My 2023 Trip to Israel  

In March I had the distinct pleasure of accompanying my three daughters, Elisa, Erica, and Ally, on a women’s trip to Israel for 10 days, led by Rabbi Rachel Ain of Sutton Place Synagogue in New York. There were 28 women, ranging in age from 27 to 88. The focus was to rediscover Israel through feminist eyes, experience the power of women, and meet important women who have made a difference. We were not to think of ourselves as tourists but as pilgrims, and this concept stayed with us throughout our journey. 

The day after our arrival we took a bus to Modi’in and visited CityBook, a company that employs over 400 native, English-speaking Orthodox women. This high-tech organization employs Haredi women for daytime hours while their children are in school, in an atmosphere comfortable to their lifestyle. Most of these women have five or more children. They have generous maternity leave and can bring their infants to work. CityBook services meet the needs of businesses with long-term, customized solutions in Israel. Employees provide a range of back-office services including sales, medical billing, graphic design, estate services, account management, and more. The Haredi community is an integral part of the globalization of Israel’s economy. Everyone is respectfully addressed as Mr. or Mrs., they have an exceptionally honest work ethic, and do not use personal social media during working hours—it’s all business. 

Our next visit was to the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation which opened in 2009. Israel is the country of innovation and honors Israeli start-ups and inventions. Many of their ideas come out of necessity and it takes failure to persevere and continue. Israel encourages entrepreneurship—everything is possible. Israelis have the passion to do things and get people to believe in them. They have a dream and they pursue it. 

We had a fun night at Mevashlim Havaya, a cooking workshop/training center. All 28 of us donned aprons and under the direction of the owner, created our own dinner, from appetizers to desserts. It was a lovely bonding experience, cooking together, drinking wine, and spontaneously breaking out into a hora while putting it all together. We learned about Sephardic food culture being kept alive through the spices used, along with different foods and how they are prepared. 

When we arrived at Zichron Yaakov, we were invited into the home of our tour guide, Michelle Levitz. She related her history of having been born in the United States and spending most of her summers in Israel with various family members. It was a natural decision to make aliyah and raise her family there.  

We then walked a few blocks and visited the Aaronson House. This is the original, but converted, home of this pre-State Israeli family who was involved in the NILI Spy Ring. This family, at great peril to themselves, worked with the British against the Turks (who had control over Palestine prior to WWI). They helped the British, who had control over Egypt, by passing information to help them take Palestine from Turkish rule. There were four brothers and one sister involved in this spy ring. In fact, the driving force was the sister, Sarah Aaronson, who played a key role and did not take a back seat to her brothers, even when she was caught and tortured for information. In the end, after her brothers were all executed, Sarah committed suicide. 

We went to the Arab village of Kfar Kara and were invited into a local woman’s kitchen. Amna is an Arab woman who defied her parents’ wishes to become educated and then went against her community standards to connect with Jewish women. She is an ambassador bringing Jewish and Arab women together for dialogue and to promote peace. She builds bridges in her kitchen: Neighbors for Peace. 

Going north, we went to the Kineret Cemetery and visited the grave of Rachel Bluestein, also simply called Rachel the Poetess. She was originally from Russia and was the first national poetess of Israel. Very nearby we visited the grave of Naomi Shemer, who wrote over 1,000 songs, including “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” (“Jerusalem of Gold”) in 1967. She is considered the voice of our generation. It was heartwarming to celebrate the impact they made on Israeli society in their time. 

After our arrival in Jerusalem we visited Ezrat Yisrael, the egalitarian section of the Kotel, and met Rabbi Sandra Kochman, a Masorti representative. She mentioned that there are over 1,300 egalitarian b’nei mitzvah ceremonies each year. This location is so much in demand that plans have to be made well in advance. As Conservative Jews davening, we felt the importance of our presence there. 

After visiting the Kotel and exploring the underground excavations, we met and spoke with retired Colonel Miri Eisen. She worked on military security as part of the intelligence community, which is her expertise. Col. Eisen is also an expert on the politics of the Middle East. She explained that in Israel, you do not vote for an individual, you vote for a party. She now works with the media, student groups, and diplomats. Col. Eisen is an associate at the International Institute for Counterterrorism. 

On Shabbat morning, a few of us walked to the Fuchsberg Center on Agron Street, the home of Conservative/Masorti Judaism. The spiritual leaders Rabbi Yerach and Rabba Nava Meiersdorf were educated at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. Rabba Nava also spent a year at JTS. Together, they led a beautiful service. Her d’var Torah was unique, as she spoke each sentence first in Hebrew and then fluidly shared the same thought in English. No one missed any part of her message. 

Rabbi Chaya Baker was ordained in 2007 by the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary. She is the leader of Kehillat Ramon-Zion, a Masorti synagogue in Jerusalem. She attended a Tali school and was involved in NOAM, an Israel Youth Organization. She spoke to our group about the school system, which is more secular than religious. Rabbi Baker created an afternoon religious school for children to attend after their secular school program, to connect secular Jews with aspects of Judaism, without pressure to become religious. She reaches out for them to join the synagogue, which is quite difficult. There are so few non-religious Jews who belong to synagogues that she needs to make it significant enough for them to want to be part of it. 

In City Hall, we met Hagit Moshe, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, who heads the education system in the city. She is responsible for all segments of public education regardless of ideologies. They use different learning methods and allow parents to choose where they wish their children to go within the system. Within the Haredi system, they have the option also to learn secular studies as well as religious. Mostly girls attend, but boys are starting to go as well. They used to have placement exams to determine which secondary school to attend. Hagit Moshe did away with that. Now families rank schools by preference and get one of their choices (with more equality for students).  

Their special education system is thriving. They have special schools as well as mainstream classes within general schools. Hagit Moshe is responsible for the education of all 290,000 students in the Jerusalem municipality school system. There is much diversity among the various curricula. Education used to be “standard,” but is no longer.  

Interestingly, as an aside, Arabs do not want to take part in the governing council for political reasons. They feel that if they sit on the council, they are publicly recognizing Israel. 

We had the honor of going into the Supreme Court building. We sat in one of the courtrooms and learned about the Israeli Supreme Court process. We then met retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice Ayala Procaccia. During her time on the Supreme Court, she helped shape Israeli law to support equality for all, regardless of gender or religious practice. She discussed issues that are prevalent in maintaining a fair court system and a relationship between state law and Jewish law. Surprisingly, there has not been enough agreement in the past 75 years to establish a constitution. Basic principles of Israel being a Jewish state for the Jewish people vis-à-vis being a democratic state—both items must stay in focus, but sometimes conflict. She said there must be balance. There are controversial areas where religious and civil law disagree and these are difficult issues. They include marriage and divorce, Haredi serving in the Israeli army, which core subjects should be taught in Haredi schools, and recognizing the differences between men and women in secular life compared to Haredi life. 

Finally, we met Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, a Schechter graduate. She grew up in a religious Zionist household. She and her husband founded Kehilat Tzion with the feeling that a synagogue must be a safe haven for all who enter. People must feel loved and the synagogue should be a community for everyone. In 2010 Rabbi Elad-Appelbaum was named by the Forward as one of the five most influential female religious leaders in Israel for her work promoting pluralism and Jewish freedom. She is Vice President of the Masorti Rabbinical Assembly; their focus is on renewal of community life in Israel and the struggle for human rights.  

At the time, she was on a hunger strike to protest corruption in government and she remarked that she was so pleased that we came at this tenuous time in Israel. 

My daughter Elisa Pollack Kandel offered the following: 

One last thought. 

Every day on the bus we did an abbreviated morning service. One of the prayers we included was Psalm 150, Halleluyah. We sang loudly and in unison. Looking at the words of translation, it felt so fitting for this group and this pilgrimage, praising G-d with song and musical instruments—trumpets, harp, lyre, flute, and strings. It invoked the vision of Miriam leading the women in song and dance after crossing the Red Sea. We felt like those women, empowering each other, embarking on an adventure together, and feeling the strength of connection to each other and to the women we met on our journey who are each making a difference in their own way. 

In the spirit of the Schechter leaderships, including Rabbi Baker and Rabbi Elad-Appelbaum, please donate to Torah Fund.