This Shabbat eve Or Hadash welcomed a group of about two dozen young Dutch journalists who were on a discovery mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories. They visited Or Hadash in particular because of the strong record and program here of interfaith cooperation and dialogue. They were hopefully able to get a sense of the important role that local interfaith initiatives can play in adding to human understanding and we pray, one day, peace.
Their visit to Israel was initiated by CIDI (The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel), an organization whose goal is to strengthen ties between Holland and Israel, increasing awareness of special events and Israeli reality in general. Simon Soesan, who is an Or Hadash congregant and one of the organizers of this effort said that among other things this visit is meant to bring more reliable and reasonable reports to the Dutch media.
The visiting reporters do not hate Israel in any way, shape or form, they simple are not familiar with the state of Israel, hence the importance of hosting them. Members of the group include Christians, Jews and Muslims. They have had the opportunity to explore Haifa, spend time at various local coffee shops, bars, restaurants, etc., visit Haifa’s wonderful beach and meet with key members of the city. The group spent 12 days in Israel altogether.
Also on Friday, I had the opportunity to teach the conversion class at Or Hadash. It was quite a different experience from teaching this class in the US! The students here not only all speak Hebrew fluently but also seemed to be quite conversant with major elements of Jewish thought and practice. We can thank the Israeli education system and their conversion class teachers for that.
At services on Friday night and Saturday, there were two B'nai Mitzvah and two celebrations of "Shabbat Chatan" (what we typically call aufrufen in America.) Congratulations to Or Hadash member Roxana Reichman's children: Inbal Reichman (Roxana's daighter) and Ma'ayan Cohen who celebrated on Friday night and Lee Kimchi and Roi Levi who did the same on Shabbat morning. Congratulations also to Bar Mitzvah Ori Shefi and his family from Haifa who celebrated on Shabbat morning and to Marc Daniel Mesler and his family (of Palm Beach Gardens, FL) who celebrated on Shabbat afternoon. Also at services on Friday night, the congregation welcomed Jenya Shraivman, who has completed her studies and accepted the Torah to become a Jew by choice.
On Sunday morning Rabbi Nof and I met with Anna Kislanski of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. As most of you probably know, funding for non-Orthodox synagogues is extremely challenging in Israel. Together we explored ways to increase support to IMPJ congregations from communities abroad.
If you have a chance, take a moment to wish Rabbi Nof a happy 50th birthday! He will be out for a couple of days this week celebrating with Deborah. I will fill in for him doing such things as teaching classes on Maimonides and Mishnah, meeting with B'nai Mitzvah students and their parents and hopefully, not causing too much damage in his absence.
Shavua tov from Haifa to one and all!
Rabbi Richard Agler
Congregation B' nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida