Israel, Up Close and Personal

By Rabbi Richard Jacobs, URJ President-Elect

Originally posted at RJ Blog.

URJ President-Elect, Rabbi Richard Jacobs, meeting with NFTY in Israel Participants in Jerusalem

Shortly after arriving in Israel a few weeks back, I had the privilege of welcoming a few busloads of our [NFTY in Israel] teens to Jerusalem.

Blindfolded, they stepped off their buses holding hands, moving slowly towards the edge of the Haas Promenade that overlooks the Temple Mount in the center of Jerusalem, a spot some have called the axis mundi, the place where heaven and earth touch.

Just days before, these Reform Jewish teens had left their homes in North America and traveled to Eastern Europe where they stood together at Auschwitz and Birkenau contemplating the darkest moment in all of human history.  Having experienced the remnants of Jewish life in Prague, they would journey next to the home most had not yet visited.

NFTY in Israel participants enter Jerusalem, blindfolded

But now they were arriving for their first glimpse of the City of Gold. The creative NFTY in Israel staff finally asked the teenagers to remove their blindfolds. You cannot imagine the look of amazement and wonder on their faces as they opened their eyes to the setting sun over Jerusalem. Saw the place from afar (Genesis 22:4)– Many believe that thousands of years ago Abraham and Isaac stopped at this same spot on their three-day journey to Mt. Moriah.  It was here that they caught their first glimpse of the site of the akeda, which would one day become the site of the Temple.

As one of their counselors introduced me as the next president of the URJ, a teen called out, “Wow, that’s a really big job!”  ”You’re not kidding,” I responded, “and one of the great perks of the new position is to be with all of you at such a transformative moment in your lives.”

They were not mere tourists, but rather young Jews on a sacred journey of discovery and connection, and I asked them, when they returned home, to be ambassadors of understanding for our Jewish State among our congregations and in the broader public.

Read the rest of Rabbi Jacobs’ blog post!