Moving from "we to wii"...

South Africa, Canada, Israel, the United States, China. Author, mom, business leader, entrepreneur, wine maker, rabbi. Four days ago we had little in common. In our day to day lives we would have moved in very different circles and our paths probably would never have crossed. But this morning we awake with a common mission - to figure out what it means to revolutionize the Jewish world without losing track of our heredity, our history and what it is that makes us uniquely Jewish.

As you read in my previous entries, the first ½ of my trip was focused around the Presidential Conference. Although the theme of the event was “Facing Tomorrow” and the goal was to look to the future of Israel and the Jewish people, the voices were decidedly biased towards those of the past. At times it seemed more like parents bragging about what has been accomplished and day dreaming about what their grandchildren might do than developing a roadmap for the future. The intentions were pure and the speakers amazing, but the call to action for my generation was lacking. It felt like sitting on the outside looking in.

The second ½ of my time here was in stark contrast. I was one of 25 “young” Jewish leaders selected to participate in the “Global World Leaders Forum” sponsored by The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI). It is worth mentioning for those who haven’t met me, I am 39 years old. Our group ranged in age from 30-50. To most that would seem far from “young leadership” but in Jewish philanthropic circles we are considered mere babes. To put this in perspective, the current Board of Governors (BOG) of JAFI has 2 people under the age of 50, and probably only a handful under 60. Is this how it should be, definitely not, but it is the current reality. Our mission was and is to change that reality.

Together for three days we were educated, we experienced and we strategized. We were given an inordinate amount of time, access and support from the current JAFI leadership, from the members of the BOG and from the JAFI professionals. We visited with IDF soldiers learning to reconnect to themselves Jewishly, met Ethiopian Olim taking their first steps in Israel, and left our mark on the ground by building a therapy garden for at risk youths. We saw where the Jewish people have come from and where we are going.

In addition to learning about others and the work of the Jewish philanthropic world we also learned about ourselves. As we strived to define our role as the “generation now” we learned we have very different views, goals and ideals. Some were looking for immediate hands on ways to act, others wanted to step back and be part of the bigger picture; some wanted to deal with the Jewish world from a tradition focused point of view, while others were looking for modernity and technology. We had different strengths, different weaknesses, different approaches, different interests. But at the end of the day what we came to stand on is that we have one core value that is what binds us – we want to be heard, we want to be involved, we want to leave our imprint on the future and we want to do this in a uniquely Jewish way.

I have been to these programs before. I have sat through Young Leadership training, I have been on the UJC Young Leadership Cabinet, I have filled the “young leadership seat” within Federations. And I have to admit I am cynical and jaded at this point in these programs. I have heard the rhetoric, I have been invited to the table. But each time it has been with the unspoken intent of being there to do it the “adult’s way”, to continue in the what has always been, to participate but not to change. The words have always said we want to look at the future, but the actions have been otherwise. Suggestions too often met with why we have to do it the way we have always done it.

So why do I feel differently this time? This is going to sound stupid, but it was the look in people’s eyes. In the eyes of my “team mates” I saw a passion and force which will not be extinguished; in the eyes of the JAFI leadership, especially Richie Pearlstone and Natan Sharansky, I saw a realization; and in the eyes of the attendees at the BOG closing plenary I quite honestly saw fear. The third was my “ah ha moment” that this truly was different. We were no longer the scared youth worried if we could fit into our parents and grandparents world, but our parents and grandparents were worried if they could fit into ours. It was the visual confirmation that they were realizing something Jerry Silverman said to us early in our sessions “the current leaders are guests in our century”.

Do I expect this to be an easy road, no. Do I have full confidence the realizations won’t subside and we won’t go back to the status quo, definitely not. And maybe it is the naivativity of supposed youth, the lack of sleep or the 14 year old scotch we shared, but as I look out at my last Jerusalem sunrise I believe that we are standing at a radical moment in Jewish philanthropy. And that unlike times of the past the success of this moment lies in our hands as “emerging” global leaders. It is our chance to grab the baton vs waiting for it to be handed to us. And I for one am ready to run with it.

Bed time stories and fairy tales....

I am exhausted, my first meeting started at 7:30 am this morning and my last one ended at 11:45pm. In between I heard the Prime Minister speak, learned some of the intricacies of rescuing Jews at risk from places like Iran and Yemen, had lunch in the Jerusalem forest and debated the future of Jewish philanthropic life with some great minds and leaders. The biggest risk I felt I was put in all day was riding in the bus we took to a site visit, drivers here make NY drivers look docile. I spent another day in a beautiful country surrounded by amazing people. But despite my exhaustion I feel compelled to write before I fall asleep.

Why? Because I came “home” tonight to a mailbox of worried friends asking me if I am safe and if I am coming home early. I had no clue what they were talking about! I do not want this post to come across as ungrateful, I appreciate people’s concern for my well being. But I am so frustrated, so disappointed, so angry over the way this country is portrayed in the US media.

What my friends were writing about was a skirmish in the Old City near the Western Wall. I didn’t even know it happened until I pulled up the links friends were sending, and I am staying within blocks of that area.

My dear friends, you need to understand that the media has one goal, to make money. They do that by sensationalizing things. What went on at the Kotel was no more news worthy in Israel than the gang fight in Los Angeles today that killed a grandmother was to most of your lives. Would you ever tell people not to come to the US because of that? How many of you are packing up to move to another place because of a stabbing in Florida today?

The US media when it comes to Israel is slanted on its best days. Small, basically irrelevant issues are made to seem like the country is falling apart, that we are all at risk here, that this is a war torn land in chaos. I can tell you nothing is farther from the truth.

Many of us who grew up in the US were raised to believe what we saw on the news as fact, but we learned that from reporters like Walter Cronkite, who reported the news without bias. Today’s media is very different. The news now comes with a healthy dose of agenda and slant. Its goal is to garnish ratings not to inform and educate.

If I haven’t made it clear, I felt just as safe walking through Jerusalem tonight for dinner as I do any night at home, more so to be honest. Please do not let what you see on tv keep you from giving this amazing country a chance, you will be pleasantly surprised.

The hometown of Allah, Adonai and Jesus...

I had intended this entry to be about the relationship between Israel and Jews in the diaspora, but that topic will need to wait. Today is about Jerusalem…

There is a great property to silence, you never really notice it til there is noise. I knew Jerusalem slowed down on Shabbat, but even as I experienced it myself over the last 24 hours I didn’t realize just how much the city changes until it came back to life this evening. It was another gorgeous day here in Israel and I had the doors to the balcony open on my room. I had a wonderful lunch and managed to nap through Havdalah. It was only when I was awoken by horns and street noise that I realized Shabbat had ended. Suddenly the noises of life returned, as if all at once someone had turned the city back on with the flip of a switch. The stark contrast was much more noticeable than the slow decline yesterday when Shabbat approached.

The intensity of Shabbat has not been the only jarring realization for me staying in Jerusalem. The second was how well this city works, and how better off the world would be if we could all learn to function as well as this city does. That comment will probably shock many, the realization shocked me.

As I have mentioned before, most of my previous trips have been based out of Tel Aviv and I had only spent two nights total in Jerusalem prior to this visit. Those stays were back in 2002 during the first infantada.

On that trip we went to the Kotel, we went to Mt Scopus, we walked in the Old City, but other than that we stayed within our hotel. So my experience here was limted.

And as ashamed as I am to admit it, part of me was originally saddened my meetings this time were based out of Jerusalem. For while Jerusalem is the heart of Judaism and a must visit place, Tel Aviv offers the feeling of a modern city as well the breath taking views of the Mediterranean I so crave. In addition to my addiction to the sea, I like many who haven’t spent enough time here wondered about the comfort level of being in Jerusalem.

The city is obviously known as a major point of contention between the major religions of the world and between the populations of this region. I did not worry for my safety, but for my comfort at moving easily around the city. I was completely wrong in my apprehension. As much as I knew better, I too had fallen prey to the media images of rocks being thrown on Temple mount, of youth waving guns and dancing in streets in protest, of burning cars and bombed busses. I had let myself forget the mantra of the press “it if bleeds, it leads”… that the peace and respect that this city normally lives under do not make good tv.

Since being here I have interacted with Jews, Christians and Arabs and not once have I felt out of place, unwelcome or at risk. If anything, just the opposite. This is the most comfortable multi-cultural city I have ever been to. Never once have I felt judged or at risk based on my faith or race. I have felt more tension walking the streets of NYC than I do here. This is a city where from Monday to Thursday the city is a tapestry of all lives, whether it is here at the hotel, in cabs, in stores and restaurants the faces are intermingled. Does it have its flaws, of course, is it perfect, no. But those problems represent the fringe groups and not the majority of Jerusalemites. Most are perfectly content to live side by side with each other, regardless of belief.

The ability of the world’s three major religions to co-exist is only made more remarkable when Thursday ends and the city begins its weekly 3 day transformation. On Friday I noticed that my taxi drivers, the faces at the hotel and those I saw on the streets were different. The Muslim day of gathering was occurring and the rest of the city filled the jobs so the Arab population could fulfill their beliefs. At sundown Friday another metamorphosis occurred, in my hotel I watched the staff change, gone were the kippot and stars of David and the desk clerks and waiters were primarily Arab or Christian. Tonight the Sabbath ended and as the Jewish staff returned those wearing crosses disappeared, readying for their Sunday day of rest.

It is perfect ballet that plays out week after week. A common respect and support to allow everyone their faith and their time to follow the traditions they hold dear. Being here it feels that who should own Jerusalem is more a point of contention for the media and those in power than those who live here, work here and worship here!

In the eye of the beholder...

My day ended exactly where it started, on the hotel balcony overlooking the walls of the Old City. Jerusalem spread out below me. It is amazing all the history in this panorama, so many of the world’s great religions all calling this view home. Yet for all the people who hail from this spot, how many of them ever come and see it for themselves? How many people are stopped from coming and seeing this view because of misconceptions and media?

Explaining my love for Israel to others is a challenge I wrestle with every time I visit here, but this time it seems to be an all consuming thought. I have always shared my experiences here with friends and my Jewish community, but for some reason this trip I feel more compelled to bring back the truth to a greater audience, not sure why. Maybe it is the amazing presentations about Israel’s accomplishments, or the talk of turning crisis into opportunity or maybe it comes from something deeper. I just know that I am stuck on wanting those I hold dear to see this amazing country. I want my friends, Jewish and non-Jews, to be as anxious to see Israel as they are about visiting Paris, Greece or the far east.

But despite my best efforts, I don’t know how to flip that switch for someone else. It frustrates me. I keep searching for the right photo to share, the right words to say to overcome the years of misinformation, but I don’t have them.

As I struggle with the question of how the Israel I see at my feet can be so different from that which much of the world imagines, a phrase keeps circulating in my mind, ”When I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child...”

While I am not always aware of it, when I look back I realize that every time I visit here I learn more and more about myself and the world and I move farther away from that thinking like a child. For a child believes unquestioning in that which others tell them. While I have never been one to follow blindly, ever trip here reminds me why it is so important to question, to understand the motives of those telling their stories, to validate with my own eyes that what I feel is what I see. Some would call this skepticism, but in a day and age where information comes at us at warp speed blind faith to cost too much.

A friend asked me a question today, do I fear at all when I am here. I had to stop and think to answer him, but he was right in the point he was making, I don’t fear at all. I feel safer here than I do at many places in the US. I know the same facts as everyone else, I know where risks exist, but I don’t fear for my safety. I feel very safe and protected here.

My dear friends, Israel is not a place to be feared, this is not the country of CNN, Fox News or Katie Couric. But please, don’t blindly take my word for it either…come…stand here for yourself. Share this view with me.

Who needs Moses....

Traveling to the land of milk and honey has never been an easy path. While my current trip didn’t take nearly the 40 years it took the Israelites, the 40 hours it took me to get to this moment in Israel sure felt that way.

My trip went something like this….

Sunday
6am cst – Alarm clock screams. I get up and take a shower
7am cst – Taxi to airport
9am cst – Flight Minneapolis to Atlanta
2pm est – lunch with friends at Atlanta airport
4pm est – drinks with friends in ATL sky club
8pm est – friends leave and I head for the gate
10pm est – board plane for TLV
10:30pm est – plane’s cargo door damaged, everyone off the plane while they look for another plane and crew

Monday
3:30 am est – board replacement plane
5am est – plane leaves gate
5:30 am est – plane returns to gate with engine issue
6am est – plane leaves gate and we finally take off for TLV
10:45pm (4:45pm est) Israeli time – land in Israel
11:30pm Israeli time – arrive in hotel in Jerusalem

Tuesday
5 am Israeli time – writing blog entry waiting for sun to rise over Jerusalem

As I am waiting for the sunrise I just reread the entry I wrote in February as the sun came up over Tel Aviv and wish I could be that profound this morning, but truth be told I am just too tired to be that deep this morning. That sunrise had sleep before it.

But I do have something deep on my mind, friends. Friends around the globe. There are times people will look at my life and think it is empty because I am not married, I do not have children. But it is days like today that remind me that family does not have to come from blood or vows, but through those amazing connections we make as we go through life. And how the digital age allows us to take those friends with us wherever we go.

You will see in my schedule that part of my day in Atlanta was spent with friends. This were my own private “bon voyage party”. This part of my life many don’t understand, because when they hear me talk about them, they don’t hear names like Brian, Nancy, Steven or Jim. They hear “canarsie”, “underpressure”, “scoow” and atldlff. I am part of a very unique community online, known as “flyertalk”. This community is made up of people like myself who travel heavily for work or pleasure, who are plane “geeks” or are involved in the aviation industry. These are the friends who would think nothing of sitting all day watching planes land or flying half way around the globe for lunch.

I have been involved in this community for 5 or so years. Because we all travel so much we often meet up with either other in random locations around the world. Sometimes these events are planned and we all fly to a designate place to meet. Or like today, they are a matter of circumstances…a flyertalker puts out the word they will be somewhere and others join them. To those not travel inclined this group is often seen as an oddity, but for me it has been a source of meeting some dear friends and taking great adventures. And having them there to wish me off, and to provide support online as I sat and waited started my trip off perfectly.

Yet another and developing part of my friendship circle has become Facebook relationships. Ironically it was my last trip to Israel where I first tried FB. It was a technology I had avoided and thought a waste of time. I have since realized how wrong I was. It has allowed me to reconnect with friends, teachers, mentors and to share my life with those I leave behind when I travel. Tonight I was able to have those friends with me on my journey who are thousands of miles away.

Finally there are those friends scattered around the world. I am sooo looking forward to breakfast, not only because I am starving – the flight delay really messed with meal timing - but because after I watch the sunrise this morning, I am going to have breakfast here with a dear friend who has periodically walked in and out of my life. This friend has been there at some of the highest and lowest moments in my life. And while any chance to catch up with him would be treasured, this breakfast holds special meaning. It will be our first together in his new home country, he made Aliyah (moved to Israel) a little over a year ago.

The sky is turning that wonderful blue that happens right before sunrise. To all my dear friends, I wish you Boker Tov (good morning). May you all be healthy, happy and feel as blessed by your lives as I do this morning to have you all in my life!

PS I can’t end this without a thank you to the AMAZING people at Delta airline who worked so hard last night to keep us all fed, comfortable and content while we sat and waited for the second plane. To the crew who stuck around even though they could have bailed, to the crew who got up to fly with us. To the gate agents who got us all reseated in record time. To the mechanics and folks who found and readied the 2nd plane. I have been through a lot of delays and never have I seen the kind of team work and compassion I saw tonight. Great job!!!!!

And All the Fine China

Life is measure in milestones…a first date, a driver’s license, a wedding ring, grandchildren. We segment our memories into before and after. Those key moments define who we are and who we will be. We are never quite the same after as before.

In 2003 I was at one of those pivotal moments in my Jewish life, I was moving from philanthropy on the local level to involvement on the national level. I was starting my time on the Young Leadership Cabinet and as a result became involved with the UJC Network Communities. In looking back I realize that I thought that was the farthest I would ever go, that I had “arrived”. I described a lot of what I was feeling in an article I wrote for the Network newsletter (the following is an excerpt)

“It might have been that rickety old card table your dad dragged in from the garage or the tiny table from the toy room covered in three generations of finger-paint stains. But whatever the furniture, you knew that it meant you were going to be banished to the little kid’s corner yet again. As a child you weren’t sure what it meant to arrive, but you knew that you wanted to be over there with the adults at the big table. You knew that was where the fancy dishes were, where they ate the good food and where the people that mattered sat. You had no doubt you wanted to grow up to fill one of those seats. And there was very little in childhood that could compare with that moment, when you counted the dishes on the table and saw one more than last year, when you heard your mom or dad say “No, this year you are going to sit here with us” and when you sat in that big chair for the first time. Your felt so proud, so special. The whole meal tasted different and you knew YOU were different.

But if this was so important to us as youngsters, why is that there are now so many empty chairs at the big table? The empty seats do not surround a table set with appetizers and entrees, but with history and heredity, with responsibility and promise. They are the tables at our Jewish agencies and federation. They are the tables around which we saw our parents sitting when were tagged along to Super Sunday or where we colored while our parents discussed allocations and campaign goals. These tables were set as gingerly for us and with as much preparation as the Passover settings and the Thanksgiving dishes. Our parent looked at us with that same anticipation that someday we would fill their chairs. But for many of our communities, those seats linger unfilled. At every Jewish program and meeting I attend I hear the same question, “Where is the next generation?”. I hear stories of aging communities clamoring for young leadership.

The good news is that across our country there are many dedicated, talented, intelligent, engaged young Jewish leaders who are taking their seats and heeding the call. Last month I sat around the “big table” with 300 of the amazing young women of UJC’s National Young Leadership Cabinet. I can tell you our future is in very capable hands, with people ready and willing to assume responsibility. And I believe that this group represents just the tip of the available pool of young Jewish leaders.”

This week I stand on the precipice of another one of those life changing events, and again I find myself again awestruck, both at where I came from and where I am going. I still remember my first Federation event, my first local committee participation (Israel at 50), my first UJC event (it was UJA back then and the event was a Young Leadership Regional Conference in Boston), my first days on Cabinet and my first meeting with the Executive Committee for the Network. Every time I had that same feeling I am having right now. How did I get here? Do I have the right to be here? And more than anything, WOW, how’d that happen! Each time I find myself surrounded by those people I have looked up to and admired for many years and it makes me speechless to be seated at the table shoulder to shoulder with my Jewish heroes.

This upcoming week I will take that next step, participation at an international level. I will be attending two outstanding conferences with some of the greatest hearts and minds of our time.

The Israeli Presidential Conference will bring together heads of state, corporate giants, great thinkers and extraordinary givers. And somewhere in the middle of that will be me, the person with their jaw on the ground wondering…How did I get here? I am sure the people I have thanked over and over again for allowing me to be part of this think I have lost it, but I am so honored and awestruck at the chance to interact with these people, to hear what they have to say and to have a front row seat for watching the future of the world unfold.

The second meeting, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) Emerging World Leaders Forum, was the reason I originally booked this trip. This will be my chance to truly give back to Jews around the world. This program is designed to help those of us in the “next generation” begin to develop a plan for our participation as leaders in our Jewish communities and around the world. Obviously this is not my first young leadership event, but I still find myself wondering...they want me? The caliber of the international list of participants is unbelievable. Already as young adults the people I will be working with are at the top of their industries, organizations and governments. My accomplishments seem small in comparison. Yet somehow I am about to become a peer of this group. What were they thinking? And am I ready to carry this mantle? Will I make those who came before me proud?

This last question is always the biggest one for me, will I make those who came before me proud? Those who know me well know I was not born Jewish, I do not have a single ancestor from whom I can trace my Jewish heritage. In the literal sense, there are none who came before me. Yet despite the lack of blood or DNA, I do have a long lineage of people who came before me, those who I owe so much to and those whom I carry with me as I take this next step. I spoke earlier of my Jewish heroes. My greatest Jewish heroes are not the great minds you will find in text books or on the evening news. They are the everyday heroes who prepared me for this journey. Their names to many to list here. But they are the people who taught me, who welcomed me to the table at events I wasn’t really ready for, who gave me my Hebrew name, who shared their holidays and traditions with me so I could learn what it meant to be Jewish. These are the people I hope to make proud as I take my seat at the table! They are the people who helped me define who I am as a Jew, as a Jewish leader and who I will become.

I thought when I started writing this post I didn’t have the words to express how I feel about what I am about to take on, I just realized I do have the word…it is GRATEFUL. Thank you to everyone who has believed in me, encouraged me and saw more in me than I did in myself. Thank you for giving me the chances and opportunities that have brought me to this moment. I promise to do you proud and continue the heritage you helped me build! And I’ll try to do it without spilling the water pitcher or dropping my fork *smile*.