard over head. Life in the southern regions of Israel is hard and unpredictable.

The newspapers report that there were no causalities or injuries resulting from the rocket this morning because no blood was shed, but the reality is that everyone here is a causality. The psyche of every resident is injured over and over again. You can’t be here without it impacting you. We have only been here two days and we jump at the ringing of a cell phone, we look to the sky with every plane wondering if the alarms will sound. How long until the next rocket or mortar?

This is a very hard place to live. I thought two days ago I would love to move to Israel, now I am not so sure. I am not sure I could be this strong.

I stand in the home of a man whose home took a direct hit two weeks ago from a grad missle. It looks so much like my own it takes my breath away.

At the time of the attack Yosi’s three children were home alone. He arrived home to the scene of fire fighters and police trying to rescuing his family. His neighbors homes still bear the scars of the shrapnel. The home is surrounded by scaffolding and draped in plastic, but in two weeks through the help of JAFI and the Israeli government, Yosi’s home will be as if the attack never happened. It is important to the people here that the area not look like a war zone, repairs are started within moments of an attack. His home will be completely healed, but what about his heart? What about his children’s minds? It’s a hard place to live, but Yosi scoffs when we ask him why he stays, our question confuses him as much as his staying does us. Leaving is not something he considers. He, like his neighbors, don’t have a second thought about their lives here, leaving is not an option or a thought for them. This is their home, they will not be driven out, they are committed to their lives, their communities and their country. They don’t care it is hard, leaving would be harder.

Sustainable By Design...

Sustainable design, design which reduces the possible negative effects on the environment as far as possible, is a phrase I hear daily from my clients. But I don’t think any of the engineers or architects I work with has ever had life in Sderot in mind when they were focusing on building a world which is renewable and resilient without leaving permanent scars.

Sderot is a city of 20,000 people situated approximately 2 miles from the Gaza strip. For the past eight years the residents of Sderot have lived on the forefront of the divide between Israel and her Palestinian neighbors. In the 8 ½ years since the first infantada began over 10,000 Gaza launched rockets have fallen on Sderot. That math alone is staggering, 1 rocket for every 2 people living there and they are still falling. The majority of these rockets are quassam rockets. As I learned today, quassam rockets are a deadly combination of politics and creativity. The rockets’ bodies are created from the very water pipes the people of Israel have helped provide to raise the living conditions of their neighbors, their propellant derived from fertilizer sent by humanitarian agencies to help feed the hungry in the territories. When fertilizer isn’t available laundry powder is used. Walking past the two weeks worth of collected detonated rockets collected at the police station is surreal. Each has been cataloged for the place it landed and the group who claimed responsibility for it. They are kept as evidence of the gruesome attacks Sderot is experiencing.

In Sderot life is measured in seconds, the few precious15 seconds between the time the Tzeva Adom (color red) warning sounds and the time the rockets start landing. Fifteen seconds to gather your loved ones and find a shelter, to jump from your car and lay flat in the dirt, to run to your safe room. Sderot residents live 15 seconds to 15 seconds. They go nowhere without a cell phone to check on the safety of their friends and families, they sleep in shelters and they close their schools when it is really bad. Really bad? There are rockets falling daily from the sky and it is only really bad on rare occasions?

This is the amazing part of life in Sderot, for all that is dropped on these residents daily, they are not packing up and running away. Many when given the chance have elected to stay, this is their home and they will not abandon it. They are also not letting it stop their lives. As was said by a pre-K care giver to us today“ we are helping build a routine in between the color reds”. They are making a normal existence in a situation that is anything but. And they are doing it with resolve and the most positive outlook I have experienced anywhere in the world. They are not victims and will not act like victims. They have redefined their lives using sustainable design!

Sustainable Sanity…

Our first stop in Sderot was to visit with Dr. Adrianna Katz, the director of the Anxiety Relief Site. A trauma center set up to address the mental issues created by living under continuing unrelenting stress. The Relief site is the first stop for individuals in acute distress. Here they are helped to cope in the moment and then are followed up with at the Resiliency Centers throughout the region. In addition to healing the existing wounds, these centers are developing programs and services to help fortitude the population for coping with this stress in the long run. They are helping the citizens develop the tools that will keep them moving forward no matter what the world throws at them.

These centers, originated with help from JAFI were started as private endeavors, but have been so successful that the government is helping implement them throughout the country. Dr. Katz and Dalia, the Director of the Sderot Resiliency Center share with us the impact of the war on the people they serve, the long term behavioral and developmental effects on children under 8 year olds who have never lived another reality. It is clear as they speak to us this is very personnel for them. As they not only serve the residents of Sderot, they also live there. An additional responsibility of the relief site is to provide support to the EMS, fire fighters and other professionals who cope with the rockets aftermaths day by day.

Sustainable Society…

There is very little about life in Sderot to make it desirable for the next generation to care about, to stay around for. But still they stay. Sderot, and partners such as JDC, are making life as normal as possible for as many teens as possible. One example is the “It’s a Deal: Café Yael” program where we ate lunch. This coffee house in the entertainment district of Sderot is a place for teens at risk to find their way back. The youth, age 15-18 who work at the café are not only given jobs, but also skills related to run their own businesses in the future. In addition to job skills weekly workshops are held to help the staff with the rest of their life. The program provides a second home for adolescents who may not feel safe in their own homes.

Thriving for the teens of Sderot is not all provided from the outside. They too are helping sustain themselves and their community. Sderot teens have learned to survive through song. The singing started as a way for the teens to “let out the poision” according to Avi Vaknin, a local musician, but it has turned into so much more. Sderot now turns out more musicians and records per capita than anywhere else on the planet. But the music is more than an industry, it is a way of coping. A way of expressing all the feelings associated with such a complicated life. The story of the Sderot musicians is one about to be told to the world by Laura Bialis, an American documentary film producer now living in Sderot. Laura is in the process of editing her next film, “Sderot, Rock in the Red Zone”. She welcomed us into her home today to share with us the trailer for the movie and discuss what lead her to Sderot. The trailer for her amazing movie can be found at http://sderotmovie.com/trl/TRAILER_LONG.wmv. This is a story that cannot be told to the world too soon, and Laura is doing her part to share Sderot.

Sustainable Safety…

Driving into Sderot it is hard to believe you are in a war zone. The area is green, lush, art is found on every corner. It looks nothing like what we see on the evening news. Our guide points out that this is also by design. There would be nothing harder for the morale of the people than to live amongst burned buildings crumbling from rocket strikes. Great care and high priority is placed on repairing damage as soon as possible after it happens. But repair is reactive and Sderot is not about waiting for the next attack. They are building proactively.

You wouldn’t notice it if you didn’t know what you are looking for, as the protection is very attractively designed into many structures. But every school, every playground, ever public place is being rebuilt with a cover or fortifications to neutralize the incoming bombs. Covers are built on buildings which are double layers, the first layer detonates the bomb before it can reach the civilians within the structure and the second structure stops the shrapnel and absorbs the shock.

Additionally bus stops, located every few feet have been redesigned to serve as shelters for those out in the open. These simple boxes save many live. But functional alone would never stand. Many of these shelters have been designed and painted by the artists in the area. What is a sad statement on the realities of life have been made bright, cheerful and seem to blend it quite naturally with the surroundings.

The citizens of Sderot have found within themselves a sustainability that few would expect. In situations where many of would feel helpless and victimized Sderot has used their own resources, in addition to reaching out to their international partners such as UJC, JDC, JAFI and partner communities around the globe to redesign their world in a spirit of resiliency and strength that will carry them far into the future, while still hoping that the future will look far different than what they are ready for.

A day at the zoo....

Learning to tie your shoes, writing your name, wondering what dessert you will have at dinner. These should be the concerns of a five year old. Childhood should not involve carrying the worries of life and death, but for 5 years old living in the southern regions of Israel they have already lived through dodging 10,000 rocket attacks. In the last two weeks alone (during which a cease fire was supposedly in place) 12 rockets have fallen from the sky, 7 today alone.

For these children, the experts no longer speak of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD requires that you have been traumatized and then begun to live after the trauma. For these children, the trauma is a way of life and they live with continuing traumatic stress. Their childhoods robbed from them. They sleep at night in underground bunkers, they watch the sky for the next attack. Whether Jewish or Arab, their only crimes were being born to the Israeli families of the region. For some of these children they have already relocated at least once, when Israel pulled its settlements out of Gaza, and yet they still live with bombings and gun battles as the normal background of their lives. These children are the reason we have come this week.

While I intellectually knew this fact, it wasn’t until Rebecca Caspi of UJC reminded us tonight that the thought truly sunk in. Israel has never fought a war that wasn’t on her homeland and probably never will. I have a hard time trying to translate that concept into my daily life. In the US we are used to wars that are far away. We send our soldiers off to fight the battles and we live safely an ocean away. We do not watch our neighbors die or our schools leveled. We do not awake in the night to sirens and screams. Even during WW II where great sacrifices were made at home during the war, the sacrifice of our daily safety was never closer than one day at Pearl Harbor. What would it mean to not be able to go anywhere in your homeland and not know you were at risk? Could I do it? I would love to say I could, but I am doubtful.

The inability to escape the constant stress of war is one of the primary issues Israel and its American partners, such as UJC and JDC, are trying to address for the children in the southern regions. At the start of the current incursion 5 weeks ago the Israeli Ministries of Education and Defense not only braced for war, but also for the impact on those living in the region. They developed a plan to give over 30,000 children in the area (both Arab and Jewish) a break from the fighting. They turned to children friendly industries in other parts of the country, such as zoos and safaris, and asked for their help. They asked to bring to bring the children for a day…one day of childhood. Israel did what Israel always does when family is hurting and welcomed them with open arms, all admissions were waived. But this still left logistics that couldn’t be managed and for which the government had no way of funding. How to transport the children, how to feed them during the events. Here the Israelis turned to the US and United Jewish Communities (UJC) and UJC was there to answer the call.

There are many misconceptions about giving money to UJC and where that money goes, so let me clear one up. I have sat at many Federation meetings hearing how the needs at home are too great, that we cannot take sides. That our money shouldn’t be used for war costs. But what is the cost of war? Wars cost are more than bullets and bombs. Wars have human costs, like sandwiches and busses. Like the recent 120 Strong program that made sure that the 25,000 elderly and sick in the south had their medicines and were safe during the fighting. UJC and our partners, like JDC and JAFI, do not provide money for the military but yes we support the Israeli costs of war, without care whether those in need are Jewish or Arab. And as long as wars must be fought on the playgrounds of five year olds and in the backyards of 80 year olds, near the bedsides of the sick and infirm, we must all be willing to donate to help pay those costs. If each of us give just a small amount, the cost of a sandwich and a seat on a bus, lives that are otherwise bleak can be changed!

And the world keeps spinning....

What will the world look like 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. Will Israel still exist as a Jewish state? Will the fighting continue? It has gone on for centuries, some claim it could go on for centuries more. Not likely. This is not the dark ages, the Romans didn’t have to contend with the world judging them on cnn.com, the Macabees couldn’t watch their actions play out on YouTube. We live in a very different time. Our wars are fought on many different fronts, some thousands of miles away from the soldiers.

If Israel ever ceases to exist as the Jewish homeland it will most likely be not because she lost the fight on the battlefield, but because she lost the fight in the hearts of the world. Not because of the autrocities committed in war, but for the silence and mismanagement of the autrocities committed against her. For all Israel’s strength it has some of the worst public relations management around. Is this a flaw or a reality of our ethics?

We were joined at dinner tonight by Jennifer Mizrahi founder of The Israel Project (TIP) and Lanny Davis, a lawyer, advisor to presidents and journalist. The Israel project’s whole reason for being is to help provide more accurate and timely facts about the goings on in the Middle East. To help get a voice out there that Israel herself is unable to accomplish.

Some reading this will assume the message I am talking about is the, poor Israel, have pity on us, the bad guys are beating us up message. Actually I am talking about just the opposite. TIP’s goal is to provide accurate facts related to situations that are often sensationalized by the media and Israel’s enemies. They help to provide reporters with a context for events that taken alone appear other than they are, to help find the complete answer to half truths and to try to bring balance to a story that is often slanted to one side.

Why is that slant there? Is the media anti-Israel, or anti-semitic? In some cases maybe, but it is not the root of the problem here. The sad reality is that much of the media we see around the world is what is put out there, because it is all that IS put out there for reporters. In a world where you have moments or you are “old news” Israel has never learned to play the game. Unlike her enemies Israel does not spend its time making martyrs out of the injured and killed. Their bodies are not paraded through the streets for reporters. The bereaved do not sit for the cameras. Israel cares for her wounded, repairs homes and lives the best they can. That does not make for good sound bites. As Jennifer pointed out to us tonight, much of the problems facing Israel in the hearts around the world is “the difference between bias and sympathetic visuals”

In this last war, 100 Israeli soldiers died, think if you saw one of those deaths make the news? A kindergarten in the south was hit by missiles. Can you name it?

It is time that more of use that know the personal stories of those suffering share those stories and make their voices heard. Not in the perverse way we often see our enemies do, we can’t lose our ethics in this. We can’t put the world view above the humanity people deserve. But we need to share the stories. Being tough and stoic has served us well through history, but now it may well be our undoing.

Around the dinner table....

From Minneapolis, Boston, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Maine, Detroit, Philadelphia, Miami and even Birmingham Alabama. From across the sea we all came, tonight we became a family, together for 48 hours to make as much of a difference in the world as we can. We are here because we care, because we feel drawn, because we know we had to come. Amongst the group a doctor, a stock broker, a couple computer geeks, and so much else. We come from different lives, backgrounds, careers, but for this 48 hours we are humans first and Jews second, here to help in any way we can.

Are we brave? Are we crazy? Are we doing something unwise? If you ask many in our lives we probably are, but we all know that we have made the right choice to be here. We have come home when our family needs us the most. Are we taking a chance, yes, we know that too. Today more rockets fell during the supposed cease fire. But that just reminds us again why we are here. It is not about risk, we know we have the best security available, it is about helping those who live at risk.

One of the things that always strikes me on these trips, is how many times people thank us for coming. As if we are the heroes, as if we are doing something extraordinary. How can those that live here not know they are the heroes? They are the brave ones. They choose not to run, even when given the chance. They choose to stand their ground even when that ground shakes around them. In the US we revere our soldiers, who go off to war to protect our country, they are brave volunteers and due our thanks. Here you don't get to volunteer, you are born into the war, just the mere fact of living. To choose that life for you and your family merely to protect and sustain the country you love is braver than I will probably ever be. What I am doing for 3 days is nothing, please stop thanking me, you are the ones who deserve thanks.

It only hurts when you stop and think...

The view from my hotel room at the David Intercontinental is stellar, the expanse of the city laid at my feet, the glorious Mediterranean as far as I can see. This is the "money shot" so many hotels try to offer. I sit here watching the sunrise thinking, someday I would love to live here. The world outside seems idyllic.

And then the sun comes up fully and I begin to comprehend what I am seeing, it is so much more than a beautiful beach. Within moments all the realities of humanity are laid out at my feet. In the frame of my camera is a 100 years of pain for so many, on both sides of the conflicts. The view from my room looks out directly on the Hassan Bek Mosque and the Dolphinarium. Sitting just across the street from each other, no two buildings could sit farther apart in the world.

The mosque built in 1916 is a beautiful piece of Ottoman architecture, its minaret reaching for the sky, the amazing limestone work, the beautiful palm trees. It is breath taking in its beauty and its outward peacefulness. A piece of history standing tall against the modern high rises and hotels soaring around it.

Without a little study it would be hard to know of its true history, built from day one out of the strife between Arabs and Jews. Its original goal to make a land stake that would prevent the Jews from expanding what would become Tel Aviv into the Arab portions of Jaffa. From day one its basis was hate, to keep out those different, to make a statement about who belongs. Since then it has been the scene of many hate crimes and strife between Muslims and Jews. Its history makes me stop and think. How can human beings create something so beautiful into something so ugly? How can religion be used as such a weapon?

The tears I start shedding thinking of the history and pain this building represents are nothing compared to the utter helplessness and pain I feel as I realize what the shell of a building across the street from the mosque is. I have been there before, but it takes me a few moments to realize this is the remains of the Tel Aviv Dolphinarium. Once Israel's own little sea world, the complex once upon a time also housed the Pacha nightclub and a disco. The faded name Pacha is still visible from my room.

The building is being slowly deconstructed, someday it will be replaced by a hotel or a park, but there will always be a stone marker at the site. A marker to remember 21 young lives lost and 100's more changed.

On June 1, 2001 the disco and nightclub were the scene of one of the most deadly suicide bombings in Israeli history. As a crowd of 15-21 year olds, many originally from Russia, gathered to celebrate, a Palestinian joined the line that was forming to enter the disco and detonated the bomb he was concealing.

The people he killed were not soldiers who might cause him or his family harm, they had nothing to do with deciding his "right of return", they had never voted for either country's leaders. They were just innocent children out enjoying one of the first warm evenings of the summer. They believed there were safe here in Tel Aviv, far from the range of missile attacks and disputed borders. They had no way to know that the hate that began long before the mosque they could see from the parking lot was about to consume them.

The story of these two buildings is not new to me, I have been here before, I remember watching the news of the bombing, visiting the marker on a previous trip. Nothing about the hate possible in the world surprises me anymore, but it still it makes me think. The tears I am shedding remind me why I came here. I needed to remember what so many live with on a daily basis. I needed to remember that my problems are nothing compared to the realities of the families who lost their loved ones that night. I needed to remember what it feels like to worry your home will be taken away. I needed to remember that I have to give more and take less. I needed to remember I can't solve all the bad in the world but I must try regardless in my own small ways.

For as much pain as the view from my window encompasses, I wouldn't want to be looking at anything else. We all need to come see this view, we need to learn the lessons of the past, we need to find a way to end the hate and the pain, we need to think long and hard about becoming a little more humane, so that 100 years from now people can come and admire the beautiful beach and the sea without having to stop and think.