Israel Engagement – Page 4 – Holy Blossom Temple

From our Shinshinit: Dvar Israel February 26, 2022

Dear Community, I hope you all had a great week.

We were all saddened to hear about the incidents in Ukraine in the last few days, and no words could describe how sad it is to see pictures of people running away from their homes and lives to escape to other countries.

It’s extremely sad to know that even in 2022, we get to witness such incidents and hate.

I spent the last week with my host family at Tremblant, and while sitting there and reading those articles and news, I suddenly got a text from Noa, our komunah’s mentor, who guides us throughout our gap year in Toronto.

The text was saying that a group of young Jewish Ukrainians, got stuck in Israel due to the closing of the airports in Ukraine, that group is a “Taglit” group, which you all probably know as “Birthright.”

The text was also saying that they are looking for host families for those young adults until they will be able to come back to their homeland. Since we, the shinshinim, are all here and left our rooms empty, back in Israel, it is a great opportunity to ask our families if they can maybe open their door and their hearts to them.

Immediately I sent that text to my mom, who replied with a: yes, of course!

My heart was filled with joy because I knew that not only I managed to help miles away, but also my empty and dark room back in Israel is finally going to light up again, and also because it’s been so long since my parents have been cleaning after a teenager so I figured they would be happy to do that 😉

I’m always amazed by how jews are always willing to help each other, not only at regular times but also and more, in times of crisis.

Whether it’s hosting a shinshin in order to engage your community with Israel, or hosting a young Jewish adult who needs a home right now, but more than that needs support and love, to get through this awful and hard experience.

I sincerely hope that we will no longer be reading those articles in the news and that the Taglit group and all the other Ukrainians will be back in their homes very soon.

Thank you for listening, Aviv

March 2, 2022/0 Comments/by Holy Blossom

From our Shinshinit: Dvar Israel Jan 2022

Hello everyone!

It’s so nice being here again 🙂 This week me and my fellow komunah came back to Toronto after our winter break in Israel straight to our quarantine Airbnb.

I cannot describe how great it is to come back and start working, in these days that is not taken for granted to be able to do the things you love to do and get the opportunity to work, even though it’s all virtual from our Airbnb right now, we are all thrilled.

The vacation in Israel was great! Seeing all your friends and family again and spending time with everyone is amazing and sharing all of your experiences here is even more amazing.

Unfortunately, while I was in Israel, an awful accident happened in an army base, two officers, Itamar Elharar and Ofek Aharon were killed as a result of a misidentification that led to a two-way shooting.

The incident was shocking and was even more shocking to find out how Israel is actually small because all of a sudden you know so many people that knew those two officers,and it is very sad.

After I came back to Toronto, I saw an article about the family of one of the soldiers, saying they totally forget the soldier that accidentally shot their son, saying they know that that’s what their son would have done if he was in their place, and I was so amazed by their nobility, saying you forget after such a tragedy is one of the most difficult things to do.

Forgiveness is hard to admit but in one little word the family helped to save the wounded soul of the shooting soldier, who will carry his guilt through the rest of his life, and that is something I find very amazing to do.

I find it very Israeli to rise up after awful tragedies and help each other, and

being so far away from Israel and only being updated about what’s happening there through the news, I got to realize how many tragedies are happening every single day, and how being there for each other can actually help.

At first when I heard of this story, immediately I was full of anger towards the shooting soldier, saying how can he have something like that, such a “stupid” mistake, but seeing the family forgive, the family itself, you realize the anger has no actual purpose in their lives right now, mistakes happen and saving the living soul of that soldier is actually so important, and sometimes when something bad happens to you, you are just looking for someone to blame, even though the feeling of hate will just make it harder for you to move on in your life.

I am full of hope that the families, and the soldier, will find peace in their lives after this tragic incident, as much as they actually can, and for those kinds of mistakes to not repeat themselves anymore.

Thanks for listening, have a wonderful Shabbat, Aviv.

January 21, 2022/0 Comments/by Holy Blossom

Israel Engagement, Our Community Stories

Israel’s Current Situation: Resources & Links

What does it mean to experience Israel with Holy Blossom

By: Pam Albert

I want to share my perspective on what it means to tour and experience Israel at this point in time with our Holy Blossom community. Be it via our zoom interactive webinars or on the ground in Israel this coming fall.

When we thought of what that could look like, we thought of connecting with the land and the people. We thought of walking away with new, unique and creative ways of being in Israel. If it is through joining us for our Virtual Israel Tour, we wanted you to feel like you were there, following our guide Ishai from Fig Trips as he takes us to off the beaten track places so you can actually imagine what life was like through different generations, with people from different countries and different walks of life who brought alive, our Israel. We wanted you to feel like you could taste and smell the flavours and scenes as if you were walking with Ishai as our explorations of Israel became alive. The feedback from the 60 participants who attended our last Virtual Israel tour was just that. In addition, after attending our Virtual Israel Tour past President Judy Winberg shared the following,

I love to travel and I love Israel. And while the Corona virus imposed restrictions I was able to pursue both of these interests as a participant on a virtual visit for five days in 2020. Ishai, our tour guide, live in realtime on ZOOM and pre-recorded video in Israel led our group of …?… through a week of thoughtful, stimulating and unique tours. Like so many of the professional tour guides in Israel Ishai was knowledgeable, engaging and day by day we came to know and appreciate his love for the country.

There are many in the congregation who’ve told me that they’d love to travel to Israel but have never been able to make the trip. This is the perfect first trip to Israel! No packing, no flights, no hotels, no special clothing, no tour buses and your family won’t even notice you’re gone other than for two hours a day for a week. What could be better?

L’hitarot,

Judy

And since you asked for more, we are creating new journeys that walk beside Ishai in Israel. Our next experience, accompanied with wine and treats from Israel begins Monday, February 8th. To register by our extended cut-off date click this link.

And if this has enticed you to join us on the ground in Israel, we are optimistic that we can meet in Jaffa on Sunday, October 24. After reading the book, “City of Oranges” by Adam Lebor, I had numerous questions about the roots of and the routes to the land of Israel, where for centuries travellers passed through Jaffa, or arrived in the port in Jaffa and settled. This book sparked my curiosity and I wanted to learn more. We will explore Israel together through the lens of Jaffa. I was curious about different immigrant populations and religious groups. Where they settled and where their routes led them after Jaffa. I was curious about how they interacted and lived together. About how their lives were intertwined and how that affected their co-existence, their friendships, their beliefs and even what they ate each day. Imagine for example the spice store that only sold spices local to the area, that kept adding spices for groups of new immigrants that settled in Jaffa from Morocco and Lybia and Ethiopia and other Arab countries and Russia and Germany. All of a sudden this small spice store evolved into an experience where flavours and people emerged from all walks of life. We will explore Israel through the lenses of Jaffa, including socio-economically, culturally, co-existence, poverty, religion, culinary, the start-up scene in Jaffa, and much more. Would you like to join us? Stay tuned for more information once we feel really optimistic about the possibility of travel in October.

Please feel free to share your thoughts around what exploring Israel would look like to you, be it via our virtual engagements or on the ground. Contact [email protected]

January 8, 2021/0 Comments/by Holy Blossom