Day 8: Leadership in a New Era

Tel-Aviv Shoreline (as seen from Jaffa)

Today we reversed our regular routine, and rather than tour the country and return to the University to wrap-up the day, instead, we began with a text study led by Joshua Berman on the theme of "transitional leadership" using Joshua taking over from Moses as the case study.  There was lots of good debate, insight, and many "aha" moments, and like last night's havruta study (study in pairs) we had the opportunity to study with other fellows and better appreciate each one's unique skills and perspectives which s/he brings to the proverbial table.


Following our morning study we were dropped off in Jaffa for a touring hike through its ancient streets traveling through time to 19th & 20th Century Tel-Aviv; ending our morning in Independence Hall (AKA "House of Dizengoff") for a retelling of the events that led to the announcement of the State of Israel.  The 4 hour tour was a world wind experience covering a few thousand years of history, yet, at the same time allowing us to glean a few wonderful nuggets of historical leadership examples


It's hard to believe that we only have three more days of the retreat left! 

Day 7: Dissent in Community

Caves of Qumran

Where the Dead Sea Scrolls Were Discovered

Today started off with an early departure from Jerusalem with a brief stop at the Mosaic Museum of the Good Samaritan.  There are no lesser words than amazing to describe the original mosaic floors and artwork that are on display at this museum.  The incredible detail and precision on these mosaics were absolutely incredible (unfortunately no photos could be taken).


Next on the agenda was Nebi Musa.  This was my first time visiting this site, and needless to say, I was incredibly surprised to learn that local folklore believes that this is the burial place of Moses.  The history of this Muslim religious site was fascinating, and helped frame the theme of the day..."dissent in the community". 


From Nebi Musa we continued to the Caves of Qumran and studied the lifestyles of the Essenes and how they adapted to their new desert lifestyle while maintaining their religious identity.  Having this opportunity to visit the site first hand, especially after Friday night's presentation from Hanan Eshel (the professor who literally "wrote the book" on these caves) was without question a once in a lifetime opportunity.


We wrapped up our day of touring with a visit to the Menachem Begin Memorial Museum in Jerusalem followed by a presentation/text study back at Bar Ilan University by Adam Ferziger.  


It was a full day following our "relaxed" Shabbat; but now on to Monday!

Day 6: Shabbat in Jerusalem

Uri Fink (l) & Shay Charka (r)

Shabbat was a nice relaxing day which started off with almost 15 hours of sleep!  Yes, after having possibly the worst case of desynchronosis (aka "jet lag") I have ever experienced, I woke up after breakfast and lunch, and just in time for seudah shlisheet ("third meal").  Thankfully (or maybe "unthankfully") the meals here have been delicious, with clockwork regularity, and incredibly plentiful, so missing a couple of meals really wasn't much of a concern.

Also at seudah shlisheet, Nurit Bachrach, Director of Mosaica Mediation Center for Conflict Resolution in Jerusalem, presented a few fascinating examples and stories of how Restorative Justice and mediation are helping Jews, Arabs, Ethiopians, Russians, and the many other residents with cultural differences find ways of living together in Jerusalem.


Following this we had a few hours to pack our bags, answer a few emails, and then come back together for our evening program with Robbie Gringras, Artist-in-Residence for MAKOM Israel Engagement Network.  What a great evening of art, music and insider perspective from Robbie (such as the cartoon above drawn by two of Israel's top cartoonists Fink and Charka.)


May you have a wonderful week, shavuah tov!

Day 4 & 5: Part B - The Value of Values

Yerushalayim Hineni (Jerusalem here I am)! "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem...if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy" (Psalms 137:5-6)

View of the Southern Wall of the Temple from the overlook at the ancient City of David

Today we woke up in Jerusalem.  The very feeling of walking outside and taking in a breath of fresh air in this holiest of Holy lands is something indescribable.  Yet, I remind myself almost every time I am here that it was not always this way for me.  When I would come to Israel as a child (which in some years was multiple times a year) Jerusalem to me was no different than any other city in Israel.  In fact, it might have even been a city I tried not to have to go to.  Even when I had my Bar Mitzvah at the base of the Western Wall (where 25 years later to the exact same day I had the opportunity to attend the Bar Mitzvah of one of my students), this holy city never truly carried any particularly special "value" to me.  It was only as a young adult, when t'fillah (prayer), my personal theology, and having possessed a deeper understanding of what it meant to be Jewish, did Jerusalem finally receive the respect and awe which I know have for it today.

The "Value of Values" has been our theme as we toured Jerusalem and looked at it through the eyes of the 1st & 2nd Temples.  "What were the values that guided our ancient leaders decisions?" was the repeating questions from our guides Tzvi Grumet & Shalom Berger (Associate Educational Director of the Lookstein Center, and Co-Director of the Jim Joseph Fellowship Program respectively).  "Values?" I kept asking myself as we walked the paths that were laid thousands of years ago...what values did our ancient ancestors have that built cities which have lasted longer than most countries have even been in existence! What values guided these leaders visions and understandings of creating ways of life that we still try and emulate today?

As I pondered (and am still pondering as I write this posting) we wrapped up our day today with a special presentation by Hanan Eshel, Associate Professor and former Head (2002-2004) of the Department of Land of Israel Studies & Archeology at Bar Ilan University. Dr. Eshel capped our day by sharing with us a few personal stories and anecdotes on one of his particular interests and personal excavations, the Caves of Qumran and its "Dead Sea Scrolls".  Todah Professor Eshel for helping to personalize and frame the lives which these Jews experienced during those ancient times!

Lastly, I feel as though I have not tackled the question of the day and its "Value of Values" theme.  It will have to wait for a later positing as I struggle with simply wanting to remain at the 40,000 foot level of this theme, and leave everything to Divine direction and human vision.

And now to enjoy Shabbat in Yerushalayim!  

Day 4 & 5: Part A - Insiders & Outsiders

Original aqueduct which Herod began to build in the year 22 BCE to bring mountain
water to the beach city of Caesarea from the springs of Mt. Carmel, 10 miles away.

Day 4 started with a study tour in the ancient city of Caesarea.  Since our purpose and primary objective on this retreat is to study communities (with our ultimate objective and mission of building Communities of Practice - CoPs - for our respective areas of Jewish educational expertise) today's theme was "Insiders & Outsiders".

After spending an amazing 6 hours walking the city, studying, the sights, and discussing the complex relationship of the Jewish community living under Roman rule we returned to Bar Ilan University for our closing processing session of the day with Rabbi/Dr. Jeffrey Woolf, senior lecturer in the Department of Talmud at Bar Ilan University.

Dr. Woolf shared with us a few texts and discussed the rise of the first Jewish school's to not only teach Jewish themes, concepts, and religious texts, but which also educated the children in Latin, "Christian scripts", and other secular studies so as to provide them with the opportunity to pursue all business and finance opportunities in the greater community.

It was an intense day with many ramifications for how we will develop our own CoPs in the future, the real influence of these lessons learned however,  will be on how we view our current environments of Jewish education.