Our better angels

5/17/19

We’re a funny species. Judaism is very clear on the fact that we enter this world pure and full of goodness. When we look into the innermost recesses of our hearts, we find kindness, love, wisdom, patience, humor, and compassion. Attuned to one another, biologically predisposed toward empathy, we spend most of our lives walking through the world brokenhearted. How is that such magnificent creatures, capable of such grandeur, are also capable of such callousness, hatred, and evil?  We’re a funny species.

            Every letter, every rock, every flower, every pathway, every memorial candle, photograph, ceramic heart, crying soldier, broken parent, grieving friend, at Mount Herzl, Israel’s National Cemetery, lays upon all of us a moral imperative. To honor the sacrifice and to redeem Israel and the world by living up to our better angels. Visiting Mt. Herzl on a Friday morning means friends and family of Israel’s fallen stopping to tell us about their loved ones. It means choking to find the words to express your gratitude. The weight of Mt. Herzl rests on all of our shoulders. They were young and old, native born Israelis and Holocaust Survivors, men and women. Though we may not have known them and they likely didn’t know us, we are here because they are there. Moreh Sim’s son lost his fellow unit member, bunkmate and best friend, Ronen, in the line of duty a few days after the end of last year’s Israel trip. His parents have an album full of pictures of people visiting their son’s grave. Our picture will be added to that album of grief and comfort. At the foot of Ronen’s grave is his favorite quote: “What did you give of yourself this week?”

            Already heavy hearted, we descended from Mt. Herzl to Yad Vashem. Blessed with exceptional guides who understood the needs and nature of our group, we spent 2.5 hours allowing ourselves to confront the Holocaust head on. We learned about some of the heroes, victims, and perpetrators. We honored the children and the resistance fighters and those whose names we know and those whose names are gone forever. We thought about the villages and towns and ghettoes and synagogues and writers and artists and parents and grandparents and great grandparents. They say that were it not for the Holocaust, there would be between 50 and 60 million Jews in the world today. Would cancer still exist? What about anti-semitism? Would the world be as broken as it sometimes feels? 
            Today was a first for The Davis Academy. We were literally kicked out of Yad Vashem because they had to close for Shabbat. It actually left a sour taste in some of our mouths because the hall monitors were pretty impatient, but it’s a remarkable point nonetheless. That’s not to say that we weren’t ready to leave, just that we were willing to look both our angels and our demons squarely in the eye. These kids know that they will be the last generation to have the honor of meeting first generation Holocaust survivors in person. 

            As I mentioned in a previous post, we like to follow the bitter with the sweet. For that reason, we were quite happy to jump into what must be the nicest pool that The Davis Academy has ever enjoyed on an Israel Trip. It's a pretty low bar to be honest, but this pool was first rate. Much splashing ensued. Eventually we dragged ourselves toward the towel bin and got ready for Shabbat.

            Ezrat Yisrael (The Israel Plaza) is technically part of the Kotel (Western Wall). It’s not the part that we typically think of, where men and women are separated and where you can place a note in the wall, but it offers some unique advantages. It is egalitarian, meaning men and women can pray together, and it’s less chaotic than the main plaza (which we will visit Sunday). Tonight we joined the 2^nd ever Kabbalat Shabbat service hosted and led by Israel’s Masorti (Conservative) movement. There weren’t as many attendees as we thought, which meant that the spotlight was on us. While some of the kids had trouble following along, there’s no doubt that their ears were filled with the sounds of song and prayer and that it was a peaceful moment for all of us. At Shabbat dinner we blessed them and one of the blessings was that they might be reminded of our Shabbat in Israel the next time they hear those melodies.

            Shabbat dinner at the hotel was an absolute feast. We welcomed Shabbat by joining together in Shalom Aleichem, the Shabbat blessings, and the aforementioned blessings offered by our chaperones. The kids mingled comfortably with the diverse crowd and filled their plates. On a personal note, I am having trouble reaching the keyboard at this moment due to a series of savory and sweet overindulgences. I’m not too proud to document that fact for posterity on these hallowed pages.

            We made the kids a deal—the longer you sit at the Shabbat table, enjoying the food and the company, the longer you get to hang out afterwards. Once the initial confusion of such a favorable arrangement wore off, they accepted the proposition. After dinner we hung out in the hotel’s game room where the kids played pool and ping pong with one another and some Israeli kids, and on the hotel’s back patio/balcony. When we told them it was time for bed, they tried to put up a fight but I think most of them were relieved. We sleep in late tomorrow, so think of us dreaming the dreams that only come in Jerusalem on Shabbat. 
           We woke up this morning and confronted the nightmare of what happens when some among us deny the very things that make us human. Through stories and personal connections we understood that heroes and angels walk among us and lay beneath us. Splashing in the pool we remembered that joy and glee are always just a diving board away. And at Shabbat we let angels descend, kiss our foreheads, and carry our prayers up to heaven on their wings. As you sit down to your own Shabbat, maybe you’ll ask one another, “What did we give of ourselves this week?” I pray that the answer might be: our better angels.
           If you have a blessing for our kids and feel so moved, please share it with us in the comments. Shabbat Shalom!