Ma Hadash Blog from CSH

--- In early December 2023, Rabbi Michael participated in a service trip to Israel - this is part one of a series of blog posts recounting his experience. ---

Shalom Friends,

After I concluded my first day in Israel I had to set this down. It was sobering and yet inspiring. I’d better start at the beginning.

My flight landed at 6 AM that day, and I immediately noticed the difference from all the previous times I had landed there. There were very few people in the airport, the mood and feeling in the air were quite different, and the only planes I could see were El Al planes. There was a display on my walk to security of the names and faces of those kidnapped, though someone had thoughtfully removed those released in the most recent exchange.

And when I arrived at security, I answered their first question (why I was there), and they immediately smiled, thanked me, and waved me on through. I made it to the group, and we left immediately.

The itinerary here changed slightly on account of the rain, and so somewhat unexpectedly, we went to the Gaza envelope, one of the Kibbutzim in the vicinity of Gaza. We spoke to two residents who had chosen to stay, though the vast majority of the kibbutz had left to stay in places accepting refugees in the north. It was an extremely difficult conversation. It was clear that they were taking everything one day at a time.

Above: Meeting with survivors from Kibbutz Dorot, who work closely with Rabbi Yael Vurgan, center left.

Though they consider themselves extremely progressive, liberal, and loving communities, they struggled to reconcile that orientation with the pogrom they had experienced. They spoke about their close friend Offir, who had been securing government backing to build a factory, clinic, and rail station outside of Gaza to employ thousands of Palestinians. They talked about how Hamas militants had information about where they lived, including the fact they owned large dogs. They talked about feeling utterly alone. And it was clear that even as they were mourning the events of October 7th, and mourning all those who had died around them, it was compounded by them mourning a future that no longer seemed possible. They took us on a short tour before we left, and I watched a child’s pet bunny graze in a field, abandoned.

Above: Shattered screens and windows at the kibbutz.

We also went to Hura, a small Bedouin city in the Negev (The Bedouin are a minority within an Arab minority, a population of 300,000 who live mostly in the Negev desert.). As we entered the city, we were spotted by the head of the city council, who came over to speak to us before we made it to our destination. He greeted us warmly and welcomed us to the city. Additionally, he wanted everyone to know where Israeli Bedouin stand on current events: he explained to us that his family was mourning his nephew, who served in the Golani brigade, and was killed in Gaza, and another relation is currently held captive there.

Above: The head of Hura’s city council, who ran to speak with us upon seeing us enter the city.

From there we went on to meet Kher Albaz and Ilan Amit, who run AJEEC, an partnership organization in Hura between Jewish and Bedouin Israelis dedicated to building cooperation and shared society for a better, more resilient future. They put words and numbers to something the city councilman alluded to: the Bedouin suffered greatly on October 7th as well. The first people to die of a rocket attack were a Bedouin family. Bedouin were murdered where they were found by Hamas, with some still missing, injured or kidnapped. As we spoke, Waleed Alwashla, a member of the Knesset (essentially an Israeli senator) came to visit as well and echoed the difficulty of the situation Israeli Bedouin now find themselves in. The attack has flamed tensions, and 62% of the Bedouin are under 18. Of the 7000 students per year who graduate, 10% have any access to higher education. Groups on all sides that want to prevent any possibility of a shared society regularly post misinformation all over Jewish and Bedouin social media for teens and young adults.

Above: Standing from Left: Bedouin Member of Knesset Waleed Alwashla, Kher Albaz, and Ilan Amit.

In spite of this, civil society has stepped up. A group of Jewish and Bedouin volunteers and staff make sure that over 8000 kids have access to youth groups and programming. They register government nutrition benefits to as many as 800 families a day, as well as solicit donations to provide lunches for the 40,000 children who do not have access to that meal until school and a more normal life resumes. And they create volunteering opportunities for Israeli teens, Bedouin and Jewish, to volunteer in each other’s communities. I struggled to put it into words, but I was inspired as I left.

I have been to Israel many times, but never before have I gotten to see the extremes and intensity that I saw that day. And never before have I gone to Israel as a representative of an entire community, who could say to the residents of Kibbutz Dorot, “You are not alone.” Never before have I been able to be part of a delegation of Jews who could say to Israel’s minorities, “we envision a society that includes you.”

I was honored, grateful, and humbled by the privilege of being there and representing Shir Hadash.

-Michael
Rabbi Michael - rabbimichael@shirhadash.org

Above: the group which Rabbi Michael participated with on this service trip.