By Rabbi David Wilfond, Director of Education
Yesterday, Wednesday, when the groups landed in Israel and came out of baggage claim they were greeted by the counselors holding banners and signs that said “Welcome NFTY in Israel!” They were also received with welcome songs sung to them by their staff and accompanied on the guitar. The participants loved the attention, and this helped to lift their spirits for the adventure ahead with NFTY in Israel. They then boarded the bus to travel to their first hotel in Jaffa and to settle in.
This morning Thursday the teens visited the famous look out point of Old Jaffa for an “Opening Ceremony.” The height of Old Jaffa offers a breath-taking view of the blue Mediterranean Sea and overlooks the beautiful sea side city of modern Tel Aviv.
Jaffa is one of the oldest cities on the planet, founded in 7,500 BCE. It was already ancient in the Bible times of King David (1,000 BCE) and King Solomon (950 BCE). The famous Bible story about “Jonah and the Whale,” begins with Jonah getting on boat at Jaffa. When Solomon builds the First Temple, the Bible tells us he brought “Cedars from Lebanon” to the Port of Jaffa and then had them carried up to Jerusalem. Jaffa is Israel’s oldest port. It is the “Gate Way” to the Land of Milk and Honey from Biblical times until today. Almost every wave of immigration, Pilgrims and Tourists came through Jaffa. Even today, Israel’s main port of entry the “Ben Gurion Airport” is barely more than a stone’s throw from this Ancient Sea Port of Jaffa.
The participants walked to the top of the hill of Old Jaffa and then sat in the shade of the Palm trees and Cypress trees as they enjoyed their “Welcome to Israel Ceremony.” The guide asked them “What is the difference between being a Pilgrim and a Tourist?” Our answer: “A Tourist travels through the land; a Pilgrim lets the land travel through you.” This is our NFTY in Israel goal to encourage our participants to open up their hearts and minds to fully experience the richness, the diversity, the complexities, the possibilities and the beauty of the Land of Israel.” To let the “Land enter their hearts.” We want our participants to engage with the Jewish story, to travel through Jewish time and then to feel committed to shaping and leading the Jewish Future inspired by the best of Reform Jewish Values.
After lunch the teens had a chance to literally get their hands dirty digging up the Biblical land of Israel at an excavation at the Ancient Jewish City of Beit Guvrin.
In the afternoon today, they travelled to one of Israel’s oldest sites, the Biblical city of Gezer. The Biblical Patriarch Abraham and the Matriarch Sarah lived near Gezer, but never settled in this city because its residents’ attitude towards their children (and the offering them up as sacrifices) was an anathema to everything Abraham and Sara believed in. Today there still stands at Gezer an ancient Canaanite altar with twelve giant stone idols representing the chief “Gods” of the Canaanite religion. Alongside the altar archeologists uncovered mounds of charred bones of human babies from the offerings of the Canaanites. The whole point of the Torah’s story about “The binding of Isaac” is to teach us that our God does not want us to sacrifice children. As Jews, we may sacrifice for our children, but we don’t sacrifice children! In contrast, our Torah commands “Choose life that you and your children shall live and long endure on the land that I have promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy)
Tomorrow, Friday, the group will begin the journey to the Negev Desert. Like the Children of Israel who wandered for 40 years in the desert, we will wander in the same desert for 4 days. The Israeli desert is a stark and beautiful environment that brings groups even closer together to form a caring and supportive community of purpose. The desert is also a magical place to celebrate the group’s first Shabbat in the Land of Israel.
