My first visit to Israel was in December 2001 during the second intifada,  just two months after September 11. I traveled with a small group of teens from our chapter of HaZamir, an international Jewish teen choir. At that time, we were the only American group touring Israel. We didn’t go to the shuk or Ben Yehuda Street for safety reasons. Instead, we traveled around the country meeting Israelis and giving concerts. Two highlights of that trip that I still remember vividly are meeting Israeli teens and performing in a concert for an enthusiastic and very grateful audience of Russian immigrants. Our Israel trip was one of my most formative religious experiences and made me feel deeply connected to the Jewish People. 

I am writing to you from Jerusalem. I find it grounding and meaningful to keep returning to a place that has accompanied me through many highlights of my life after that initial visit: a trip with my parents, studying Jewish Education at the Hartman Institute, leading trips for teens and adults and a semester of Rabbinical School. On a personal note, my relationship with Ethan began in Jerusalem, and six years later we found ourselves back in Jerusalem, expecting our first child. 

This trip is a solidarity mission with the Cantors Assembly, and it is reminiscent of my first Israel experience both because of the current war and the role of music. We davened on the bus on our way to the south and sang with soldiers at the Alumim military base. We prayed El Male Rachamim and sang Hatikvah at the charred remains of a house at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. We sang in hospitals and performed in a concert in Jerusalem with Hila Ben David, an Israeli pop singer. With tears in our eyes, we davened Acheinu at the Hostage Task Force Center in Tel Aviv, and I led Oseh Shalom at Hostage Square. Music has carried our group through this intense trip; in that way, my first trip and this visit really feel like bookends. 

Music has a special power to express what can be difficult to put into words. Singing melodies that are well-known by Jews around the world brought our group a sense of solidarity with the Jewish People in spite of the different challenges that currently face Israelis and American Jews. Prayer simultaneously situates us in the present moment while connecting us to our past and future. For all of these reasons, it was important to me to travel to Israel on this particular mission, and I am beyond grateful to our community for giving me this opportunity. 

I am looking forward to sharing more of my experiences and impressions in the sermon slot next Shabbat as well as in conversations with many of you.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!

Cantor Rabbi Levin Goldberg