ARZA

Over the past few years, my temple has been raising awareness about an organization called the Association of Reform Zionists of America. ARZA is a group that was formed to have a Reform view in the Wold Zionist Organization. They believe in making Israel sacred for Reform Jews. My Rabbi, Bennett Miller, is the chair of this organization. For the past few years, I have heard him talk about registering to vote, but only now do I truly understand the meaning behind it. The goals that ARZA has are very similar to many of the topics that we discuss in class. One of the issues that we talk about a lot in our class specifically is the marriage equality law. Only 20% of the Jews in Israel are Orthodox, however marriages in Israel are only legal if they are to Orthodox standards. Another issue is that the Israeli Government pays salaries for Rabbis in Israel, but only a very small percentage of them are Reform. After my experience at the Kotel last week, I believe more than ever that women should have more space to pray. By voting to make ARZA a part of the World Zionist Organization, Reform Jews can get more of a say in gaining equality in Israel.

Am I even Jewish?

As my time here continues, I question my Jewish identity more and more. Do I consider myself Jewish?- Absolutely. But unfortunately, not all Jews  think I’m Jewish. On this Reform Jewish program, the vast majority of people think that I am Jewish, but still, it’s unsettling to have others tell me that I’m not Jewish during a lunch conversation. In my opinion, I would not be here if I were not Jewish. My parents made the choice to raise me Jewish and I feel like even though my mom is not Jewish that I have not been brought up any differently because of that. 

Of course, I would love to be accepted by the Jewish community as a whole. It makes me feel so bad about myself whenever people tell me that I’m not Jewish. In a way, it reminds me of transgender people. In no way whatsoever am I an expert on transgender people, but I think that I can draw a few similarities between myself and them. Transgender is defined as “denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender.” People that are transgender are the gender that they believe they are, but in the eyes of less liberal people, they are not always seen in the same way. In the case of transgender people, they are always referred to with the pronouns and by the name that they choose. I don’t see why it can’t be the same for Judaism. If I see myself as a practicing Jew, why can’t religious people also acknowledge that I’m Jewish. 

Etgar Keret the Huge Wierdo

Initially when reading Etgar Keret stories, we talk about how weird he was. The story that has stuck with me over the past week was "Shooting Tuvia". This story was about a dog that a boy got that was very nice to the boy, but other family members did not receive the same kind of warmth from the dog. After the dog has a bad experience with a family member, the dad takes the dog away. A few hours later, the dog came back to the boy. The same thing happened a few times, except every time the dad tried to get rid of the dog in a more extreme way. The finial time the dad tries to get rid of the dog, he shoots it, but the dog still returns to the boy. 

As weird as this story is, I think it can be related to the Jewish people. Jews are kicked out of places all the time because we have been hated. I think that the dog is a symbol of the Jewish people because as we saw the dog coming back to the person he loved, we see the Jewish people returning to the land we love. The dog also fought hard to get back to what he wanted, just like the Jewish people fought hard to get the land of Israel. The dog was hated by the majority of the people, which is unfortunately similar to the Jewish people. Even though most of Etgar Keret’s stories are unusual, they do have a lot of deeper meanings. 

Women of the Wall Making History

I’m not going to lie, when our Madrachiem told us that we were waking up this morning at 5:40, I wasn’t excited. I was thinking about how it would be just another service with The Women of the Wall, meaningful, but also less relatable because it would all be in Hebrew. But I was so wrong, today was an incredible day in the history of Jewish Women. This morning, The Women of the Wall successfully smuggled a Sefer Torah into the women’s section of the Kotel. This is not a legal act and the women could have gotten in a lot of trouble for doing this. The women could not have done this without the help of the men who opened the gate and handed the women the Torah. There was a bit of violence and there is some uncertainty if a man is being charged for helping the women. Clearly before doing this all of the men knew that there could be very severe consequences and they were still willing to risk it to help the women. It was also amazing to see the courage displayed by these women and to see their goal finally being partially achieved after 25 years. 

Even though some of the Haradi were yelling at us and becoming violent, the women still won in the end. We were even able to complete the Torah service and got to celebrate having the Torah. It was amazing to go from being so happy and excited to suddenly being so scared when the Haradi burst on to the women's side and tried to take back the Torah. We couldn't help make a wall to protect it, but I think our presence alone helped. There are no words I can use to describe how amazing that was. I hope that one day we will have the rights to bring in the Torah ourselves. I still get the chills thinking about what happened today and how awesome it was to be a part of it and see how meaningful it was not only to me, but to all of the women who have been trying to get more equality for so long.

South Tel Aviv

On Fridy, we had the very unique opportunity to go to “The other side of the side of the tracks” in Southern Tel Aviv. This was an eye opening experience for me. I am used to helping homeless people in New York, but for some unknown reason, I always had this idea that Israel was perfect. It was really interesting to see that Israel didn’t have an answer to do with all of the refugees. One of the most shocking things was that there was a street and its name was just numbers. This was because no one wanted to have their name on one of the worst streets in Israel. Another memorable moment for me was when we were standing in the old train station that has become a “home" for addicts and prostitutes and at the same time we could see the most expensive apartment in Israel. It was so sad to me that instead of helping support people living in Israel, that these people pay so much to live in a fancy apartment. 

While we were walking I didn’t feel like I was in Israel and I didn’t feel safe at all times. Clearly some people do care about this issue, but a lot of people also don’t. It was really nice to see that they had set up a library and that Israelis come to help teach these people Hebrew once a week. I want to think of ways that EIE can help these people and its really hard to think of ways that we can help. I think that’s a problem that a lot of people face. They see that there is a problem, but they either don’t know how they can help, or make it so it’s not relevant to them. I think it’s important that we think of ways that we can help so we are not just pushing aside what so many other people have. I know that we’re not living in Israel for much longer, but I believe that while we are still here that it is our duty to help make the country better in whatever way we can even if that sounds really cliche. 

Finding Myself

Today in class, we struggled with the difficult question of what passion we have in our life that we would do anything for. Right now, I don't think there is anything I care about so deeply that I would be willing to risk everything for, but there are many issues that I care deeply about. One of the things I know I would love to do is help integrate people with disabilities (specifically adults) into society. For me it is important that they are treated with the same amount of respect and have the same job opportunities as everyone else. I work with people that have disabilities from the ages of three to over sixty years old. I mainly work with kids and teach them how to play sports. I see how they grow and develop, and I want to make sure that when they are adults, that they will have the same opportunities as I will regardless of the situation.


This issue is something that I feel very passionate about, but at the same time it scares me to have to pick something to choose to do for the rest of my life. When I think about what I want to do with my life, I think about branching off from the rest of my family and making a name for myself. My family is very involved in helping members of the disabled community, and I learned everything about helping different people of all types from them. I want to make sure that I'm not a carbon copy of my family members and that I'm able to make a name for myself. Sometimes I think that I only want to work with people with disabilities because it is inside my comfort zone. It is something that I have always been comfortable doing and I would love to do it, but I also want to push myself to see if there is anything else I am passionate about. I think that I'm afraid of the future and that I'm leaning against this as a safety net so I don't have to really think about doing anything different. I hope that I will continue to push myself to think of other things that I want to do in the future. 

Spring Break Part 3?

This past week we had our third and final big trip. It started on Friday when we left Tzuba for Pesach with various host families all over Israel. I went to my friend Careen's house with her Israeli family that is from Iraq. This type of Judaism is referred to as Mizraki Judaism and it was interesting to see their different cultures mixed in with the secular Israeli culture. The first thing that was slightly uncomfortable for me was that they eat rice and beans over Pesach, unlike the Ashkenazi traditions that I uphold. I wanted to be able to still celebrate what I consider a traditional Pesach, but instead I decided to do Pesach how the Mizraki Jews and certain secular Israelis celebrate. Part of me did this because I didn't want to be rude, but another part of me wanted to experience Pesach the way that they do. The seder itself was also very interesting. Pesach is by far my favorite Jewish holiday. My seder at home is so much fun because my whole family is together and we have a great time. This seder was very different. We started our seder at 8:30 which is around four hours after we start our seder at home. The seder itself lasted less than 45 minutes and contained a lot of rapid fire Hebrew because they were all done with the prayer part and wanted to eat. It was interesting to hear the different tunes that the Mizraki Jews sang, but it was also hard to follow what was happening because everything was in Hebrew. There was no socializing for the most part because they were trying to get through everything. In my seder, even though it has gotten shorter over the years, we are always having discussions and focusing on the family aspect of the seder. My favorite part of the seder was the amazing food. The matzah that Careen's grandma made was amazing along with all of the other traditional Iraqi dishes. I was also really surprised that Careen's extended family, whom I had never met, got me presents, and I felt like that was particularly nice. I also had a good laugh when I was offered bread the morning after the seder.

On Sunday, we left from our host families, to our Yam el Yam trip. This trip was amazing. I really enjoyed cooking for myself again and how close we became as a group. We were able to navigate by ourselves at times which was also really fun because I felt like I was getting to know my way around Israel instead of having someone else show me. I was also proud of myself for not showering for five days, even though I didn't have any other options. This trip definitely made me appreciate nature more and my resources. I know that when we are on Tiyul again, I won't hesitate to nature pee. I realized that before the trip, I used to kill ants or bugs that were on me, and by the end of the trip, I was only brushing them off me. I wish that I had accepted being dirty a little more and not bathed myself in hand sanitizer every night, but I think this means that I will just have to have another hiking trip when I get home!

Poland Reaction

While learning about the destruction of the Jews, it is also important to focus on why Poland was specifically targeted as a center of the massacres of the Shoah. The Jews strived in Poland for hundreds of years leading up to the Shoah. Understanding the foundation of Jewish life helps exemplify why the decimation of Poland was so vital. The first place that we visited in Poland was the Warsaw Cemetery. In this location, scholars, rabbis, and even my Great-Great Grandparents were buried. Cemeteries are typically associated to death and with the feeling of tragedy. On the contrary, this cemetery  was a place where lives were celebrated. Judaism does not mourn over deaths for too long, instead we celebrate the lives of their loved ones. So many people that contributed to the Jewish society were buried there. L.L. Zamenhof tried to create the language Esperanto which means “hope”. Its beautiful that prior to the Shoah there was such a desire to keep making the culture better. After studying Jewish history even on a surface level, it can be concluded that Jewish life thrives and declines throughout history. In the case of Poland, there is clear evidence of a vibrant Jewish life prior to the Shoah comparatively to the destruction of Jewish life after the Shoah.

Life in Poland for the Jews  around the time of the Shoah was horrible. Conditions during the Holocaust were some of the worst that mankind has ever faced, especially at the hands of other human beings. It shows how cruel and ruthless people are and have the ability to be to each other. In Poland today, it is evident that the Jewish population has been almost entirely annihilated. One of the shocking things to see was the continuation of life near the places where such horrific events occurred. At Majdanek, virtually nothing was destroyed. The gas chambers, bunkers,crematorium, and even the pile of human ash were left untouched because the Natzis did not have enough time to destroy the camp before the Russians came. For me, one of the hardest things was to see how the Poles continued on with their lives around these terrible places. When at Majdanek, it was deeply disturbing to see apartment buildings, houses, and a major road right next to the death camp. I cannot imagine what it must be like for these people to have a concentration camp in their backyards, but I know that I would not be able to live with knowing what happened so close to where I life. Of course it is important that the Poles figure out how to build a future, but I think there should be more respect for the Holocaust and remembering what happened.

During a time of horror, it was admirable to see groups banning together to resist against oppression. During the times of the ghettos especially, Jews had a little more leeway to be able to resist. The conditions were still awful, but people were able to rebel more easily. People had to make very tough decisions for themselves and for the community as a whole. Specifically, a man named Adam Czerniakow was put in charge of deciding who got to stay in the ghetto to work, and who had to leave the ghetto forever. He knew at the time that it would be a situation of life or death for whoever stayed and whoever left. The pressure of the decision of who got to live, and the struggle to decide made this man kill himself. In a way, this can be thought of as an act of resistance because he knew he could not make the decision for the rest of his community. One of the most well known uprisings was The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising led by Mordecai Anielewicz. These people decided that they wanted to go down on their own terms. This revolting group was able to force the Natzis out of the ghettos twice and they showed hope in a time of tragedy. At Auschwitz-Birkenau, a group called the Zunder-Commando banned together to show defiance as well. They were the Jews in charge of putting bodies into the crematoriums. They were able to blow up a few crematoriums which potentially saved thousands of lives. I find it incredibly admirable that these people had the guts to show resistance, I do not know if I would be able to have the courage to risk more than I had to live for.

In order to win the fight against Anti-Semitism, Jews globally need to come to an understanding of our past and to then build a stronger future for Am Yisrael.One of the main ways this can be done is to have Jews be educated on our history. Jews need to go to Poland and learn about the Shoah to prevent another one from happening. We also need to build up the strong community values that the Am Yisrael of Poland had. We cannot let stronger powers belittle the strength of our people. Finally, we need to know when the appropriate time to put our foot down is. We always talk about when we would consider the pressure of the enemy to be “enough” and when we would have rebelled. The more we talk about this, like any issue, the more complicated it appears. Knowing when we have had enough as a whole and when we come together as one people of Israel will be the only way to prevent another Holocaust from happening again.

The historical  and modern presence of Jews in Poland and all over Europe has created a culture of Anti-Semitism over the years that may never be fixed entirely. Some people flat out deny that the Shoah ever happened. Even after the destruction of Am Yisrael, we still see ourselves getting bullied. This leads to the greater question of how Israel should open its doors to Jews. I think it is important that in the event of another Holocaust, there is a safe place for Jews to come. Even today in Europe, the security of Jews is a hot topic. It is necessary that all Jews have a place to go if they ever need safety. The aspects of life and death that are portrayed in Poland help give a clear understanding of why it was such a lively place for Jewish life but also how it could be such an easy target for enemies. How Am Yisrael responded to the Shoah with actions of rebellion displayed that even in the toughest of times, there can still be a positive source of hope.