Our Visit to the Rebbe

Last night, Yishai and I had the profound merit of visiting the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (zt”l) in Queens.  Long time (even short time) readers of this blog know the unwavering commitment we maintain toward spreading awareness of the awesomeness, beauty, and holiness of the Land of Israel – we encourage Jews to come home, experience the power of holistic Jewish living, and make G-d’s Dwelling Place their own.

Yet we never miss an opportunity to visit the Tomb of the Lubavitcher Rebbe when we are in America.  There is an undeniable holiness there, one of the conduits of prayer so many find throughout Israel when they seek to avail themselves of the unique opportunity to gain and grow in the merit of the righteous departed.

I have visited the Rebbe’s Ohel (the term, meaning “tent”, which is intended to describe a large tent set up outside the tomb of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, his predecessor, and their family, as well as the tomb itself and the associated visitor’s center) many times, B”H.  Whenever one goes – whichever day, and at whatever time, there are people streaming in and out, looking for the comfort, the guidance, the majesty and the sense of purpose that the Rebbe provides.  For myself, I always get stuck for a long time in the entrance parlor, where a video of scenes from the Rebbe’s life and work perpetually play.

I never merited to meet the Rebbe.  And I can’t say I am a Lubavitcher – there are Chabad customs I do not keep (such as wearing a wig as opposed to a headscarf), and political lines I do not share (such as the non-necessity of actively encouraging Jews to move to Israel).  Yet when I go to the Ohel, I feel the Rebbe is my Rebbe, that he is my guide and inspiration in so many ways.  I feel the care and love coming out of that TV screen, so many years later.  And I feel totally committed to the mission of Chabad, and to the people who carry it out.

So when I go to the Ohel, I watch the movie, to get a little of that good feeling and sagacious advice.  This time around, the video talked a lot about the month of Elul, and how one must speak about – and to – the Jewish people.  The Rebbe stressed the importance of speaking ONLY GOOD about the Jewish people, even in private discussions with Hashem!  And he said it is important to show the Jewish people the beauty of Judaism, the commandments, and all that being a Hebrew entails, and not to berate or intimidate them, especially in Elul, which the Rebbe called the Month of Mercy – not the month of fire and brimstone, in which time we attempt to frighten the Jews into observance.  Show them the beauty, he said, and they will be attracted.  I am grateful for these and the other messages played last night, which I felt spoke directly to me.

After the video, I went into the large outdoor tent (ohel), in which people sit to write letters.  During his lifetime, the Rebbe received 10s of thousands of letters from all over the world, which he would answer with blessings, warnings, and advice.  Even now, the tradition continues on, as people seek out advice and pray that Hashem will bless them in his merit at the site of his resting place.

So as per usual, I wrote a HUGE letter, which I find to be extremely useful regardless of one’s opinion of the practice itself.  I find I learn a lot about what I want for myself and my loved ones, and what I find lacking in myself and in my life, when I write my letter.  I find that afterward, my goals and my prayers are more focused in my heart, and I am simply a better Jew leaving than I was coming.

Considering this visit, and the news in our beloved Homeland of renewed “peace talks” between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority, I thought you might be enlightened by this video.  The beginning is largely filled with the kind of Bibi-style comic relief which has so enchanted so many American Jews, but the end is very telling.  Whether Bibi succeeds in his own mission or not, may we succeed in lighting that small flame, and starting a bright conflagration in the “House of Lies”

Eye On Zion Tour visits OZ

Inspiring Words From a Young Jewish Leader

Yishai’s tour is going great!   Orthodox and Reform, Jewish and Christian, and everyone in between have been so receptive to our message of love and growth, so welcoming of us, and so eager to take part in the brighter, bolder Israel we are envisioning – we have had a wonderful time and are more charged than ever to continue our work toward empowering a strong, vibrant, and irresistibly cool  Israel.

Decades ago, there was another man who seemed to share this vision- at least in large part.  I would like you all to watch this short video of “Ben Nitay”.  If only we could have someone like this as Israel’s prime minister!  May it soon come to pass.

Aliyah Revolution Revisted

Howdy, Y’all!!  I am writing to you from my hometown of Sherman, Texas, where it has been over 100 degrees every day!

I want to thank all the communities Yishai (and I) have visited over the course of our American summer speaking tour.  Yishai can’t stop raving about all the amazing people, all the wonderfully hospitable Chabad houses, shuls, and private families, and all the unique and interesting cities he has come to know.  He is already eager to start his upcoming winter tour (details will be forthcoming), when he will revisit some of these great people and places, and bring Israel’s message and promise to new friends who have already begun extending invitations!

Right now, Yishai is in Atlanta, where he reports people are very interested in talking about the topic of aliyah (yay!).  He’s also eager to get his hands on one of Georgia’s celebrated peaches (and are mint juleps kosher?).

Yesterday, my father, Leah, and I all piled into the car to take Yishai to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport for his flight to Atlanta.  Looking for a way to entertain Leah on the long drive home, I tried to pop in a CD.  But there was one already in the player.  I ejected it – it was one of the first copies of Kumah’s Aliyah Revolution CD (still in the player since the last time we visited, 10 months ago!  Looks like Dad’s more of a radio guy)!

I hit play – and I loved it!  I was intimately involved in making this album, and I have heard it dozens of times.  But I was still inspired by the sometimes powerful, sometimes playful compilation of songs – all of which were donated by the artists in hopes of helping to bring their brothers home.

Around America, Yishai has been giving copies of the Aliyah Revolution album to donors to Kumah.  We have been getting terrific responses, and more orders have already been put in (we are awaiting delivery of our new batch of 5,000).  You can also get your hands on this first-of-its-kind musical extravaganza! Click here to get your copy today!

In the meantime, we thank you all – Jews and gentiles – for your support as we work to build a stronger, brighter, mightier Israel.

Standing IN instead of standing WITH

 

As I write this I’m caught in between the moods of getting ready for Shabbat in a few hours on the one hand and shaking off the cramps and tiredness 15 some odd hours of traveling back from Chutz L’aretz on the other. Thank G-d I’ve just arrived back home in Israel from an amazing visit to South Africa (first time in the country and the continent) from which my wife is an expat. I’m still trying to internalize and absorb all the sights and experiences, from driving alongside giraffe to boating through crocodile and hippo filled rivers and davening shacharit in the bushlands next to a group of zebra to traveling by entire communities that each have out-houses outside their homes to having to double check that the doors are locked when you come to stoplights in case of carjackers. It’s a country of luxuries such as live-in maids on the one hand countered with dangers on the other such as daily news of people (sometimes one’s own neighbors) getting robbed, raped, and/or murdered.

As interesting and exciting as it was to experience all of this, what caught my attention and intersted me the most was my short but powerful experience with the Jewish community. I had the pleasure of spending last Shabbat with the Jewish community of Durban and getting a glimpse into the life of South African Jewry (who make up some of the most polite and soft natured people of the olim that I’ve met in Israel) in their “native habitat.” When you daven in the huge shul’s comfy chairs with pretty wood trimmings all around you get a sense of a dying community as a couple dozen men struggle in vain to fill a vast majority of empty seats no longer necessary for use as many of people have left, many to make aliyah. One of the members of the kehilla told me that at one point they had to move the bimah closer in order that the smaller number of people should be able to hear things.

The people are as friendly as can be - the family whom we stayed by for example. The couple had actually gone to Cape Town for Shabbat yet still opened their home up to us and left behind their children to host. I had an incredibly hard time believing their son was only 15 years old as he had the maturity of somebody almost twice his age, a phenomenon my wife informed me is fairly common among the boys there.  While the homes are beautiful, often complete with swimming pools and hired help, to live in them you have to get used to life behind bars. I don’t just mean bars on the windows, but remote controlled gates on every driveway, security alarms, and collapsable bars that slide across all the doors and windows at night locked with keys in case somebody gets past the actual door or window itself. Sometimes these bars even lock up in the middle of the hallway securing the bedrooms from the rest of the house. If you get up in the middle of the night craving a midnight snack you have to find your keys to get out of the hallway and be willing to leave your secured area to venture to the fridge.  Some of the homes have, in addition to their perimiter fence, additional electric fencing which I was told is not strong enough to actually kill a person but gives enough of a shock to keep them from getting past it. To enter the shul you pass by non-Jewish security men as well as  Jewish security trained in self-defense and sporting those little curly-wired earbuds that you usually see on secret service members.

Throughout the Shabbat, though we were shown great hospitality I felt something was off. I was struggling to get through a lot of the prayers and I didn’t feel any connection or concentration in them. As Shabbat came to a close and we davened Maariv it dawned on me that I had gotten off the plane just two nights before from Jerusalem, the spiritual capital of the universe, and was now trying to connect to Hashem somewhere very very far away from that place. Aside from the communal tragedies that have come with 2000 years of galut including violent persecution and mass assimilation, my eyes were opened to something I known about but never before personally expierenced – the shtark contrast between the spitual acessibilty to Hashem and feeling in touch with one’s own soul in the land of Israel versus outside of Israel.  Part of me wanted to break into tears as I started to feel a tiny fraction of the realization the Jews getting kicked out of Jerusalem thousands of years ago must have felt.

I also started contemplating a dvar Torah I heard recently which greatly stressed the importance of defending Israel and standing with it ideologically against its detractors. Unfortunetely this speech didn’t make any mention of actually moving to Israel, just saying good things about it from the comfort of one’s dwellings in Chutz L’aretz. As I thought I about the spiritual conection one has with Hashem in Israel and how one’s soul, to a certain degree, gets cut off from that connection outside of our land I realized that this spitual darkness has become so great that for many of those living outside of Israel that they don’t even yearn to live here.  Though I’ve thought about it in the past, this was a rare moment where it went from just being an idea in my head to an actual reality I was experiencing.  It felt like Hashem was, if just for a moment, really waking me up to just how real this problem is.

People can talk about how important Israel is to them until the cows come home, but if one doesn’t desire to make their life there, then what does it all really mean? People often where t-shirts that proudly proclaim, “I stand with Israel.” That’s all nice and well, and I for one do honestly appreciate the support, but at the end of the day there are people out there who love us and those who hate us and I wonder just how many of those from the second group have heard some good old fashioned Hasbara and been convinced to switch over to the first group? Apparently not enough to make the situation in Israel any better as our enemies now hate us as much as ever before.  Ideological support is great but when it comes down to it we have the Creator of the universe to fight our battles for us. The parshiot of the last few weeks have continuously mentioned our role in inheriting the land of Israel and making a life there. Of all the mitzvot of the Torah, this has to be one of the most often and most blatently mentioned (no Rashi needed!). I have yet to find where in the Torah it says we have a Chiyuv to argue on Israel’s behalf. Again I’m not knocking those who want to defend Israel, I’m just perplexed as to why many of these people can’t muster the same gusto about actually moving here.

Many counter that due to their financial situation, family complications, or some other personal hurdles they can’t make aliyah and maybe not even in the forseeable future. To that I would answer that you don’t have to try and accomplish the impossible, but even if your current situation prevents you from going, at least WANT to go. Wake up every morning and tell Hashem, “Even if I can’t go to Israel right now please G-d help things to be different so that I can go as soon as possible!” Spend a few minutes telling yourself every day that your goal IS to move to Israel even if you currently don’t know how or when.  Sound like useless pipe dreams? Don’t think so! One of the most important teachings of Chassidus is based on the idea that Hashem desires the heart. Even if you can’t achieve your goal right now, Hashem also takes into consideration the desire to achive the goal. But for somebody who is not living in Israel AND doesn’t arouse any desire in themselves to move then Hashem so-t0-speak has nothing to work with and the person is a double loser as even if they can’t make the move they can at least kindle the desire. 

I hope and pray that more and more of the people that currently say they stand WITH Israel will start contemplating aliyah so they can make the much more powerful statement of, “I stand IN Israel!”

On Tour in Nashville – Music City!

Looking for love in all the wrong places

The other day I was having a conversation with a fellow Jew about life, love, and Israel. This particular individual was from America and had been living in Israel this past year. As the conversation continued, he went on to tell me that he had come to Israel with an open mind and thought maybe he would meet someone and want to stay.

As the story goes, he did not meet his soul mate, nor did he find an easy way to make money, and now he plans to go back to America. His theory was, that despite all the financial and economic woes, his odds of “making it” were better there in America than here.

I decided to challenge his druthers about staying in Israel with the following argument: The first question I asked him was what kind of girl are you looking for?

The answer he gave me was pretty vague and otherwise typical. “ I don’t know man…. someone cool, religious, attractive” etc.

My follow up question was; how have you gone about trying to find her? At this point he got a little uncomfortable and finally muttered “truthfully not that much”. Upon further reflection he confided in me that this particular point was a major regret of his.

Knowing that he was using these “reasons” to justify his wanting to leave, I decided to call him out on it. I told him that as a twenty eight year old male who seems to be relatively normal and decent looking, he should have no problem meeting women. I went on to say that as a married man simply walking the streets of Jerusalem, I literally trip over eligible women everywhere. How is it possible that you can’t meet anybody? If you are interested in meeting a quality English speaking woman you will find her in Israel.

Why?

If she is here, then she is the kind of individual who wants something more and real, which is why she separated herself from the pack and came to Israel in the first place. A girl who came here from somewhere else is passionate and believes in something greater. This is a girl you want to meet.

My next question I asked him was how much money do you think you have to earn to “make it” in America?

Upon acknowledging that these days raising a religious family in America is quite a pricey game, he nevertheless insisted that despite the higher cost he felt more capable of achieving financial success in America than in Israel.

Since the person I was speaking with considered himself religious and G-d fearing, I felt bold enough to challenge him further. I asked him if he thought his success rested on his shoulders alone or did G-d’s will have anything to do with it as well? “ Of course it’s all G-d, he said. I know that!” Well, I said, if you admit that it’s all G-d then perhaps it’s possible that G-d can provide you with what you need here in Israel? I mean it’s only logical that the same G-d who split the sea could very well allow you with the opportunity to pay your bills? God can produce shekels for you, just like he can produce dollars.

At the very least, you don’t know unless you try. Lets say for argument sake, you decided that Israel is where you’re meant to be, and that notion in and of itself is a Jewish value worth pursuing. Perhaps G-d will enable you to see your dreams through? At the very least one needs to take the first step and get their toes wet by trying.

We just celebrated Tu Ba Av the other day. This day symbolizes love and a kind of renewal in the Jewish Calender coming less than a week after our saddest day of the year. I wish all those looking for love to look in the right places.

For all those who are still living outside of G-d’s country, I implore you to look towards your country with love and take the necessary plunge by coming here. If you are in need of a mate then you are in luck. She or he is amazing and they are already in Israel. Don’t think so? Come here and prove me wrong!

Photos from the “Eye On Zion” 2010 Speaking Tour

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If you are wondering where I am…

Wedding Anniversary

With profound gratitude to G-d and sincere joy, I report that my husband and I have just celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!  Though Yishai is shuttling all over the United States on his speaking tour, his one day off miraculously fell on that auspicious day, and we basically sat around feeling blessed and happy to be together.

Having this anniversary, and feeling so honored and grateful for this goodness in my life, I started thinking about how marriage to your spouse and commitment to Israel are so related.

Israel is your bashert (your intended).  You love Israel, you want to be with Israel, you want to share great joys all the time with Israel – just like your spouse (hopefully).  But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other nice lands out there.  ”Gosh, this one’s pretty good looking”, you might say about one.  ”This one is so chilled out and easy going,” you could say about another.  ”Things seem to flow so naturally with this one,” you could find yourself saying, even enviously.

Maybe another land would pose less challenges, would seem to suit you more harmoniously, provide you more comforts.

But this is not what your marriage – or your homeland – is all about.  Yeah, you might cry sometimes.  You might get frustrated, feel detached, or just want to stomp your feet and yell.  But true love means putting aside the difficulties and uniting out of a deep desire to always be together, to never give up.  More than that, it means using the hardships, the occasional disharmony, to grow, to learn, to become wiser, to perfect that to which you so wholeheartedly committed so many years ago.  And with G-d’s help, it yields moments of deep satisfaction and communion, as you realize that the hard times have only brought you closer together.

May we all merit beautiful, soul-completing marriages – both to our spouses and to our Land.  And may the G-d of Israel join us once again under the chuppah, in song and dance on Mount Moriah.