I arrived to Jerusalem several hours before Shabbat on the tail end of what is being referred to as the Blizzard of the Century. While Montrealers would sneer at such a classification, Jerusalemites who never deal with weather below 10 degrees were in a state of panic. “Jerusalem of Gold,” was turned to “Jerusalem of White,” and they didn’t know what to do. One large building, thinking they found a solution to clearing the snow, used their fire hose to melt it. They learned the hard way that water freezes and they had themselves an even bigger problem.
Shabbat came, the snow melted and I had the opportunity to visit with my children, pray at the Western Wall and enjoy the peace that a Shabbat in the Holy City brings.
Today began the “business,” part of my trip. As our members are aware, I will be leading a trip to Israel in July of 2016 for boys and girls and their families who celebrate their Bar & Bat Mitzva (B’not Mitzva) at Beth Zion. The B’not Mitzva’s trip will more or less be free and the family’s trip will be subsidized. This is all thanks to a generous anonymous donor who has made this possible. In addition to continuing the “Bridge-Building,” activities from my trip in November, I will be spending a significant amount of time planning and meeting with people who will be assisting in the B’not Mitzva trip. Today I had the opportunity to meet with representatives from the JNF – the Jewish National Fund who will be helping with the Bar & Bat Mitzva trip. They have so many exciting ideas to make the trip, the once-in-a-lifetime event it will certainly be. I also took the opportunity to enjoy the spring-like weather (I had to get that in) and rent a bike and explore Tel Aviv (who says rabbis can’t do normal things?).
Tomorrow will be a very exciting day. I will be visiting the Yad-B’Yad – Hand-in-Hand School in Jerusalem. They are the school system that seeks to break down barriers by having Jews and Arabs go to school together. I am interested in finding out of it works or if it’s just a token-gesture at peace. I also want to see what ideas I can take back with me to Montreal. I look forward to writing about the visit tomorrow night.
Till then, Lila Tov – Good night from Israel.
Rabbi P.
