What Was the Highlight?

It's a long time to be away from home, from your loved ones. I have been home for a few days now and I am finally able to reflect on 17 days of work travel that took me to Israel and Spain.

When you come back from a trip, people often ask you what was the highlight. It usually takes a few seconds to answer and then you repeat the same answer over and over. It's an image, an experience, a smile that comes back and that you try to articulate.

More than ever, this time, it was the people, it was about living the moment together.

It's sunset and I walk into this gigantic amphitheater in the middle of Israel. I am surrounded by younger people, I can feel the energy. I hear French on the right, Spanish on the left, here is a group of Americans, over there two Russian speaking girls doing a "selfie."

Sounds like Babylon? Those young people are here on a Masa experience. Some will stay, make Aliyah and even serve in the army. The majority, will soon come back to their home communities after months in Israel and cherish their time here, it will be part of who they are.

On the back of their shirts, it says the "The Next 70 Years Are On Us"

I am not attending a massive concert. No, Idan Raichel is not about to show up, we are here for a serious moment, it's the beginning of Yom Hazikaron

It's a special day in Israel, it starts with a siren.  On my way here, the music on the radio already started playing sad songs, things started to quiet down. 

Now, I am surrounded by 8,000 people, I cannot even find my own brother who is on a Masa program. We listen to the opening speeches, the music, and then the real stories.

There is the story of Sean Carmeli, a young man from Texas, who was a lone soldier. His parents were worried no one would come to his funeral, instead tens of thousands came. We listen to the parents, we grasp the silence, light the torches, we remember, we cry, together.

This ceremony is led by Masa, a Jewish Agency program that brings 12,000 young Jews to Israel on long term programs. All over the country those young people are encountering  Yom Hazikaron, many for the first time.

The day gets you, another siren the next day and then the light at the end of the tunnel. There is nowhere I'd rather be on this day and the next one than here in Israel.

There is that sharp transition, from the saddest day of the calendar to the happiest one. 70! I am in Modi'in with the Rochester community, hosted by a warm family in their Partnership2Gether family. Like in Latrun, this family is a microcosm of the Jewish people: they are from France, Sweden, Uzbekistan and we are here in Israel for its 70th. 

We continue down in the streets of Modi'in, people are dancing together as if they forgot that just a few hours we were mourning. This is Israel! A few hours later, I find myself in the middle of Jerusalem where the party in the Shuk looks like a nightclub scene.

I don't know why I picked up this book from Daniel Gordis before leaving, it's a memoir called "Coming Together, Coming Apart." In this book, Gordis shares the difficult times of living in Jerusalem with his family in early 2000s. 

The book gives me perspective, we so easily forget, turn the page. We rejoice right after mourning. Gordis' book reminds me that once upon the time, walking down Shuk Machane Yehuda was considered crazy, sitting at a coffee shop was heroic and that driving between Modi'in and Jerusalem on 443, just like I did, was a dangerous expedition.

As I read the book, I take away that in Israel, people live the moment. I am near the Gaza border, only 2000 feet from the fence. Yet, the Miami Federation group with 825 strong is not afraid. I stand here with 3 buses as we brief them on the impact we had on the ground during the war and we continue to have thanks to their support. 

A few days later, I am in near the Lebanese border in Karmiel with the Pittsburgh Federation in their Partnership2Gether . The community is leading a new initiative, they are bringing close to 40 volunteers to get their hands dirty in Israel. 

Together, we meet with two new immigrants from Moldova who received assistance from the Pittsburgh Federation to attend a Jewish Agency summer camp. They are now 18 and in a Jewish Agency Absorption Center becoming Israelis thanks to a program called Selah. I am inspired by the new immigrants, the stories of those volunteers from Pittsburgh here on Israel's 70th. 

A few days later, I travel to a country where the presence of Jewish life was erased for close to five centuries. I am meeting with the future leaders of the Jewish Federation system, National Young Leadership Cabinet. Some are already assuming important roles. Yet, in Spain Jewish life is happening. 

From the remains of beautiful synagogues of Toledo to a vibrant Jewish day school, from the Madrid municipality adopting BDS to the visit of the Israeli President in Spain a few week ago, there is contrast, contradiction, hope and uncertainty. In the synagogue, in the Jewish day school, there are plaques of funding from the Security Assistance Fund, a program of the Jewish Agency to secure spaces in vulnerable communities. I cannot help but think of Ozar Hatorah in Toulouse not so far away, a small Jewish community like Madrid's

Over dinner, we meet with young leadership from Spain, some benefited from a Masa experience. They were in the amphiteater in Latrun a few years ago. Some are thinking of going back to Israel, some are involved in the local Moishe House, some are involved in other European capitals.

So as I leave global Jewish family, this is not Babylon, this is just peoplehood, I am reminded of the important work we collectively do. What was the highlight you asked? It was the people!