Encountering the Other in Jerusalem

For nearly a month my Hartman RLI cohort and I have been immersed in a sea of Jewish texts.  We focused on subjects of vital concern like Jewish peoplehood and Israel.  This week the focus of our attention was briefly diverted.  For one day we explored and encountered the other - we visited Christian holy space and studied with Christian religious leaders.

Our day began with a tiyyul (i.e. tour) to Ein Kerem.  This village within the city boundaries of Jerusalem has deep roots in our biblical tradition.  Today, however, it's more widely associated with Christianity and primarily because it's believed to be the birth place of the John the Baptist.  There are many churches in this tiny hamlet of 2,000 residents (many of them secular Israeli Jews) which attracts 3 million visitors a year.

A Typical Home in Ein Kerem . . . Large But Quaint With a Large Lot

A Greek Orthodox Church

We walked through the charming streets of Ein kerem and arrived at the Convent of the the Sisters of Our Lady of Zion.  The notion of a group touring a church, convent of monastery on a Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, is unheard of.  When the Sisters of Our Lady of Zion were told that a group of Rabbis was interested in visiting their convent they enthusiastically agreed to host us.  The order, which was founded in the 19th Century by a Catholic priest who had converted from Judaism, was once nortorious for its evangelizing of Jews.  In the wake of the Shoah the Sisters engaged in a rethinking of their theology and mission.  They became champions of ecumenism building bridges with the Jewish community.

Our guide was the leader of the Order in Ein Kerem; a soft spoken French nun who has lived in Israel for over forty years.  She took us on a tour of the convent's grounds and then invited us to refreshments.  Everything is kosher," she assured us, "the cups and plates are plastic, the bottles are unopened, and the fruit is uncut."  I was so touched by her thoughtfulness and sensitivity that I felt felt compelled to personally thank her for taking time out of her Sabbath to meet with us.  "Rabbi," the Reverend Mother replied, "sharing my Shabbat with all of you makes it that much more holy."

The Main Gate of the Convent of The Sisters of Zion

Our Guide . . . The Reverend Mother

The Convent Chapel

The Sisters' Living Quarters

The Vista from The Convent of the Sisters of Zion

Out tiyyul in Ein Kerem set the mood for what awaited us back at Machon Hartman.  We met with members of the Christian Leadership Initiative (Learn more about the CLI here: http://www.hartmaninstitute.com/SHINews_View.aspArticle_Id=770&Cat_Id=274&Cat_Type=SHINews).  After studying texts from Maimonides' Mishneh Torah and his responsa with members of the CLI we participated in a shiur with Rabbi Donniel Hartman, President of the SHI, related to the Rambam's radical halakhic paradigm shift vis-a-vis who is included in and excluded from the Jewish community.  It was fascinating to study texts from my tradition with religious leaders of another faith and eye opening to see how they reacted to the Rambam's definition of Jewish peoplehood.

Thanks Machon Hartman for another phenomenal experience!

The Hartman Institute's RLI Peer Roundtable: Rabbis Teaching Rabbis

One of the hallmarks of the Shalom Hartman Institute's Religious Leadership Initiative rabbininc fellowship program (RLI) is the peer led roundtable; a session in which each member of the RLI cohort teaches a text or presents a programmatic idea to his or her colleagues.  Regardless of the kind of rabbinate we've pursued - pulpit, formal education, Jewish camping, etc. - Rabbis are accustomed to teaching individuals of different ages and backgrounds.  The RLI roundtable is unique and special in that it enables us to teach our peers; a daunting, yet exhilarating endeavor.  It's one thing to teach a group of lay people and quite another to present a text or idea to a room full of colleagues who know as much if not more than you.

Today my colleague, Rabbi Jonathan Hecht, led a fascinating and compelling roundtable session on a subject of historical significance, and did it with aplomb.  He presented primary sources related to the Barcelona Disputation of 1263.  The debate took place between Dominican friar Pablo Christiani (a Jewish convert to Catholism) and Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (Nachmanides) and in the presence of King James I of Aragon.  Leading us through both Nachmanides' and the Latin written accounts of the disputation, Rabbi Hecht argued that a crititical turn had taken place; namely, the Church transitioned from burning rabbinic texts like the Talmud to using those texts to prove the validity and merit of Christianity in an attempt to convert Jews to the Christian faith.  Rabbi Hecht also held up Nachmanides as a dugma, an exemplar, of the courageous rabbinic leader who jeapordized his life by defending Judaism in a hostile polemical arena and later publishing his account to provide much needed moral support to an embattled and oppressed Jewish community.  He encouraged all of us to follow the Ramban's example of heroic religious leadership

As the roundtable came to a conclusion Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, the director of our RLI  program, asked us the key, overarching and crucial question: "What is today's disputation?"  I would argue that it's an internal one.  The parties involved are Jewish and the forum in which it takes place is within the Jewish community.  The disputation is about the very controversial issue of political discourse relating to the State of Israel.  I think Rabbi Sabath Beit-Halachmi's question was really a rhetorical one.  How can we as Jewish religious leaders help to engender a respectful and empathetic discourse that can heal our community and unite us rather than divide us over the one issue that has, up until this point, always kept our multi-denominational community together?

In the wake of the disputation Nachmanides had to flee Aragon and seek refuge in Eretz Israel.  He might have won the battle but in the end he personally lost the war.  We can ill afford a similar pyrrhic victory; one where a significant segment of the Jewish community feels as though it has been delegitimized and set apart.

Not Balabusta, Balabasta!

balabasta, noun (Hebrew) - literally "come to the mall,"  a centennial carnival.

Machane Yehudah, Jerusalem's large spawrling outdoor market, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. If you ever want to experience a wondrous mass of humanity the best day to visit the Machane Yehudah is Friday when much of the city descends on the market to buy provisions for Shabbat from pita to fresh fish to hummus and, of course, freshly baked rugelach from Marzipan.

A Sea of Humanity at an Entrance to Machane Yehudah 

I had thought that Friday at the market could never be outdone in terms of the number of people who are present.  Boy was I wrong.  Tonight my RLI colleagues and I joined members of the Hartman Institute's North American Scholars Circle (http://www.hartman.org.il/Programs_View.asp?Program_Id=26&Cat_Id=290&Cat_Type=Programs) for an excursion to to Machane Yehudah to experience Balabasta, - a carnival of sorts replete with street performances, concerts, giant puppets, DJs and bands - held every Monday evening in July to commerate and celebrate the shuk's centennial.  I was amazed to see the overwhelming mass of people who had converged to shop, but mostly to join in on the carnival like atmosphere.  

A Band Plays Atop the Stalls at Machane Yehudah

A Flower Clad Balabasta Dancer Entertains the Crowd

After shopping and watching the entertainment both on the street and above the market stalls my friends, Rabbis David Cohen and Alfredo Borodowski, and I had dinner at my favorite restaurant in Machane Yehudah, Okhlim Bashuk, a neighborhood establishment frequented first and foremost by Israelis.  Every day the resteraunt's menu changes.  You walk up to an array of 6-7 large pots and choose your entree, usually a selection of some of the most mouth-watering Yemenite quisine.  It's Israeli comfort food at its finest.

Dinner at Okhlim Bashuk, Yummy!

We then returned to one of the Shuk's main arteries for more balabasta, but the crush of humanity was so acute that we decided to leave and make our way to the relative quite of Ben Yehudah Street for some shopping, before finally walking home.  After an intense and full day of havruta and study at the Machon (today's subject was Hilkhot Melakhim: Foundations for Political Community) experiencing the balabasta at Machane Yehudah was the perfect way to end a great day.

You'll Never Believe Who I Saw Jaywalking

Emek Refaim, the bustling street that runs through the heart of Hamoshavah Hagermanit (Jerusalem's "German Colony") is known for it's many fine restaurants, bars, shops and traffic.  Yesterday as my friend, colleague and roommate, Rabbi David Cohen, and I were driving on Emek to pick a friend up in Talbiyah our car and the cars in front of us came to a standstill.  We were already ten minutes later to the rendezvous point and we thought we would be even more late because we had arrived at a long jam (By the way, Rabbi Cohen reminds me of a Grand Prix race driver; one who skillfully navigates Jerusalem's streets with dexterity and speed) and then I noticed that trademark white hat bobbing up and then down just enough to be seen above the parked cars on the side of the street.  I knew the person under that hat, it was former refusnick, former Knesset member and minister and now Jewish Agency head, Natan Sharansky.

"It's Sharansky," I said with a just a hint of excitement.   And then I witnessed the unbelievable.  Sharansky jaywalked in the middle of the block to an awaiting car across the street.  In Israel, and most especially in Jerusalem the only people jaywalk are Americans and other foreign nationals.  Occasionally you'll see an Israeli illegally cross the street in such fashion, but their numbers are small.  Jaywalking in Jerusalem can earn you a hefty fine.  While Rabbi Cohen was miffed by the fact that we were in a traffic jam I was aghast at the fact that Natan Sharansky was jaywalking with such utter abandon.  But hey, it's Israel and anything is possible.

Shabbat shalom!   

Visiting Rawabi, The First Planned Palestinian City

I felt good about seeing a Palestinian flag.  Actually there were many of them lining the road leading into Rawabi, the first planned Palestinian city in the West Bank.  Monday was tiyul day at Machon Hartman and I chose to spend the day visiting the West Bank, (a.k.a. Judea and Samaria, The Palestinian Territories, the Territories and Palestine).  The "field trip" began with Danny Seidman, a left of center advocate for  a two-state solution who also serves as sort of an unofficial advisor to Dennis Ross, President Obama's chief Middle east advisor.  We met with Danny at Highway 1, the seam or dividing line between East and West Jerusalem and then travelled with him to Sheikh Jarakh, the east Jerusalem neighborhood that has become a flash point between Jewish settlers and Palestinians residents.  Danny claimed that the settlers who have moved into this neighborhood pose a serious threat to a peaceful resolution for Palestinians and Israelis.

Danny Seidman Speak to Us at the Seamline

Visiting Sheikh Jarrakh

Our trip continued as we travelled to Beit Aryeh, a Jewish settlement in Area C (i.e. an area under both Israeli administrative and military authority) of Judea and Samaria.  We received an in-depth briefing from Danny Stern, a retired IDF Colonel who was the architect of the Security Barrier that separates the West Bank from Israel proper.  Col. Stern explained to us how he walked the full length of what would become the course of the Fence encountering all of the Palestinian villages and towns which would fall along its path, and shared with us the many challenges he faced in deciding where the fence should fall; the security needs versus the disruption of the lives of Palestinians who live near its route.  He also spoke to us from "Sharon's Balcony," the spot where former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would take foreign leaders - like former President George W. Bush - to show them how vulnerable Israel's coastal plain is from the high ground of the West Bank.  From the Balcony we could see Ben Gurion Airport's runway just 20 short kilometers away.  Col. Stern's concern was obvious - there is a strategic threat to Israel's security vis-a-vis a future Palestinian state's control of the high ground that is so proximate to Israel's most populous cities.

Col. (Res.) Danny Stern Talks About the Challenges of Determining
the Route of the Security Barrier

We had met with two men named who share the same name, who both support a two-state solution, but who have two very different ways of arriving there.  

And then we travelled to the heart of will be that future Palestinian state.  Crossing Areas A and B we arrived at the entrance of Rawabi, described by it's developers as "Palestine's First Planned City."  Rawabi is located in Area A (i.e. Palestinian land under both Palestinian Authority administrative and military authority).  In order for us (and especially the Israelis who were a part of our group) to enter A we had to secure both the permission of the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. 

Inside the Rawabi Conference Room

We were escorted through a small Palestinian village to the Rawabi project site by a truck from Rawabi.  Our escort was meant as a gesture to the Palestinian villagers we passed that our Israeli bus posed no threat to them.

Grading and excavating at the Rawabi Site

Standing at Rawabi with Ramallah in the Background Behind My Right Shoulder (Photo Credit: Rabbi David Cohen)

When we entered the project site we were warmly welcomed by the Rawabi project managers.  They were articulate and impressive.  We were treated to a power-point presentation about the project and learned that Rawabi ("hills" in Arabic) was being developed as a mixed-use city for young, upwardly mobile, middle class Palestinians.  It will have apartments, office buildings, schools, parks, two mosques and a church, among the rest of the development's important municipal infrastructure (you can learn more about Rawabi at http://www.rawabi.ps/press_show.phpid=6&page=no).

While no Israeli citizens will ever live in this city because it is against Israeli law for any Israeli to live in Area A the connection between Israelis and this project are many.  The project itself relies on dozens of Israeli engineers and other contractors and building trades people who work on the site every day.  Over half of the construction materials that are used for the project are purchased from Israeli (excluding those produced from Israeli settlers) companies.  Our hosts, including Bashar Al-Masri, the Palestinian born American business man who is the mastermind and chief financial backer of the project, emphasized that they could have purchased building materials and relied on engineers and contractors from other countries, but that would have cut into their profit margin and also prevented the project from serving as an opportunity for Palestinian-Israeli economic cooperation.  It was quite clear that Mr. Al-Masri is a businessman who, like any businessperson, wants to make a profit, that he is a Palestinian nationalist, and someone who believes in living in peace with his Israeli neighbors.

For the first time many of the others in my group and I felt that we were seeing Palestinians working positively to build their state.  As unwavering Zionists we saw this building project and the spirit behind it and we recognized something familiar.  The question is, what steps will be taken to ensure that more Rawabis are developed so that that high ground of a future Palestinian state won't be used to reign down missiles on Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion, Haifa, Netanya and other Israeli towns and cities?

Images from Israel

It's been a phenomenal week in Jerusalem at the Shalom Hartman Institute.  The weather has been absolutely spectacular.  The daily temperatures have been in the mid 80's and the nights have been downright chilly; worthy of a light jacket.  The overarching theme of our summer session is "Jewish Peoplehood: The Meaning of the Collective in Modern Jewish Life".  Each and every day as I walk onto the Hartman Institute campus I feel like a child walking into a candy shop; our faculty are the best Judaic scholars in the world.  Everything I've learned from them has enriched my knowledge and provided me with material for dozens of sermons and classes.  

The Pomegranate (Rimonim) Tree that Rabbi David Cohen and I Walk Under on Our Way to The Hartman Institute

One highlight was studying this week with the director of my RLI (Religious Leadership Initiative) fellowship program.  Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, who was ordained by HUC-JIR and received her doctorate from JTS, taught a seminar entitled "Between God, Community and the Individual: Modern Jewish Thinkers on Religion and Religiosity".  She gave us a compelling and new read on Leo Baeck, Martin Buber and Mordecai Kaplan.

Last night I attended a very powerful and wonderful concert featuring secular Israeli musical artist, Kobi Oz.  Oz  's music - a blend of Ashkenazi and Sephardi musical motifs woven together with religious themes and librettos - best exemplifies the growing trend in Israel of secular musicians using religious themes and imagery to comment on the major issues facing Israeli society.

Kobi Oz Performing in Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem

Today (Friday) saw a dramatic change in the weather.  The mercury hit an easy 100 degrees and the forecast call for the same weather for Shabbat.  I walked with my friend and colleague, Rabbi Eric Gurvis to the Museum of the Seam which is located on what was the seamiline between east and west Jerusalem before and up to 1967.  The museum is located in Beit Tiurjeman, the forward position of the Israeli Army during the Six Day War.  The museum's mission is to promote tolerance and pluralism between Israel and Palestinian, secular and Haredi.  Rabbi Gurvis and I walked through the museum's current exhibit which explores the issue of war and violence.  It was both provocative and fascinating.

Museum on the Seam

We then walked to Mahane Yehudah for some pre-Shabbat shopping and lunch.  The shuk was buslting with people and activity.  There's nothing like buying freshly baked pita, hummus, fruits and nuts (no pun intended for MJDS families!) in Mahane Yehudah!

Mahane Yehudah on Friday

Shabbat shalom from Jeusalem!

Only in Israel!

I don't know why I bothered to set my alarm last night.  This morning I was awakened at 5:30 am by the guy who picked all the recycleables that are collected on the street.  I swear, I heard each and every bottle and can hit the bottom of his truck.  My day had begun!

It continued with a wonderful surprise.  As I was walking down my street I heard a voice, "Rabbi Herber, Rabbi Herber!"  I backed up, looked up at the window of a second floor apartment and saw a familiar face.  It belonged to Uri Ish-Shalom, a young man who had been a member of my synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel.  Uri and his family had returned to live in Israel (Uri's father, Oded, is a native Israeli).  I had officiated at Uri's Bar Mitzvah and his confirmation, and just a few weeks agao had seen him in Milwaukee. I thought that the Ish-Shalom family was living in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiyot.  Little did I know that they were living down the street from me.  I spent a few minutes catching up with Uri in their apartment and then was off to Machon Hartman, looking forward to seeing the rest of the family during my stay.

I had just experienced a wonderful, "only in Israel" moment, one that more than trumped that annoying moment when I woke up.

Boker Tov From Israel!

It's Sunday morning here and I'm blogging from my Baka apartment while drinking an expertly made cafe afukh (purchased from a neighborhood cafe bearing the same name) and a delicious freshly baked chocolate rugelach.  On the way to the cafe I had the pleasure of running into Judy Werlin who was on a walk with a friend from Chicago.   Judy and Steve are also spending the month in Jerusalem.  They're living in nearby Talpiyot. 

Many of you know that I've returned to Jerusalem for the month of July to begin my second summer session of the Shalom Hartman Institute's Religious Leadership Initiative, an intense, three-year rabbinic fellowship program.  Joining me is my friend and colleague, Rabbi David Cohen, Temple Sinai's spiritual leader.  Rabbi Cohen is in my RLI cohort and is my hevruta partner during the course of the year when we study with our Hartman faculty via weekly distance learning.  Rabbi Cohen and I are sharing an apartment in this vibrant southern Jerusalem neighborhood sandwhiched between the German Colony to the north, Arnona to the south, Talpiyot to the east and the Greek Colony to the west.  Our apartment is literraly around the corner of the offices of Tenuat Masorti, the headquarters of the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel.  I'm hoping to drop by to visit with Rakefet Ginsberg, our former sh'liha, who works for the Masorti Movement.

Getting here was a bit of a challenge.  My US Airways plane sat at the gate for about an hour as maintenance crew worked to fix a blown circuit breaker.  We then had to wait in a very long line for takeoff because Air Force One was given departure priority (I guess being President of the United States does have its benefits).  By the time I arrived in Jerusalem the city was in shutdown mode as Shabbat was fast approaching.  

After unpacking and taking a very quick shower I walked 30 mins to Shira Hadasha, the feminist Orthodox minyan in the German Colony founded by Tova Hartman, Rabbi David Hartman's daughter.  Shira Hadasha is the closest thing you'll find to an egalitarian minyan in the Orthodox world.  While it utilizes a mehitza, men and women lead the davening, chant from and are called to the Torah.  The music of the service is spiritually moving; a blend of Carlebach,  traditional Orthodox and Camp Ramah.  What's more, everyone present knows the melodies and sings along.  It makes for an incredible davening experience.  

As I made my way to what was one of the few empty seats in the packed room I sat down and looked around to see if I knew anyone.  In front of me was my teacher Dr. Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor Ermeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, behind me was Rabbi Joel Myers, Emeritus Executive Vice-President of the Rabbinical Assembly and throughout the congregation were five or six other Conservative colleagues of mine.  Sitting just to my left was Steve Werlin.  By the time I had gotten to services the minyan had already completed Kabbalat Shabbat and was in the midst of Ma'ariv.  When I explained to Steve about my flight delay he said he knew something must have happened because he had expected to see me much earlier.  It's the first and I sure the only time that Steve Werlin will ever get to services before me!

After attending Shabbat morning services at Shira Hadasha I returned to my apartment for a quick Shabbat lunch and a much needed Shabbat shluf.  Later in the day I went on an hour long walk.  I wasn't alone.  Everyone was out walking - families, couples, groups of young people - enjoying the glorious, sunny day filled with a cool breeze from the west.  The rest of the day and evening was spent reading and preparing for the start of the summer session.  The summer session is entitled, Jewish Peoplehood: The Meaning of the Collective in Modern Jewish Life.  I'll give you just a sampling of some of the shiurim (lectures) I'll be taking:  Jewish People - What's at Stake with Rabbi Donniel Hartman, Halakhah and the Challenges of Peoplehood with Dr. Micah Goodman, Hilkhot Melakhim: Foundations for Political Community with Menachem Lorberbaum, and The God Who Hates Lies with Rabbi David Hartman.  A week from today I'll be leading a round table where I'll be teaching my colleagues and leading a follow-up discussion.  The title of my shiur is A Case of Mistaken Identity:  The Surprise Encounter Between Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish.  You can read all about this fascinating talmudic story in Tractate Bava Metzia 84a. 

Well I've finished my cappuccino (cafe hafukh in Hebrew) and managed to consume three rugelach during the course of writing this post which means I need to walk off my rather indulgent breakfast.  I look forward to keeping all of you posted on my experiences at Hartman and in Israel.

L'hitraot!