By Rabbi David Wilfond, Director of Education
This week the buses have been exploring the ancient city of Jerusalem. The teens learned about Jerusalem’s glory as the Capital of Ancient Israel established by King David more than 3,000 years ago. They also visited the site of one of the world’s most famous archeological excavations by the Western Wall of the Tempe Mount, built by King Herod more than two thousand years ago. Many of our synagogue rituals today have their origins in the practices of our ancestors in the original Temple in Jerusalem. (Like blowing the shofar; the Barchu Prayer to start the service; singing the Shir Hamaalot song before the Birkat Hamazon grace after meals; the Priestly Benediction Birkat Cohanim, etc.) The teens also learned about the Fall of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE when it was burned to the ground by the Romans. A hand full of survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem fled as refugees to Masada for a last stand against the Roman Empire. A kind of “Alamo”. Tomorrow, Thursday the teens will ascend Masada before sun rise, so they can witness the beauty of dawn in the Judean desert as they see the ball of the sun crest over the Mountains of Moab, overlooking the waters of the Dead Sea in one of nature’s most breathtaking spectacle of nature! The teens will join in a sunrise tefilla prayer service and then explore the dramatic and controversial dilemma of the defenders of Masada who struggled to live as Jews in an unpluralistic, unaccepting, and inhospitable Roman world.
Since today is July 4th, so it seems appropriate to share a bit about the meaning of July 4th for Israelis. July 4th is powerful date for Jews. On July 4, 1946 a year after the end of WWII, 42 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust were brutally murdered in Kielce, Poland by their Polish neighbors because they, the Jews, had dared to come back to live again in their homes in Poland. In 1946 Jewish life was cheap and one could murder Jews freely without protest, as tragically occurred to the Jews in Kielce. Exactly 30 years later to the day, 102 Jewish hostages of a combined German and Palestinian Terrorist Cell were in danger of being murdered in Entebbe. It was on this day in 1976 that Israel sent a commando mission to Entebbe, Uganda to rescue over 100 Jews being held hostage by terrorist hijackers. One of the big differences between 1946 and 1976 was the existence of the State of Israel and the IDF. Israel does not exist just to protect Israelis. Israel sees as its mission to protect Jews anywhere they are in danger. This is why Israel has done so much over the years to rescue Ethiopian Jews and Russian Jews. In 1976, over a hundred Jews were in mortal danger in Uganda, so what did Israel do? They sent their soldiers in the dark of night on daring rescue mission 2,500 miles away and brought the hostages back to safety in Israel. In 1976, Jews around the world felt safer than Jews just thirty years before in Poland. The difference is that in 1976, the State of Israel had already come into existence. Israel looks out for the safety of Jews where ever they live. This is a powerful message of Jewish responsibility that has become a big part of July 4th memories in Israel.
