I began the day in Herzliya at the Lerches, and headed out the door for another beautiful run along the Mediterranean. Sometimes people watching in Israel is akin to people watching in New York City-- you never know what you might see! Two days in a row, I saw this lady power walking on the beach with her adorned umbrella. Today, I had to stop and snap a photo.
I bid goodbye to my wonderful hosts and headed to Jerusalem. I LOVE JERSUALEM. It truly feels like coming home to the city where Rabbi Flip and I first met, where I lived for a summer during a college, and then for a year during my first year of rabbinic school. I know this town. I have walked her streets. I feel she knows me as well and is happy I am back. We are old friends, she and I.
After dropping my bags at the hotel, I strolled to get something to eat before meeting up with the rest of the group from Nashville, arriving today. I walked past the Taube campus of the Hebrew Union College which was recently expanded under the brilliant auspices of architect Moshe Safdie, the same architect who designed Yad Vashem (the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem) and the National Library of Israel amongst other international wonders. I sat and had a typical Israeli salad of fresh peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese, bulgar, cranberries and cucumber. And as I glanced across the street from the cafe where I sat, another reminder that many (not all) Israelis are very happy about the outcome of our recent presidential election.
From lunch, I made my way up towards the Supreme Court and the Knesset where I met up with the Nashville group just arriving in from the airport. It was great to see Rabbi Saul and his daughter, Ravi, and the other travelers with our group. Our first stop together was a tent outside of the Supreme Court, adjacent to the Knesset, where there are folks holding vigil and honoring the fallen soldiers since October 7th. Our wonderful guide, Avi, explained to us that this group represents more of the "right " in Israel, in that they want to see the war to the end no matter what. From there, we walked the equivalent of two blocks to another tent where family members of hostages are holding vigil for those still held in Gaza. Avi explained that this group represents the "left" in that they want to end the war now, an immediate ceasefire, and make any kind of deal, at any price, to bring home the remaining hostages. At this tent, we heard directly from three people holding vigil.
Roni: When someone is calling for help, we need to save them. We cannot ignore it. It is not enough to say that we want them out. We need to do all we can do to bring them home. We must make a deal with heavy prices and get them back. And then if the deal is broken, we can go back and fight after if we need to. If we don't bring them home, we betray them. And they have already been betrayed once when our border did not protect them. This is basic Jewish values. Basic human values. Not to be a bystander. I cannot beleive we are just letting them die there.
Yossi: It is a basic law of Israel that everyone must be protected. It is the law of the state. The government is influenced by the public and so we need to convince the public. Parliament does not act enough. And they need to act immediately.
Oren: I am a family physician from South near the Gaza border. I have come here with other doctors on strike because we feel things are only getting worse. We see increases in depression, sleep issues, small children won't go anywhere alone, people having panic attacks, kids bed wetting, and all other preexisting health issues are out of control for people (hypertension, diabetes, etc.) and the only way to help my patients is to stop the war and bring home the hostages. Most Israelis are in some kind of depression. The rebuilding and rehabilitation of the country will only start when we bring the hostages back and stop the war.
Tomorrow morning, we head south towards Gaza...