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Shalom, chaveirim - hello, friends -
Before I went to Israel, I heard people talking about “bearing witness” to what had happened on October 7th. That language felt funny, foreign, awkward to me. Then I heard people “touring” the sites where the horrors had happened. That language felt strange also because touring is something you do in a museum or archeological site.
And yet, Isaiah tells us, “אתם עדי Atem eidai, you are my witnesses.” For me, the month in Israel was about standing with Israelis who are our brothers and sisters and acknowledging we stand together — but we do not stand in exactly the same place. During the month, Amy and I witnessed with all of our senses and we always understood these stories are our people’s stories. They are sacred, they are painful and we must ensure they are heard throughout the world. So yes, we were bearing witness all the time.
My trip was about visiting Amy’s daughter, Nina, who made Aliyah and is serving in the army.
It was about getting to know Nina's host parents and family.
It was about visiting with various family members and friends with whom we stay in touch regularly and have followed closely these last six months.
It was about volunteering. Israel has a labor shortage and Amy and I wanted to do something to help make a difference.
Our trip was about being in Israel. We wanted to spend as much time as possible with our feet on the ground in Israel.
And lastly, it was about Amy leading a six-day solidarity mission to visit sites of the horror, to meet first-hand with witnesses and survivors, and to work to understand political realities in this moment.
I know that what we were doing for a month in Israel in no way, shape, or form is the same as what Israelis are doing. What Amy and I learned in almost EVERY conversation we had with Israelis is that everyone is affected. From the hotel clerk, whose brother was killed in the north, to the man at the restaurant who has been in Tel Aviv since October 8 because he was evacuated from his home, to the parents whose children are fighting in Gaza, to the young woman who moved back with her parents because her husband is fighting in Gaza, to our rabbinic colleague who hadn’t been in his Hartman office for three months because he has been serving in the reserves.
All Israeli lives are impacted in ways that American Jews lives are not. And only when Amy and I were in Israel did we fully realize the impact of the war. We thought we knew… but we had no idea.
So we were bearing witness and we are sharing an important message: Israelis don’t have to carry that weight alone. We came, actually, to put our shoulder under the stretcher with them, to use a well-known phrase in Israeli life. We are carrying the weight with Israelis - as Diaspora Jews, who are strong and seek to be strong enough to help in whatever way we are able. And we have our own weight to carry in this country as city councils, academic institutions (even kindergartens !!), and some religious communities defame Israel and Jewish life.
My heart is in the East (or according to one picture I saw, in Tel Aviv) but my feet are back in these United States, grateful for all that I saw and did and ready to continue our work together to make for a meaningful Jewish existence and experience right here in our corner of Litchfield County as those who strive to be lovers of Zion and supporters of Torah.
L'shalom,
Rabbi Mark Cohn
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Tuesday, April 30 (6:00 PM) at Temple Sholom. Breaking Pesach: Pizza, Beer, and assorted yeast-filled delights!
Monday, May 6 (6:00 PM) at Congregation B'nai Israel, 444 Main Street North, Southbury. Yom HaShoah Memorial Service and Speaker sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Western CT. See flyer.
Thursday, May 9 (7:00 PM) at Congregation B'nai Israel, 444 Main Street North, Southbury. Yossi Klein Halevi on "How October 7 Changed Israel and the Jewish World." See flyer.
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