Day 2: Resilience, Poetry, and German Engineering
01/29/2024 05:47:28 PM
Jan29
(for pictures see my Facebook feed here)
Today was an intense first day on the ground in Israel, as we came to appreciate the impact of October 7th on Israeli society, a story of deep pain and remarkable resilience. One major focus was on the hostages and their families. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has taken over a six story building, and involved dozens of professionals and volunteers to advocate in the media, the diplomatic sphere, and with the Israeli government. We had a chance to talk to the grandparents of Bar Kuperstein. His grandfather told the story of having experienced the original holocaust, as a child in the Ukraine, and they went on to tell the story of their son’s abduction. He was a security guard at the Nova Festival, and once the attacks began, they remained on site to tend to the wounded. The last evidence that he was was alive was a picture taken of him in Gaza, laying on the ground with a noose around his neck. We also had a chance to visit Hostage Square, where representatives of affected communities (including those that our congregation supported in the days immediately following October 7, before the Israeli government was set up to help) have tents set, and displays of public art mark the public’s feelings in this moment. Particularly striking is a display of a set table clean white tablecloths for those who have been freed, and table settings continuing to decay marking the agony of those who remain in captivity.
Meanwhile, we visited the new temporary quarters of Kibbutz Reim, representing Israeli spirit. Venture capitalists were able to take over unfinished, unoccupied apartment buildings, and complete them in record time, to house all of the surviving inhabitants of the kibbutz, who had been in tents and hotel rooms What had been a horizontal farm community is now vertical, with community spaces, a clinic, a kindergarten and work spaces, 145 families packed into two towers.
Two encounters with poetry added context to the day. Rachel Korazim shared some of the heart-shattering new composition that has emerged since that date. Life experiences as disparate as wildflowers, Mourner’s Kaddish and even the simple act of asking “how are you” have taken on new, painful meaning. Our encounter with Maoz Inon was truly surprising. He is an entrepreneur, having started hostels meant to bridge the gaps between Jews and Arabs. On October 7th, Hamas members murdered his parents by setting fire to their home and burning them alive. And yet, he remains a passionate advocate for peace and reconciliation, as he read us a poem written by a Palestinian friend, which speaks of the uselessness of revenge. Sometimes things that defy logic in prose can be expressed clearly in poetry.
We got to live just a tiny taste of the war experience ourselves as the sirens went off for the first time in weeks, with rockets heading towards our area. As we rushed off the bus, we were able to see the iron dome interceptors launch overhead to take out the incoming missiles. We, took shelter in a BMW dealership; ironic that German precision engineering would facilitate our protection against those who want to wipe us out today.
Other encounters spoke to us about the need to strengthen Israel’s civil society and how Israeli and American society can support each other. One item that would have been on our itinerary even if October 7th had somehow been averted: at Anu, the museum of the Jewish people, we were able to see a facsimile of the Codex Sassoon, the oldest complete bible still surviving (the original, which had arrived in Israel on October 5, was in a vault for its protection). It was open to the pages that showed the Shema and the Ten Commandments, and perhaps that was in the intent of the curators, but it also revealed the passage that offered the potential that we would be offered a land of milk and honey, but only if we were earned it and were worthy. What is the price of having the land of Israel today? What would be the price of not having it?
Thu, May 9 2024 1 Iyyar 5784