Monday, October 30, 2006

Reflections on Israel at KESHER Convention

To be honest, I was slightly nervous about Kesher Convention (this past weekend at U of Florida, Gainesville). With only about 40 participants, far fewer than last years 100+ at the Biennial, I was concerned that the conference might lack energy. Back in New York, I am confident that my concern was mostly unwarranted. Actually, the smaller community allowed more one-on-one interaction and discussion and the somewhat absurd faculty to participant ratio of like 1:2 allowed us to get to know our guests better than usual. This was especially significant because a high proportion of these guests were at Convention representing Israel. Israel had a major place at Convention. In addition to the 40 students, 3 shlichim came from Zionist Culture Connection, Liran the ARZA Aliyah Shlicha was there, Alex represented Kibbutz Lotan in the Arava, Maoz Haviv represented Netzer Olami as their director and of course Dotan the KESHER shaliach staffed the event. This means Israelis were basically everywhere and a few American guests also came representing other Zionist causes. Still, Israel's presence was not emphasized by presentations, speakers or workshops but rather in the extra-programatic dialogue shared by our Israeli guests and many of the participants. This is the best kind of Israel exposure. Here's an example that I found to be particularly remarkable.

Adi Blachinsky, a Shlicha from some organization that sends shlichim places (It doesn't really matter because there are a million of them) is your average secular Israeli. In just a couple of weeks she will be returning to Israel and frantically searching for an apartment in Tel Aviv before beginning business classes. This is a scenario not so unlike one we all might face. Her bio and life standing does not seem so impressive. But she is.

Over the BBQ dinner on Sat night, Adi and I spoke for well over an hour about many things. Two stood out. While travelling around Mexico, Central and South America, Adi randomly ran into two German grandaugters of a Nazi soldier. For some weeks, she joined them backpacking here and there and told me of her deep and intimate conversations with them about Israel and her family, how she noticed one of the girls wearing a ring with the SS symbol as if it were trendy and about how they bonded and became friends when other circumstances might find them as foes. Adi remains in touch with her German friends and insists that had the Germans not met her, they would have remained largely ignorant of Israelis and Jews despite their lineage. But this was not all that impressed me about her.

She told me how much she loved her army service. Adi was in an education unit and taught classes on topics ranging from Israeli identity to ethics. She told me of one of her soldier/students whose name I didn't catch so we'll call him Chaim. Adi recalled the day when Chaim ran up to her and embraced her and whispered in her ear, "todah rabah, adi". But why?
Soldiers patrolling in a hostile area which is observing a curfew are taught to fire at anyone out past the curfew who appears to be threatening or holding a weapon. On one patrol, Chaim and his tankmates spotted a man carrying something suspect and moving discreetly through the streets. He was coming closer to the soldier's position. Nervous, Chaim's partners were ready to shoot the imposter but Chaim insisted they wait till he got closer. He came closer and again they were ready to shoot but Chaim wanted to wait just a few seconds longer. The man got close enough and as the soldiers aimed, they saw the man was not carrying a gun or bomb, but instead cradling a baby... for this Chaim credited Adi.
Adi is just 24. Chaim not older than 22. And although Adi told the story in such a matter-of-fact manner as Israelis do, for me it had tremendous power.

I don't think most of us love Israel because some diplomat comes to our campus to speak about the repercussions of the war with Lebanon, I think we love Israel because of Israelis like Adi and stories like the one I documented above.

The presence of so many Israelis at Kesher Convention is tremendous. This is one example of a growing trend towards a more emphatic Israel presence throughout our movement and at its functions. As we continue to raise awareness of and passion for Israel, we better serve Israel by presenting her not as an objective entity of war and peace but rather as Adi's home, moved by Adi's stories and many others like them.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Israel Talk Re: Einat Wilf (author)

Einat Wilf is a writer and a member of Kol Dor, a worldwide network of young jews dedicated to the rethinking of the Jewish world from a global perspective. Sounds like an interesting organization. She writes extensively in various publications and another article she authored titled, "Mitzvot of Peoplehood", took a rather revolutionary approach to basically redefining what it means to be a Jew. It's worth a read http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3041999,00.html .
I'm not sure that I really like the way she writes, but she does write with a spirit which juxtaposes the other Wilf I'm familiar with, the name of my campus at Yeshiva University. The Wilf Campus of YU is virtually dead, while Einat Wilf's ideas and writings are very much alive. This said, I 'm not sure her head is screwed on quite straight. Like anyone with revolutionary ideas, she finds her self stuck between optimism and pessimism and asks questions much more quickly and effectively than she can answer them.
Another article she wrote delved deep in to the issues and questions which arose post the summer conflict between Israel and Lebanon. Like Wilf, our focus with Israel and Israel's focus ought to remain like it was before being distracted by the summer's violent affairs- focused on Israel's social and economic development. Israel needs to re-access its character and this is precisely what Einat and many others like her are trying to do.
In the most recently aforementioned article, Wilf's discussion of Israel's dissallusionment with her leadership was especially striking to me. If Israelis do not have faith in the ability of their government to lead, it will become increasingly difficult for Jews throughout the world to stand with Israel wherever she may stand. Perhaps what Israel lacks is a leader of the David Ben-Gurion or Aaron David Gordon caliber. Where might a leader like this come from? Can Israeli society see another leader like this ascend to a position of leadership? Recently a former Kesher/ARZA fellow who recently made aliyah, Zack Katowitz, posted an interesting piece as a facebook note (yes, the facebook note is a strange phenomenon-Zack didn't write this but found it). I think what follows is something to consider.... it's a little long but worth the read....

"It seems the only thing people concerned with Israeli politics can talk about these days is the fact that there is absolutely no inpsiring leadership anywhere on the horizon. Everyone recognizes that this is bad news for the Jewish State, but it also bodes ill for North American Jewry, particularly the younger generation.

Israeli leaders have always been a counterpoint to the typical American Jewish leader. While the stereotypical Israeli leader is a general, a kibbutz founder, a thinker-pioneers, or some other version of an action hero, the image of an American Jewish leader is a successful whitecollar warrior. Indeed, in the States, where there are no Jewish community elections, a big bank account is one of the keys to gaining sway over the institutions that manage Jewish communal affairs.

The presence of these Israeli leaders meant that young American Jewish kids who were interested in community leaderrship were exposed not only to the "make alot of money and be a philanthropist/board member/strategic planning committee director for Super Sunday" model of Jewish leadership, but also to the Israeli "after me damn it to all hell" style of leadership. And, since the American Jewish leadership, and by extension American Jewish parents, respected Israelis heroes such as Ben Gurion, Begin, Dayan, Meir, Alon, their kids were able to consider following in these Israelis more drastic footsteps (even in the face of their parents' on the face of it disapproval) and not focus their lives on the traditional path to success, as reperesented by their parents and local leadership. Indeed, the model of these Israeli leaders probably inluenced many young American Jews to be more daring even in their traditional occupations in the States.

But now, since Sharon's exit, Israeli leadership comes across as less heroic than a federation board, and about as interesting. Sometimes the leaders of Israel even feel more like subsidiaries of American Jewry rather than partners. One thing is for sure: these leaders do not tug at the heartstrings of the youth anymore by inspiring them about Zionism and the life of the sovereign Jew.

This dearth of leadership could mean the death of the Israeli hero leader stereotype, leaving American youth without a critical revolutionary model that can inspire them in a different way than the typical example from the American context. We need Israeli leaders not only for the sake of Israel, but for the sake of the whole Jewish People."

What has created this "dearth of leadership" and can the force be countered?

Youth Group Woes

I was beginning to think that the entire effort was a bit hopeless. Starting a youth group in Long Island, Oceanside, NY might be impossible. The kids I hoped would join Temple Avodah Temple Youth (TATY) were not endowed by their parents with any kind of Jewish identity and the difficulty of conveying the importance or value of anything Jewish to the parents exceeded the difficulty of reaching their kids. The year began- a start-up group, a work in trial and error process, facing major challenges.

The first event was a battle between the leaders- me and three others- and the fifth and sixth graders. They were chaotic and out of control and we were at a loss for how to hold things down. The idea was for an introductory/identity
program- a meet and greet type of thing for the first day.

Part I- we were to introduce ourselves suggesting something unique about us. That already was difficult as people refused to remain quiet to hear everyone else. By the end, the kids didn't even want to introduce themselves because of all the disruption. I'm desperate: #1.

Part II- Break up into two groups and pass out jolly ranchers- each flavor corresponded to a different story or fun fact you had to share. Result: total failure, the kids won't even break into groups, maybe that's too much to ask of 11 year olds. I'm desperate #2

Part III- Take a small piece of paper and write on it: one thing that you like to do outside of school and two things that are important to you. Then put the piece of paper in a balloon and blow up the balloon. Pop the balloons and pick up a piece of paper from a random balloon, sharing it with the rest of the group.
Result 1: Almost Ok- they did what was asked but then started bursting the balloons immediately although we had said to wait.
Result 2: The papers in the ballons read: "Things that are important to me: shopping, video games, sports jerseys, etc"
hmmm... an interesting diagnostic, I see there is work to
be done and I'm still a bit desperate.
Part IV- a bunch of running around without order and eating pizza; much of which ended up on the floor.

Conclusion: The battle was a defeat, or a stalemate at best. For some reason a few of the disruptive kids seemed to have had a "good" time but still... I had accomplished little in terms of youth group building. leaving, I asked for a little help: "There must be some model, idea, program, something that'll work- I need to figure it out! Please, idea, do me a favor, 'Come out, come out, wherever you are!'"

There was about three weeks between events. I was a little dejected after having failed, by my standards, and was literally terrified of returning to that wrecked temple. However, I have a job, it pays well, obviously I'm not quitting.
I thought and thought about what I could do the second time to accomplish a few things:
1. better control the group
2. start to build the group and have the kids take some ownership of their group
3. have more kids, the good ones leave feeling like they'd had a good time.

I came to event number 2 on Oct. 17 still pleading with some solution to reveal itself although I brought some haphazard gameplan.

My idea made enough sense- split the kids into groups based on interest and have them create a collective portrait of themselves on a posterboard- making a whole poster and determining a symbol which they would contribute to an entire youth group poster to be hanged in the temple. I thought it would allow the kids to be with their friends and make a couple new ones and maybe give them more incentive to express themselves productively.

I got there. The kids came. They were loud. They were out of control and not listening and I'm off to a horrid start, desperate and scrambling to recover.
I give them pizza to temper the storm.

During the pizza eating one of the kids, David, asks demandingly- "Can we play hide and go seek in the entire Temple?" hmm......

If you've taken an Introduction to Judaism class or are familiar with the fledgling movement for Reform Jewish day schools, you've heard about Pardes- Peshat, Remes, Drash, Sod. In short, it represents a method of study moving from the most simple, literal interpretation of textual verses to deeper and more developed study, uncovering hidden meanings and the essence of the words on the page.

After a long pause with this kid pulling at my arm, I respond, "Sure, let's see who else will play." Just about every kid wanted to play and so risking more chaos and disaster, we went for it... the kids followed the rules, played and played multiple rounds and as some parents started to stream in, they saw evidence of their kids having fun (a key to success). At the end, I yelled, "Come out come out wherever you are," through the Temple lobby. As we collected the kids their faces beamed with excitement. Gathering back in our youth lounge, I suggested that before wrapping up, a few kids should volunteer to make a poster for TATY, our youth group. Several jumped at the opportunity and produced a color-blended, scribbled and hideous, but nonetheless for me, triumphant testament to the fact that our youth group had launched. It hangs like a
plaque in the religious school wing, not so high as to suggest it's the defining product of a year's work but as a symbol of our potential and the excitment of our future. All the kids left this event thrilled and they'll come back.

Waiting for a train back to Penn Station I reflected on the wisdom of my Gemera teacher and the wisdom of David, the fidgety sixth grader demanding a silly kids game. There must be some kind of Pardes in this uphill struggle we call Reform youth work. If you attempt the deep stuff too fast, you're falling flat on your face. I had.

Instead, stick to the basics- even a simple impromptu game of hide and seek. To my delight, the kids responded to my "Come out, come out" call twice without even knowing it. First, they simply listened and emerged from their hiding places in the foyer (Baruch HaShem). And in doing so they afforded me some insight into how they could be reached. The easy stuff, Pashat first.

Its possible that event #3 will bomb like #1. But at least I have an idea for the future. Hide and seek again. This time we're not searching for David, Alex, and Ryan. I'm sending them through the temple halls after mezuzot, tallitot and chumashim to learn about Jewish ritual items- I just hope this place has those in stock.