Rabbi Alex’s Israel Trip
Dear Beth Shir Shalom,
I just returned from an amazing 6 days in Israel and am excited to share my trip with you. As always, traveling in Israel reminds me of the complexity of life in Eretz Yisrael and how easy it becomes to flatten that complexity to simple binaries abroad. I will spend some time reflecting and formulating my thoughts in a subsequent message, but for now wanted to share the many points of learning, perspective, and hope I gained on this trip. Our trip with the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) was titled People, Purpose & Progress and I will separate the sections below accordingly.
One more thing: if you’re interested in traveling to Israel with our community, click here and fill out an interest form.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Rabbi Alex
People
Anna Kislanski, CEO of the Israel Reform Movement (IMPJ)
Movement has 54 congregations, up from 23 in 2010.
2/3 of secular Israelis support the Reform Movement and 6% of Israelis (roughly 400,000 people) identify as Reform
The expansion of the Reform Movement in the Galilee & Gaza Envelope allowed the Reform Movement to respond quickly after October 7th, and continue to pastor to Israelis in need
There is a tradition in Israel to go out into the streets at the end of Simchat Torah and dance with Torahs. The Reform Movement, for the first time, was invited to do that on Simchat Torah 2023. Obviously that didn't happen. But on Simchat Torah 2025, with the alive hostages returned, they were again asked to lead egalitarian dancing. Anna told the story of bringing the Torah over to two Bat Mitzvah aged girls and asked if they wanted to take the Torah. "Are we allowed?" they asked. Of course!
Meeting Reform Colleagues
We gathered with 20 Maram (The Council of Reform Rabbis in Israel) Rabbis on the day that the last hostage in Gaza, Ran Gvili z”l, was brought home. We had a powerful program hearing their first hand experiences of the past few years offering pastoral care, bringing many more Israelis into the spirituality of Reform Judaism, and fighting for our values in the streets. We concluded our program singing Oseh Shalom.
Friends & Teachers
Purpose
Grassroots Organizations
We met with grassroots leaders from Israel’s dynamic civil society who are working to build a more democratic and pluralistic society. we heard from Standing Together, a Jewish-Arab movement advocating equality, This is Not An Ulpan, a language center bringing people together to learn Hebrew & Arabic, and Tag Meir, a coalition of Jewish Israelis responding to hate crimes against Palestinians and working to eradicate racism and violence in Israel.
Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC)
Orly Erez-Likhovski, Executive Director
We took a tour of the Supreme Court with Orly, which she points out was intentionally positioned on higher ground to remind the Knesset no one is above the law.
Thanks to the work of Orly and her team:
The Jerusalem March for Pride and Tolerance happens annually.
LGBTQ couples will soon have equal adoption rights.
Gender segregation on public buses is illegal.
It is illegal for a flight attendant to ask a woman to change seats on a plane because of her gender.
Reform and Conservative converts are recognized under the Law of Return and are eligible for Aliyah.
Reform and Conservative rabbis receive state funding towards their salaries.
Reform and Conservative converts are recognized under the Law or Return and are eligible for Aliyah.
Reform and Conservative congregations receive land allocations for synagogues.
Rabbis for Human Rights
We met with Rabbi Dana Sharon (left), the Director of the Rabbinic Network at Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli organization dedicated to promoting human rights, democracy, and peace. We also met with two rabbi Yaels, both working in the Gaza Envelope serving communities in desperate need of pastoral care and guidance.
Chance Encounter x2
We met a remarkable group of young Israelis on a gap year program who were sent to towns across the country to complete tasks. They arrived to Sderot about the same time as us and immediately asked us to help them complete two tasks: play a game & get blessed by a rabbi. We happily obliged and made each others day!
We met Shulamit & her husband Naftali at the new Observers Memorial Monument near Nahal Oz. We had settled at the top of the momument somberly and she arrived moments later, tears in her eyes. Our amazing guide, Lior, asked if she had anything to share with us. “Thank you for coming, thank you for being here.” This was a constant refrain of the trip: Israelis expressing gratitude to American Jews for coming to visit.
Progress
When I traveled to Sderot in December 2023, I visited the demolished site where the police station once stood. Terrorists had taken it over, killing 18 along the way, and Israel decided to collapse the building. Today, two years later, a beautiful memorial has been erected on the site as well as a resilience center down the street.
A new memorial to the Tatzpitaniyot, or lookout soldiers, was erected by their near Nahal Oz, honoring the young women who served on Israel’s front lines as the eyes and ears of the border. The memorial bears witness to their courage, vigilance, and sacrifice, and stands as a stark reminder of both the cost of security and the moral responsibility to remember those whose service too often went unseen.
We celebrated Shabbat at Yozma, the biggest Reform Congregation in Israel serving over 1000 members.
During our trip, the body of Ran Gvili z”l, the final hostage held in Gaza, returned home for a proper burial. While at the memorial to the Tatzpitaniyot, a rabbi in our group was moved to lead an impromptu ceremony and take off the “Bring Them Home” necklace that he’s been wearing for two years. He placed it around a ceramic kalanit (red anemone), a flower that’s come to symbolize resiliency and Israelis have placed all over the country to give each other chazak ve’ematz (strength & courage). You can’t see it in the picture, but in the grasses in the background of the picture, many real kalaniot had bloomed, reminding us all that we will bloom again.
